“I made this fresh tea for us,” she said and handed me a cup before stirring hers, leaving heavy aroma of the natural herbs hanging over us.I shut my eyes to appreciate the unavoidable aroma of caramel which was too inviting; I guessed she took her time to fix this tea because of what she intended to achieve.I had noticed she often stole a glance at me each time she sipped at her cup; it was close monitoring and she expected me to drink up the tea right now so that she could hand me over to Opula and Kate for their evil intention.“There must be something unique about the tea, “I said and waited impatiently for the hotness to disappear while I blow at it, “The last one I had at the yacht party gave me a soothing sleep which I hadn’t had in a long time,” I said.“Oh really,” Salsa replied, lowered her gaze in suspicion and grinned briefly. A whole lot was pacing through her mind right now and she wished she could escape from this snare of betraying the only friend she had in the vill
“Opula is just impossible!” I intoned and clicked my fingers irritably, “How could she do such a thing? Rumor is going round that Rod is her ex, but that doesn’t mean she should sleep with him just so she could make me his wife …”Salsa’s gaze was still settled on my tea. I perceived a lot was going on in her mind and most especially about the reason I was yet to sip my tea. Indeed, she actually wanted to retain her job as chef at the Fanny villa and to accomplish it she had to fulfill the task of putting me to sleep for Opula and Kate. She poured a fresh tea for herself and earned a sip.“Now between me and Opula who is better? She is married and from a famous family. If her infidelity should escalate will she be able to deal with it? She is mad at me over a romance I called off a long time. We are even now. Nothing stops me from letting Ken know she cheated on him just recently.“It is baseless,” I said and gripped my cup and about to have a sip; my first sip. I could see the quietn
The wailing of the siren caught the attention of everyone at the villa and through the window, everyone peeped to behold the ambulance conveying my husband.I stood ghost-struck, chin soaked with tears , goose bumps ravaged my skin as I vehemently rejected the thought of Brian finally breathing his last; I couldn’t stop rejecting such thought because it had always been my undying desire to fulfill destiny together with my husband; to look into his eyes some day and remind each other we made it.Would such a day ever come or was I an ill-fated woman just as mom had assured me when she disowned me?”“Melissa,” Fanny called and gestured at the ambulance, “On your request we have decided to transfer Brian to another hospital. We hope this new doctor will perform better and help your husband wake from the coma.”When I stared around, I could see Kate smoking quietly by the pool side, Opula was submerged in the pool, and Eva was the only one standing by the ambulance to gaze upon Brian.
Opula and Kate were having itchy ears all through the hours Rod Benson spent at the villa. And although I had stayed in my chamber with Salsa yet the young chef never for once settled down without peeping through the window to see if Rod and Fanny were still discussing at the dining.“You don’t seem to be at rest. Anxiety has clouded your eyes ever since Rod got in,” I said to Salsa who was busy fixing some fresh fruit juice, which I had not seen her make for a while now.“I am looking out for Rod and Fanny who are eating at the dining. I just want to ensure they are lacking nothing and if they need the services of the chef,” she lied.I interrupted her, “Is that the reason you have been frequenting the window for the hundredth time? Besides, you are the head chef. If they need the services of chef, the junior chefs can attend to them.”Salsa protested with the shaking of her head; it was obvious that she was lying and she had been restless because of Rod Benson. For Christ sake her d
Opula couldn’t stop throwing up and already her chamber had been messed up. Kate didn’t hesitate to help her into the restroom where she continued throwing up. Opula had not had it this way before and Kate was as scared as a rabbit that stole a carrot.“What is wrong with you, Opula?” Kate queried, “I will invite the medical right away. This is getting out of hands,” she nagged and about to leave the restroom.Opula called to her attention. “Hold on, sister, just hold on,” she gasped and gestured at Kate to return, “I think it is just a churning in my stomach. You don’t have to invite the medicals. It will be obnoxious; I will visit the family doctor for a test.”Kate quarreled with her ridged brow, “Can you just listen to yourself, Opula? You have thrown up the potato and steak we had for breakfast and you are still sounding impossible. Is it until I lose you that you will know you are not feeling strong?”Opula placed her hand on her stomach. She hadn’t thrown up for more than a de
When I said those gift items were for Opula , I didn’t know I was saying the opposite because what I just saw now baffled me . Finally Rod had decided to fool himself by presenting those gifts to me.Once I got back from the cinema, I was provoked by an offensive sight of the gifts which were kept at the entrance of my chamber with a stylish tag ; For my wife, Melissa.“What the hell is this? Who kept this rubbish?” I yelled, my gaze combing around for any servant and once one came in sight, I queried him, “Hey do you know who put this rubbish in front of my chamber?”Bowing to me, the servant explained briefly, “Ma’am these are heartfelt gifts from your prospective husband, Rod Benson. He deemed it pleasurable to present them to you in this manner.”Right about now I wasn’t infuriated by what Rod just did, I was mad at the servant for mentioning the word ‘husband’ when describing Rod Benson.“May your tongue get twisted and rot for ever referring to Rod as my husband. Are you blin
