Sweet Revenge.

Chapter 5.

The car stopped in front of an old apartment complex, decorated with a lot of graffiti in the middle of the quite littered neighborhood, with people clustered in small different groups at corners of the street. Emily slowly got out of the car, and made her way to the car trunk and pulled out her luggage. After she was done, the car zoomed off, leaving Emily standing in front of this house. Emily let out a weak sigh, before slowly dragging her box and headed towards the building. She climbed the stairs till she got to the second floor. She then went ahead to knock on the door at her left hand side. She knocked for about a minute on the cracked and shaky wooden door, when suddenly, the door slightly opened. An eye peeped, to investigate on who it really was that was at the door.

“Emily?” a voice behind the door asked. Emily didn’t answer, rather she gave a slight nod. Immediately, the door flung open, and an agile but elderly woman ran out of the house.

“Oh Emily dear, it’s you alright” she muttered as she quickly rushed over and embraced Emily, squeezing her tight into her bosom. Emily couldn’t contain her emotions at that moment, she immediately burst into loud, uncontrollable tears. The old woman began to strike her brown curly hair.

“It’s okay my baby, cry it out if you have to “ she muttered, her voice as soft as the evening breeze. “Alright now, let’s go in. I don’t want the neighbors trying to stick their noses in our business” the old woman whispered, as she took Emily by her hand, and pulled her gently into the house, before shutting the door. The woman then proceeded to take Emily’s bag and luggage from her and drag it into a room. Emily stood there scanning the small but neat living room. It was just as she remembered it, from the tiny box-like television, and the mossy smell of the room. Also as fast as she went, the old woman came back.

“Don’t stand over there like some stranger, take a seat or something, let me turn on the television for you” the old woman said, as she headed towards the switch behind the television. Emily didn’t say a word, rather she just sat down on the patched couch in the middle of the room. The woman turned the television, walked over to where Emily sat. The two women stared at the screen in silence, for about thirty minutes.

“I saw your message this morning” the old woman said. Emily kept her eyes glued to the screen, not a word leaving her lips.

“It’s okay child, we’ll raise the baby. Don’t worry, we’ll and able to give the child the best life possible” the old woman continued. At this point, tears began to fall of Emily’s eyes ago she sniffed in a bid to control it, she turned to the old woman, her eyes still watery.

“Aunt, my designs were stolen, my dreams were stolen” Emily managed to say, despite her throat being choked with tears. Her aunt moved closer to her, and wrapped her arms around her niece.

“It’s okay Emily, it’s okay. When one door closes, another one opens. This is not the worst situation yet, we’ll pull through it, it’s not the end” Emily’s aunty whispered. Emily continued to cry out her heart, her arms still clutched around her aunt’s waist.

Back at the mansion, while the Regan’s family were enjoying the Saturday’s afternoon picnic at the garden which was just a few meters from the house, some maids stood at the mansion’s entrance chatting away.

“Guess what’s new?” the first maid asked, her eyes beaming with excitement to spill the juicy detail amongst her two colleagues.

“There’s nothing new here, it’s still the same old routine” the second maid responded, the look on her face showing nothing but sheer boredom.

“Let me guess, the gardener is having an affair with Mrs. Regan?” the third maid ask enthusiastically.

“Oh hell no Tricia, I won’t be a party to spreading fake rumors” the first maid cautioned. “Emily resigned just this morning” she continued.

“Oh my goodness! But why?” Tricia asked.

“Yeah right, what’s new about a resignation?” the second maid asked, still not dazzled by the news.

“May, if you aren’t interested in anything I’m about to say, you could leave instead of making this conversation sour” the first maid warned, May just hissed, but never still left. “Rumor has it that she was broken hearted, that’s why she left”. The other two women looked at each other, before looking back at the first maid.

“Miriam, we both are confused here. How does a broken heart affect anyone’s means of livelihood?” May asked, to which Miriam let out a frustrated sigh.

“You two are really clueless. Can’t you two remember when we usually caught Emily sneaking in and out of Mr. Jason’s room? Turns out that Mr. Jason is now engaged to Miss Diane, something Emily didn’t see coming. A little birdie told me Emily and Mr. Jason we’re at the rooftop last night, seems she went to confront him about the whole thing” Miriam narrated. The other two women gasped, their hands over their mouths, while they nodded slowly.

“Wow, this is crazy, it’s all beginning to make sense now” May muttered.

“But y’all should hold on for a minute. Are you sure that’s the main reason? Cos I doubt it” Tricia blurted out. The other two turned swiftly, their eyes piercing through Tricia with intensity.

“So what else do you know?” Miriam asked.

“See, if it’s just a lovers quarrel, I believe it would have been easily settled, a compromise reached, that’s how this rich guys do. But you see in this case, I think a pregnancy is involved” Tricia revealed again, her colleagues widening their eyes after her revelation.

“I wanted to blast you, but you have a point. Cos if a baby is involved in anything, it alters any dynamic” May concurred.

“Hmmm, I think so too. The whole thing could cause an issue, so he’s trying to be discreet about having an illegitimate child” Miriam agreed too. Suddenly the women began to hear some footsteps approaching them and immediately broke away from their small circle, walking in different directions as though they never knew each other. Just as they dispersed, Jason crept out of the building’s entrance, his eyes darting about like fiery arrows.