Love beyond the mask ( Whitney )
Chapter 479

Whitney's assistant suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth in shock, but Whitney seemed not to hear her. However, once Whitney got into her car and drove off, the vehicle quickly picked up speed, causing Sandy to worry immensely. Under the cover of night, Whitney's car pulled up in front of a bar.

"Whitney?"

"Yeah, I need a drink. You shouldn't drink; head on back," Whitney said, forcing a strained smile though she looked pale.

Sandy glanced at her own burn injury and shook her head, "It's okay, I'll drink less. I'll keep you company!"

Together, they walked into the dimly lit booth of the bar.

-

At the airport, Florence arrived at the VIP lounge and sneaked into the restroom to send Holly a text, "Mom, Ludwik is leaving Emperor City for at least two days. Whitney's vulnerable now, maybe tonight's the time to tell Uncle about it..." After sending the text, she methodically deleted the message, her eyes narrowing fiercely.

-

Soon, the outside sky was pitch black. The bar was alight with dazzling lights, and Whitney, after two cocktails, was still relatively sober. She leaned half over the table, the dim lighting hiding her tears which she shed unabashedly. Sandy remained silent for a while before finally asking, "Whitney, do you and Ludwik have some sort of private issue?"

"Why ask that?" Whitney forced a smile.

Sandy said candidly, "At the Sheldon family dinner the other night, I heard you crying in the restroom, and Ludwik wasn't at the banquet. Plus, today, seeing you upset over him pulling strings for Florence, I think there's something off between you two."

The tears in Whitney's eyes froze over as she drank and confessed, "It's more than just issues, we have a child together."

"What?" Sandy's eyes widened in shock.

After several turns in her mind, Sandy concluded, "It must be Florence playing the other woman, wedging herself between you two. I know her type; she's scheming, probably after Ludwik's influence. So, you're back in the Sheldon family to compete for the inheritance of the Sheldon Group, and she's trying to steal Ludwik from you to improve her chances!"

"You really do understand her well."

Whitney laughed lazily, a cold light in her eyes, "Sandy, our conversation got cut off last time. Today, tell me more about how cunning Florence is, what she's been doing behind the scenes, do you know?"

Sandy didn't hold back, "I just happened to see her involved in some lab stuff. She's very secretive, and no one in the Sheldon family has caught on. I think she's pretending to be sick, researching some weird science."

"Was she also looking into hypnosis?" Danny had once barged into Florence's bedroom.

"Anyway, that lab is definitely related to medical research. Florence has a few helpers behind the scenes, like Myra who seems to be a maid but does a lot for her, and a guy named Drew. She used to travel abroad often, supposedly for treatment, but who knows what she was really up to. Moreover, she's got everyone in the Sheldon family wrapped around her finger, like Uncle Hugh, who's especially fond of her. I've always thought her illness was a ruse to conceal her ambitions and gain sympathy, waiting for Uncle to hand over the Sheldon Group to her."

Whitney pondered; Florence even had a lab? Was she versed in medicine, or was she actually ill?

"Your point is, she's using her supposed illness to center herself within the Sheldon family, gaining advantages through sympathy."

"From childhood, she's been the jewel of the Sheldon family, with an impeccable reputation in Emperor City. She appears uninterested on the surface but desires everything behind the scenes. Sienna may be known for her jealousy and tyranny, but she's nothing compared to Florence, who's more subtle and manipulative, winning over hearts without revealing her true intentions."

That sounds like Ludwik, completely enchanted by Florence, compromising his principles for her! Returning to her initial point, Whitney downed her drink in frustration.

"Whitney, I can't drink anymore," Sandy said, her tongue burnt by the strong alcohol, staggering toward the restroom. Whitney, slow to react initially, remembered they were in a bar and followed, concerned for Sandy's safety.

However, she couldn't replace Sandy in the restroom. Slightly panicked, Whitney was about to call her when she spotted two figures intertwined on the terrace. One, a short-haired girl who was Sandy, was turned towards Whitney, her head tilted back, being kissed on the neck by a man! And that man was Shane! Shane, tall and imposing, pressed Sandy against the wall, lingering on her lips and neck with a dark expression, entirely different from his sunny demeanor around Whitney. His gaze at Sandy was deep and cold, as if viewing a long-sought prey, with a hint of malice.

But how could Shane and Sandy, supposedly strangers, be entangled like this? Whitney had asked Sandy about Shane before, and Sandy had seemed unfamiliar with him. As an illegitimate daughter, it seemed unlikely she'd have connections with someone like Shane, a top-tier heir. What was going on? In Whitney's confused mind, a wave of anger began to rise. She realized something: Shane's pursuit might not have been about her at all. Was Sandy his real target? Reflecting on their encounters, Sandy was indeed always present.

Damn it, was Shane using her? Did he like Sandy? His fierce expression suggested otherwise. If not, why would he take advantage of Sandy's drunken state to kiss her so voraciously? What on earth was this twisted feeling?

She was engulfed in confusion. Suddenly, Shane felt the gaze upon him and glanced towards Whitney. His lips, sensuous even now, hadn't left Sandy's neck, where the pale, burnt skin was now flushed red from his attention. In the darkness, Shane was like a beast under siege, motionless.

Whitney wasn't scared, just mortified. Watching any longer felt unbearably awkward. Her cheeks burning, she swiftly turned away and hurried off! Back at her seat, she took a gulp of her wine, trying to douse the heat in her throat and make sense of whether what she'd just witnessed was real or a figment of her imagination.

But before she could untangle her thoughts, a text message popped up on her phone. An unknown number: "Did you see that, Whitney? Shane! Oh, the awkwardness was unbearable. Whitney, trying to maintain her composure, replied, Mr. Nelson, you were making out with my subordinate! Do you know Sandy?"

Pretend you didn't see anything.

That was Shane's response. He added another message, probably in an attempt to convince her to keep silent: I have a daughter, and Sandy's her mother."

Whitney read the message several times, recognizing each word but completely unable to comprehend the sentence as a whole. It hit her like a bolt from the blue!