Upon hearing that Opula leapt to her feet and jumped in excitement, before tweaking her waist and danced around. Seeing how carelessly she jumped around, and danced, the doctor was forced to warn her, “Apply caution Opula. This is early pregnancy. You need to be careful to avoid miscarriage.”Bu there was no stopping Opula. She kept to her dance and tweaked to an imaginary song, “Oh my God! This is unbelievable, doctor. I am pregnant? Wow!”The doctor smiling cheek to cheek, said, “Finally, after ten years of barrenness you are pregnant for your husband. He must be a happy, fulfilled man by the time you share the news with him…”“No! Never!”Opula interposed him and rolled her eyes at her beholder, “I can never be pregnant for that bastard! I can’t recall the last time he shared the bed with me so I wondered how I became pregnant for him,” she rubbed her stomach appreciatively.The doctor dragged a knitted brow at her to question her guts, “I perceive separation in your tone. I hope a
All the while Fanny Luis never knew the feud that was ongoing between Opula and Ken. To him, Opula and Ken were still married, not until he saw Ken walk into the villa with the divorce papers. Although fanny had never supported their marriage, yet he least expected Opula asking for divorce.From the onset of their marriage he knew Opula wasn’t just in love with Ken, but she outlived Ken and wouldn’t heed to any of his advice about Ken being a gold digger and a cheat.With the manner at which Opula loved Ken, Fanny never believed a day like this would come; a day when Ken would walk into the villa , with a furious , red face and plead with him to beg Opula on his behalf.“Please father-in-law,” Ken said, sinking on his knees, “I don’t want this divorce . I want my wife back. I am innocent of what she is accusing me of. I still love my wife.”“Hold on Ken,” fanny ordered him. He was having breakfast at the time, and losing his appetitive was never going to happen, “How long has this div
The doctor spoke so loudly, obviously making a noise to attract attention and Opula gestured at him to bring down the tone of his voice.“You know someone could be listening to us,” Opula whispered, “Please, take things calmly. You must not make a noise about it. But I have told you the forty percent is not going to be possible. Why would you demand I pay you forty percent of a contract you know nothing about…”Doctor Bernard burst into a mocking laughter and grinned afterward, “Oh do you think I know nothing about it? Is that what you think? I am going to tell you what I know about it. The Bensons want Melissa as an arranged wife but your greed wouldn’t rest, you forced yourself on your ex-boyfriend, Rod thinking he will get you pregnant but unfortunately this pregnancy belongs to Ken,”Kate was still eavesdropping at the door at the time, Doctor Bernard made that statement. And she gagged her mouth in shock ; she couldn’t believe Opula had been lying about her pregnancy all this wh
At the time ambulance came to pick up Opula who was still coughing out blood, Salsa was peeping from the kitchen where she prepared lunch. She smiled evilly and gritted her teeth as she shook her head in vengeance. She hoped the abortion would happen this time around; she couldn’t wait to hear news of Opula losing the pregnancy; only then would her joy be full.From the kitchen, she peeped out to the ambulance personnel attending to Opula, and she could recall how she did it;Opula had requested for a fresh orange juice a while ago and Salsa prepared it for her with mixture of her poisonous herbs that would abort the pregnancy. Salsa was responsible for the bloody cough Opula was experiencing and if Opula should cough out blood for a longer time she could lose the pregnancy.“Until the teeth of my vengeance bite you, I shall know no rest. Opula, you are going to suffer in my hands until you lose that pregnancy. I will not remain alive and watch you get pregnant for a man I love so muc
When Kate barged in on Opula, she met her sobbing and weeping in her palms. She was red on the face and the color drained from her face; it was obvious Opula had been weeping all night.“Oh my goose!” Kate exclaimed and paced to the side of Opula and clutched her teary chin, “What happened to you again? Why are you all tears? The day is too early for this, Opula,” Kate petted her and caught sight of the picture on the bed and when she picked it up, it was rod’s picture, “Is it because of Rod Benson? What did he say to you again?”Opula swallowed hard, sobbed even greatly and managed to say, “He has refused to pick my phone calls ever since he rejected the pregnancy. The most annoying thing is that Rod wants me to abort the pregnancy. Can you imagine? Does he hate you that much?”“What!” Kate snapped and snorted, “Is he sick in the brain? How could he suggest such a thing? Oh my God!” Kate raised her gaze in frustration and asked yet further, “Did you show him the paternity test result
