All Chapters of BEHIND THE MASK: Chapter 101
- Chapter 104
104 chapters
Focus On Me.
SINCLAIR’S POVDarkness had been my only companion.A silence so complete, I thought maybe I’d drowned in it—become part of it.But then, little by little, the quiet fractured.At first, it was pressure. A low hum against my temples. Then warmth—a sharp, blinding light slicing through the back of my eyes. My chest heaved, my ribs rattled. My lungs remembered air before my mind remembered a name.The beeping came next. A steady rhythm. Mechanical. Too steady to belong to my heart.My eyelids dragged upward, every inch heavier than the last, until the ceiling swam into focus. White. Too white. Too clean.A voice so soft and feminine—wrapped around me.“Oh, thank God. You’re awake…”I blinked slowly, turning my head. A woman sat by the bed, elegant in a way that felt staged. Her hair fell in smooth waves. Her perfume was sharp, floral, cloying. She was holding my hand like it belonged to her.She smiled, glossy lips trembling as if the tears brimming in her eyes had been rehearsed.“Sinc
Make Her Pay.
APRIL’S POVI didn’t even wait for the nurse to finish her sentence before I tried to run.Run straight for the ICU doors. Straight for him.My heart was pounding, my throat burning with the desperate need to see Sinclair, to touch him, to remind him I was here.But the guards moved faster. Their arms crossed like iron gates, blocking me, their voices stern. “You can’t go in, Miss Dawn. Orders.”Orders. From who? I didn’t need to ask.Veronica.My fists slammed against the guards’ arms, useless and wild. “He’s awake! You don’t understand—I need to see him!”“Miss Dawn, please—calm down. You’re not allowed inside.”The words blurred in my ears until I could barely hear myself screaming back. My chest heaved like it was splitting open.And then the nurse—her face pale with hesitation—pulled me aside.“April,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “Listen to me… Sinclair—he woke up, yes, but…”My breath caught. My hands trembled. “…but what?”Her ey
I Believed It.
APRIL’S POVThe room was cold.A single lamp swung above me, casting a harsh circle of light that made everything else feel like shadow. I sat at the steel table, my hands free now but still burning from where the cuffs had dug into my wrists.The detectives entered. Same faces as before, but harder this time. Less patient. Less curious. More determined to nail me to a wall I didn’t belong on.“Miss Dawn,” Detective Reeves began, dropping a file onto the table with a thud. “We’ve been at this dance before, haven’t we? But this time, we’re not here for theatrics. We’re here for answers.”His partner, Detective Harper, leaned against the wall, arms folded. Her eyes scanned me like she was stripping me bare.I swallowed, forcing my spine straight. “Then ask your questions.”Reeves flipped the file open. “Sinclair Hale’s accident. We’ve reviewed every angle, every witness statement, every scrap of evidence. And yet—” he snapped the file shut again, leaning in close, “—it all points back t
Temporary.
SINCLAIR’S POVThe first thing I remember is the sound.A low, persistent beeping. Not sharp, not soft—steady. Like it belonged to me. Like it was tethered to the thudding in my chest.I opened my eyes to white. White walls, white sheets, white ceiling. The world blurred, then sharpened, then blurred again. The air smelled of antiseptic, too clean to be real.And her.Veronica.She was perched in the chair beside my bed, her long legs crossed, her hair perfectly styled as if she’d stepped out of a magazine shoot. She had that look again—poised, polished, like a woman who knew exactly where she belonged.Her hands were folded delicately in her lap. But when my eyes met hers, she gasped like I’d handed her the sun.“Sinclair,” she breathed, springing forward to grab my hand. “Oh my God. You’re awake.”Her skin was warm. Too warm.I blinked. My throat was sandpaper, but the word scraped its way out. “Where… am I?”“The hospital..” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’ve been