Love beyond the mask (Whitney) novel Chapter 1224

But Shane knew all too well he’d acted recklessly. His usually handsome face now looked stormy, a mix of frustration and guilt clouding his features. “Whitney, when did you get here? And what’s the deal with all these reporters?”

His sharp eyes narrowed at her.

Whitney shot him a glare, clearly annoyed. “Are you even awake yet? Seriously, you think I called the paparazzi? They’re here because my grandma set all this up. She wanted to catch you in the act with Sienna, get it all over the tabloids, and force you into marrying her!”

Shane froze, a chill flashing in his eyes.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to piece together last night’s chaos. “Sienna? I vaguely remember seeing her at my place. She said she was there to take care of me, brought Tina along too.

I told her to leave, tried to get her out, but she didn’t even get mad.

Then she gave me some ‘hangover soup’ or whatever, and after that, I just crashed on the bed. Couldn’t get up...”

“Hangover soup? Are you kidding me?” Whitney scoffed, rolling her eyes. “That was no soup—it was something she drugged! Sienna set you up, Shane. She wanted to make sure you two ended up in bed together, and Grandma was backing her. Then they brought in a bunch of reporters in the middle of the night to trap you, leave you no way out.”

“So that’s what was going on. Damn it!” Shane cursed, finally getting the whole picture. He’d almost walked right into their trap last night.

“Thank God it was Sandy who ended up staying over…”

He turned, eyes darting to the bed where only half of Sandy’s head was poking out from the covers. She’d clearly been listening to every word.

Her eyes were red and glistening, cold as ice as she glared at Whitney.

She heard it all.

She wasn’t stupid.

But after a brief pause, Whitney gently but firmly pried Sandy’s hands off. “No, Sandy. Hate me if you want, but it’s too late. There’s no way to stop this story now, and I won’t try to cover it up.”

“Why? You’re my sister! How could you just stand there and watch me get trashed by Shane?”

Sandy was burning up inside, no idea where to put her anger.

Shane heard her words and his own eyes flickered with pain.

His face was tight. “Sandy, I know I screwed up last night. But I swear I didn’t fully cross the line. And besides, you know as well as I do—we’ve been tangled up in each other’s lives for years now.”

“I don’t get it! I don’t understand any of this. All I know is you all decided to swap me in for Sienna, but did anyone ever care what I wanted?”

Sandy felt like she was drowning in all of it, dragged under with no way to breathe.