Love beyond the mask ( Whitney )
Chapter 319

Two hours earlier-

In the heart of Banyan City, within the dimly lit confines of the local police station's holding cells, the clock struck eleven, plunging the hallway into darkness save for the lone sentinel patrolling outside. Amidst the hush, a shadow fell across the entrance, heralding the arrival of a figure cloaked from head to toe in black.

Jaxon, slumped at the corner desk, lifted his weary gaze. The newcomer, clad in a dark ensemble, strode in with a purposeful gait, face shrouded beneath a hat. "Jaxon."

"Who are you?"

"Zane sent me. Time to get you out. Let's move."

Locked up for five interminable days, Jaxon's disheveled appearance belied the flicker of hope that now ignited within him.

The Bartels family and Elaine had kept their word.

He was right to believe that leverage meant safety.

Skeptical of Whitney's warnings, he now felt a surge of relief.

Quickly rising, Jaxon stretched, a hint of ease crossing his face. "How did Zane swing it with the cops?"

"Inside connections. Top secret. Once we're out, Elaine's arranging for you to skip the country."

The man in black led the way, a beacon of freedom to a desperate Jaxon.

Yet, as they progressed, the path seemed amiss. This was not the route to the station's main exit.

"This isn't right," Jaxon's voice tightened with suspicion.

The man turned, the moon casting a sinister half-light across his face, transforming him into a harbinger of doom.

That chilling smile...

Jaxon's heart sank. He had been too trusting of the Bartels, dismissing Whitney's cautionary advice.

Feeling a cold dread, he realized the Bartels intended to silence him permanently. After years at Elaine's beck and call, holding her darkest secrets, how could she betray him? In a panic, Jaxon turned to flee.

"Wrong way, Jaxon," the man called out, eerily calm as he pursued.

Screaming for help proved futile; the corridors were eerily deserted.

It was all a setup.

Overpowered and fearing for his life, Jaxon found himself cornered against a dead-end wall.

"Why? I've done everything for the Bartels, been Elaine's right hand. I know too much for her to kill me!"

"Your overconfidence was your downfall, Jaxon. Your house has been cleared out by Zane."

A cold smirk crossed Jaxon's face. "You won't replace the key evidence against Keegan there!"

His words hinted at a hidden failsafe.

But as the man advanced, a clear syringe in hand, Jaxon recalled the illicit substances he'd peddled for the Bartels, their empire built on the shadows of such dealings. Facing imminent death, Jaxon, in desperation, swallowed the pill Whitney had given him, possibly a poison, and sent a distress message with an old phone.

The man's voice turned sinister as he lunged, needle aimed at Jaxon's neck.

In his final moments, Jaxon clawed at the walls, a futile attempt at escape, before collapsing, life ebbing away as darkness claimed him.

The man stood over Jaxon's still form, placing a fabricated suicide note beside him, snapping a photo for the police database, then disappearing into the night with the body.

-

Bryce, upon receiving Whitney's call, was struck by the urgency. "Jaxon reached out two hours ago? The Bartels could've disposed of any evidence by now."

"He must've taken the fake death pill I gave him. We've only got 12 hours. Bryce, we need to replace him!"

Pondering the Bartels' next move, Bryce realized, "They'd fake a suicide to cover their tracks. Cremation would be their safest bet."

"Exactly! They won't rest until they've burned the body. The morgue!" Whitney's mind raced.

Bryce nodded, ready to act. "Leave it to me. Head back and wait for my call."

As Whitney drove back through the night, a sense of foreboding hung in the air. The fate of her uncle and their only hope rested on uncovering the truth hidden within the morgue's chilling silence.

A man snapped a photo of a face, nodded to the coroner who then pushed the body aside. "The cremation team will be here in half an hour. Please wait outside for the ashes," the coroner informed him. Dressed in black, the man nodded, stepped outside, and lit a cigarette. He sent the photo of the deceased along with a message about the lethal injection to the Bartels family.

At the same time, another coroner bribed by Bryce, slipped into the morgue.

As the half-hour mark passed, the cremation furnace was ignited. The man in black watched as the familiar stretcher came forward, a body bag wrapped in black cloth slid into the blazing crematorium. Two hours later, a pile of ashes was handed over.

The man sent photos and videos of the entire process to the Bartels family.

-

Meanwhile, in a luxurious villa in Banyan City.

Zane and Delphine, after reviewing the photos and videos confirming the body's cremation, finally relaxed. "This ticking time bomb has been defused. With Jaxon gone, all evidence linking Keegan to us, the Bartels family, has vanished," they acknowledged. Delphine smirked darkly, "Whitney's hopes of exoneration for Keegan, along with the hallucinogens we retrieved from the market, she's got nothing. I know she's been snooping around the Bartels Group's pharmaceutical branch in Banyan City, but she won't replace anything. The guards and inmates, all bribed by Jaxon."

Zane, however, remained cold. Turning to Delphine and the silent Elaine, he retorted, "This should have been dealt with three years ago. It's your delay that's the issue."

Delphine bristled, "After all Elaine and I have done for the Bartels family? You're harping on one mistake, accusing us of favoring that bastard child! Remember, it's Elaine's grip on Ludwik that secures our family's future." Zane softened his tone, "Elaine, did the medication work? Are you confident you'll conceive?"

Elaine, reminded painfully of Whitney's advantage and feeling sick at heart, couldn't respond. She hadn't even been near Ludwik.

Her father would be disappointed, especially with more pressing issues at hand, diverting her attention from Keegan's case.

Elaine, darkly, confessed, "Before we jump to other matters, you both are oblivious to the fact that Whitney is raising a child, Daniel's twin. Years ago, Orion crafted two fake bodies to deceive everyone, infuriating me!" "What?!" Delphine slammed the table, her face turning pale with shock.