Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT THE MASK FELL
The words echoed in my mind.
Someone was inside my house.
My home.
The place where I kept memories of my father.
The place where I thought I was safe.
“Who is there?” I asked.
Daniel looked at Jason.
“I think you already know.”
Everyone turned.
Jason didn’t answer.
He just smiled.
That was when I understood.
He wasn’t surprised.
He expected this.
“You planned this.”
My voice was quiet.
Jason looked at me.
“Emily…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t say my name like you still care.”
For a moment, something flashed in his eyes.
Guilt.
Then it disappeared.
“You should have listened to me.”
I stared at him.
“Listened to you?”
He stepped closer.
“You could have made this easy.”
The room went silent.
Linda looked horrified.
“What are you saying?”
Jason ignored her.
“I gave you a chance.”
My heart sank.
“A chance?”
“Yes.”
He looked around.
“You could have signed the papers. We could have been married. Everything would have been simple.”
I felt sick.
“So that was the plan?”
He didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
The truth was standing right in front of me.
Daniel stepped between us.
“You are done, Jason.”
Jason laughed.
“You think paperwork scares me?”
Daniel looked calm.
“No.”
He lifted his phone.
“But evidence does.”
Jason’s smile faded.
Daniel pressed a button.
A recording began playing.
Jason’s own voice filled the room.
“I just need her married to me before anyone notices.”
The room went silent.
Then another recording.
“I’ll have access once she signs everything.”
My knees almost gave out.
I covered my mouth.
I was hearing his voice.
His real voice.
Not the man who whispered that he loved me.
Not the man who held me when I cried.
This was the man behind the mask.
Jason looked around desperately.
“Where did you get that?”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“Your mistake was trusting everyone around you.”
The woman beside Jason started crying.
“I recorded him.”
Everyone looked at her.
Jason’s face turned furious.
“You?”
She stepped back.
“I thought you loved me.”
Jason laughed.
“You were useful.”
Those three words destroyed whatever sympathy anyone had left.
Even she looked broken.
Then suddenly, the penthouse door opened.
Two police officers entered.
Jason froze.
“What is this?”
Daniel answered calmly.
“This is the part where your choices catch up with you.”
Jason looked at me.
For a second, I saw the man I used to love.
But then I remembered everything.
The lies.
The betrayal.
The plan.
“Emily…”
I looked away.
“Don’t.”
The officers approached him.
“Jason Miller, you need to come with us.”
He resisted.
“This is a misunderstanding.”
Nobody believed him.
As they walked him toward the door, he suddenly turned back.
His eyes locked onto mine.
“You think this is over?”
A chill ran through me.
“What does that mean?”
Jason smiled.
“Ask Daniel why your father was really afraid.”
The door closed behind him.
And for the first time that night…
Jason was gone.
May you like
But the truth was still waiting.
TO BE CONTINUED...
