Family Secrets
1103 Words
CHAPTER 6:
The guest room smelled like antiseptic and lavender.
My mom was asleep. A doctor was checking her vitals. Her breathing was steady now. The oxygen tank hissed quietly.
I stood in the doorway and watched her. 3 days ago she was dying in a public hospital. Now she had a private nurse, imported drugs, and 24/7 security.
All because I signed a paper and married a man I barely knew.
“Lila.”
Damien’s voice. Behind me.
I turned. He looked wrecked. Black t-shirt wrinkled. 5 o’clock shadow. Eyes red like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Is she okay?” he asked.
“The doctor said yes. She needs rest.”
Damien nodded. He didn’t come closer. Like he was afraid to.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“In my office.”
---
His office was all black and glass. Floor to ceiling windows. Abuja city lights below us.
He poured two glasses of whiskey. Didn’t ask if I wanted one. Pushed one to me.
“I don’t drink,” I said.
“Today you do.”
I took a sip. It burned.
Damien sat across from me. He looked at the glass in his hand like it held answers.
“The men tonight,” he said. “They mentioned Amara.”
My stomach dropped. “What about her?”
He set the glass down. Hard.
“Amara didn’t die in a car accident, Lila.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“The police report was faked. The car accident was staged.” He looked up. His eyes were dead. “Amara was murdered. And whoever did it... they tried to kill your mom tonight too.”
I couldn’t breathe. “No. That’s not
— How do you know?”
“Because 2 years ago, someone deleted Amara’s hospital file 10 minutes after she was pronounced dead. Just like they deleted your mom’s file today.” He laughed, but it had no humor. “Same signature. Same person.”
I shook my head. “Who would do that? Why?”
“Money.....
Power.....
Revenge....”
He leaned forward. “Amara found out something. About Cole Group. About my family. She was going to go public.”
“Found out what?”
Damien stared at me. “That Cole Group has been laundering money through fake hospital contracts for 10 years. St. Mary’s was one of them. Your mom’s hospital.”
I stood up. “That’s a lie. My mom—”
“Your mom worked in billing, didn’t she?” he cut me off. “For 15 years. She probably saw things. Signatures that didn’t match. Patients who didn’t exist.”
I sat back down. My legs couldn’t hold me.
“Mom never said...”
“Because she was scared.” Damien’s voice softened. “Just like Amara was scared. Right before she died, she told me she was pregnant.”
The whiskey glass slipped from my hand. It didn’t break. Carpet.
“Pregnant?” I whispered.
Damien nodded. “With my child. Due in 3 months.”
I laughed. It came out hysterical.
“And you married ME?
2 weeks after she died?”
“I had to,” he said. “The will. If I didn’t marry within 30 days of her death, Cole Group goes to my uncle. The same uncle who probably killed her.”
It all clicked. The contract. The 15 million. The rush.
“You used me,” I said. My voice was flat.
“I protected you,” he shot back. “If you weren’t my wife, you’d be dead too. Like Amara. Like they tried with your mom.”
“Don’t you dare say you protected me.” Tears were falling now. “You lied to me.”
“I lied to keep you alive!” He slammed his hand on the desk. “Do you think I wanted this? Do you think I wanted to watch another woman I—” He stopped himself.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
We stared at each other. The city lights flickered between us.
My phone buzzed.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
"Cute reunion. But we still have pictures. From the wedding. And from before. Pay 20 million by Friday or the internet sees Mrs. Cole cheating on her husband."
A photo attached.
Me. 6 months ago. At a bar. Kissing a guy. A guy who wasn’t Damien.
My ex.
Rex
My face went white.
Damien saw it. He grabbed the phone. His jaw ticked.
“They have nothing on me,” he said. “But they have this.”
“It was before you,” I said quickly. “Before the contract.
Rex and I broke up a year ago. I don’t—”
“I don’t care,” Damien said. But his voice was tight. “What I care about is who sent this. Because only 3 people knew about that night. Me. You. And...”
“And who?”
“Victoria.”
My cousin. My mom’s sister’s daughter. The one who was at the wedding. The one who smiled too much.
“No,” I said. “Victoria wouldn’t—”
“Victoria was Amara’s best friend in university,” Damien said. “And 2 months ago, she asked me for a 50 million loan. I said no.”
He stood up and walked to the window.
“This is bigger than us, Lila. Someone in this family wants Cole Group. And they’re willing to kill for it.”
He turned back to me.
“I need you to trust me.”
“After all the lies?”
“I’m done lying.” He crossed the room in 2 steps. Grabbed my hands. “From now on, no secrets. You want to know everything? I’ll tell you. But you have to stay by my side. Because if you leave, you die.”
His hands were warm. His eyes were desperate.
And for the first time, I saw it. Not the cold CEO. Not the man from the contract.
A man who was terrified of losing someone again.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Okay. I’ll stay.”
Damien exhaled. Like he’d been holding his breath for years.
He pulled me into a hug. This time I didn’t pull away.
His phone rang.
He answered. Listened.
And his face went blank.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” he said.
He hung up.
“The nurse,” he said. “Your mom. She’s missing from her room.”
The floor dropped out from under me.
---
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD