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...
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(Priyankha's Version)
Coffee was the last thing on Oliver's mind today.
All he needed right now was not a dose of caffeine but a mere glimpse of Priyankha's face. Especially after what happened the last time he saw her.
Her sobs echoed in his head throughout the night, haunting him constantly, reminding him he was partly to blame for her sorry state. Not being able to resist anymore, he found himself standing outside the door at the crack of dawn. He wasn't even sure if the café opened so early but staying alone at home with her cries keeping him company wasn't going to do any good.
To his surprise, the shop held the "open" sign and he immediately pushed the door, not willing to accept even a moment's delay in making sure she was alright. The sound of the bells made her look towards the door in an instant and Oliver barely suppressed a shudder when he noticed her.
She looked so devastated, so broken. As if she had barely gotten any sleep last night. To be honest, he had barely managed to fall asleep too but the fact that she didn't even try to hide the bags under her eyes and how lost she felt was what scared him most.
Nonetheless, he was relieved to find her there — even in the state she was.
Priyankha had noticed him but couldn't muster her usual smile. Hell, she couldn't even fake one in front of Dio and Grace today but one look at Oliver and all she wanted to do was scream and cry. A ton of angry questions brimmed in the precipice, just about to leave her lips when she told herself it was pointless to expect a stranger to care or side with her.
That's what he was now — a stranger who she often used to smile at. Nothing more, nothing less.
Though it broke Oliver to see her smile gone, he couldn't help but notice how she was practically clutching the hoodie she wore over her usual outfit. Was she wearing an extra layer of clothing because she was cold or was it because of what happened that night—
Wait, why did the hoodie look so familiar?
The very next second, Dio popped up from the inventory room behind her and nudged her elbow with his. "Oh come on, don't be so sad, babe. Today is a very special day." He handed her a blue chart paper and a stencil as he jumped on the ladder and began hanging the decorations. "Honestly, I'm so excited-"
Oliver didn't care a bit about what he had to say, so he blocked out the rest of his voice. No one except Priyankha had noticed Oliver come in so he stood right there, watching the scene unfold. His memories soon recollected that this hoodie wasn't hers. It looked familiar because it was Dio's. He could picture Dionysus wrapping his hoodie over Priyankha and gritted his teeth at the mental image.
And the fact that she was not just wearing it but holding onto it for dear life brought out an ugly green shade of jealousy in him. Why did she have to wear Dio's hoodie?
