Love beyond the mask (Whitney)



Whitney clutched her chest, struggling to find an excuse, "I just feel like he came tonight because of me. I feel so guilty. If he hadn't come for me, he wouldn't have walked into the greenhouse and... and been killed in that explosion, right?"

She looked at Shane, bewildered. The once untouchable golden boy of Harmonia Country, gone just like that.

He was such a revered figure, to think he'd die in an explosion was unbelievable.

There had to be something more to that explosion...

Shane didn't know how to comfort Whitney. Clearly, she was devastated, still in denial.

Nearby, Ronan and his wife were falling apart, his wife sobbing uncontrollably, lashing out in anger, "How could this happen in Mr. Wilson's home?

Mr. Wilson, didn't you check the safety of this mansion when you bought it?

My poor daughter, attending a party for the first time after coming back from abroad, and this happens. How can I bear this?

Honey, you have to avenge our poor girl!"

Ronan was also visibly shaken, his face a mix of anger and sorrow.

Phineas looked at them with immense guilt. Ronan was a close political ally. How could he explain this tragedy?

Everyone watched anxiously as firefighters pried open the glass doors of the greenhouse, and a team of paramedics rushed in.

As the smoke cleared from the ruined greenhouse, everyone waited with bated breath.

"Daddy, I'm here..." Suddenly, a voice cried out from behind them.

Ronan and his wife froze, then turned around sharply-

There stood a young woman in her twenties, disheveled and covered in soot, her once elegant blue gown torn and draped with a man's black jacket for modesty.

Beside her stood a tall, striking man. Though his suit jacket was gone, leaving him in a dirtied white shirt, his disheveled appearance couldn't hide his aura of nonchalant pride.

Whitney's eyes widened in disbelief.

It was Ludwik. She'd recognize that face anywhere.

He was alive?

Her mind buzzed with shock, and as Ludwik caught her staring, she couldn't look away.

Ludwik noticed her swollen, tear-streaked eyes, and his lips curled into a slight, amused smile.

She was worried about him. Despite the near-death experience, it lifted his spirits, even made him happy.

"Elodie! My dear girl..."

At that moment, Ronan's wife cried out, rushing to embrace her daughter, "Thank God, you're alive! You scared me to death, we thought you were inside."

"Elodie, what happened? The security footage showed you entering the greenhouse elevator."

Ronan approached, tears of joy in his eyes. She was his only child, and the thought of losing her had nearly broken him.

"Dad, I did go into the greenhouse, and I almost died," Elodie sobbed, "But Ludwik saved me."

She glanced shyly at Ludwik, recounting their terrifying ordeal. The elevator had exploded just as they'd entered, but Ludwik's quick thinking had saved them. He'd activated the emergency alarm, and despite the elevator cable snapping and crashing down, they'd managed to avoid the worst of the fire.

"You have no idea, the elevator's glass walls were blown out. I thought I'd be trapped in the basement forever. But Ludwik, he didn't abandon me, a stranger. He broke through the trapped glass, climbed up the elevator shaft, and pulled me to safety. Through the burning greenhouse, he protected me, shielding me from falling debris. He even got injured," Elodie said, her eyes shining with admiration as she looked at Ludwik.

Ludwik, however, modestly shrugged off her praises, "Ronan, it wasn't as heroic as your daughter says. I just didn't want to survive and be blamed for her death. Saving her was merely avoiding trouble for myself."

"Regardless, Ludwik, I can't thank you enough for saving our daughter!" Ronan extended his gratitude, his opinion of Ludwik improving despite the rumors of his cold demeanor and ruthlessness in business.

Ludwik saw through Ronan's veiled arrogance but shook his hand briefly, eager to distance himself from further involvement.noveldrama

"Thank you, my hero," Elodie said, looking at Ludwik with adoration.

She could never forget the moment the explosion rocked their world. The man beside her, a stranger until disaster struck, had acted with a calm and precision that seemed almost superhuman. He had saved her, pulling her from the brink of what could have been a fatal end.

Before chaos erupted, they were just two people sharing an elevator, their paths crossing by sheer chance. She'd found herself sneaking glances at him, intrigued by his rugged looks. Yet, he had seemed aloof, barely acknowledging her presence with his icy demeanor.

But when the explosion thundered, sending the elevator plummeting towards the basement like a stone skipping across a pond, she had braced herself for the worst. In those harrowing moments, she'd thought he would simply save himself, leaving her to fend for herself amidst the chaos. How wrong she was.