Chapter 4
1110 Words
The Truth Beneath the Mask
The night had fallen silent, too silent.
Liana couldn’t shake the feeling that the walls around her were closing in. The envelope, the message. Gabriel’s distant eyes from earlier. Everything was slipping through her fingers, no matter how tightly she tried to hold on.
Her phone buzzed again, a sharp, insistent reminder.
Unknown number.
She took a breath. It wasn’t a choice anymore. She pressed the screen.
“I’m waiting.”
The voice on the other end was familiar enough to make her blood freeze.
Gabriel.
“What is this?” she demanded, her grip tightening on the phone. “Why are you doing this?”
There was a pause, just long enough for her to wonder if he would even answer. Then, his voice, low and controlled, cut through the silence.
“Because I have to.”
She frowned. “Have to? Have to do what?”
Another pause. Then, a murmur. “Because this is bigger than both of us.”
Liana’s pulse quickened. “What does that mean?”
“The truth is buried, Liana. Somewhere in your father’s empire, in the bones of this family. You don’t even know half of it. None of us do.”
Liana felt a chill creep down her spine. The walls of her apartment suddenly felt too close, too suffocating.
“The truth about what?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“The deal your father made all those years ago,” Gabriel said, his voice taking on a harder edge. “And the one he’s making now.”
Liana felt the air leave her lungs. She had always known her father’s world was one of cold deals, ruthless game but this? This felt different. This felt personal.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, a whisper of panic threading through her words.
“You will,” Gabriel replied. “But not tonight.”
The line went dead.
Liana stood there, staring at her phone, the weight of his words pressing against her chest. What was this game? And why was he pulling her in?
The gala the next evening was a blur. The sharp clink of glasses, the hum of conversation, the bright flashes of cameras, it was all too much, too polished. Too fake.
She had to do her part. She had to smile, nod, play the role she’d been born to play.
Liana stood by her father, her arm wrapped in his, smiling for the cameras as they snapped away. But in her chest, something was unraveling. She couldn’t push the feeling down any longer.
Gabriel was in the room. She saw him across the crowd, standing near the bar, surrounded by people but there was a distance between them. He was always the ghost in the room. Always watching. Always waiting.
Her father leaned in, whispering something in her ear. His voice was cold, too measured.
“Stay close to him tonight,” Edward murmured, his gaze sweeping across the room. “He’s important.”
Liana stiffened. She’d heard the same words too many times to count. Gabriel was important. Gabriel was a part of the plan. But to what end? She had no answers, just more questions.
“What if I don’t want to stay close?” she asked, her voice low but sharp.
Edward’s gaze snapped to hers, eyes narrowing. “You don’t have a choice.”
Her heart pounded. She hated how true those words were.
The night stretched on, but she barely noticed the time passing. She felt like a marionette, her strings pulled by invisible hands. Each laugh, each smile, each conversation felt rehearsed. Empty.
Then, Gabriel was beside her.
He didn’t say anything at first. He didn’t need to.
Liana could feel the weight of his presence next to her. He was a puzzle, a challenge, a threat. And she couldn’t stop herself from being drawn to him. She hated how much she wanted to understand him.
“Your father’s watching,” Gabriel said finally, his voice low.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
She turned to face him, feeling the heat of the moment, the weight of his words. He was more than just a partner in this charade. She saw it in his eyes something darker, something she wasn’t prepared to face.
Liana didn’t answer right away, she couldn’t. Instead, she searched his eyes, looking for any sign of honesty, any c***k in his carefully constructed facade.
“I don’t want to be a part of this anymore,” she said, the words finally spilling out. “This life, this game. It’s all lies. All of it.”
Gabriel studied her, his jaw tight, but his eyes… His eyes were different. There was something real in them, something that made her chest tighten.
“You’re already in too deep to get out,” he said quietly. “We both are.”
The words struck her like a punch to the gut. She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. The noise of the room faded as her world narrowed down to just the two of them. He was right.
She was trapped.
Later, when the gala finally came to a close, Liana found herself standing on the balcony alone. The city stretched out before her, endless and uncaring. She felt small beneath the vast expanse of it.
The sound of footsteps behind her made her turn.
Gabriel.
He stepped up beside her, the night air cooling the heat between them. Neither of them spoke at first. There was nothing to say. Nothing that would change the truth between them.
Then, Gabriel spoke.
“There’s a file, on your father.”
Liana’s heart skipped “What?”
“A file. Your father’s dealing with something bigger than he’s letting on. You need to see it.”
Liana’s pulse raced “Where?”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened. “Tomorrow night. I’ll bring it to you. But you need to decide if you want the truth.”
The weight of his words hung between them.
Before she could reply, the unmistakable sound of her father’s voice cut through the air, his tone sharp, commanding.
Liana turned, but Gabriel had already disappeared into the shadows.
Back in her apartment, she found another envelope waiting. It was thin, almost delicate. Inside was a single sheet of paper with one sentence:
“Meet me. The truth is waiting.”
Her heart raced as she looked out the window, the weight of what she was about to do sinking in.
But this time, she knew there would be no turning back.
- Writer
