My CEO Boss Is A Masked Internet Sensation-Chapter 225: Bone Chilling Truths

(Arata)

Mom? She was Ranold’s mom, but why could I sense such intense hatred from her? I was sure I had never seen the woman before.

She was tall and just like Ranold, she had blonde hair, which had thinned over the years.

She turned her attention towards her son and placed a tender kiss on his forehead, making Ranold beam.

"I am so proud of you, my son. If your dad had been alive, he would be too. But he is not with us."

With those words, her hatred-filled glare returned to me. Taking quick steps, she approached me and her hand swished in the air and landed a slap on my face.

It connected half to my cheek and half to my ear, making it

ring.

The pain, the humiliation, the rage. Everything accumulated as my eyes snapped towards her.

"That’s for what your mom and dad did to me, and the rest that is to come to you will be for what they did to the love of my life." She reached and pulled out the piece of cloth gagging me. "Now speak bitch, I know you are dying to."

These people were pissing me off. I was understanding that there was a history between her and my parents, and she believed that she would take revenge on them by hurting me. That was something I couldn’t let happen.

So the first thing I did was calm my nerves and check my emotions.

I knew they wanted me to be scared, to act irrationally. But Baba had trained me for such scenarios. Knowing we had too many enemies, he always emphasised self-defence and what to do in life-threatening situations.

"Who are you people?" I tried to keep the panic away from my voice and didn’t use any words which would agitate this Frankensteinian disaster.

I was no one to judge someone by their appearance or facial structure. But seriously, there was something very wrong with this woman’s face.

Ranold harshly chuckled from behind his mom. Taking calculating steps, he joined her. His piercing gaze, which I had always found slightly unsettling and too cold, was fully focused on me.

"You have spent your entire life in a delusional bubble, pampered by your gigolo father and ungrateful mother. You don’t even know of our existence."

Every means of self-control snapped within me, hearing him openly insult my parents, but I had to exercise restraint. I needed to survive and give my loved ones time to find me.

I knew things must already be in motion as Stella and Zaylen had received my texts, and my number must be turned off.

I wondered what Ranold had done with my phone.

The woman grabbed my hair and fisted it before pulling so fiercely that an unwanted scream left me.

"You pathetic creature. If we didn’t need you alive for a few more days, I would slit your throat right here and send the video to your parents. So they could feel a fraction of what I have been feeling for the last 25 years."

I was 25 years old, which meant whatever happened between my parents and her was as old as I.

"Patience, Mom..we will do everything, but step by step." Ranold intervened with that deadly smile, which reminded me of Joker from Batman. "I want to send pieces of her, not only to her parents but to Karsten as well. He always thought he was too good for me." Ranold cackled this time, and his mother seemed so proud of her delusional son.

Fear and terror skittered down my spine, making me shudder at these plans.

God, help me.

"The idiot didn’t even realise how I was fooling him, staying one step ahead."

And the reality twisted for me again, like being stuck in a time warp, where every day a new reality formed, and I got to experience it.

What was Ranold trying to say?

He and Karsten weren’t working together?

"Have you been the one to stalk me? And send me all those texts and threats?" I asked, trying to keep myself sane and not plunge into complete chaos because I could sense Ranold’s answer was going to do just that.

"Yes, did you like my Christmas gift? You never even thanked me. Not even a single text. You are such an ungrateful bitch. Dunno what Karsten sees in you."

His twisted smile didn’t fade; it crept wider under the yellow light of this room, hardening his features.

Now, I could see Ranold in a whole new light and understood why my body never wanted to be in his proximity. Why his lingering presence always bothered me.

On the other hand, Karsten’s presence never affected me negatively. Not as Azul and not even in his true self.

He never repelled me, even when he broke my heart.

My body and heart knew and trusted him, and yet I couldn’t do it.

"Karsten is so obsessed with you, Arata. I don’t think you even know." Ranold shook his head as if finding that amusing.

I tried, but I knew I couldn’t hide all the emotions flashing on my heart.

"He is hopelessly in love with you, which has blinded him. Exactly why I was able to fool him so easily. But don’t forget it was I who brought the two of you together. I was the one who threatened your fiancé and kidnapped his niece," Ranold blurted out, hurting truths so easily. The questions I had been seeking answers to.

The doubts I had associated with Karsten, only to learn it was Ranold all along.

My stupid heart had been correct in my assumptions of that icy brute. He wouldn’t fall so low.

Was he in love with me, too? Was Ranold speaking the truth or lying again?

Even in this situation, a faint smile made its way to my lips.

"Did you plant the mask too for me to find?" I hopefully asked, staring directly at the crazy mother-son duo. I knew nothing about them, and yet they had been able to disrupt my life to the point of kidnapping me.

"Yes, Arata. I slowly sowed the seed of discord in your heart against Karsten. At the same time, I pushed Karsten towards you. So both of you would clash. I stole videos from his system and sent them to you, causing more doubts. And that persona he has been using to make those stupid internet videos made everything so much easier for me." Ranold snorted in amusement, and I knew he was speaking about Twisted Rider.

His mother stood smug beside him, listening to all the chaos her son had caused.

"I created a video with a mask and then took the mask with me, along with a similar mask I had seen him wearing in his latest video. I hid both masks in his closet, knowing both of you were staying in the same room, and you must be snooping for clues after all those doubts I had given you. It wasn’t that difficult to dig out his Mafia background; once you reached there, it was apparent that you would believe him to be your stalker, especially if you found the masks. Which you did." He winked at me, sickening me to my stomach.

How fucking wrong I had been. Whatever was in my stomach, which was mostly bile, rose to the surface, and I retched, spilling everything out on the concrete floor.