#Chapter 24: The Walls I Built

Celeste

My heart raced, and a chill ran down my spine as Matt's words lingered in the air.

“I know who you are.”

The universe seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the weight of the revelation to crash down. My mind raced. How? When? Was it Sabrina who told him?

The myriad of possibilities replayed in my mind: a slip of my tongue, an unwitting recognition by a mutual acquaintance, or maybe the mask hadn’t been as concealing as I’d hoped.

Memories of the past, moments of vulnerability, and my reasons for donning the mask in the first place cascaded through my thoughts.

The pain of old scars, the years spent constructing the walls around my heart, and the hope that tonight, just tonight, I could be someone else—all of it threatened to come undone.

Was I so transparent, so easily deciphered? If Matt had seen through me, how many others had as well?

With every heartbeat that thundered in my ears, fear intertwined with embarrassment. I was on the precipice of being exposed, and the freefa