Precious Nnenna Okechukwu @alexclara

EPISODE 5

On getting to the back of the crowd, someone cried out.
"Isn't that Jeslyn? What is she doing here?"

At those words, the reporters rushed to her and pointed their cameras at her while others shoved their mics into her face.

"Miss Jeslyn, tell us. Is it true you killed your grandfather?"

"Miss Jeslyn, what can you say for yourself?"

"Miss Jeslyn, how could you cheat on your poor fiance and abandon him at the altar?"

"Miss Jeslyn, say something. The people wants to know.

"Miss Jeslyn…."
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Jeslyn grabbed her messy hair tightly as she felt a throbbing pain in her head. Just when she thought the reporters would be the death of her, a loud sound rang in her ear accompanied by a stinging pain on her right cheek.

She turned her gaze to see who it was and came face to face with her sister's teary eyes mixed with rage.

"You monster! I'll kill you!" Christine yelled and was about to attack Jeslyn's face with her long nails when Ray rushed forward and grabbed her by the waist, preventing her from going physical.

"C–Christine?" Jeslyn called as she held her stinging cheek.

"Don't call me, you devil! What did grandfather do to you? Grandfather loved you so much and saw only you as his granddaughter, yet you paid him back with this? You killed him! What kind of heart do you have? You devil!!"

She flung her hands in the air in an attempt to fight Jeslyn but Ray wouldn't let her go further.

"Christine, I didn't do anything, I–"

"When has a thief ever agreed that they stole anything? Even when they are caught red-handed, they would say they were just about to keep the stolen goods in its right place."

Hearing that voice, Jeslyn shifted her gaze to Ray's older sister who just spoke, and returned her gaze to her sister. It doesn't matter if the world doesn't believe her, but her sister has to.

"I didn't do anything. Grandfather was poisoned and he–"

"Stop lying! Grandfather was healthy. He was pushed and hit his head on the coffee table. Maya and the guards witnessed it all!"

"W–what are you saying?" Jeslyn looked lost and immensely confused.
"Maya and the guards gave their testimony to the police, which included video clips of how you and grandfather argued over what you did to brother Ray.
Then you disagreed with grandfather and he slapped you.
You got upset and started to yell at him. Realizing his mistake, he tried to pull you for a hug like he always did and you pushed him, you pushed him!" Christine yelled.

By now, all the guests were gathered and most of them were already jeering at her and pointing fingers, while the others were loudly cursing her and calling her names.

"Christine, that's not true, that's a lie!" She yelled as she held her head to block off all the noises in her mind.

"Shove the evidence in her face. She will never cry until she sees the coffin." Someone said from the crowd.

Ray's older sister pulled out her phone. She scrolled through it and brought out the evidence. She started playing the video before literally shoving the phone into Jeslyn's face.

Jeslyn subconsciously rescued the phone from falling while coincidentally seeing the footage.

What drew her attention was her old man. Teardrops slowly fell from her eyes and dropped on the screen.

All that was being said or scripted in the video didn't gets to her. She wasn't even hearing any of it as all her attention was focused on her old man.

She brushed the phone with her fingers, outlining his figure and suddenly she jolted when the lady on the screen that looked like her pushed the old man who fell back and hit his head on the side of the coffee table.

"Grandfather!" She screamed, at the same time, dropping the phone to the floor.

"Officers, arrest her!" Christine said to the policemen that just walked over.

"Miss, please come with us to the police station." Said one of the policemen.

"I didn't kill my grandfather, he was poisoned, ask the doctors. Christine, I did nothing to grandfather."

Christine chuckled in rage. "What doctors? Is it the ones you bribed? Unfortunately for you, the doctors testified against you. They told the police that you urged them to cremate grandfather the minute he was pronounced dead to hide what really caused his death and you also forced him to diagnose you with fake mental health issues…"

"That's not true! Stop lying!"

"I didn't lie against you, sister, those were the doctors' statements in the station."

"Where are the doctors, tell me, they–"

"It's unfortunate because the two doctors committed suicide out of guilt."

"W– w– what are you talking about?" Her heart dropped to her stomach when she heard that. How was she going to prove her innocence now?

"You heard me. You killed two innocent workers too! Officer, take her away." Christine turned her face away in disgust as the policemen tried to force the resistant Jeslyn out of the crowd.

"Let her go." The voice wasn't loud, nor was it low. However, it was able to stop the commotion.

The people turned to look at him. He pulled the policeman's hand away from Jeslyn's wrist and said: "I'll bring her."

Jeslyn raised her misty eyes to look at the man in front of her and slowly recalled he was the man she got married to.
She wasn't the only one who remembered who she was. Those present that attended the wedding last week knew this man because of his outstanding appearance and the suppressed air around him.

