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Chapter_176
Orion didn’t even flinch as the card hit the table, his smirk unwavering, almost as though he were used to such displays. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms with a casual air that only seemed to heighten Whitney’s fury.
“You really are something else,” she hissed, her voice thick with a combination of anger and disbelief. “You’ve destroyed everything for your own gain. And now you think throwing money at the problem will fix it? You’ve turned my family’s life into a living hell, and here you are, pretending to be some kind of savior?”
Orion’s smile remained, but a shift in his eyes betrayed something colder, more calculating. “I’m just trying to help, Ms. Valentine,” he said smoothly, his tone almost mocking. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? Maybe you should stop and think about what I’m offering before you throw it all away. After all, your uncle isn’t getting any younger, and with the way things are going, his life sentence isn’t going to be so easy to escape. But hey, if you don’t want the money…” He let the words hang in the air, a challenge to her every move.
Whitney’s chest rose and fell in quick succession as her emotions swirled violently. Her fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms as she struggled to keep her composure. Her mind raced—her uncle was facing a life sentence, her family was crumbling, and Ludwik… Ludwik had vanished without a trace. The weight of it all threatened to crush her, but she refused to show weakness, not to him.
“You think money can fix everything, don’t you?” she spat, her voice laced with contempt. “But you can’t buy loyalty. You can’t buy integrity. You can’t buy love, and that’s what you’ll never understand, Orion.”
He raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by her response. “Oh, I understand more than you think, Whitney,” he said, a cold amusement in his voice. “You’re just too stubborn to see it.”
“Stubborn?” Whitney let out a bitter laugh, her words dripping with sarcasm. “No, I’m not stubborn. I’m just not blind. You and your father have done enough damage already, and I won’t be part of your game.”
Orion’s expression tightened for a moment, a flash of something darker crossing his face before he shrugged it off. “If that’s how you want to play it, fine. But don’t forget, I’m offering you a way out. Not everyone would.”
Without warning, Whitney stood up, her chair scraping harshly against the floor, her heart pounding in her chest as a surge of fury threatened to consume her. “I don’t need your ‘help,’ Orion. I need you to leave me the hell alone. Now.”
Orion didn’t immediately respond, but his smirk never faltered. His eyes gleamed with a dangerous edge. “You’ll regret this, Whitney,” he warned, his voice low and threatening. “When the dust settles, and everyone’s forgotten your name, you’ll wish you’d taken my offer.”
With those words, he stood and slid the card back into his pocket with exaggerated care. He turned on his heel and walked away, his arrogance palpable with each step. Whitney’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table, struggling to keep herself from screaming, from throwing something, from letting him see just how deeply he had provoked her.
As soon as he was gone, she exhaled shakily, trying to calm the storm still raging inside her. Her heart remained heavy, weighed down with the fears surrounding Ludwik, her uncle’s situation, and the fallout of everything that had happened. She couldn’t afford to crumble now—she had to stay strong, for herself, for the baby, and for Ludwik, wherever he was.
She turned to leave the coffee shop, her mind racing with all that had transpired, but before she could step outside, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She glanced at the screen and froze.
“Meet me at the old warehouse. Alone.”
The message was from Ludwik.
Her heart leaped into her throat. Was he back? Had he come to his senses? Could this really be him reaching out, or was it another cruel twist of fate? Another test? Another game?
She quickly tapped out a reply: “I’ll be there. Please don’t do anything reckless.”
The response came swiftly: “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Just come.”
Whitney’s pulse raced as she hurriedly hailed a cab, her mind spinning with unanswered questions. What was waiting for her at the warehouse? What had changed? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t sit idly by and wait for answers. She needed to see Ludwik, to find him, to make sure he was okay.
As the cab sped toward the address, her mind was a whirlwind of possibilities. Was this finally the turning point? Or was this just another trap, another bitter twist in the already cruel saga that had defined her life?
