BEHIND THE MASK

Vipers And Victims.

You see, the thing about life is this: you can't kill someone twice.

But what you can do is bury what's left of them.

Remember Alicia? Yeah, her face used to be all over the place once upon a time. On billboards, on perfume ads, on red carpet snaps with that little smirk of hers that made it look like the world belonged to her.

Not now?

She was trending, oh yes. But for all the wrong reasons you could think of.

#TheFallOfAlicia

#ModelToSlut

#ShamelessWhoreAlicia

#AliciaPoleDancer

Even I didn't know Alicia pole danced. All I had to do was drop something scandalous on her, and then the media took the job personally. They dug through everything about her in one night; it was quite shocking.

I watched it all play out in real-time. My tablet kept lighting up with headlines that would've frightened me a few months back. Pity io felt nothing now.

ANOTHER SCANDAL!: Top runway model Alicia Ferris, accused of trading Sex for Contracts

BREAKING NEWS: The Crests are tied to the Favor-for-Exposure scheme involving Young Models

The fall of fashion sweetheart Alicia: Every Brand drops Alicia due to viral video leak

The footage was hardly even explicit. Just some grainy hotel hallway clips, a bunch of muffled voices and then a silhouette that looked very similar to Liam entering her suite. And then, another man walked in two hours later. Different nights, same pattern.

Someone just had to feed it to the press. Pity someone knew the perfect strings to pull.

The Internet was a bloodbath, literally. Her sponsors vanished into thin air, and magazines deleted every single trace of her from their upcoming issues. She'd even released a soul-touching statement on her socials, but that did nothing but heighten the flames.

Names rained on her like snow.

A whore.

A liar.

A slutty manipulator.

It sounded so funny when I recalled the time she called me a parasite.

I was seated alone in my penthouse, had had the lights dimmed as I scrolled through the chaos on the media. The vultures were legit pecking her bones clean.

It was entertaining, to say the truth.

Quinn walked in almost unnoticeably.

"Mr Hale," he called, halting in front of me while scrolling through his tablet. He got a new one.

"Any news?"I asked, putting mine aside.

"Well, as a matter of fact, yes. She got hospitalized this morning, "he informed.

"Oh?"

"She attempted suicide. It was a failed attempt, though. They call it a cry for help."

I said nothing, just stared into space.

Quinn passed me a look I didn't exactly appreciate.

"What?"

"You feel nothing?"

I simply shrugged. "What's there to feel? Moreover, she died to me long ago."

He nodded as if he understood. "Then you probably won't care that the board's calling an emergency session."

"No, I don't..... wait, what?"

He turned his eyes back to his tablet. They say they're concerned. That your little vendetta is clouding your vision. Aaaaaand that you're acting like some jilted ex.....and not a CEO."

Beautiful. Those old men were starting to get on my nerves.

"But they're wrong. It's not my fault if they're blind to not see the reasons for my actions," I spoke in a bored tone.

"They don't really care whether or not they're wrong," he replied. "What they do care about is the stock price. Perception. They care about the headlines and how it's affecting their shares."

"Ugh," I groaned, picking my tablet back up. "Tell them to grow thicker skin for the love of God."

"You'll have to tell them that yourself," he glanced at his watch. "Now."

★

Their eyes lifted the moment I walked into the boardroom. God, the tension was all over the place, and I knew for a fact that this meeting wouldn't be like the last one we had.

Nobody stood up to acknowledge my presence. Not that I expected them to — especially not with the anger I feel oozing from them.

"Thank you for joining us on very short notice, Mr Hale," Chairman Rutherford spoke, sounding so clipped.

Well, that's a start. I didn't give any response. I just pulled out the head chair and sat like I owned the building— I actually did.

Taking his place behind me, Quinn stood silently as usual. I felt for him sometimes. This wasn't supposed to be his job. He was supposed to be our family's legal counsel. But he was the first person I opened his to in this world of games. The only person I trusted. So when agreeing to step up as CEO, I threw in a condition. He'd be my right-hand man.

Grandpa somehow managed to convince him since Quinn was familiar with how things worked. And he agreed! He's been doing an excellent job so far, if you asked me.

"We'll try to keep this as brief as we can, "Rutherford continued. "The media storm around Miss Ferris is escalating beyond something that can be managed."

There. He finally said it. A perfect diplomatic term for: Your thirst for revenge is beginning to tank our public image.

I nodded, chewing on my tongue for a second. "Oh? That's it? Well, you're welcome then. I just thought that some serious housecleaning was long overdue."

