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CHAPTER 24.

Author: tonia
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-10 16:36:41

Olivia’s POV

The first thing that settled over me was confusion. Thick, heavy, relentless confusion.

I was home. But I couldn’t shake off the fact that Daniel is just missing. My father had died in the kitchen. I remembered the way he had collapsed, how they rushed him to the hospital. Yet now, now the hospital claimed he had never been there. No record. Nothing.

It didn’t make sense.

I lingered in the living room, my mind thrashing against itself. Had I imagined it? Had grief twisted the memory? No. I could still see it, I literally just saw it happen again.

And then there was Taylor.

I turned my gaze toward her. She sat hunched at the edge of the couch, eyes fixed on nothing, a cigarette lit between her fingers. She's broken. Her face was blotchy from crying, her body folded inward.

Smoking, in a house, with a five year old child.

But what gutted me wasn’t the grief. It was the absence.

Taylor wasn’t asking questions. She wasn’t demanding answers from the doctors, wasn’t
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  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 27.

    THEO’S POV. The lock snicks into place with a click. Daniela is on the other side of the door, still catching her breath. “Stay quiet,” I murmur through the wood, barely a vibration of sound. “No matter what you hear.” Silence answers me—good. I rest my palm against the door for one heartbeat longer, then pull it back and force my shoulders loose. My father notices everything; the smallest tremor will give me away. The elevator bell chimes and opens to a very familiar face. “Father.” “Theodore.” His tone is as controlled as the dark overcoat framing him, the same cool authority he carries. He steps inside without waiting for an invitation. Rain beads on the shoulders of his coat, he dusts them off, and they slide down in neat lines. His eyes sweep the condo once, sharp as a ledger entry. “You took your time,” he says. It isn’t a complaint. It’s a statement. “I was occupied,” I answer, matching his steadiness. “With?” A single syllable, light but edged. “Busi

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 26.

    OLIVIA’S POV. Darkness folds around me, soft and endless, yet my mind will not stay quiet. Something keeps me hovering between nowhere and then, like I’m drifting through the thin skin of a dream I can’t wake from. I’m walking through memory as if it’s a real place. The apartment hallway stretches ahead, narrow and yellowed, the paint curling at the edges like old paper. The air smells faintly of dust and warm metal from the radiator. A single bulb hums above me. I stand at the threshold of my childhood. Little me sits in the middle of the living room floor, legs folded, head bent in quiet concentration. She doesn’t look up. She never does. Her world is a scattered circle of toys, plastic beads, a stuffed bear missing one ear, a chipped coffee table where she’s lined up three cups like they’re guests at a tea party. The refrigerator rumbles and clicks, nearly empty inside. I don’t call out. I couldn’t, even if I tried. She’s five years old and entirely alone. A b

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 25.

    Daniella’s POVThe door slammed shut behind me, and before I could even find my voice to curse Theo out, the sharp click of a lock followed.I froze.Did this man really just lock me in a room like I was some stranger who accidentally stumbled into the wrong party? Technically, I am. But that's not the point. My fists curled, nails digging into my palms. “Unbelievable,” I muttered, pacing the length of the room.The space was cold. Minimal. It wasn’t even a bedroom, more like a guest lounge with muted walls and leather chairs that smelled unused. Everything in here screamed money.Just like him.I pressed my ear to the door. At first, silence. Then, faint, measured footsteps. There's someone else, and by the noise from the footsteps, it wasn't a woman. I took a deep breath in, almost as if I was a bit relieved. Things would have been way more complicated if it were a woman.A voice followed. Calm and firm.“Theo.”My stomach dropped. Whoever that was, he wasn’t a guest.I strained

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 24.

    Olivia’s POV The first thing that settled over me was confusion. Thick, heavy, relentless confusion. I was home. But I couldn’t shake off the fact that Daniel is just missing. My father had died in the kitchen. I remembered the way he had collapsed, how they rushed him to the hospital. Yet now, now the hospital claimed he had never been there. No record. Nothing. It didn’t make sense. I lingered in the living room, my mind thrashing against itself. Had I imagined it? Had grief twisted the memory? No. I could still see it, I literally just saw it happen again. And then there was Taylor. I turned my gaze toward her. She sat hunched at the edge of the couch, eyes fixed on nothing, a cigarette lit between her fingers. She's broken. Her face was blotchy from crying, her body folded inward. Smoking, in a house, with a five year old child. But what gutted me wasn’t the grief. It was the absence. Taylor wasn’t asking questions. She wasn’t demanding answers from the doctors, wasn’t

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 23.

    DANIELLA’S POV. Earlier on, I decided to leave the hospital after a failed attempt of spying on Theo.I left my apartment in a rush, barely remembering to grab my keys. The city outside was already awake, obviously. I don’t know what I was expecting. It’s freaking LA. Cars were honking, people spilling into the streets, but it all sounded muted to me. My mind was on Olivia.The drive to the hospital blurred past.Theo was already there, sitting stiffly by her bed. He didn’t even look up when I entered. The tension between us was thick, leftover from our last conversation, the one he cut short with that damn phone call.I stayed silent at first, just watching him.I don’t know why, but I was.Minutes passed like hours. I could feel his presence like static in the room, heavy and unrelenting. His calmness irritated me. Who sits like that, so controlled, when the girl they supposedly care about is unconscious in a hospital bed?Finally, he stood. “I need to go,” he muttered, adjusting h

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 22.

    OLIVIA’S POV. For three days straight, younger me had eaten nothing but cereal. Mum was too tired from crying her eyes out all day to even make me a proper meal. For long, I used to think of the day I would see my mother again. I had created a lot of excuses for her in my head and tried to be an understanding person. I only ever remembered bits of what happened when dad died. I never remembered the constant neglect from the woman I called mum. Dad died and took our happiness alongside. Mine and Mum's. It was a tragic incident, and we both felt the impact of it deeply. Like a part of our soul was chipped away. I'm still trying to understand Mum right now, as I stare at her from behind. She's seated on the couch, holding the last photo dad took of all of us together in the kitchen. If I held that picture and I was her, I would put it down later on and check my kid. I wouldn't want my kid to feel the pain I'm feeling. I would try to be happy so that my kid never feels the effec

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