Hidden face

The Mask(CH-9)

Ch9

After seeing that Olivia's word started to spin. Her knees weakened as memories crashed like waves—her mother crying silently, her childhood questions left unanswered, the ache of not knowing why. Her chest tightens.

She gasps and her vision blurs.

"Olivia?" Ryan catches her just in time as her body collapses into his arms.

A nurse nearby rushes with a wheelchair as Ryan carefully lowers her. Olivia grips his sleeve, whispering in a broken voice, “That… was him…”

Ryan doesn't ask who. The pain in her eyes tells him everything. He pushes the wheelchair toward the emergency ward, his jaw clenched.

As the nurses begin to examine Olivia, Ryan steps out. Fury swells in his chest. He scans the hallway and spots the man again—Richard Collins—about to leave.

Ryan walks straight up to him. “Richard Collins?” he asks, voice calm, but ice-cold.

Richard turns, confused. “Yes?”

“You left your daughter. She's in that room right now. She collapsed from the weight of seeing you.” Ryan steps closer. “You abandoned her. And now you walk around like you're the perfect father?”

Richard’s face freezes. The color drains slightly. He says nothing.

Ryan doesn't need him to. “She didn’t deserve that pain just as you don't deserve this happiness. I just wanted you to know what your thoughtless actions did."

Without waiting for a reply, Ryan walked away.

Back in the hospital room, Olivia lied on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes are open, but tears fall sideways.

“I saw him,” she whispers to Ryan “He looked… happy.”

Ryan kneels beside her, holding her hand. “Then let him keep his fake happiness. You… you’ve survived without him. And you’ve got me now.”

After this The room is quiet except for the rhythmic beeping of machines and the soft rustle of the wind against the window.

Ryan sits beside Olivia, his words still lingering in the air:

“You’ve got me now.”

At first, Olivia doesn’t respond. Her eyes are wide open—lost, distant. Then, slowly, her lips part.

“But… what if he ruins everything?” she whispers, her voice trembling like a scared child.

“I saw him, Ryan. He looked like he owned the world. So perfect. So powerful. So… untouchable.”

She curls up slightly on the bed, pulling the blanket to her chin like a 10-year-old hiding from monsters.

Tears start slipping down again, silently.

“I felt like a little girl again. Like I was back to being five, waiting at the door, thinking maybe… maybe today he’d come back. And now he’s here. But not for me. For someone else. With a new life.”

Ryan moves closer, gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Olivia, he can’t touch you. He can’t break what he left behind. You’re stronger than you think.”

But she shakes her head slowly.

“No, Ryan... I’m scared. What if he makes tomorrow worse than yesterday? What if... what if his success becomes my shadow forever?”

Her voice cracks. “He looked at me like I was nothing. Like I was just... someone from a past he deleted.”

Ryan takes her hand firmly. “Then let’s rewrite the future. One where he is just a chapter. And you are the story.”After this Olivia starts feeling drowsy due to the sedatives and slowly falls asleep.