In Your Hands

Chapter3

CHAPTER 3

“Lotus my baby!” Lotus's father runs up to her and hugs her while her mother goes and picks up her little son Grace

Lotus is docile and quiet, still sniffing from the aftermath of her tears and writhing from the event she had just gone through

“I send you off to your marital home, and look at what that scoundrel has done to you!” her grandfather shouts coming down the stairs with a younger lady by his side, her whole family gathers around making embarrassment creep into her soul.

“What happened to you?” They ask, she felt like a child at this point

“At Least- let, let- me sit.” she hiccups while holding back tears, and they scramble to get her a seat

“Leave her for a while, Flora get a cup of tea for her, I'll go cook up a meal for Grace," her mum says taking Lotus's son away

“By tomorrow, I will make sure Alexander doesn't exist.” Her father says as a quiet man with determination in his words.

Flora comes back with a cup of tea, Lotus sits and drinks for a while till she calms down and slowly her family gathers around knowing she’s ready to narrate what had transpired

“he suddenly asked for a DNA test of Grace, and he said Grace isn't his son; I think he was looking for a way to divorce me I didn't know he hated me like that,” she says holding the tears rising in her throat

“What sort of insolence” her father says

“He accused you of an affair?”

“Yes” she nods, making her tears drop and she dabs it with a handkerchief. “Then suddenly, he asks of my divine powers; he knows that they aren't activated yet, I never told him” she continues and there is a heavy silence

“Somebody broke the family code?” her sister suddenly says

“I don't think so, we would've known,” Lotus says

“When we get Alexander, we will torture him for answers,” Richard says and Lotus winces, everybody looks at her skeptical

“Don't look at me like that, I was okay with him before this evening” she says

“Hmm.” her grandfather scoffs

“give her time Pa, all of you believed in that scum too, only I have discerning eyes,” Flora says and suddenly Flora’s husband Daniel walks in

“Are you okay?” he asks Flora

“yeah” she responds

“Daniel, investigate how Alexander found out about her powers,” her grandfather says and he nods immediately; he is their family's private investigator.

“So he said he would beat me unconscious, he wanted to use me as a guinea pig,” Lotus says ending there.

“When I went there, she was bound in chains with wolf bane,” Flora says and her father's expression is grim

“That good for nothing scum!” Her mother says with vile in her tongue; Flora applauded; her mum knew proper hatred. Richard breaths out and says

“What did you do to Alexander?”

“I wasn't strong enough to harm him” Flora answers; Lotus knew that her claim of chaining him and taking photos was a lie, but she keeps quiet

“He’s probably armed with more people by now, we are going to strategies ways to kill him, let's all rest”

“Momma” a little voice calls out, everyone turns their head to Grace standing with a bowl of cereal

“come here love” Lotus calls out and he runs into her arms, she cuddles him and kisses his forehead

“Ss" Daniel sucks in the air “But this kid doesn't resemble either Alex or Lotus” he confesses and the temperature of the room drops, Lotus looks at him with slits in her eyes

“Let's go, Daniel,” Flora says and drags Daniel away, when they reach afar she smacks his head

“Have you rejected him?” Richard asks

“He rejected me,” she says and everyone keeps quiet, “Let me go to bed,” she says and lifts her son leaving the parlor, she goes to her room, everywhere was kept clean even if she hadn't been here for a while, she bathes her son and then herself, after she says

“Grace, you don't have a father anymore, me and you are late bloomers but there's no issue, I love you regardless, baby” She cuddled him to sleep, as she followed suit, exhausted from all the crying

***********

Waking up Lotus looks at her baby, he is still sleeping and she places her hand on his little stomach kissing his forehead, she recalls everything that occurred the night before and it drags down her countenance

She gets up anyway, puts herself together, and prepares to go to work, she goes with her son Grace, and using her private elevator she gets to her office, all day she either blanks out or plays with her son, sitting in front of her son with her head in the clouds while he scattered leggo figures on the ground, she hears a knock on the door

“come in,” she says. knowing who it was

“Hi Lotus, are you okay?” Allison asks looking at her with pity, Lotus doesn't like that look so she says

“Forget about that, tell me about the Lenvic incident, the offices downstairs are filled with commotion but no one has brought up done work, what is going on?” Lotus asks and Allison isn't surprised that Lotus could hear the whispers on the floors below because of her wolf’ strengths but she was surprised instead that Lotus hadn't listened to the conversations clearly

“You haven’t read the news?”

“What news” She asked back as Allison took out a tablet showing it to her

LOTUS RICHARD A FAILING BUSINESSWOMAN BUT A SUCCESSFUL CHEATER, Lotus son was brought in from another man… as Lotus stares at the words, she could feel a combust of many emotions creep in her veins, overwhelming her, making her veins pulse and her eyes go red

“So, this is what they’re discussing downstairs?” she asks steadily but her train of thought is interrupted when someone opens the door from outside and walks in without knocking

“Nothing but a disgrace, that’s what you are” Anchova makes his first statement taking the advantage that she is sitting on the floor, he stares down at her in mockery “A w***e, what are you doing as the CEO of a company, you should be in a brothel”

“Anchova, show some respect! Why are you here?” Allison asked engaging Anchova in bickering, because of how entertained he was with insulting Lotus, he missed the show of anger that Lotus expressed by squeezing a lego in her hand till it turned to dust, it was only when Grace started crying that she snapped out of her murderous trance, looking at Allison, her fist was squeezed so tight that blood marks were lined where her nails met her palm, Lotus is shocked that Allison is also pissed for her sake, knowing that both of them can not have Anchova’s head in the office she desires peace and quiet again

“You’re an immature sick child Anhcova, in a fool's body”.The argument between Allison and Anchova continues in the office till Lotus interrupts

“Anchova and Allison, take it out of my office”

“But I'm defending you, I'm for you here,” Allison says and it makes Lotus recall the way she came the night before with a torture tool, was she going to hit her or break the chains? Allison could never hurt her, but then she thought Alexander did the same, and there was someone in her family who gave her secrets to him, suddenly she felt black in her heart

“Now is not the time to play sides, I can hear the voices of hatred from a mile away,” she said referring to the gossip downstairs, she had focused on their conversations and was repulsed by the judgments on her, Anchova thought she meant what she said figuratively as he wasn’t aware of wolves “But you people's arguments are just too close,” she continued prompting “So leave” she completes and Anchova leaves immediately for he came only to taunt her

“Are you okay Lotus?, I mean, I know you aren't okay, but I'm here for you” she says

“I'm not okay, I don't think I'll ever be, so leave for a while please,” she said in a plea and Allison leaves

Once Allison leaves, her face squeezes in anguish, and she locks her office and cries silently, she knows her parents would get to the bottom of this case so she doesn't bother, she just sits in the office, blocks out the world, and lets her ears be filled with the giggles of her son till evening

Looking from her window, reporters were all around the ground floor. Still, it didn't matter because they wouldn't see her in the end, after it's evening and late, she uses her private lot and leaves, when she gets home her mother takes her son Grace from her, leaving her alone, her parents try talking to her and even her sister, still, she d

oesn't answer much, slowly and surely she starts falling into depression.