"I–it's you?" Jeslyn asked like she didn't expect him to be here.

"What are you doing here?!" Ray, who hasn't said anything since finally spoke up when he saw this man again, his enemy.

The groom ignored everyone else and held Jeslyn by the wrist as he walked her out of the crowd with the policemen following behind them.

The crowd watched as the man and Jeslyn got into a black inconspicuous car parked not far away.

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Inside a black inconspicuous car speeding across the road, Rex could be seen trying to force the groom to tell him who he got married to, but the groom was adamant about keeping mute.

"Brother, so you aren't going to tell me who you got married to? Your lil brother wants to know. Tell me and I promise I'll zip my lips." He made a lip-sealing gesture.

The groom sneered, but said nothing. His head was rested on his seat with his eyes closed.

"Aai, brother, don't be like that. I might be a gossip monger but–"

"Screech!!!"

"What the f*ck!" Rex cursed after hitting his head on his brother's palm, thanks to the driver holding brake without warning. He was about to hit his head on his brother's shoulder, but his brother was quick enough to stop his head with his palm.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?! If you can't drive then you are fired!" Rex yelled at the driver in frustration.

"I'm sorry young master, it wasn't my fault, a crazy woman ran into the road." The driver apologized.

"Run her over." Came the groom's languid voice.

"Ah, take it easy bro, that's a life we are talking about," Rex smiled.

"Should have known better than to jump into the road." He said with zero feelings.

Rex sighed. He turned to the driver and asked: "Man, why aren't you moving?"

"Young master, the crazy woman is banging on the window." The driver reported.

"Then give her a few seconds," Rex said while looking at his brother. He sighed in relief when his brother said nothing.

The driver wound down the window to ask what the problem was. Just then, her pitiful weak voice sounded.

"Please sir, can you give me a lift? I'm heading to Rose Cemetery."

"Sorry ma'am, we are heading to the airport," Rex answered. He wanted to yell at her, but that pain-filled voice pulled at his heart string.

"Let her in."

"Huh?" Rex asked in confusion.

"..." The driver was lost.

"Brother, you…"

"You got a problem with that?" He raised his brow at Rex.

"N–no, no, of course, not. Hehehe…" Rex laughed sheepishly.

"Thank you," Jeslyn got into the front passenger seat with her hair looking like a bird's nest and face pale like a sick person's. She looked nothing like the infamous celebrity many people knew in Rose City.

"Hmm," he answered her, leaving Rex in bewilderment. This is interesting, he thought.

She was supposed to look back at the people behind, but due to how desperate to get to the funeral she was, coupled with the confusion and disbelief she was in regarding everything that has been happening since her wedding day, she didn't remember to look.

After a while, the car became silent, too silent for Rex's liking so he decided to scroll over the entertainment news. He loves gossip and loves to make some if there was none, so the minute he saw the glaring headline of a popular singer in Rose city trending, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Wow, this is by far the most interesting trouble this sensational celebrity has caused ever since her debut. She abandoned her 5 years fiance for her cheating partner at the altar and married another, then killed her grandfather because he was disappointed in her for ruining the family's name and destroying her innocent fiance's life.
Now, the grandfather's funeral is being held and she's absent. Hahaha…what a wicked soul!... Hmmm… let me see what the comment section is like…
hahaha… I thought as much, she's being chewed alive… oh, this commenter is saying some weird things.
Ah? Why are these commenters diverting from the main topic? It is obvious they were paid for this shit. This is not genuine, I should scroll past."

The groom snatched the phone from Rex and scrolled through the comment. Seeing the weird abominable comments, he frowned slightly and raised his gaze to look at the girl in front but found out she was focused on the billboards by the side of the road.

He closed the app Rex was on and kept the phone by his side.

"Uhm, that's my phone, can you please return it?"

He looked at Rex and then glanced at the phone before he wound down the tinted window and threw the phone out, then closed his eyes and rested his head on the headrest.
Rex stared wide-eyed at him. What's wrong with this devil? That phone was just custom-made and sent to him yesterday!

Even though his eyes had started to bore holes into the villain, he refused to spare him a glance.

"Even though you threw my phone away, I have already seen everything. It says that the D-list celebrity, Jeslyn Lee killed her grandfather because—"

At the mention of her name, Jeslyn who had not been paying attention to the people sitting in the back seat peeked her ears. On hearing the words that followed, she didn't know how she found the strength to go against her weak mental state and responded.

"Mister, I appreciate the fact that you were kind enough to give me a lift, I'll be alighting from here, thank you… stop the car." She said to the driver.