“MELISSA!” she called, her body shivering, the fierceness of her face threatening as she molded her fist, “What are you doing here? Are you supposed to be here at this time?” she asked, her hands trembling.I hummed and quoted, “Because the bird has learnt to fly without perching, the hunters have learnt to shoot without missing. I knew you were up to ruin. A leopard cannot lose its spot. So this is it mom. You demanded to know the ON and OFF knob so that you could sneak in and turn off the oxygen machine and suffocate Brian? Your evil has caught up with you.”Mom’s jaw sagged as she fumed, “You rotten maggot. I am only doing you a favor. I really want to have you back as my daughter but you must be set free from this evil marriage. He has to die.”I advanced forward and replied her, “You got to be bluffing, huh. My husband? Are you okay, mom? Are you saying it to my face that you want to kill Brian? This is unimaginable, mom!”“Listen up, Melissa. I have so much money now. I may not
Promptly I flinched from sleep; it was a dream.“Oh my God,” I whispered and wiped my face of the nervous sweat that trickled down. “Brian cannot die. What sort of dream is this? Something must be happening to my husband,” I said to myself, gasped, stroked my hair confusedly and picked up my phone to call the doctor…***Seated in front of the police detective were Fanny, Opula and Kate. While they spoke, the police scribbled down vital information on a paper, with keenness in his eyes.“The total sum of money is one million dollars,” Fanny said in a baritone voice, “I believe the money is somewhere in my villa, obviously in one or two chambers. I really want you and your boys to fish out and punish anyone found guilty of stealing the money.”The police detective winked after scribbling down some more information from Fanny, “Um, Mr. Fanny, this one million dollars in question was it stolen from your company, the Fanny Group or from the villa? Because you made mention of the money was
Feeling enthusiastic and not knowing what mom was up to, the doctor pointed at a knob, “Yes, this is the knob that controls the machine. It has an ON and OFF but it is always turned ON. Once it is turned OFF for more than thirty minutes, the patient will finally die. It is very dangerous to turn it off. And what would even make anyone to turn it off anyways?” the doctor asked suspiciously.Mom smiled and shook her head, before turning her gaze to smile deeply at me.“Why all these questions, mom?” I asked, anxiously, with my suspicious gaze locking with hers, “Are you interested in medicine now? Is this the reason you want to see Brian? You should be talking about Brian and not the machine.”Mom burst into a choking laughter, “My daughter never mind. You see, I was arguing with a staff of mine the other day that an oxygen machine has an ON and OFF knob and she kept arguing with me .” she brought out her phone and took photos of the machine, “Right now I have the picture of the machine
That was strange of mom. I couldn’t stop gaping at her, wondering why she wanted to see a man she hated so much. Mom had never desired to see Brian when he was insane. Mere thought of Brian irritated her like plaque. I could recall several times she yelled at me when I mentioned Brian in our discussion.“So why is she demanding to see him now?” I asked in my mind, “What is she up to? Is mom for real? Could this be a dream? This is strange. What is mom up to?” I asked yet further while I gaped at mom.“Why do you want to see my husband?” I asked softly and narrowed my suspicious eyes on her, wondering why she was chuckling now, as though I was funny.I could see the nurse who was in charge of riding her, develop interest in our discussion; perhaps it had come to the part she was needed. The nurse shot a brief smile at me before settling anxious gaze on mom who was nervously waiting for a prompt reply.“Um, ma’am if you want to see any patient at the emergency unit, you must seek the p
It was early Tuesday morning when I made it to the hospital to drop a flower and a get-well-soon card at the side of Brian, that I saw a familiar woman from afar. I paused for a moment to see if my guess was right. The woman was still afar in a wheel chair being ridden by a nurse.I suddenly forgot what brought me to the hospital and stood to wait for the woman to surge closer just to satisfy my anxiety. But as they pulled closer the image became clearer; oh my God! That was my mother. What happened to her and what was she doing in that wheelchair?I knew a sight of me often registered awareness in my mom that I was still a disowned child who she would never have anything to do with again.Certainly I knew that was what she was thinking when she saw me with the flower and card. It was evident in her thunderous frown and pink face. I forced a smile on my face, hoping it was contagious enough to make mom smile.“Melissa!” that was the sound of my name. I combed my gaze around to see if
A quiver of hurt spread through Rod Benson so when he barged in on his father who was entertaining some guests at the sitting room, he decided he wasn’t going to let James Benson know about Opula’s pregnancy.There was no need sharing such news with him since he had rejected it; if he should go ahead to share it, James might think he approved of it and might instigate Opula be made a wife.Rod knew his father more than anyone else; his ears were going to twitch once he heard that Opula was pregnant for him and there may be no need to search for an arranged wife.“This rotten maggot wants me to leave Melissa, just like that?” Rod nagged, staring upon my sizeable photo on his phone which he clutched between his fingers, “I don’t want to have anything to do with this fool. Opula is pregnant for me? Hell no!” he fisted his hands and punched into the other palm.After arguing with Opula , he had almost instructed his pilot to fly back to New York that same night. It was by sheer patience t