The High-Stakes Mask

Dear Delyara, Everyone at the office calls me a 'rising star.' They see the promotions and the expensive car, but they don't see the panic attacks in the bathroom stalls or the way my hands shake before every meeting. I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove my father wrong, trying to show him I’m not a failure, but now that I’ve 'made it,' I feel more empty than ever. I’m terrified that if I stop for even a second, the whole glass house will shatter. I just want to be someone who doesn't have to perform every single hour of the day.