THE PRICE OF LOVE
585 Words
“No.”
Chike's voice was barely audible.
He stared at the old woman.
“You're lying.”
His grandmother smiled.
“Am I?”
She turned toward Adaeze.
“Tell him.”
Adaeze's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know.”
Chike looked at her.
“You knew something.”
“I knew there was a secret about my birth, but I never knew about the marriage.”
Amara stepped between them.
“Grandma, why would Chike marry her?”
The old woman tapped her walking stick against the ground.
“Because twenty-four years ago, your father and Chike's father made an agreement. Their families would become one.”
“And if they refused?”
“They would lose everything.”
Amara's father stepped forward.
“I refused.”
His mother glared at him.
“And that is why I had to take control.”
Grace shook her head.
“You destroyed your own family for money.”
“No,” the old woman replied. “I destroyed the people who stood between me and my family's future.”
A police siren suddenly sounded in the distance.
Chike looked toward the road.
“Police.”
His grandmother smiled.
“Good.”
Amara frowned.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because they aren't coming for me.”
The police vehicle stopped.
Two officers stepped out.
One walked directly toward Amara.
“Miss, you're under arrest.”
Amara's eyes widened.
“For what?”
“Murder.”
“What murder?”
The officer held up a photograph.
It showed Emmanuel lying dead.
Amara's heart stopped.
“But I didn't kill him!”
“You were seen arguing with him.”
Her father stepped forward.
“She was with me.”
The officer shook his head.
“We have witnesses.”
Chike moved in front of Amara.
“This is a setup.”
The second officer pulled out handcuffs.
“Step aside.”
“No.”
“Chike,” Amara whispered.
He looked at her.
“Don't worry. I'll prove you're innocent.”
The officer grabbed Amara's wrist.
She struggled.
Then her grandmother spoke calmly.
“Take her.”
Amara stared at her.
“You did this.”
Her grandmother smiled.
“You should have stayed away from Chike.”
As the officers led Amara toward the vehicle, she suddenly remembered something.
The silver key.
She looked at her father.
“The account.”
He understood immediately.
“Don't worry. I have it.”
But before he could move, Chike's mother grabbed his arm.
“It's gone.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
“The key.”
She pointed toward the old woman.
“She has it.”
Amara's grandmother slowly held up the silver key.
“You mean this?”
Amara's heart sank.
The old woman smiled.
“Now I have everything.”
Then she leaned close to Amara and whispered:
“Except one thing.”
“What?”
“Your silence.”
Amara stared at her.
“You'll never get it.”
The grandmother's smile disappeared.
“Then I'll take it from you.”
The police car door slammed shut.
As it drove away, Chike stood helplessly on the road.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
If you want Amara alive, come alone to the old church at midnight.
Underneath was a photograph.
Chike's blood ran cold.
The photograph showed Amara tied to a chair.
And behind her stood someone he never expected to see.
His own father.
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