Love Beyond the Mask novel Chapter 20

Whitney stood rooted to the spot, confused by his odd reaction.

It was a song she had composed a long time ago.

The man squinted his deep-set eyes, remembering the girl who had saved him. To calm his hysterical fits, she had hummed a soothing lullaby while performing acupuncture, which closely resembled this tune.

Suddenly, he asked again, "Are you trained in medicine?"

Whitney frowned. She had promised her mother to keep her knowledge of medicine a secret for self-preservation, so she had not revealed it to anyone except Tiana.

But why would he ask that?

"No," she denied instinctively.

The profound ripples in the man's eyes faded away.

He ended the conversation. "You should get some sleep. Leave everything else to me."

Whitney was left with several questions in her mind but did not dwell on them, simply nodding her head.

...

In the study.

The man removed his mask to reveal a face of stunning beauty, his expression laced with deadly intent. He called Nolan, his voice icy, "Here's your chance to make amends. Take Whitney's father and stepmother and beat them senseless. They dare to harm my child without realizing who I am."

"Huh? Ludwik, what did I do wrong?" Nolan was utterly perplexed.

"She was meeting Preston tonight. You misled me, made me misunderstand her... Just get it done!"

The man hung up the phone, still fuming.

At the same time, in the bedroom.

Lying on her side, Whitney could not sleep due to the bruises on her back. Then, Tiana called her via video.

In a panic, Tiana asked, "Whitney, I heard you were beaten up by some guys at the Imperial Garden Bar. What happened? Are you hurt?"

Remembering the night's harrowing events, Whitney instinctively touched her stomach and recounted the ordeal.

Tiana was livid. "Is Preston even human? He doesn't deserve to be a father! Monica framed you with a false pregnancy scare, and you were only defending yourself. Yet, he wanted to beat you to cause a miscarriage, all to vent Monica's anger!"

Whitney shivered, her eyes narrowing. "Yvonne put him up to it. Monica wanted revenge. She released the video to cover up her own embarrassment with the scandal of my miscarriage and to stop me from entering the competition."

"That's outrageous, just watch me!" Tiana roared.

...

Late at night.

Preston and Yvonne were returning home from a social gathering when several motorcycles suddenly blocked their car.

A group of young men jumped off, yanked open the car doors, pulled Preston and Yvonne out, bagged them, and dragged them into an alley for a vicious beating.

Preston was in shock. They were no match for the younger assailants and were beaten black and blue, shouting, "Who the hell are you, punks? Daring to hit me, Preston Valentine, you're looking for a death wish!"

"Spit on them, boys! Break this old fool!" They shouted.

After having their fun, the assailants left, cursing as they went.

Yvonne, her beauty marred, spoke with venom yet dared not curse, "Sir, who were they? They seem to be ordinary thugs, but we haven't crossed anyone like them recently!"

A realization struck Preston. "It's Whitney... Didn't she get mixed up with some riffraff? Tonight, I tricked her into a miscarriage, and she got them to retaliate! The ungrateful wench. And it's your fault for that rotten idea, making me please Monica by getting rid of her child!"

Yvonne replied with cold resentment, "I was just trying to keep Monica happy for Simon, okay? If we get rid of Whitney, we keep control of the company."

She kept babbling as Preston was busy calling an ambulance.

Whitney froze. Beaten up by a gang?

Somehow, she found her thoughts drifting to last night when L said before leaving, "Leave everything else to me."

She felt like she knew the answer. A slight smile curved her lips. Despite his misunderstanding of her last night, he took her grievances to heart once the truth came out. With his means, taking down the Valentine family would probably be easy.

Whitney admired his approach, avenging her while not interfering in her personal matters.

For the next few days, she stayed home, nursing her wounds and trying her best to show good behavior.

With Yvonne trending and her reputation in tatters, she and Preston had a tough road ahead.

Whitney felt a cold sting in her heart; the scales had fallen from her eyes regarding Preston, and she would no longer show any mercy to the Valentine family.

She must win next month's big competition to reclaim Skye Gem.

On a Saturday afternoon, Tiana called Whitney to meet up.

She came bearing important news. "Whitney, I found out that Mr. Lippert from Imperial Gem Corporation has a soft spot for landscape paintings. October is coming, and the registrations for the state jewelry contest are about to start. I've heard that Simon and Monica have been hovering over charity auctions lately. They're trying to butter up Mr. Lippert, the judge for the event!"

Charity auctions were often ripe with landscape paintings, and they were aiming to curry favor with Imperial Gem Corporation through the back door, Whitney mused.

Tiana expressed her concern. "We need to cozy up to Mr. Lippert as well! Remember that spat you had with your nemesis at the Southern Elegance Club? The registrations are coming up, and I wonder if you'll still be as defiant."

Whitney wrinkled her nose in irritation. "Can we not talk about that nauseating man right now?"

"Fine, let's talk about Monica. She's got all your best drafts in her grip. Those are enough for Monica to enter numerous competitions and scoop up awards. Can you produce something better in such a short time?"

Whitney took a deep breath.

In the past, she had been naive. A sweet word from Simon, and she would comfort herself with the thought that she was still young, handing over her work to Monica, foolishly helping Simon elevate Monica to the status of a genius designer!