𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄, damiano david

━━𝟑𝟐.𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

When I woke up the next morning, I was still lying on the sofa in the living room. I didn't feel the least bit rested.

Sophia's bedroom door was closed when I went through the hall to the bathroom, it was just getting light outside, but I couldn't go back to sleep anyway.

In the bathroom I quickly jumped into the shower to get rid of the disgusting feeling I had because I had slept in my normal clothes.
My hair dripped wetly on the floor as I hurried into my room dressed only in a towel and looked for my phone, which I had left somewhere last night with little battery and not plugged into the charging cable.

I found it lying on my bed, along with the charging cable, and plugged it in immediately, then changed and tried to dry my hair with the towel.

Outside, I could hear the cars passing on the street in front of the house, until I closed it in annoyance.

Since Sophia still wasn't awake and I wouldn't be going back to uni until tomorrow, I decided to go to the supermarket around the corner to make her breakfast.
Although I hadn't said anything yesterday, it worried me when Sophia didn't eat. Usually she was always hungry.

At the supermarket, I threw some groceries in the basket and then rummaged for Sophia's favourite sweets to cheer her up.

A group of teenage girls came up to me beaming with joy as I threw a packet of crisps into the basket.

"You're Coraline, aren't you?" they asked, wide-eyed and looking at me, I was getting a little nervous, someone had only recognised me once or twice before on the street.
"Uh yeah, right," I said therefore and grinned sheepishly.

"Totally cool, can we take a picture with you?" the girl asked and I nodded willingly, one by one they all posed with me and my mood lightened.

"You and Damiano are so cute, even if you don't admit that you're together," said the girl who had approached me first, she seemed to be the bravest of the group.
I didn't know what to say, so I just laughed briefly, "It was nice to meet you, but I have to go on shopping now," I said, and the girls nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry about what people say, it will be fine. And your song was really great!" one of the girls called out, then they stormed out of the shop giggling.
What the hell did that mean?

I went to the till to pay, behind the cashier there were racks of all the weekly newspapers in London hanging on the wall and I inhaled in shock when I saw my own face on them.

❝ Coraline- the father speaks of her as a liability ❞

Underneath the photo of me was a picture of my father, there was also Damiano's face, I swallowed hard.
"And that newspaper there, please," I muttered to the cashier and he threw it on the counter, he didn't seem to notice that it was me who was pictured on the front page.

I almost sprinted home, carrying my purchases in a bag and the newspaper tucked under my arm.I unlocked the door only after several attempts because my hand was shaking so much that I couldn't get the key into the hole.

Sophia's room door was still closed. I hurriedly threw the purchases onto the countertop and then unfolded the newspaper.

Coraline Collins (21), the young singer who should be a household name to every Englishman since last weekend at the latest, doesn't seem to be as well-behaved as she pretends to be.
Last night, an insider told The Times that he had precise information that Coraline was an offender.
Her father, currently living in Italy, has been accusing her of child abduction for four years. At the age of 18, the Italian-English singer ran away from home and took her younger sister, who was underage at the time, with her. The father reportedly never heard from them again until he learned that Coraline was a candidate for the United Kingdom in the European music competition ESC.
According to the insider, the father visited the singer in Rotterdam and clashed with the Italian candidate and winner of the ESC, Damiano David (22). This was followed by a stay in hospital for both the father and Coraline herself. Only David escaped the situation unharmed.
Reasons for Coraline's escape from Italy are not yet confirmed, but the insider spoke of acts of violence by her father, of which Damiano David and his parents, who were already closely acquainted with the Collins family at the time, are also said to have known.

I dropped the newspaper before I could finish reading the whole article and rushed into the bathroom, where I bent over the toilet and threw up.
My muscles trembled and my eyes flickered.

Before I could get up on my own, I was pulled up by Sophia, who had rushed into the bathroom.
"Cora, Cora, it's okay, breathe," she sounded agitated, "It's okay, you just have to breathe calmly, it'll be better in a minute," she tried to calm me and I clutched her hand convulsively.

It took some time before my heart stopped pounding as if it would jump out of my chest at any moment.
I breathed in and out deeply and closed my eyes, Sophia stroked my hair.

"I've already read it. Ethan called me, he says Damiano has tried to reach you a thousand times but you haven't answered your phone, he's worried sick, so are the others," Sophia enlightened me.

"It's okay," I said weakly, my voice raspy.
"No, it's not," Sophia decided, "Some asshole told that fucking newspaper your whole life story, there's even more on the internet, all about dad and you, whole Europe is going crazy on social media."

As she said this I threw up again, "Oh shit, sorry," Sophia said quickly and held my hair.

Fifteen minutes later I was walking around the living room, my phone pressed to my ear, while Sophia sat on the sofa looking at me, chewing on her bottom lip.

"No, I don't know who that was," I repeated for what felt like the tenth time.
"I have a fucking huge problem, first this drug accusation and now that I beat up your father, some people on the internet even think I beat you up because you were in hospital," Damiano's voice was strained.

"Bullshit," I cursed and threw myself on the sofa, only to get up again the next moment.
"They know just about everything, Cora," Damiano said forcefully, "Your whole escape from Italy is described there, even if some of it from before the escape is very fuzzy," he then murmured and my heart stopped.

"Wait a minute, what was in the newspaper about your parents?" I asked quietly.
"It said that they knew about the violence your father inflicted on you but did nothing," Damiano reminded me.

"Shit!" I cursed loudly and stomped on the floor, "Shit! Shit!" I repeated and bit the inside of my cheek so hard that I felt blood.
"What is it?" asked Damiano, "What's wrong, Coraline?"

"I know who did it. I'm going to take that bitch down!" my voice was low and dangerous, something I didn't know about myself, "I'm going to have to make a statement to the press, just trust me, will you Damiano?", I asked him and he said something I didn't really understand.
"Wait a minute, Cora-" he tried to stop me, "What the hell are you up to?"

"Just trust me," I repeated and I could almost feel him taking a deep breath in and out, "All right, I trust you."

Before I could put my plan into action, I had to make an appointment with the press. I called the Times, it was after all the biggest newspaper and they had already reported on the subject, and I was met with great joy there. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning and then I grabbed the newspaper I had bought.

"All the people are freaking out, actually all the younger ones are on Damiano's and your side, but some on Twitter are writing the biggest bullshit I've ever read. Who would think that Damiano beat you up while Dad was trying to protect you?" said Sophia as she looked at me, holding her phone in her hand.

"Anyway, all the teenagers think you and Damiano are cute," she laughed and if we weren't in such an absurd and scary situation I might have laughed too.

"We have to go," I said quickly and Sophia frowned, "What do you want to do?"

"I'm going to fire my fucking manager."