Deals.
772 Words
UNSEEN SCARS
CHAPTER 03
MABULALA ZULU MKHIZE.
The mahogany table gleamed under the chandelier light. Expensive whiskey bottles stood untouched in the center, while the heavy air reeked of power and suspicion.
On one end sat Mabulala Zulu Mkhize, back straight, dark suit pressed. Across from him, the Khoza brothers—Philani and Bongani—leaned in with interest.
Mabulala’s voice was deep, steady. “Gentlemen, today we seal something greater than business. Your network and my resources will feed each other. No police, no traitors, no leaks. Only profit.”
Bongani nodded eagerly. “Sharp. We been waiting for this, mfethu.”
Philani kept his eyes on the documents before him, but his mind was split. His heartbeat wasn’t for the ink on paper—it was for the promise hovering in the air.
Mabulala smirked, pouring himself a drink. “But… family must also tie with business. That is how loyalty is truly sealed. My daughter Rorisang—when she turns eighteen—we talk marriage. Family to family.”
Philani’s chest tightened. Heat rushed up his neck. He wanted to leap across the table and agree instantly, but instead he masked his expression with a calm nod.
“That… makes sense,” he said, voice low, controlled.
But inside? His pulse was roaring. She will be mine. Legitimately. No more hiding, no more shadows.
Entle Khoza—Ma’am Khoza—stood at the doorway, having walked in quietly. Her stomach churned at what she’d overheard. A girl barely sprouting into womanhood? This is what her husband was chasing, wrapping their empire into it? She gripped the doorframe, nails digging into the wood.
She knew how Philani looked at Rorisang, hr former brave student, was she losing this handsome guy over a kid?
Philani, what are you doing?
PHILANI KHOZA
DAYS LATER
Philani’s carrowled the school gates like a silent predator. Windows tinted, engine low, he watched her every move. The way she laughed shyly with her friends. The way she always sat at the back of the SUV, diary hugged to her chest.
That diary. He wanted it. Needed IT, Just only is he pecked in see her life journey maybe her secret place.
So, one evening, he called aside the transport driver, a bulky man with no nonsense in his eyes.
“Ngicela ungisize,” Philani said smoothly, sliding an envelope forward. “I want that little book the girl carries.”
The man frowned. “Hai, chief. That’s a child’s property. Ang’funi izinkinga.”
Philani’s jaw tightened. He added another stack of notes. “Zinkinga zakho seziyaphela uma usithathile. No one will ever know.”
The driver hesitated, but greed is louder than conscience. Finally, he nodded. “Tomorrow.”
The next night, Philani sat in his car, flipping open the stolen diary.
Her handwriting curved softly across the pages, teenage dreams spilling in ink. “I don’t like rich guys. They’re arrogant. I just want someone simple, poor even, someone I can spoil and love freely.”
Philani exhaled sharply, his knuckles whitening around the cover. A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
“So that’s it, huh? You hate wealth… but wealth is what I am.”
He slammed the diary shut, mind already plotting.
"I'm I too obsessed with her beauty or do I really love her?"Philani asked himself as he just realized how deep this could be.
The following week, Philani walked into Mr Price, a*****e he had never stepped foot in his entire life. His watch alone cost more than everything inside. Still, he forced himself to browse, picking out jeans, faded T-shirts, sneakers that looked worn by design.
"this will do" he said already thinking of an idea.
He picked also worksuits.
That night, in his mansion, he took scissors and a blade to the clothes. Slashing, roughening the fabric, smudging dirt into the collars. He stood before the mirror, gold chain removed, luxury trimmed down.
The reflection staring back wasn’t Philani Khoza, the feared businessman. It was a shadow—someone plain, someone “poor.”
And for the first time in years, he smiled at his disguise.
“All for you, Rorisang, baby girl I'm dying for you already ".
He sit across his doings and smiled alone, he poured a scotch for him and drank while browsing on rorisang's i********: pictures ___heck he isn't into socials but for her she installed one.
" your so pretty even in your so damn dark complexion. " he said looking at her photo where she was with his twin bro hugging, she was in her crop top with a baggy trouser.
- Writer
