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Chapter_144
Ludwik stood motionless, his heart heavy, his thoughts a tangled mess of guilt and confusion. Elaine’s frail body in his arms felt like an anchor, grounding him in a reality that he couldn’t escape, but all he could think of was Whitney—the way she had walked away, her back turned, leaving him with nothing but his own broken reflection in the cold hospital garden.
The warmth of the moment with Elaine—the tenderness he had given her, the care in his touch—felt so starkly different from the distance between him and Whitney. He had always believed that protecting Elaine, keeping her safe, was the right thing to do, but now he saw how the same actions had pushed Whitney away. The contrast was painful. She had needed him, too. But he had never truly been there for her—not in the way she had deserved.
He felt his breath catch as he looked down at Elaine, her fragile hand still gripping his neck. She seemed so small, so helpless, and yet in her grasp, he had always felt needed. But now, his heart was torn between the woman in his arms and the one who had just walked away.
“Why didn’t you care for me the same way?” Whitney’s words echoed in his mind, a quiet accusation that cut deeper than any physical wound could have. How could he have been so blind? How could he have allowed this distance to grow between them?
Elaine’s soft voice interrupted his spiraling thoughts, pulling him back to the present. “Is that Whitney?” Her question was a whisper, but it was enough to make Ludwik’s chest tighten.
He didn’t answer her right away. Instead, he stood there, staring at the empty space where Whitney had been, unable to bring himself to explain. He knew there was nothing he could say now that would undo the damage. Nothing could erase the pain in her eyes or the way she had turned away from him, walking into the cold night without so much as a glance back.
“Why did she leave?” Elaine asked again, her voice shaking slightly as she pulled herself closer to Ludwik, seeking comfort.
He didn’t answer right away. His mind was too clouded, his guilt too suffocating. He wished there were words to fix everything, to make it right, but all he had was regret, and it felt like a weight he couldn’t shake off.
Meanwhile, in the car, the silence between Whitney and Tiana was thick and suffocating. The cold air had settled into Whitney’s bones, but it was nothing compared to the coldness inside her. Her heart ached with each beat, but she refused to let the tears fall. She had been through enough heartbreak. She had given Ludwik everything—her trust, her love, her belief in him—and in the end, all he had given her was a lie. A lie wrapped in tenderness and promises, but a lie nonetheless.
Tiana finally broke the silence, her voice quiet but insistent. “Whitney, you need to talk to Ludwik. You need to tell him—”
“No.” Whitney’s voice was barely a whisper, but there was finality in it. She stared out the window, her gaze unfocused, the weight of everything pressing down on her. “There’s no more talking, Tiana. I was a fool. I thought that… maybe, just maybe, he could love me the way I needed him to. But now I see the truth. I can’t keep fighting for something that was never really there.”
She closed her eyes, trying to hold back the overwhelming wave of emotions. “I don’t need his love anymore. Not like this. I need to take care of myself. I need to take care of my baby.”
Tiana didn’t know how to respond. She could feel the pain radiating from Whitney, but there was nothing she could say that would make it better. The hurt was too deep, too raw. All she could do was be there for her friend—silent, supportive, and present.
Back at the hospital, Ludwik was still standing in the same spot, his gaze lost in the empty garden. His chest ached with the realization that he had pushed Whitney too far, that the trust he had built between them had crumbled beneath the weight of his own mistakes. She had given him everything, and he had let her down.
But it wasn’t just his mistakes he had to reckon with—it was his inability to understand her, to truly see her. The woman she had been before everything had gotten so tangled in lies and deceit was someone he had failed to protect. And now, he was alone, with nothing but the fading echo of her departure and the heavy silence between them.
He turned to Elaine, who was still clinging to him, her fragile body shaking. He took a deep breath, trying to ground himself in the present, but all he could feel was the void Whitney had left behind. The woman who had once loved him, who had trusted him, was gone, and it seemed there was nothing left for him to hold onto.
The world outside had grown cold, the snow falling relentlessly, but inside, it felt even colder. The silence, the regret, the unresolved pain—it was unbearable. He didn’t know how to fix this. He didn’t know if he could.
