The Mask She Wears

Tania||

The doctor's words hit me like a sledgehammer: "Tania, I'm afraid you have stage-three cancer. I'm so sorry but you only have three months left to live."

Blood drained out of me as the words hovered above my ears. They rang out in my head over and over, finally settling the bitter truth in my brain. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I couldn't believe it.

"I am going to die."

Warm hands suddenly clutched my shoulders and I turned to find Nicholas, my husband, by my side with pain etched on his features.

"We will get through this together, Tania. Please don't cry."

His words only made it more difficult for me not to cry. His handsome face was a brutal reminder that I was going to leave him soon. And to think we didn't even have a child he could use to remember me by?

"I am so sorry, Nicholas... I am sorry," I cried, my words choking in my throat as the pain clutched me.

I thought of my sister, whom I had vouched to protect after the death of our parents. I promised that I wouldn't leave her, but here I was doing the very same thing our parents did. I was going to leave her.

Nicholas's hands tightened around me; "Doctor isn't there something we can do? We have the money. We can afford any kind of treatment... This woman you are seeing here is my life. I can't lose her..."

The tears on my face became a river at Nicholas's painful words. Why did this have to happen to me?

"I am sorry, Mr. Nicholas. There is nothing I can do at this point." The doctor sighed, closing off the files on the table. He turned his eyes towards me, and I could see the pity in them.

"What you have, is terminal, Mrs. Tania. I can only advise that you enjoy this period with your family. You will need all the support you can get at this period."

Time stopped as the details of my sickness echoed in my head.

That was all I had. "Just three months?" I whimpered and the doctor nodded.

He began to mumble a response, but I could barely understand as I buried my head in Nicholas's chest and cried my eyes out.

"We'll get through this together," Nicholas repeated, his voice filled with conviction.

***

After crying for two days straight, blaming God and everything I could think of, I wiped my tears and decided to follow the doctor's advice. If I was going to die, I would make sure to spend enough time with my friends and family.

And the first person on that list, was my husband, Nicholas.

I picked up my phone and turned it on. Ever since my diagnosis, I have turned off my phone, refusing to speak to anyone. But today, was different. I wasn't going to let the last three months of my life be filled with boredom or tears.

I dialed Marcus first, ignoring the hundreds of work emails. He was my assistant and best friend.

"Tania, my God, I have been so worried. How are you feeling? Nicholas told me everything..."

My heart flipped but I swallowed the pain and forced a smile. "It's fine. I am fine." I lied.

The line was silent for a few seconds, and I could already guess what he wanted to say, so I quickly cut him off.

"I need you to prepare a vacation for me and Nicholas for a week in Paris. Can you please do that for me?"

"Sure... But what about the office?" He replied and I rolled my eyes, realizing I couldn't avoid this for too long.

"Prepare the handing over documents, I’ll come sign who will be taking over. And don’t forget the plane tickets." I ended the call and took a long shower, forcing my brain to forget about my problems.

When I was done, my mind was also made up. I was dying and I had no child. The best thing to do would be to hand over the company while I still breathed.

I got dressed and sent a text to my driver to come pick me up. A few minutes later, I was on my way to the office and as I looked out the window, I realized that the world was a different color. For the first time, I just let myself relax, forgetting about the prices of stock and how it was moving in the business world.

Finally, we got to my office building, and I got down with a bright smile on my face.

"Welcome ma'am," the receptionist greeted me as I made my way into the building.

I pulled out a fifty-dollar bill from my purse and placed it on her table as was my habit. "Get something to eat Laura."

"Thank you, ma'am. Have a great day." Excitement dripped from her voice, and I smiled. Happy that I could put a smile on her face.

As I got into my office, Marcus was already waiting with the document in his hand.

"I have the tickets and here is the document you asked me to prepare." He placed it on the desk and his brows furrowed. "Who will be the next CEO of White-Angel Inc?"

With a smile on my face, I brought down my pen and wrote her name. There was no one else I could give it to.

"Eloise White." I finished signing the documents and handed them back to Marcus, ignoring his shocked face. "Please send a copy to all managers, I want it to be implemented immediately."

"Tania, how can you give it to Eloise? She hasn't done anything in the company since she joined other than spending the money... Plus do you even know what she has been up to lately?"

My face instantly morphed into rage as I glared at him. Yes, Eloise was a very hot-headed female who did things her way. We didn't even see eye to eye, but she was still my blood, and he had no right to question my choice.

"Watch your mouth, Marcus!" I hissed, getting to my feet. "Eloise is my sister. I do not have a child. Marcus has enough shares to take care of himself, but she has nothing. This is the least I can give to her."

Marcus clutched the papers in his hand and nodded. "Very well then. I hope you know what you are doing. I will implement the changes as you have said."

As Marcus walked out, my eyes caught the tickets he had placed on the table and my good mood returned. I came here to give Nicholas the tickets myself and now, I could also tell Eloise the good news.

She might not be very happy to see me, but I hoped she would at least open her heart to me after I told her about her promotion. I grabbed the tickets and headed down to her office.

The closer I got to Eloise's office, a sense of fear and excitement took over my insides. I could not understand what it was, but it prompted me to suddenly move faster.

The emotion got the better of me as I got to her office and without knocking, I unlocked the door and stepped in.

But as I entered, my heart and my world exploded right before me.

Nicholas and Eloise were locked in a passionate embrace with their clothes hanging from their bodies.

“Oh Nicholas… yes… hmm…” Eloise moaned shamelessly as Nicholas pounded inside her.

The world dimmed before me, and I couldn’t even begin to process what was happening. "Nicholas..." My voice finally cracked as tears filled my face and my heart squeezed itself.

They didn't jerk apart as I would have expected, but they took their time to slowly break away from each other like I didn’t matter.

"What do you want, Tania?" Eloise hissed.

My mouth opened to respond but the pain in my heart was too heavy. It had frozen me into the ground, and I still couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Nicholas pulled an envelope from the desk and came closer to me, with his zipper still opened.

"This is the divorce paper, Tania. You are dying, remember?"