Chapter 241


    She trembled with unprecedented rage at the sight of Ashton, her fingers quivering with fury. “It’s all


    because you’re blind and foolish, siding with the devil, supporting ine’s lies! To hell with all three of


    you! I was blind to give everything to marry a scoundrel like you. I regret it!”


    “What… What did you say?” Ashton frowned, taken aback by her vitriolic outburst. He had never seen


    her this angry before.


    “Ludwik!” Valerie cried uncontrobly. “You have no idea what Whitney went through in that sanatorium.


    Last night, she finally escaped, intending to find you. Why were you so conveniently not in Banyan City


    at that critical moment? Can’t you see what’s happening?”


    She was consumed with hatred on behalf of Whitney and Tiana. Tiana was now ruined, her


    whereabouts unknown, likely hiding, and terrified.


    And Whitney, oh, Whitney…


    Valerie covered her face and ran out, filled with despair.


    At the entrance, Parker arrivedte, his seductive, tired eyes barely concealed by his sses.


    Nn was furious. “Where the hell were youst night? Ludwik’s child was born prematurely, and


    Whitney abandoned the baby and fled. We don’t know if she’s lost at sea or has escaped! ine


    ims it was a conspiracy between Whitney and Tiana, and now Ludwik is broken.”


    Parker paused, ncing toward the ward.


    “Tiana tried to set up ine by hiring thugs, only to be humiliated by them. Now she’s hiding


    somewhere, her reputation in tatters by morning.”


    Parker’s frown deepened. That bubbly girl?


    “Where were youst night?” Nn demanded again.


    Parker averted his eyes, the heat in them fading as he said, “I didn’t mean to be absent, but you know


    how it is in the underworld, always in trouble. I was ambushedst night and nearly killed, saved by a


    woman.”


    He had risked his life, and now he feared he had brought disaster upon that woman.


    When he woke up this morning, she was gone.


    Parker did not want things to end up this way, regretting the unexpected loss of his innocence, but he


    knew he had to take responsibility. Thus, he turned and ordered his subordinate, “Keep looking for that


    woman.”


    Nn understood but refrained from teasing Parker, urging him to enter the ward. Parker was always


    able to get through to Ludwik.


    “Ludwik?” Parker called out to the man sitting there, pale and cold as a statue. In one night, Ludwik


    seemed to have changed, his calm exterior hiding a chilling distance.


    15:12


    “Ludwik, I’ve heard the details from Felix. There are a few things you should consider.


    First, why did yourpany face troublest night? I heard you nned to take ine to the South,


    but she imed she had stomach pains and didn’t go.


    And coincidentally, Whitney teamed up with Tiana to frame ine, escaping the sanatorium to


    ‘rescue‘ Bryce?


    Don’t you think it’s all too convenient?”


    Ludwik’s eyes lifted slowly, his gaze piercingly cold. “Didn’t you tell me some time ago that you


    personally checked on my mother’s transnt surgery at the nephrology department and found nothing


    suspicious?”


    “I only did a preliminary investigation of that surgery.”


    “Last night, Whitney and Tiana schemed and found a girl to falsely use ine of a sham kidney


    donation, and Ashton confirmed ine indeed has one kidney after a physical exam. When you


    checked the nephrology department, did you encounter Tiana or Whitney?”


    Parker hesitated, recalling Tiana. He was impartial. “Indeed, I saw Ms. Melford at TriMed Hospital that


    day, leaving Dr. Horatio‘ office. She was probably investigating the transnt surgery or ine.”


    Ludwik snorted coldly, his gaze bing indifferent. “I don’t think so. She went to the hospital to find a


    girl selling organs, already nning to frame ine by then.”


    Parker remained silent, unable to refute, remembering Tiana’s evasive response when he asked her


    about her visit to the hospital.


    Ludwik’s eyes turned to the incubator, his fists tightening with a creak. “Felix, send the word out.


    Boycott the Melford family.”


    “Ludwik, Whitney is still missing. She might have really fallen into the sea. There could be more to this


    story.”


    “Anyone else who speaks for that woman, I shall show no mercy!”


    Parker frowned but persisted. “Ludwik, I know you’re deeply hurt, but even if Whitney is heartless, she


    left you this child. Consider the child’s sake, if not hers.”


    Ludwik sneered. His icy heart and frosty expression seemed to solidify into imprable ice.


    “No, she didn’t leave me the child. She abandoned it. She didn’t want it! Parker, you’ll never understand


    how I feel. It’s like I’m already dead inside.”


    His eyes were like a bottomless abyssal, and his hatred was perhaps just as deep.


    ine listened outside, feeling triumphant. She turned and confidently made a call, her head held high.


    “Ludwik has ordered a boycott of the Melford family. You know how to help it along, right? Jaxon, take


    morepromising photos of Tiana. Threaten her–if she speaks out, her


    214


    15:12


    parents will pay with their lives. Spin her story, turn her into the rat everyone despises!”


    With this, Tiana’s ‘evidence‘ would not be a worry anymore.


    Dayster, news came from Emperor City that no woman had been caught attempting to rescue Bryce.


    Felix reported to Ludwik with a heavy heart, “Mr. Lippert, it seems Ms. Valentine didn’t attempt a


    rescue. Was ine mistaken, or was it a rumor? Perhaps Ms. Valentine really did fall into the sea. We


    need to intensify the search in the waters.”


    The sh of divine insight,sting but a mere second, was enough for Ludwik to picture another child,


    so tiny, being cast into the ocean’s vastness, and from then on, no ripple could stir his


    heart.


    With a tired, cold smirk, he muttered, “Then it will be apanion burial. When I find my child, I’ll give


    him a proper send–off.”


    A monthter, the coast guard captain, whose loyalty ine had bought, covertly informed her, “Ms.


    Bartels, two iplete bodies have been found near the coral reefs–one adult and one infant.”


    ine’s eyes sparkled with a nearly joyous light, relieved that the ordeal was finally settled, certain now


    that Whitney was indeed dead. She promptly transferred a hefty sum to the captain, instructing him to


    doctor the report to only the discovery of an infant.


    When Ludwik received the news, it was met with nothing but a scoff, his heart as cold as ice. He had


    on.


    He rushed to the morgue to im the pitiful tiny body, covering his long, damp eyes as he sat alone in


    the chilling silence for a day. Later, he wouldy the child to rest in Banyan City’s most prestigious


    cemetery.


    Afterward, the name Whitney was erased overnight from Banyan City, disappearing without a


    Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    trace.


    No one dared to utter that name in the presence of Mr. Lippert – the woman who was the business


    prodigy, who had scandalously married two of Banyan City’s most formidable men within a year, whose


    actions led to Bryce’s misfortune. Her scandals, much like the city’s relentless downpours, ceased


    abruptly, leaving no trace as if they had vanished with the first light of dawn.


    ine firmly secured her position as the future Mrs. Lippert, her victory absolute. Whitney was dead,


    and she had led Ludwik to believe Whitney had escaped alive, embedding hatred in his bones.


    She had thought that after the initial guilt, Ludwik woulde to loathe the child as an


    extension of his resentment. But she had underestimated how deeply ingrained the child was in


    Ludwik’s heart.