Novel & Cerita When His Perfect Mask Shattered, I Awoke

I reached out instinctively, but my heel slipped against the floor, making me land with a heavy thud. The silver mask shifted. There was a sharp sound. No no no!!. It… broke!!.

He always knew what was best for me. Suddenly, the mask that had been my shield for the night just felt suffocating. In a surge of emotion, I tore it off, the elastic snapping sharply against my fingers. I looked at it in my hand; the very thing that had given me the courage to be someone who I wasn’t. I hated it. Without thinking, I crumpled the mask in my cold fingers, feeling a combination of satisfaction and sorrow fill my chest as I felt the lace and plastic break beneath my grip.

Clark said in a raspy voice, throwing a bedsheet over my naked body. He was seated on a swivel chair, his forehead creased with deep lines, his eyes seeming a little distant. He was the only one who had seen me without a mask since the first night I lost sanity, the only person who truly knew me. I blinked, sitting up, my eyes roaming over the damage in my room. The desk was broken, papers strewn on the floor; the window was broken, and shards of glass littered the floor. But as my surroundings sank into my mind, my brows furrowed.

My image rippled, broken, like the woman I had become. He moved closer, his presence wrapping around me. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” I shook my head. “No one wants to hear my thoughts.” “I do.” Something inside me cracked. My voice shook. “I feel… dead. Like every breath is stolen. Like every day, I wear a mask that’s killing me.” His jaw stiffened, his hands curling at his sides. “Then take it off. At least for tonight.” My chest ached. “I don’t know how anymore.”

He yanked the blanket off her, and she rolled around before clutching a pillow tight against her. Clapping his hands, the sound bouncing off the walls, he said, “Sorry to wake you, Sleeping Beauty, but it’s time to go.” She cracked her eyes open with a yawn, stretching out her body before striking a teasingly sexy pose on the bed. “Good morning, Alex,” she greeted, flashing him a smile. Damn. She knew his name. That was a mistake. He hadn’t bothered to remember hers—didn’t care enough to. “Well, it’s time to leave,” he said, snapping his fingers to rush her along.

The Director mask fit like a second skin. But somewhere behind it, the man still bled. And still wondered if the girl sleeping just down the hall would destroy him the way Isa’s ghost already had.

“Your daughter weaving lies in candle smoke while the crown sits still on another’s head.” The mask slipped further than I intended. Rage shivered out of me, low and guttural. I slammed my fist into the mirror. Glass exploded, shards raining across the floor like frozen stars. My reflection broke into a thousand jagged pieces — and I liked it better that way. Jude’s face rose in my mind, unbidden. Too perfect, too revered, too blessed. The child of accident and abomination, raised up as if the world had been waiting for him.

The moment my fingers brushed his skin, a rush of heat spread through me. I began to back away after realizing what I had done, but he grabbed my wrist and pressed my palm firmly against his cheek. Holding it there like he never wanted me to take it away. “Do you know what it means,” his voice was softer now, “When someone removes the mask of perfection and stands before you… flawed, unguarded and completely bare?” I gave a small shake of my head, though my breath caught in anticipation of what he’d say next. “It means they choose to live with you in their sadness, not just their joy. With their worst, not just their best. With their madness before their reason.”

he commanded, his voice strained. I opened my eyes, my vision blurred by tears I didn't even realize were falling. I saw him, the man behind the mask. He was undone. The control he spent every waking hour maintaining was shattering. His movements became faster, more desperate, his forehead resting against mine as he whispered my name like a prayer.

"I'm awake." "You're okay." "I'm okay." He held my face for one more second. Then his expression shifted. The relief hardened into something else. The tenderness armored back over and he straightened. The mask came up. "You stupid, reckless, completely insane human." "Good morning to you too."