The groom who had his eyes closed all these while suddenly opened his eyes when he heard her words.

The minute the car was stopped, he turned to look at Rex and ordered, "get out."

"Huh?" Rex who heard the words turned his gaze from the lady sitting in the front seat to the man sitting beside him.

He had thought his brother was telling the lady in front to get out but was stunned when he met those emotionless eyes. Not that his eyes ever held emotions though.

"Thank you for the ride," Jeslyn said from the front seat as she was unbuckling her seat belt.

"Not you, young Miss. Rex, get down."

Jeslyn was taken aback by that voice. She had heard that voice somewhere but can't recollect where she heard it from. Her mind was still clouded and in total disarray with all the chaos in her life that she couldn't make her mind to focus.

She turned to look at the person but couldn't see much as the car was dark and he had his eyes closed with the back of his head resting on it.

"Brother, you want me to get down?" Rex pointed at himself.

"Hmm, now."

"In the middle of–"

"You want me to pull you out?" He asked with a curved brow.

"Hehehe… of course not, I'll get down, I'll get down." Rex swallowed his sorrow and opened the car door.

The car zoomed off before he even got to close the door and he was very sure it was the command from that demon.

Inside the car, Jeslyn sighed and said: "Thank you, mister, but you really didn't have to do that. That place is dangerous and there have been multiple reports of bad things happening there lately."

"He'll be fine." He uttered with his eyes closed.

"Oh," she answered and shut her mouth. She looked out the window to see if she could see him but couldn't.
…

The black car stopped at a cemetery and from where the car stood, they could see people in black standing in front of a grave.

"Thank you, mister." Jeslyn offered her thanks and got out of the car and started to run unsteadily towards the people.
The driver was about to start the car when he heard that emotionless voice.

"Hold on."

EPISODE 3

Jeslyn slammed the telephone on the table. She was about to hurry back to her grandfather when she tripped over her gown and fell, hitting her head on the edge of the center table.

She felt a terrifying pain in her head but still managed to stand up. Dizziness washed over her and she swayed. But thanks to the table she held for dear life, she didn't fall.

She stayed like that for a while before she stood up and staggered towards her grandfather with blood trailing down her broken forehead.

While searching the couch they sat on earlier, she saw her phone, the damned phone she had been looking for, and hurriedly called the hospital for an ambulance, not having the time to think of how her phone which was supposed to be missing suddenly appeared out of thin air.
….

30 minutes later

At the hospital….

Jeslyn could be seen sitting on a bench, glancing at the operation room every 2 seconds. She would stand up and pace around for a while then return to her bench to sit.
Her exercise continued like that for five hours until the operation room door dinged open.

She rushed to the doctors who walked out with their nose masks on and asked in a frantic voice: "Doctor, how is my grandfather?"

The doctor sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry, young Miss, your grandfather couldn't make it. The poison had destroyed his organs and… Miss Jeslyn!"

The doctors immediately supported her limp body before she touched the floor and helped her into a VIP room.

....

Jeslyn opened her eyes to a white room and heard a beeping sound. She turned to her right where the beeping sound was coming from and saw the monitor producing the sound. That was when she registered she was in the hospital.

She tried to sit upright but felt a needle pricking her wrist. She looked down at her wrist and it was an injection needle connected to a thin pipe. She sighed before sitting with her head resting on the wall.

For how long had she been unconscious, she had no idea.

It so happened that the TV screen in front of her was on and a funeral scene was being played.

She frowned when she saw a few familiar faces, and then the ones that hit her right in the core were Ray and Christine.

Christine was being held by Ray. Now that's not her problem. However, why is she seeing Christine crying so much while looking at… wait, her grandfather's picture?!

At that moment, Jeslyn's mind turned cold. Shiver ran down her spine as memories flooded her mind. She forcefully pulled out the needle from her wrist, totally disregarding the fact that the drip was not finished.

She pulled away the white cover from her body and got down from the bed.

Taking her first step towards the door, pain hit her hard in the head but she ignored it and staggered out of the room barefooted.

While she was walking along the corridors, everyone she bumped into either gave her weird looks or pointed fingers at her, yet, that wasn't her concern. She was too carried away to notice the hateful stares and reactions she was getting.

Getting to the road, she found no taxi. However looking up, the billboards were playing her grandfather's funeral. Jeslyn didn't know how to react to it.

Her mind was telling her that everything was a prank. Her grandfather and Christine were pranking her, but she urgently needs to get to that cemetery and give them a piece of her mind.

At the same time, she knew her grandfather was dead because the doctors said so. But why are they conducting his funeral so soon?! Didn't she just sent him to the hospital a few minutes ago?! What if the doctors made a mistake?!!!
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