Murmurs were exchanged, and members shifted uncomfortably on their chairs.

"Mr Sinclair!" the head of finance, Mr Davis, barked. "We all know you leaked that footage. Don't even try to insult our intelligence!"

"Okay, and?"I asked, already feeling irritated. "I honestly do not recall breaching any law of some sort, so please..... enlighten me."

"Laws, there are not. But a line, there certainly is. Do you not know of the word boundaries?"Shapiro, the legal counsel guy, spoke in a mumble. "You're clearly dancing on a line with gasoline and a matchstick."

Really now?

I chuckled darkly, folding my hands atop the table. "Look, I ain't doing here for the protection of whores, criminals and simpletons. Just in case you haven't been paying close attention, Alicia Ferris isn't just a model who failed. She was sleeping her way through endorsement deals. And Liam Crest? He was right there with her. Are you blind to the fact that he used her to smear this company through indirect sabotage?"

"What evidence do you have?" the guy from communications asked, contempt dripping off his voice. "We don't need gossip. Or snippets from God-knows-the-hell-where. We need concrete evidence."

Excuse me, did this guy see me in his dream or something? He looked at me like I stole his wife or something.

My fake smile dropped. I was getting bored for real.

"You know the funny thing about evidence? It's how it only matters to people who actually believe in justice. Now, the question is, do I believe in justice? I don't. I believe in consequences."

"You sound sick right now, "Malroy, who's been silent, finally spoke. "You sound nothing like a CEO."

C'mon, not this.

"Then fire me, "I shrugged.

I let the silence hang as I drummed on the table with my fingertips while humming a song inaudibly.

They needed me, no matter how the truth is painted or twisted. It's why Grandpa trusted me. I wasn't cowardly like some of the Hale boys. I was what he called an unhinged soul.

Rutherford cleared his throat, interrupting the intense silence. "Nobody's firing anybody. Let's not turn this into a petty ego contest...."

"It's too late for that, "I cut him off. "Because I got dragged here due to your fears. And it wasn't even because of Alicia. Or the stupid footage. But rather because of what my "war" is doing to your goddamn stock price."

There it was. I said what I said.

They swallowed nothing.

"You seem to be forgetting something, Mr Hale, "Rutherford spoke sharply.

Oh? Remind me then.

"We voted you in only because we believed that you could lead this company into a new era. Not this circus."

"A circus?"I cocked a brow. "You call it a circus when all I do is eliminate threats? When Ido clean out the rotten dirt? People like Liam and Alicia were viruses, and I cured them. Me. I'm supposed to be getting thanked for Christ's sake."

Some of them exchanged glances. And some, like Shapiro — only God knows what kind of name that is—looked like he was about to suffer a stroke.

"No, your personal vendettas are starting to bleed into our public relations," he hissed. "The Hale is beginning to have a stain on its name. It's being seen as a corporation run on spite rather than innovation."

"Blah, blah, blah. Cry me a river."

"That's enough!" Rutherford's voice was like steel. "Justified or not, this fallout has reached the extreme limit. And we, as a board, have voted on a mitigation strategy."

My eyes narrowed at him. "The hell do you mean mitigation?"

Quinn moved uneasily behind me.

"Yes. Mitigation, "he repeated, straightening his tie. "We all secured an arrangement in order to counter the negative PR. We hear that you're going to be engaged to Miss Veronica Decker. You might as well make it public."

Sorry, what? I'd planned to keep it low-key. The hell did they mean tell it to tell the public?

"You've got to be joking," my voice turned cold. "You've got zero rights to intrude on what's supposed to be my privacy."

"Oh? But actually, we do have rights. Let's call it a truce. You've made this personal all along; it's time we took the reins and made it professional again."

Sick mother fuckers.

"By tomorrow, we shall leak a story about yours and Miss Decker's engagement. We solidify the image and paint you as a CEO who's ready to commit. We wipe out the previous narrative and focus on the Hales' global expansion."

"And if I say no?" My voice dripped ice.

"Then the board votes for you to get temporarily removed. It's in the contract you signed upon ascension, Mr Sinclair. This is a serious crisis if you haven't noticed," the Shapiro guy spoke again with a smug smile this time.

"Looks like the old dogs finally learned to bite. I've got no words," I spoke plainly.

"We're expecting a public photo from you by Friday, "Rutherford said.

"Fear not, I'll give you more than a photo, "I smiled condescendingly. "Expect a fucking fairytale."

And out I was.

With rage pulsing through my veins.