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1963 Words
She opened her eyes slowly and her brows raised in surprise as she looked around the small neatly arranged room. It appeared so strange to her until she recalled all the saga of last night. She felt an acrid pain in her head and a big lump on her throat.
Looking at the other side of the bed, she could see May lying peacefully in a brown blanket. Her eyes welled up as she recalled the hospitality she had received from Toyosi last night.
Despite their differences, Toyo proved to be a friend in times of distress. She thought of Rita and her brows gathered. Right now, all she felt was to teach her a big lesson she will never forget.
She was still in her ocean of thoughts when the door opened and Toyosi walked into the room, dressed in a pink short night wear.
"Hey," she called with a smile as she shut the door behind her.
"Hi..," Melisa muttered nervously as she narrowed her gaze from her face.
"You're awake," Toyosi said with a smile as she sat on the small bed.
She heaved a sigh and sat up with her back leaning on the wall.
"Thank you for last night," she muttered sincerely.
Toyosi chuckled.
"Oh, don't mention. I was worried about you and May sharing the bed, you know, it's not that big," she said with a smile.
"It's fine..it's..it's..enough for us," she muttered. "How is Evan? '' She asked quickly.
"He..he didn't come home last night. He had to spend the night with Daren," Toyosi muttered sadly.
"I'm..I'm sorry for any inconvenience I must have caused you and your family," she apologized with a sniffle.
"Lisa, it's fine. I'm.. I'm just worried about you and your daughter right now," she said in a sad tone.
"I..," She tried to speak but the words became stuck in her throat as her eyes became teary.
"It's fine, Lisa. You don't need to explain. Everything you did, I know you did it for Daren.
You love him so much and would never want to hurt him. It pains me that he isn't going to see it the way you do,” she said.
She began to sob and Toyosi placed her hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine, Lisa. No matter what people say about you, you've given your all for this marriage," she said with empathy.
A knock came on the door and Toyosi walked to open the door. Evan walked into the room, wearing a white long sleeve shirt and black pants.
His weary eyes fixed on Melisa's face as he walked to the bedside where she was sitting. Her gaze lowered away from his face as soon as she caught sight of him..
"How are you?" He asked grumpily.
"I'm.I'm..fine," she muttered.
"How is May? I hope she isn't cold?" He asked as he sat on the bed and placed a palm on the child's body.
"She..she is fine, '' she replied as she sniffled and wiped the tears that escaped her eyes.
"How is Daren? Was he able to get some sleep?" Toyosi asked from where she stood.
"Last night was hell. We managed to put him to bed with some sleeping pills," he related.
Her tears increased as she heard his words and the couple turned to look at her.
"Lisa, why did you keep this away from him? You should have told him the truth," Evan chided
"I tried to..I tried to..," She cried profusely.
"It's enough. Come and let's go have breakfast together," Toyosi urged as she walked to the bed and held her arms.
Evan sighed with his head resting on his palm dejectedly.
"I never meant to cheat on him..I didn't mean to do it!" She cried.
"It's enough, come on," Toyosi urged as she helped her up.
They both walked out of the room and Evan followed after them.
After breakfast, she took her bath and dressed up in a simple long floral dress. She walked out of the room and she could see Evan walking into the living room, carrying his briefcase.
"I'm leaving for work. We will talk about it when I get back," he said and she nodded.
As soon as he walked out, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and she couldn't recognize the number.
"Hello..," She muttered.
"Melisa," a familiar cracked male voice called from the phone.
Her eyes bulged and her heart stopped beating for a moment.
"Is this how they treated you in the end?" His voice came again.
"Father," she called in disbelief.
"I'm sending a ride to wherever you are at the moment. I need you and my grand-daughter at my place at once," he sounded with authority and hung up.
"Father!! Father!!" She cried in ecstasy as she held the phone in disbelief.
She hurried to the bathroom where Toyosi was bathing the kids.
"Toyo," she called in delight and Toyosi turned to look at her.
"Hey," Toyo called as she wiped her wet hand on her dress.
"I have something to tell you," she said with a smile.
**
They both pulled out the luggage through the door and they could see the black land cruiser jeep parked in front of the building. The men in front of the car walked towards them and took the luggage into the car.
"Evan and I will check up on you later," Toyosi said with a smile.
"Thank you, Toyo. Thank you for everything," she said soberly and they both hugged briefly.
"Hello, May. Will you miss aunty?" Toyo asked with a smile as she tickled May's cheek.
She let out a giggle and they all laughed. As she stepped into the car, she bade Toyosi and the kids goodbye and the car drove out of the yard slowly.
