Chapter 4 Panic Running
I sketched designs on different sheets until my wrists ached. Fashion had always been the one place where my mind could go quiet, so I threw myself into it, filling page after page with dresses, silhouettes, and little details that only made sense to me.
Ally came over on some days to keep me company, but I had blocked Thomas’s contact everywhere. I didn’t want updates about him. I didn’t want to know where he was, who he was seeing, or whether he regretted what he’d done.
As far as I was concerned, Thomas Osborne no longer existed.
“Nika!” I winced at the sheer volume of the call and covered both ears as my bedroom door flew open.
Talk of the devil.
Ally appeared in the flesh, wearing another skirt I’d designed for her. The fabric hugged her waist perfectly before falling neatly around her legs, and the little details I’d added to the hem made me smile despite myself.
But there was something wrong with her expression.
Panic flashed across her oval face.
“Why are you calling my name like it’s part of a summoning ritual?”
“Well…” She shut the door behind her. “Technically, the two of us might be summoned.” Fear crept up my spine like a slithering snake.
The air leaving my nose felt strangely hot as I shifted in my chair. “Why?” I whispered.
My brain had already begun overheating.
“Thomas has been hospitalized.”
Ally paced around my room and casually dropped the bomb as though we were discussing clouds and sunshine.
I blinked.
“Wait… what?” My voice came out as a screech.
My fingers immediately found their way to my mouth, and I began biting my nails. I hated that habit, but it always appeared when I was nervous.
Then a tiny, wicked version of myself popped into my head.
“How bad could it be?”
I almost chuckled.
Ally sent me a deeply unimpressed stare. It seems I let it slip past my lips.
“I don’t know how to categorize a swollen eye, broken rib, twisted wrist, and a split kneecap.” My expression changed with every injury she listed.
Swollen eye, broken rib, twisted wrist, and a split kneecap.
I winced again and again.
“That’s bad.” I tried my best to sound horrified, but unfortunately, the laughter bubbling in my throat betrayed me. “The revenge anonymous service certainly delivered on its first trial.”
Ally gasped. Then she grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “You’re so evillllllllll!”
I repeated the accusation right back at her. “You’re so evillllllllll!” We burst into laughter.
For a few minutes, we completely forgot the reason we were laughing.
I danced around the room like an idiot, Ally joining me, and somehow we ended up laughing so hard that we collapsed onto the cool marble floor.
My stomach hurt.
My cheeks hurt.
Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes, but for the first time since I heard Thomas’s betrayal, the tears weren’t from heartbreak.
They were from laughter.
“He deserved it,” I muttered eventually.
Ally and I lay flat on the marble tiles with our heads turned in opposite directions and the laughter slowly faded. Rather, silence settled over the room, but only our breathing remained.
For a moment, everything felt strangely peaceful.
Then Ally reached for my hand and our fingers intertwined.
She squeezed mine, but something in her expression changed. “What?”
She swallowed and her thin red lips pressed together, her front teeth catching slightly against her lower lip.
“What’s wrong?”
She lowered her head and puffed a strand of hair away from her face. “You need to relax, alright? I could have overheard things—”
I scowled at her. “Stop beating around the bush.”
She sighed. “Fine.” Her voice dropped.
“I heard an investigation about the incident would be carried out.” My entire body went cold and the amusement disappeared from my face.
“An investigation?” She nodded.
Sweat broke out along my skin. “You’re just telling me now?”
“I’m sorry!” Ally immediately grabbed her ears and winced.
“I didn’t want to ruin your mood.” I pushed myself off the floor.
“What am I going to do?” I started pacing around the room.
“I can’t go to jail.” I stopped and looked at her.
“The whole reason I’ve never let my intrusive thoughts win is because I can’t stand being restricted!”I threw myself onto my bed dramatically.
“I can’t live behind bars!” Ally stared at me.
“I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
I lifted my head. “My uncle can definitely handle this if we tell him.” Her words made my mind freeze.
Kane. I hadn’t seen him for two years before the day he came to pick us up and suddenly, my memory decided to replay that entire encounter in painful detail.
Those dark eyes, striking jawline, curly dark locks that fell around his face, broad shoulders and calloused hands.
Phew. Thank goodness he wasn’t anywhere near my age.
My stomach flipped. For some ridiculous reason, warmth crept up my neck.
I frowned. What was wrong with me? “Nika?”
I didn’t answer. “Nika!” Ally waved her fingers in front of my face and then i blinked. “Oh.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Where exactly did you just go?”
“Nirvana.”
I immediately corrected myself. “No. I mean nowhere.”
Her gaze dropped to my face. Then her eyes widened.
“Why is your face suddenly red?”
“It’s hot.”
She looked toward the window. “It’s raining.” i ignored her.
“Look at the time.” I jumped off the bed.
“It’s almost time for you to go home.” Before she could argue, I grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door.
“Nika!”
“Bye!” I practically pushed her out. Once she was gone, I booked her a cab and watched from the window until she drove away.
Only then did I release the breath I’d been holding. Kane Montero. Why was I thinking about him?
I shook my head.
I needed fresh air.
I wandered into the well-kept garden behind the house, letting the cool breeze brush against my face.
The flowers were neatly arranged along the stone paths, and the trimmed hedges framed the garden like something out of a magazine.
I walked slowly, trying to clear my head.
Then Ally’s words returned.
My uncle can definitely handle this.
My fingers tightened.
I couldn’t let my grandparents worry about me. They had already lost my parents and they couldn’t lose me too.
And I couldn’t bear the thought of becoming another burden they had to carry. I took a deep breath and walked toward their bedroom.
I knocked.
“Come in, child.” I opened the door. My grandmother looked up from where she sat beside my grandfather.
“You’ve finally decided to come out of your cocoon.” I frowned. Did they just call me a spider? I shook the ridiculous thought away and focused on what mattered.
I crossed the room and took my grandmother’s hands in mine and she gave me a curious smile. I forced one onto my face. “I’m done with high school.”
My voice trembled slightly.
“And I certainly don’t want to do my university education in this country.” My grandmother’s expression changed and she squeezed my hands.
“Why?” I swallowed.
Because I couldn’t tell them the truth.
I couldn’t tell them that every street, every classroom, and every familiar face now reminded me of the boy who had made me feel like I was nothing.
I couldn’t stay here and pretend I was fine.
I needed distance and a new beginning. Maybe somewhere far enough away that Thomas Osborne couldn’t follow me into my future.
I looked between my grandparents.
“Can I fly abroad for my studies?”
