All Chapters of Shattered Mask: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
84 chapters
CHAPTER 71
CENTRE OF ATTRACTIONThe atmosphere in the cafeteria shifted from the sterile silence of preparation to a thunderous, terrifying roar. It began with the chime of the executive elevators. Then came the footsteps: hundreds of pairs of custom-crafted leather soles striking the polished floor in a rhythmic, aggressive pace.The double doors swung open, and the scent of power flooded the room, a suffocating mixture of expensive tobacco, designer cologne, and the cold, metallic ozone of high-stakes air conditioning. The CEOs, flushed with the excitement of the "New Beginning" promised by the Heir upstairs, poured into the space like a predatory pack.Robert stood behind the carving station, his hands trembling beneath his white service gloves. He gripped the stag-horn handle of the carving knife so tightly that his knuckles ached. He kept his head bowed, focusing on the steam rising from the prime rib, praying to a God he had not spoken to in years that he would remain a shadow.But the
CHAPTER 72
WAITING FOR THE HEIRThrough it all, Linda remained the anchor. She stood in the centre of the storm, absorbing the hatred that was being directed at her children and her husband. She watched Robert’s hands shake; she saw the tears shimmering in Leslie’s eyes; she felt Bernard’s volatile rage.She knew she could end it with one sentence. She could tell Thorne about the offshore accounts she knew he held; she could remind Vane about the scandal she had buried for him five years ago. But she also knew that power was gone. In the Rothwell Tower, she was a vendor, and vendors did not talk back to the Board.She closed her eyes for a brief second, imagining the Heir sitting in the Apex above. Is this what you wanted? she thought. Did you bring us here to be flayed alive by our own peers?When she opened her eyes, she looked at Robert. She saw the defeat in his posture, the way he was shrinking into himself."Keep your head up, Robert," she whispered, leaning in under the guise of checkin
CHAPTER 73
THE BIG REQUESTThe disappointment was crushing. She had spent the night in a fever dream of hope, imagining a moment of recognition where the Heir would see her excellence and offer a hand up. But the Heir hadn't even deemed the cafeteria worthy of his presence. To the person at the Apex, the Smiths were not even worth a glance.Robert looked at the group with a mixture of relief and bitterness. He was glad he didn't have to face the Heir while holding a carving knife, but he was also stung by the realisation that they were so insignificant that the master of the house didn't even care to see them in their new roles.Leslie, however, was staring at Harnes with a strange, frantic light in her eyes. She watched the way the other CEOs deferred to him, the way he occupied the centre of every conversation without even trying."He is here," Leslie whispered, leaning toward her mother."What are you talking about, Leslie?" Linda snapped. "Harnes is right there. The Heir stayed upstairs."
CHAPTER 74
THE TIRED LOWLIFES"Forget about the Heir. He is not interested in wagyu, and he certainly is not in the mood to see anyone. His schedule is managed to the second, and right now, his focus is on the global reports following the meeting."Linda’s smile faltered, the mask beginning to crack. "But surely, a gesture of gratitude…""The Heir has a full staff of private chefs, Linda," Harnes interrupted, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy tone"They are specialists, trained in international cuisines and his specific dietary requirements. They are top-tier. He doesn't need a 'sumptuous meal' from a catering service on ninety-day probation. Now, I suggest you finish your cleanup. The loading bay closes in forty minutes."He didn't wait for her to respond. He turned and walked toward the executive elevators, his secretary trailing behind him like a silent shadow. The doors slid open with a whisper and closed, leaving Linda standing in the centre of the vast, empty cafeteria.The silence
CHAPTER 75
THE MAN BEHIND THE MASKThe rusted frame of the Ford F-150 rattled as it hit a pothole on the outskirts of the business district, the sudden vibration travelling straight through the spines of the four exhausted occupants. Linda gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity, her eyes fixed on the road ahead as the neon lights of the city blurred awayInside the cramped cabin, the air was thick with the scent of stale sweat, cold gravy, and the heavy, suffocating musk of defeat.For the first twenty minutes of the drive, the only sound was the protesting whine of the engine and the rhythmic thud of the tyres. The silence was a physical weight, a blanket draped over four people who had just been publicly mocked by their peers.It was Leslie who finally broke the tension. Her voice was thin, vibrating with a high-pitched, nervous energy that bordered on the hysterical."It is him," she whispered, her eyes staring blankly at the dashboard. "It has to be him. Harnes is the ne