*
Her face wore a mixed expression as she saw the old man standing in the moderately furnished living room wearing a long black jalabiya. He was standing with his back facing the window and he turned as he heard her footsteps.
"Father," she called as she fell before his feet.
A wry smile appeared on his face and he patted her shoulders.
She began to sob heavily and he helped her up from the floor.
"Welcome home, daughter. I told you once, home will always be home," he said as he saw her weeping profusely before him.
"I'm so sorry, father. I should have listened to you!" She cried vehemently and he smiled and made her rest on his shoulder.
"Welcome home, my daughter, welcome home," he said with emotions as he embraced her tightly.
"Where is my grand-daughter?" He asked as they pulled away from each other.
"She's with Madam Caroline," she said as she looked behind her to where the plumpy lady was standing with the baby.
"Bring her over to me," he urged and Caroline brought the baby over to him.
"Look at you, so tall and beautiful," he complimented with a warm smile.
He looked at Melisa for a moment and looked at the child again.
" Did the DNA test confirm she isn't Daren's? " He asked, a little bit puzzled.
"Yes..," She muttered sadly with her gaze on the floor.
"Hmm," he mumbled.
"Anything the matter?" She asked as she looked at his puzzled face.
"No , um..come over to the table. I made lunch," he said with a smile.
"Oh, I've missed daddy's food a lot," she cried in excitement as she followed him to the dining table and they both laughed.
After lunch, they both sat before the small private swimming pool at the back of the house. May could be seen playing in the pool which was filled with toys.
"So, who else knows that you were r***d?" He asked with his eyes fixed on the pool.
"Only Rita knew," she replied.
"The b***h who betrayed you?" He asked in a rather high tone and she nodded.
"She bit the hands that fed her," he said as he shook his head in disbelief.
She kept silent with her gaze fixed on the floor.
"And as for the Taiwo's, they will know what it means to treat my daughter like a prisoner and throw her out like a piece of trash. They rubbed you in the mud, Lisa. Look over the internet, the news is spreading like wildfire," he related.
"I seriously don't know how it got to the public. But I'm sure the Taiwos would never want to watch their dirty linen in public. They would never want such an issue to get to the public because it will rub them in the mud. I don't think they're behind the news spreading on the internet," she said as she shook her head.
"Then who could it be?" He asked as he looked at her face.
"Someone who would do anything to tarnish my image. It's no other person than Diana," she said and he frowned.
" I told you I don't like that family! I've never liked them ever since they made Charles a wife instead of a husband!” He snapped.
She chuckled and took a sip from her drink.
"Yes, that's what that evil woman and her daughter did to him. Charles is the wife, and Elsa is the husband. They turned him against his family just like they did to you," he said and she sighed.
"Father, I want to know, how did you find me?" She asked.
"I saw the news all over the internet and I called all your friends I knew and they helped me reach Daren. He gave me Evan's address," he related.
"He..he spoke to you?" She asked with bulgy eyes.
"Yes..yes he did," he replied.
She kept silent and her heart became heavy as she thought of what he might be going through.
"If he hadn't given me the address, I would have sued every one of them," he said with laughter as he relaxed on his seat and sipped from his drink.
She looked at the ring still stuck in her finger and she gulped.
"You think he will come back?" Her father asked.
She shook her head slowly.
"I..I don't think so," she said.
"I pray he doesn't. I don't want to see him anywhere near you," he said as he stood up.
"Fa..father," she tried to speak.
"No words," he hushed with his finger on his lips.
She sighed bitterly as she watched him walk away from her.
*
RITA'S PLACE.
She lowered the music coming from the home theater and she hurried to the door immediately. Her sweaty face pulled into a smile as she saw Jerry stepping into the house.
"My money," she said with a smile as she walked to the couch stylishly.
He scoffed as he followed behind her.
"Your phone,” he demanded, his hand stretched.
She handed him her phone, her eyes on his face.
She watched as he scrolled through the phone and she wondered what he was doing.
"What are you doing?!" She flared as she saw him scrolling through her message box.
"Texting your friend," he said with a sinister smile as he looked at her face.
"Why?!" She barked as she tried to drag the phone away from him.
He pushed her away and she staggered backwards.
"Jerry, what are you doing?!" She barked as she surged towards him again.
He typed a few words into the phone and threw it away to the floor.
"Argh!" She gasped and tried to reach for the phone but he pulled her back and reached for the flint knife in his pocket.
He tightened his arm around her neck and as she gasped for air, he dug the knife into her stomach.
- Writer
