Chapter 20 – No Mask
615 Words
The cameras were already waiting.
Flashes.
Voices.
Movement everywhere.
“Ms. Carter, over here!”
“Just one statement!”
“Is it true you collapsed during a board meeting?”
Nia stepped out of the car, her expression composed.
Perfect.
Or at least—
That’s what it looked like.
Inside?
Nothing was steady.
Her head throbbed.
Her chest felt tight again.
The noise—
Louder than ever.
You’re losing it.
They can see it.
They all know.
“Keep walking,” Ryan muttered beside her.
Marcus stayed close on her other side.
But the crowd pressed in anyway.
“Are you stepping down from your position?”
“Is your health affecting your company?”
“Do you have a substance issue?”
That one—
That one made her stop.
Slowly.
Ryan noticed immediately. “Nia—don’t.”
Too late.
She turned.
“Say that again,” she said, her voice low.
The reporter hesitated—but only for a second.
“Do you have a substance issue, Ms. Carter?”
Silence fell around them.
Cameras lifted higher.
Marcus stepped forward. “We’re done here.”
But Nia didn’t move.
Her fingers twitched slightly at her side.
“No,” she said.
Ryan’s voice sharpened. “Nia.”
“I said no,” she repeated.
Her eyes locked onto the reporter now.
“You think you know something?” she asked.
The reporter straightened slightly. “I’m asking a question.”
Nia let out a short laugh.
No humor in it.
“You’re asking the wrong one.”
Her tone shifted.
Sharper.
Unsteady.
“Because none of you know anything,” she continued, her voice rising slightly. “You stand here, throwing questions like you understand my life—like you know what’s going on—”
“Nia,” Marcus warned.
But she didn’t stop.
“You don’t,” she snapped. “None of you do.”
The flashes got faster.
More aggressive.
Her breathing picked up.
“And even if I did have a problem,” she added, her voice breaking slightly, “what exactly do you think you’re going to do about it?”
Silence.
Then murmurs.
Ryan stepped in front of her slightly.
“That’s enough.”
But the damage—
Was already done.
“Are you admitting to it?”
“Ms. Carter, are you under the influence right now?”
“Is your company at risk?”
The questions came faster now.
Louder.
Nia’s vision blurred slightly.
The noise—
Too much.
Her hands clenched.
“STOP TALKING!” she snapped suddenly.
The crowd froze.
Even the cameras seemed to pause.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Her eyes slightly unfocused again.
“I said stop,” she repeated, quieter this time—but more dangerous.
Ryan grabbed her arm gently.
“We’re leaving.”
This time—
She didn’t argue.
Because she couldn’t.
The moment they turned away—
The whispers started.
“Did you see that?”
“She’s unstable.”
“That’s not normal—”
Nia heard all of it.
Every word.
By the time they got back into the car—
She was silent.
Too silent.
Marcus shut the door harder than necessary.
“That was a mistake,” he said immediately.
Nia didn’t respond.
Ryan glanced at her.
Her hands were still shaking.
“Nia?”
Nothing.
She stared straight ahead.
Unmoving.
Because now—
There was no hiding it.
Not from Marcus.
Not from Ryan.
And definitely not from the world.
The mask—
The control—
The image she built so carefully—
Cracked.
Publicly.
And once something like that breaks—
It doesn’t go back the same.
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