Library
Search
Home / Romance / MASKS AND ILLUSIONS / CHAPTER 30.

Share

CHAPTER 30.

Author: tonia
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-17 22:59:29

Daniella’s POV

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the light, sliding through the blinds. The second thing was the knot in my neck from sleeping half-sitting against the arm of the couch. Sometime during the night I’d given up on the bed and drifted off here, still in yesterday’s T-shirt, the phone that had stolen most of my sleep facedown on the coffee table.

I lay still for a minute, listening.

The building hummed its usual morning soundtrack, a pipe clanking as someone showered upstairs, the muffled scrape of a neighbour’s chair, a distant car horn.

The phone was within reach. I didn’t touch it.

Instead, I forced myself upright, stretching until my shoulders popped and padded to the kitchen. The tiles were cold under my bare feet, a small shock that helped shake off the fog. I filled the kettle and set it on the stove.

Last night’s text hovered at the edge of my mind anyway.

I’d read it three times before finally setting the phone face-down, telling
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter
Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Latest chapter

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 30.

    Daniella’s POV The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the light, sliding through the blinds. The second thing was the knot in my neck from sleeping half-sitting against the arm of the couch. Sometime during the night I’d given up on the bed and drifted off here, still in yesterday’s T-shirt, the phone that had stolen most of my sleep facedown on the coffee table. I lay still for a minute, listening. The building hummed its usual morning soundtrack, a pipe clanking as someone showered upstairs, the muffled scrape of a neighbour’s chair, a distant car horn. The phone was within reach. I didn’t touch it. Instead, I forced myself upright, stretching until my shoulders popped and padded to the kitchen. The tiles were cold under my bare feet, a small shock that helped shake off the fog. I filled the kettle and set it on the stove. Last night’s text hovered at the edge of my mind anyway. I’d read it three times before finally setting the phone face-down, telling

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 29.

    Daniella’s POV The hospital doors slide apart with a hiss . I step inside, and the smell of disinfectant rushes up, sharp enough to sting the back of my throat. It’s the same sterile mix I’ve come to know over the past weeks, bleach and cold air and the faint hum of machines, but today it pricks at my nerves like static. My boots squeak on the polished floor. Each step echoes louder than I expect. I tell myself it’s just the acoustics. The front desk sits beneath a broad fluorescent halo. A nurse in powder-blue scrubs glances up from her screen. Her smile is small and polite. “Good afternoon. Visiting?” she asks. “Yes. Olivia Harichi,” I say, the words catching slightly in my throat. “She’s in ICU, room 411.” She types quickly, fingers whispering across the keyboard. “ID, please.” I slide my license across the counter, and while she checks it, my gaze keeps snagging on the elevator behind her. The doors open, close. Families step out clutching flowers, overnight bags, an

  • MASKS AND ILLUSIONS    CHAPTER 28.

    DANIELLA’S POV. The city had quieted to a low mechanical hum by the time I reached my apartment, but the noise inside my head was another story entirely. I let the door swing shut behind me and pressed my back against it, palms flat to the cool wood as though I could keep the night, and everything I’d just overheard, on the other side. No luck. The words followed me in like smoke. They clung to me, every syllable etched into my chest. I hadn’t realized how fast I’d driven until the silence of my apartment wrapped around me. My heartbeat was still a sprint, loud enough that it seemed to bounce off the walls. I kicked off my shoes, each thud of heel to hardwood a small act of defiance, but the sound only sharpened the ache behind my temples. I paced the living room once, twice, again. The lamp in the corner threw a soft cone of gold over the couch, catching on the framed photo, shots of street murals, a polaroid of me and Olivia from a night that suddenly felt a thousand year

  • 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

More Chapters

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status