Love beyond the mask ( Whitney )
Chapter 702

Ludwik's gaze darkened as he momentarily lost focus, his grip on the steering wheel slipping, and the car veered towards a turning junction, heading straight for an oncoming Maybach!

Instinctively, Ludwik tried to hit the brakes, but it was too late.

The two vehicles collided with a loud bang.

"Danny..." His first reaction was to anxiously look back at the rear seat.

"Dad, were you even driving properly?!"

Danny, being just a kid, was terrified and burst into tears.

Ludwik, apologetic, quickly got out of the car and rushed to the back door. Thankfully, Danny had his seatbelt on, showing his strong sense of safety. It seemed he had hit his head against the car door and was in pain. "I'm so sorry, buddy. Are you okay?" he said, lifting the child out of the car.

The Maybach driver also came to a stop and quickly got out, asking with concern, "Is the kid hurt?"

After checking Danny over and breathing a sigh of relief, Ludwik replied, "He's fine. I'm really sorry, it was my fault. I'll cover the costs."

The driver glanced at the sobbing child and then walked back to the Maybach.

The car window rolled down, revealing a man's profile that seemed to belong to someone in his middle ages.

The driver asked, "Sir, how would you like to handle this?"

The middle-aged man glanced towards Ludwik and said in a low, cold voice, "Forget about it. Just make sure the kid is alright."

Ludwik couldn't help but steal a glance at the understanding car owner.

Then, his sharp gaze turned slightly surprised... The man in the car, dignified and clearly of no ordinary status, bore a striking resemblance to Parker Doonan?

The window closed quickly, so fast that Ludwik thought he might have been mistaken.

The driver came back, kindly saying, "Our boss said to let it go. Just be more careful when driving with kids next time. We have to rush, so we'll be leaving now."

"Thank you..."

Ludwik nodded, his gaze deep, watching as the Maybach quickly drove away.

The luxury of the car was comparable to that of a Bentley, and... it headed towards Brew Hill, the wealthy district.

Ludwik frowned. Since taking over as CEO of the Lippert family, he had thoroughly familiarized himself with the nobility of Brew Hill but had never seen this middle-aged man before. Was he a new resident in the Brew Hill elite circle? He was sure this man wasn't from the Emperor City business tycoons...

This brief incident didn't distract Ludwik from his sorrow, though, because Whitney was going to live with Bryce.

He couldn't believe Bryce wouldn't lay a hand on her.

Just the thought of Whitney under Bryce was heart-wrenching.

Not to mention, he was even more worried about Whitney getting pregnant with Bryce's child. Bryce was far from a good man.

Even if he couldn't be with Whitney, he didn't want to see her jump into a pit of fire.

"Danny."

Ludwik placed his son back in the car and hesitated before saying, "Could you maybe call your mom in a couple of days, tell her you had an accident, got hurt, and want her to come over?"

"...?" Danny gave his dad a speechless look, his tears stopping in disbelief.

"Ludwik, you're not planning on using that old trick to deceive Mom, are you?" The man realized he had indeed resorted to such tactics before, his face darkening. Danny shook his head, "Mom hates liars the most, and you're the prime example. Besides, if I always oppose her being with Bryce, she might end up hating me too."

"But it wouldn't be lying since we did just have an accident, and you were scared enough to cry."

Ludwik tried to reason.

Danny's face darkened, angered, he wiped his tears away, "That's because you can't drive!

Forget it, Mom's already married. Using this kind of excuse will only make her see through you more easily, and she'll dislike you even more."

Ludwik's eyes pleaded, "Danny, have I ever asked you for any help?

Hardly ever, right?

If your mom had married a good man, I wouldn't bother her.

Bryce is deceitful and vile, deeply hidden. I think you've seen it too. You don't want her to suffer in the future, do you?

I'm worried she will get hurt."

His words quickly cooled Danny's anger, hitting him right in the heart.

Actually, he disagreed with his mom being with Bryce because Bryce was bad.

But his mom couldn't see it.

After a moment of internal struggle, Danny, for the first time, saw his dad speak so pitifully and reluctantly nodded, then glared at his dad, "You're also bad, you've already made mom miserable. You're just openly bad, like always tempting innocent me. Why don't you tempt Sammy?!"

Ludwik choked up, embarrassed.

Sammy wouldn't even agree to visit their grandmother or acknowledge their lineage. He hadn't shown up this morning either.

Aside from guilt, Ludwik felt helpless about this son.

"Your brother is too opinionated."

"So you're saying I'm dumb." Danny pouted angrily.

Ludwik tactfully retreated to the driver's seat, not daring to offend this little emperor anymore.

He took Danny to the Lippert Group first.

When Jason Lippert heard his grandson was there, he immediately came to the CEO's office.

Danny still felt a bit estranged from his grandfather but seeing how much more worn he looked, presumably due to the Lippert family's decline weighing on him, Danny couldn't help feeling a bit of sympathy and smiled shyly at his grandfather. Jason's heart nearly melted, carrying his grandson around the office.

Finally, after having his fill of time with his grandson, Jason asked his assistant to take Danny out.

The office was then left with just the father and son.

Jason looked sternly at Ludwik, his face turning pale, "I asked you to come back to the company a few days ago, and you dared to go out drinking and got yourself beaten up..." "Father, I know I was wrong."

Ludwik took the initiative to apologize, "I was just too overwhelmed those days, I had my moments of weakness, but I've adjusted now.

Didn't you say that the chairman of the Inko Group secretly came to Emperor City?

That company is aligned with the president's faction, right?

You wanted their monopoly chips to help the Lippert family through this crisis, I remember it all."

"If I had a solid lead on the chairman of Inko Group, I'd definitely try to get in touch with the man..." Jason was somewhat relieved to see his friend wasn't too lost in despair to forget what was important.

He sighed and shook his head, "Inko Group keeps a really low profile, and the chairman is like a ghost.

All I've heard is that the guy bought some property on Brew Hill, but which mansion he picked up is anyone's guess... And it's unclear if he's even moved to Emperor City. Never even seen the guy's face, so tracking him down is gonna be tough."

Bought property on Brew Hill? An out-of-towner?

For some reason, Ludwik's mind flashed back to the man involved in the car accident earlier.

A middle-aged man, driving towards Brew Hill.

What struck Ludwik was how much the man resembled Parker.

Could it be some relative of Parker's?