All Chapters of Beneath The Mask : Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

I stood frozen as they lowered Grandma into the ground. This was the last time I’d ever see her face, the last time I could pretend she was my anchor in this world. It still felt unreal like any second, she would rise and scold me for crying too much. But she wasn’t coming back, she is gone, the world felt emptier than I ever thought it could.She had been my everything after I lost my mom as a child and my father… well, he wasn’t dead, but he’d been gone for over ten years. Grandma said his life crumbled because of gambling. He lost everything, properties, money, even his pride. Loan sharks dragged him away when I was about five, I remember clutching Grandma’s hand as strangers dragged my father out of the house, yet he still tried, in his own broken way, to check in. He would show up once in a long while, bruised and tired, holding me tightly before disappearing again. Later, when the visits stopped, letters came instead, promising he was working to repay his debts so he could retur

Asher PrescottThe stack of paperwork sat in front of me like a mountain, my eyes burned from exhaustion and my patience was nonexistent. I leaned back in my leather chair, exhaling a sharp breath. This was the fifth assistant I had fired this year alone. Five in eight months, I do not enjoy the reputation of being a cold, impossible boss, but if people insisted on making stupid mistakes, what choice did I have?Tonight’s disaster was inexcusable, it was past nine, and instead of reviewing the finalized documents for a billion-dollar deal I was signing at noon tomorrow, I was staring at the wrong file altogether. A merger contract had been swapped for a marketing proposal. I grabbed my phone and dialed my secretary, “You gave me the wrong documents,” I snapped. “If I don’t get the correct file on my desk tonight, in my house, don’t bother showing up tomorrow, consider yourself fired.” I ended the call before she could stammer out an excuse.I raked my hand through my hair. Why do I a

LorettaI arrived in New York that weekend, dragging my small suitcase behind me as I stepped into the airport’s arrival lounge. The noise was overwhelming, honking horns, hurried footsteps. I was finally here.Tonia insisted on picking me up, even though I told her several times that I could just take a cab. I should have known she wouldn’t take no for an answer, cause there she was, leaning casually against a sleek black Benz, that was gleaming under the sun. “Girl!” she squealed, rushing toward me with open arms, we hugged tightly. I slipped into the passenger seat, sinking into leather so smooth, the scent inside, clean and expensive. This wasn’t the old beat-up Toyota I remembered her driving during our university days.“Wow, Tonia,” I said, running my hand along the dashboard, “this car looks new, and it smells like it too. How on earth are you affording something like this, We only graduated not too long ago.”She grinned, slipping on her shades. “I told you, New York change