The desperate daughter-in-law

Awaiting tomorrow

Her loud cries could be heard as she was thrown into the cold empty room without windows. She sat on the floor and moved closer to the wall with her arms curled around her knees. She began to sob heavily with her body trembling as she thought of what awaits her in the hands of the Taiwo's family.

She thought of Daren and her heart cringed. Her heart became heavy as she thought of what he would be going through right now. She thought of May and the treatment she might be receiving from everyone in the family who might be avoiding her like a plague.

"Oh, how did I get here? Oh Rita, it will never be well with you. For misleading me into this path, Rita, it will never be well with you!" She cursed as tears poured down her face freely.

*

"No! This can't be true! This can't be true!" Evan yelled as he paced around the small moderately furnished living room.

"I can't believe Lisa would do this, I mean, she loves you too much to have cheated on you. No, there is more to this," Toyosi said from where she was seated on the white sofa.

"Daren, we can't let that bastard take away May from you! How dare he? How dare he come out of nowhere and lay claims on a child you've worked so hard to train? May is your child, Daren, and no one can take her away from you!" Evan ranted as he walked back to the sofa where Daren was seated, looking so crestfallen.

"You're forgetting the fact that Melisa cheated on me. I'm not talking about the baby, because I believe May is mine. Why would Lisa do such a thing to me? Why?" He asked soberly.

"I guess she was desperate to give you a child, Daren. She loves you a lot and she wouldn't want to see you lose your inheritance," Toyosi explained.

"Shut up!" Her husband yelled and she kept silent.

"If Lisa ever loved me, she wouldn't ever dare cheat on me! Despite the fact that we failed to make babies together, despite the pressures from my family to get a second wife, I never dared for all those times to cheat on Lisa!

Cheating on her had never crossed my mind! Why would she do this to me, why?!" Daren flared, his voice trembling greatly.

"Daren, it's enough. You need to put yourself together and be strong for what awaits us tomorrow. I will be there at the mansion when the result is out. No matter what happens, I will be there for you," Evan assured with his hand placed on Daren's shoulder.

He sniffled and wiped the tear that escaped his eye.

"I don't know what will happen if May doesn't happen to be mine," he said with a wry smile on his face.

"May ought to be yours. Look at those eyes, she took them after you. May is yours, Daren," Toyosi assured him.

He smiled wearily and sniffled again.

"Um..where is Lisa at the moment?" Evan asked.

"Being locked up in a separate room. My grandma ordered for her to be locked up without food or water," he replied.

"No! That's cruel! Daren, you need to go check up on her!" Toyosi voiced out angrily and the men shot her a stern look.

"I don't want to see Lisa. Seeing her face will only hurt me more," he said.

"Um..don't you think she might have further explanations to give?" Evan asked.

"Explanations?" He asked with a scoff.

"No, Evan. I gave her room for an explanation when I noticed her weird attitudes. But you know how the story went. She kept on spitting lies in my face.

Right now, I have no room left to listen to her explanations any longer," he said as he stood up from the sofa.

"I will take my leave now," he said.

*

"Elsa! Elsa!" Charles called after her as she walked along the passage with the maids following behind her.

With May in his arms, he hastened his footstep after her and he could see her walking into the bedroom.

"Elsa, stop keeping mute on me," he said as he stepped into the bedroom where he could see her sitting on the bed while the maids took off her shoes.

"I've had a long day, Charles, what do you want?" She asked in a rather high tone as she shot him a cold look.

"Elsa, Lisa has been there all through the day without food or water. Don't you think your mother's decision is quite harsh? She is someone's daughter and not a prisoner," he explained as he walked towards her.

Her brows gathered as her mean eyes feasted on him.

"How dare you, Charles, how dare you question my mother's decision?! Are you trying to defend her infidelity?!" She shot.

"No, I'm not. All I need is for her to be free. She needs to be with her husband tonight so they could talk things over. We didn't even get her own side of the story," he emphasized.

"You're so ridiculous, Charles. Would you stop mixing sentiments with infidelity?!" She slammed.

"No..I..I," he tried to speak.

"Just stop it! If I were to do the same to you, you would be saying the opposite right now," she said as she stood up to face him.

"Lisa has messed with the wrong family. She should be ready to dance when the sound of her own music begins to play," she said in his face.

He kept silent and his face lowered to the floor. He could see the baby reaching her hands to Elsa who was standing in front of him.

"You can as well take her out of my sight," she ordered as she turned with her back facing him.

"Really? Elsa, really?!" He yelled with a surprised face and the baby began to cry.

"I can't believe you're pouring out your frustrations on a little girl right now?!" He shot but she didn't respond.

"Fine, but don't come acting like the angelic grandmother if the DNA test proves you all wrong tomorrow," he said and walked out with the baby who was crying so loudly.

Stepping into the living room, he could see Daren walking into the house.

"Oh, son, I'm glad you're back," he said as he walked over to meet him.

At the sight of her father, May stretched her hand towards him and Daren took her away from Charles. She placed her head on his shoulder while he rocked her back.

Charles smiled as he watched them both and he heaved a sigh.

"Um..I was hoping you would come back early so we could check on Melisa together. She's been without food all through the afternoon and May has been crying. She really needs her mother," he said to Daren who was still rocking the baby.

His face pulled into a deep frown as he stared at his father. Without a word, he walked away from him and Charles followed him up the stairs.

"Okay, I'm not saying you should talk to Lisa, but let's just check up on her. You won't be happy if something terrible happens to her, will you?" He asked as they walked into the room.

"Father, I'm tired. I've had a long day and I need to rest," he said as he placed the baby on the bed.

"Oh, I can call the maids to give May a bath and also feed her," he offered.

"No, I will do that myself," he said as he took off his jacket and Charles smiled.

"You really love your daughter a lot, don't you?" He asked as he saw him walking to the shelf.

Daren kept silent as he took the cereal cup from the shelf and the flask.

"What would you do,if she doesn't prove to be yours tomorrow?" Charles asked.

He kept silent and sat on the bed dejectedly.

"Father, I don't know," he said as he gulped.

"Family is not just by blood, Daren. Family are the people who have become a part of you. May is a part of you, Daren. She is family, " he said as he patted his shoulder.

"I will be on my way out," he said as he stood up and walked out.

He sniffled and wiped the tears that escaped his eyes as he looked at the baby who was playing innocently on the floor.

"I pray and hope you turn out to be mine," he said emotionally.

*

The door opened and she saw a tray of food being pushed into the room. She raised her back from the wall and pulled the tray closer to herself. Inside the tray was a small note.

"From your beloved father in-law. Eat, and be strong my daughter," the note read.

She broke into tears immediately as she read the note. She wondered how he had been able to sneak in food to her without the notice of his wife.

She looked at the food and her stomach began to rumble. She knew she needed to eat and be strong for what lays ahead tomorrow.