Neglected mate of an alpha

Chapter 4

Mark was so happy, his joy was written all over his face. He strongly believes that the presence of Precious in their home was what attracted the good luck of their own child to their home.

"Darling, do you see the benefit of adoption. Our lovely daughter Precious has attracted a blessing to us" he sits beside Ann and stretched out his left arm to place across her shoulder

"She is not our daughter, she can only bring bad luck and nothing more" she retorted, dodging his out stretched arm

" darling, don't say that again, unless you plan to spoil my joy. What has that innocent child ever done to you? She does all the house chores, right from the very day she came into this house, as tender as three, you give her work to do. I watched in silent think that she will soon win your hear and besides, chores is a kind of training for her but yet you are not happy" Mark said, trying hard to sound cool.

" I don't care what you think. I don't like her and I told you from the first day that I hate the idea of adoption but you insisted and threatened me with the idea a second wife" she replied angrily.

" Alright. I take the blame of forcing adoption on you. but for now she is lawfully our daughter and responsibility. Please try to love her like you would love our new baby when it arrives. He pleaded. he held her two hands together with his while putting on a pleading face.

"Well. I don't have a choice. Do I ?" she muttered

"Thanks my darling Ann. please smile for me" he brought up his right hand to cup her jaw.

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Six years later. Precious has been enduring doubled torture in the house since the birth of John her brother. Ann's hatred for Precious increase because despite all the maltreatment, Precious has grown into a beautiful sixteen years old girl in her final year as a senior secondary School student.

John has also grown to a five years old naughty boy because of the way his mom pampers him daily.

"Precious! Precious" Ann yelled on her way out to the salon. It was a Saturday which means more chores for Precious.

"Yes Mom" Precious answered, as she rushed into the parlor where her mom was calling from.

"were you deaf? How many times will I call before you answer?" she angrily knocked her head with the crook of her fingers

" I'm sorry mom" Precious replied as she twists in pain

"You see this house, I want you to scrub the whole floor, wash all dishes and tidy the kitchen then wash all the clothes in the basket. The little rice in the pot is for your brother. You are a grown girl, you can manage without food till I get back" Ann instructed as she pulled Precious ears for emphasis.

" Yes Mom" Precious groaned in pain as she walks back to the kitchen

"And make sure that boy did not cry. because if he does, you will cry yours when I get back" Ann added as Precious got to the door

" Ok, mom" she responded.

Precious continued with her chores after serving the reserved rice to her brother. There was a washing machine at home but she has been forbidden to use it. Only Ann uses the machine whenever she needs to was some special clothes. After mopping the whole floor in the flat, she went into the bathroom and washed the heap of clothes from the wash basket with her hands.

By now she was already hungry but she endured it. she washed the two toilets in the house. While she does all these her brother was busy playing in the palour and doing some damages to the place. Precious was infuriated when she came to the palour to check on her brother.

."Get out of this place John. Look how you have messed up the whole place" she scolded him as she picked up the toys and his plate which he had been playing with.

John burst into tears " I will tell my mom for you" he yelled as he flee outside to play with other children in the compound.

Precious ignored him and continued tidying the place. By the time she was done, her mom was not yet back. she was very hungry but she knows that the consequences of taking snacks from the fridge without permission is more severe than hunger so she choose to fill her tummy with water.

As she was taking the second glass of water, her brother came running into the house in tears.

"Precious! Precious! see my body" he screamed

"What happened to you, Why are you soaked in mud?" she asked in concern as dragged him towards the bathroom

" It is that Ken, he pushed me to the mud while we were playing." he continued crying

" It's ok. stop crying. Why can't you stay home quietly and read your book." She advised as she took off his clothes and quickly bath his whole body.

She took him to the room and changed his clothes.

"I am going to play outside" He announced. walking towards the door.

" Come back here! don't go and dirty yourself and come back to me again. I am not your slave. I have other work to do" she yelled. but he was already out of the flat.

She went back to the bathroom, washed John's dirty clothes then took her own bath. It was almost lunch time. She went to the kitchen and made yam with egg stew for lunch. Then she waited patiently for her mom to come home and dish the food.

When John got back from playing, he couldn't resist the aroma of the food that had engulfed the whole flat.

"I am hungry" he complained as he came to sit on another couch opposite his big sister.

"I am hungry too. But we both know that mom will be angry if I dish the food without her permission" she explained

" please pretty please, give me just one piece of yam. mom won't even know" John insisted

"mom will soon be back, then we can all eat together. If I give you one piece now, she might catch you eating it. You already know what she will do to me. Precious replied.

"All I know is that I am hungry" John stumped his feet on his way back to his room.

Precious tidied up the place she stayed to cook and waited patiently for her mom. She is also hungry but she could not taste any food unless it was given to her by her mom. She knew that if she eats anything without permission from her mom, the punishment will be starvation for two days. it has happened on different occasions while she was growing up so she had learnt not to make such mistake again.

The first time she ate food after cooking without waiting for permission, she got the beating of her life and was starved for two days without the knowledge of her dad. When she reported the incident to her dad, he was shocked and scolded his wife severely but instead of making things better for Precious, thing became worst. Her mom hated her more and treated her with more wickedness.

It is a rule in the house that only their mom can dish food from the pot. Although Precious made all the food, she has no right to eat unless she is given.

Her father tries everything he can to make Precious feel like a real daughter but his business usually take him out of the state so he is not always home to know what she passes through in the house.

John on the other hand, has the right to eat whenever and whatever he desires to eat. When Precious got to the parlour, she found John crying on the couch.

"You know that you are free to eat whenever you want in this house. Why are you crying? Go to the kitchen and take some yam and egg sauce. please don't finish the sauce" Precious said

John didn't need a second. He dashed into the kitchen to dish himself as much food as he like before going back to the dinning table to enjoy his meal.

"I hope you have not emptied the whole pot of sauce?" Precious ask. she came over to look at his plate.

"God! are you going to finish all these eight pieces of yam?" she asked angrily

"Yes I can finish them. I am hungry" John retorted

"Well, you can empty the whole pot, I don't care anymore" she said, before walking off to her room

John finished the sauce, his yam was still remaining so went to the pot to help himself with some more.l sauce. He looked around to be sure Precious was not around. He sneaked back to the kitchen.

As he opened the pot of egg sauce and was about to lift the spoon, he heard his sister's footsteps. In a rush to cover the pot, his unsteady hand pushed the pot. Everything splashed on him and to the floor.

Precious rush to the kitchen on hearing the noise. She stood frozen to the door when she saw the mess. John started crying

"You thief. Why did you come back to the kitchen after eating that much yam earlier?" she pulled his ears and sent him out of the kitchen.

It was while she was cleaning up the mess her brother made that her mom came home and met John crying in the parlor besides his unfinished plate of yam.