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Chapter_249
Whitney’s mind raced as she navigated the familiar city streets, her thoughts tangled in a web of uncertainty and unease. The fleeting image of the child she had seen in the Bentley haunted her, an unsettling sense of familiarity gnawing at her. Her son was safely out of the country, yet the child’s face, those innocent eyes, tugged at something deep inside her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had seen him before.
Her heart quickened with every passing block, but she forced herself to remain focused on the present. The task ahead was more urgent than the lingering memories of her past. She turned the wheel sharply, the tires skidding slightly as she followed Orion’s cryptic directions. A quiet side street awaited her, leading to a discreet café—one of those places where business was always done in the shadows, behind closed doors.
She parked the car, threw it in park, and stepped out, adjusting her jacket and smoothing her hair. There was no turning back now.
Inside the café, she was greeted by the all-too-familiar face of Orion. His wide grin was as ever, that mischievous gleam in his eyes betraying the seriousness lurking just beneath the surface.
“Whitney,” he greeted, his voice almost too cheerful, as he stood up to give her a half-hearted hug. His tone carried a knowing edge as he gestured for her to sit. “Good to see you again. I hope your day’s been productive?”
She dropped into the chair, her gaze fixed on him with a practiced intensity. “Cut the small talk, Orion. I know you didn’t drag me all the way out here for a friendly chat. What’s going on?”
Orion chuckled, settling into his own chair, but there was no mistaking the shift in the air. “Straight to the point. I like that. But as you know, nothing comes free in this world, and you owe me. The favor from three years ago? It’s time to cash in.” He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping to a more serious tone. “But don’t worry,” he added with a wink, “this will be mutually beneficial.”
Whitney’s eyes narrowed, her lips tightening. She’d known this day would come. The favor she owed him—the promise made—loomed larger now than it ever had before. “What do you want me to do?”
Orion’s expression hardened as he leaned forward. “You know my brother Ludwik’s been struggling with something for a while, right?” He paused, his gaze flicking to hers as if testing her reaction. “He won’t talk about it, but I’ve heard rumors. He’s been to every top doctor, and no one can figure it out. That’s where you come in.”
Whitney recoiled slightly, her gut twisting. “You want me to treat him?” The disbelief in her voice was impossible to hide. She had expected many things, but this was not one of them.
Orion nodded, his eyes gleaming with something darker now. “I want you to do more than that. I want you to get close. Get inside his life. He’s hiding something, Whitney, and I need you to find out what it is.”
Her hands clenched into fists on the table, her pulse racing. “You want me to use my position as his doctor to pry into his personal life? That’s not just unethical—it’s dangerous.”
Orion’s smile only deepened, the malice in his expression growing more pronounced. “Dangerous? Maybe. But you owe me, Whitney. You made a promise three years ago. And I always collect on my debts.”
Whitney stared at him, her mind spinning with the implications of his words. She had agreed to help him once, but this? This was not what she had envisioned. She knew Orion well enough to understand that backing out now would only invite more trouble than she was prepared to handle.
“Fine,” she said, her voice cold as ice. “But this better not come back to bite me.”
Orion’s grin widened, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “It won’t. You have my word.”
The conversation shifted gears as Orion produced a contract from his briefcase, sliding it across the table toward her. “Sign this, and we’re in business.”
Whitney hesitated for only a moment, her gaze flickering over the document before her. She didn’t need to read every word to know what this was. As her hand reached for the pen, a chill ran through her. There would be no backing out now. The weight of her decision settled heavy on her shoulders as she scrawled her name at the bottom of the page.
She handed the contract back to him, the air between them thick with the unspoken weight of what had just transpired. “Now, tell me everything you know about Ludwik.”
Orion glanced at her, his amusement flickering for a moment before his voice dropped to a low, almost sinister tone. “I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”
Meanwhile, Ludwik sat in the back of the Bentley, his thoughts clouded with unease. His son, Daniel, sat beside him, unusually quiet. The little boy’s gaze was fixed out the window, his expression distant. Ludwik couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Daniel had been strangely distracted since they left the hospital, as if something was weighing on him.
Finally, the silence was broken by Daniel’s soft voice. “There was a woman staring at me, Dad. She looked… familiar.”
Ludwik’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, his heart skipping a beat. He glanced at his son, his voice tight with tension. “What woman?” he asked, his gaze darting to Daniel.
The boy shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal. “I don’t know. She was just standing there, staring at me. I think she was following us.”
Ludwik’s face hardened, his jaw tightening in response. “Stay away from people like that, Daniel. Don’t talk to strangers. You understand?”
Daniel nodded, but the curiosity was still there, evident in his eyes. “Who was she, Dad? Was it someone you know?”
Ludwik’s expression darkened, his thoughts spinning. “Nobody you need to worry about,” he muttered under his breath.
His mind raced. Could it have been Whitney? The idea of her showing up in his life again, after all these years, was deeply unsettling. If she was truly back in the city, what did that mean for everything he had built, everything he had worked so hard to protect?
As the Bentley sped down the road, Ludwik’s thoughts continued to churn. The weight of the past and the uncertainty of the future pressed in on him, and the air inside the car grew thick with tension.
Back in her car, Whitney couldn’t shake the strange feeling of déjà vu that had come over her. The child in the car, the sense of recognition she had felt—was it possible that it had been her son she had seen earlier? The questions gnawed at her, but she quickly shoved them aside. There was work to be done. She had made her choice, and now there was no turning back.
As the city skyline blurred past her, Whitney couldn’t escape the eerie sensation that this was just the beginning. The game, it seemed, had only just begun.