CHAPTER 76
THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUESThe truck turned into the long, winding driveway of the Smith estate. The mansion loomed in the darkness, a silent, skeletal monument to their fallen status.Most of the windows were dark, and the lawn was beginning to look ragged, a visual representation of their dwindling resources.Robert and Bernard remained largely silent as they climbed out of the truck, their bodies stiff and protesting. The physical exhaustion was so total that the intellectual debate about Harnes felt like a luxury they could barely afford. Robert was already thinking about his 8:00 AM briefing at Doms Luxe. He needed to sleep, but his mind was spinning with the image of Harnes sitting at that central table, raising a toast to a "New Beginning".As they reached the front door, Linda stopped. She looked back toward the city, where the Rothwell Tower pierced the night sky like a glowing needle."I am going to find out," Linda said, her voice trembling with a terrifying resolve. "I do
CHAPTER 77
FINDING A SOLUTIONLinda reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small roll of cash. She walked to the coffee table and began peeling off bills with a rhythmic, mechanical precision."Here," she said, placing a fifty-dollar bill in front of each of them.The sight of the single, crumpled bills on the expensive mahogany table was surreal. Bernard reached for his, staring at the image of Grant as if it were a foreign currency."Fifty dollars?" Bernard whispered, his voice cracking."Mother, we worked twenty hours straight. We prepped five hundred covers. We were mocked by the most powerful people in the country. Fifty dollars doesn't even cover the dry cleaning for the shirt I ruined.""That is your compensation for the event," Linda snapped, her eyes flashing with a sudden, sharp heat. "It is your payment as service staff. And you will get the same amount for every event we do from here on out. Do the math, Bernard. It is significantly better than the minimum wage you would g
CHAPTER 78
GOOD LUCK She thought back to the cafeteria. Every CEO in that room had seen the Heir, too. She thought of the truck. She thought of the way the Rothwell Group seemed to know exactly how to humiliate the Smiths. It was not just corporate; it was personal. It was the kind of targeted cruelty that only comes from someone who has been close enough to feel the heat of their arrogance. Above all, Linda felt the crushing weight of her own complicity. She needed to retrace her steps. She needed to find the cause of their downfall.She retraced the events in her headDay One: The morning the news broke
CHAPTER 79
OUT FOR A JOBThe morning air was crisp and unforgiving, cutting through the thin layers of Robert’s decent attire…a charcoal blazer that had once been part of a three-piece suit, now paired with dark trousers that lacked their usual razor-sharp crease. At 5:00 AM, the mansion was a graveyard of silence, save for the rhythmic clicking of Robert’s heels on the marble floor as he descended the stairs.Linda was exactly where she had been an hour ago: a stationary shadow in the high-backed chair, her eyes reflecting the grey, pre-dawn light filtering through the lobby’s arched windows. She looked up as Robert reached the final step, her gaze clinical and sharp."You are early," she noted, her voice devoid of its usual morning fatigue.Robert adjusted his cuffs, his heart thudding with the weight of the secret he was carrying. "The early bird, Linda. If I am going to find a seat in a boardroom again, I need to be at the doors before they open. I am heading into the city. There are a few
CHAPTER 80
FINDING SOLUTIONSThe air outside the mansion was thick with the grey, unmoving humidity of early morning, but Linda hardly noticed. She moved with a kinetic energy she hadn't felt in years. After a blistering shower that served more as a baptism of resolve than a ritual of hygiene, she dressed in a sharp, slate-grey suit… one of the few professional ensembles that didn't scream ‘disgraced socialite’. She didn't wake Bernard or Leslie. She simply grabbed her keys, stepped into the truck, and drove toward the glass-and-steel canyons of the financial district.Her destination was the offices of Julian Vane, the Smith family’s long-time legal counsel. Julian was a man who lived in the fine print of life, a high-priced architect of loopholes and ironclad protections who had served Arthur and the family for two decades. If anyone knew the situation that had shifted to swallow the Arthur-Smith holdings, it was him.The elevators at Vane & Associates were silent and fast, whisking Linda t