Love beyond the mask ( Whitney )
Chapter 327

Whitney could barely stand as the shock made her body sway. She turned around, blinking in disbelief at the sight of Sammy lying in bed.

"Danny, you've got to stop scaring Mommy like this! Her little heart, though strong, can't take our shenanigans. Come here, let's explain everything to her. She won't be mad at us." Sammy's voice was weak but carried a playful tone.

Whitney clenched her delicate hands, her eyes wide and filled with tears and surprise, struggling to keep her voice gentle, "My child, you are, you're my..."

"I'm your other son, Mommy, waaah..."

Danny, seeing her beckoning, scampered over like a kitten finally heeding its mother's call, plunging into Whitney's embrace.

Tiana, watching from behind, teared up, sharing in Whitney's joy.

"What in the world is going on? So, you're Danny?" Whitney realized that 'Danny', whom Ludwik had been calling out for, wasn't Sammy. She had misunderstood, but how big of a misunderstanding was it? A colossal secret?

"Mom, how can you even ask what's going on? We're your sons, both of us. Didn't you know?" Sammy looked at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he gently rolled his eyes.

Whitney was speechless, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and astonishment.

"Basically, Danny was whisked away by dear old Dad right when he was born, while you and I jumped into the ocean, eventually ending up abroad without ever meeting him. Dad didn't know about Sammy, just like you didn't know about Danny. Each of you thought there was only one son. At that gala auction, you mistook Danny for me, bringing him home, while Dad mistakenly recognized me as his son..."

Sammy narrated the bewildering events of the past days with a slow, measured breath.

Whitney and Tiana listened, their eyes widening with each twist and turn of the tale, emotions swirling uncontrollably.

Whitney felt a whirlwind of emotions, her mind racing as she looked at her two precious boys, tears streaming down her face.

It turned out, on that fateful night three years ago, she had given birth to twins in the wild. Twins, indeed. Yet, from prenatal checks to delivery, every medical report suggested she was carrying only one child. She never diagnosed herself properly, attributing the unusual size of her belly to excessive amniotic fluid.

Could Ludwik have known all along? Had he deliberately kept this from her, even altering the medical records? Furious at the thought, Whitney's heart ached for her sons. "So, you two little rascals have known about each other, secretly meeting and swapping places to fool us?"

Her voice carried a mix of irritation and affection, recalling how Sammy had seemed off lately, his personality flipping like a switch. And then, there was the time at Christian's Diner when Ludwik had supposedly taken 'Sammy', who miraculously appeared back home, a digit off on his ID bracelet. Tears mingled with laughter and sorrow as Whitney realized the depth of her sons' love and cunning.

"I'm so sorry, my children. I've failed you as a mother, not even knowing of your existence," Whitney apologized, her voice thick with regret, gently stroking Danny's hair. The thought of leaving one of her babies behind that night haunted her, an unforgivable oversight. "It's okay, Mom. Everything's in the past. I was mad at you for not replaceing me, your little treasure. But Taryn told me to be patient, to wait for you and not to accept Elaine as my mom. I barely waited two days before I spotted you at the dinner!" Danny boasted, trying to comfort her in his own way.

Tiana chuckled at Danny's proud demeanor, a spitting image of Ludwik, while Sammy seemed to radiate warmth and wisdom well beyond his years.

"Taryn's a good soul," Whitney murmured, grateful for the kindness shown to Danny amidst Elaine's watchful eyes.

Gathering her strength, Whitney turned to Sammy, her voice filled with concern, "You ventured into Everwood Villa Estate, to expose Elaine and stand up for Danny at daycare... Do you know how worried I've been, how dangerous that was?"

Sammy looked down, his youthful eyes flashing with a sharpness unusual for his age, "I wanted to get back at them. Seeing Dad fooled by that woman made me so mad." "You're both just three years old..." Whitney sighed, her heart heavy with love and worry.

As the conversation shifted to the kidnapping, Danny couldn't hold back, spilling everything to his mom, "It was Elaine. She found out we were brothers and got scared, even wanted us gone! That day, she secretly used my smartwatch to message Sammy, asking him to meet at the bridal shop. Sammy, thinking it was me, went without any suspicion. Then, out of nowhere, we were kidnapped. Elaine pretended to be a victim too, but she was actually orchestrating the whole thing, tormenting us... Mom, she snatched away Sammy's asthma inhaler and repeatedly dunked him into filthy water. In the end, Sammy had an asthma attack. She tossed him into a tiny, sealed hole, leaving him to suffocate... I was just a kid, powerless against them..."

"Danny, don't blame yourself. You were hurt too. Thankfully, this time, Dad came through for us in the nick of time. And somehow, Mom had a feeling, saving us just in time."

Sammy tried to comfort Danny, urging him not to feel guilty. The two young ones, eyes red, clung to each other, their hearts still filled with the terror of their ordeal.

Listening to their sobs, Whitney felt as if her heart was being torn apart, anger boiling inside her.

Her fingers dug into her palms, eyes wet but trying to hide it, she hugged her two treasures tightly, her voice cold and stern, "Don't be afraid, Mom's here now. I know I have two precious boys to protect. I won't let anyone harm you again." Sammy's asthma was her constant worry, and Elaine had cruelly exploited it to torment him. Thinking of her son's suffering brought tears to Whitney's eyes. She vowed to herself, this vengeance, she would return a thousandfold!

"Danny, how did you manage to get away? Ludwik...he didn't notice you were gone?"

Whitney snapped back to reality, suddenly anxious, delicately probing the little one.

Daniel knew he had been out for quite a while. He pouted, reluctantly leaving his mother's embrace, "Ludwik went to visit that wicked woman. I knew Elaine would keep him busy, so I took the chance when the servants were distracted and sneaked out. Mommy..." He was clever, looking up with hope yet cautiously asking, "Can we let Ludwik know he still has two sons alive?"