8x featured | A pick your own genre / version story. Choose between a sweet ChickLit love story or a mind-bending Thriller Romance.
When a grumpy billionaire fake dates a sunshine barista to understand how love works, they are forced to face the mon...
Disclaimer: This chapter has very subtle references of self harm.
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(Priyankha's Version)
The smell of blood and spirit overpowered her senses and she barely held in the urge to puke out whatever she had eaten that day. Hospitals haunted Priyankha, to say the least. They always brought along a fear of losing someone you love and she had already lost too much. She couldn't dare to imagine the state of Grace or losing her only friend in this lonely town that she was still a stranger to.
Not wanting to jump to the worst imaginable scenarios, she sprinted towards the receptionist with a determined look on her face. "I need to see her."
"I've already told you-" The receptionist looked up and saw a woman who was beyond exhausted and freaked out. She continued, her tone softening with sympathy this time "-the police need to record her statement first."
"Don't you get it?" Priyankha ran a shaky hand through her head, a failed attempt to ease her throbbing nerves. "She is not in any state to talk about it. She... she didn't do it intentionally. She didn't harm herself, if that's what you're all thinking-"
"We need her statement, that's all." The police officer declared from behind her and a startled Priyankha turned around to face him. The way his eyes scanned hers suspiciously made her wonder for how long he had been standing there, overhearing her conversation with the receptionist. He read out her name from the file he was holding and asked. "You're the one who brought her here?"
"Y- yes." She faltered, unable to judge whether it was wise to lie to a policeman about her name and true identity.
"Thank you for looking out for your friend." He turned a few pages till he found what he was searching for and clicked his pen for emphasis. "And for connecting us with her therapist. We've talked to her and-"
"She didn't do it intentionally. I was there." Priyankha was defensive, her arms crossing over her chest in annoyance now. Instead of trying to help Grace, it seemed like they were trying to prove their point. Maybe this is why the hospital authorities were so pissed at Priyankha for reaching out to Grace's therapist who was in the hospital room with her at the moment, hopefully calming her down about this whole situation.
"Yes. We believe you." The man said to her surprise. "Her therapist," he scanned the papers for her name and scratched his eyebrow before continuing, "Sydney, says the same... That Grace was showing improvement and she couldn't have harmed herself again. As a routine check, we will be asking anyone else who was present there about the turn of events. So miss, since you were right there when this took place, would you please care to elaborate what really happened that day?"
*
Bit by bit, Priyankha began unravelling the events of that uneventful day to him. Of how Grace had dealt with a rude customer and felt guilty about making her barista handle the café all alone since she was mostly absent and distant recently. She didn't need to ask the policeman to know something was up. Grace was clearly struggling and the fact that the police doubted her accident being intentional only strengthened her doubts. Though she didn't know the details at length, she pretty much had an idea what or who this was all about.
