Nurse Stella and I stood staring at the Fanny’s villa while I was still all tears, with heavy sob which shook my entire body. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt sadness cloud my features.I felt like a kid that was about to be sold for slavery. I was daunted, naive, stolen and abandoned to an impending fate. I gazed upon my scruffy self and swallowed hard at the thought of the decision I was about to make.Nurse Stella grabbed me into her embrace, only wishing she could really be of help to me at the time. Had it been she could afford the half a million dollars, I believed she would have given it to me without a tinge of rejection.Although I saw no sense in the advice yet there was an awakening that accompanied it. Yes. My thought was opened into an unfathomable recognition of the fact that once my mother ‘kicked the bucket,’ I would never set my eyes on her again.She was all I had at the time, my essence, my now and future. She may not know the sacrifice I was about getting to becaus
“Who do we have here?” Fanny, who was the first person to catch sight of me, said. His face lit with uncertainty, and he gave a lopsided grin.Instantly every eye came upon me and I lowered my gaze and pressed my lips tightly in exaggerated shame. I paused at the door post, shivering and fondling with the torn hem of my dress. Certainly my intention was stated and I wondered with which face I would used to behold this wealthy family to remind them I was eager to sign to the contract marriage now.The entire Fanny’s and their laborers were having a delightsome dinner at the time, so everywhere smelled of roasted prawn, almond and strawberry. Heavy chuckling and clattering hung over them too.The hotness that churned in my stomach wasn’t inspired by hunger but by thought of what awaited me. All my life I had lived with sane people; people that reasoned properly and behaved with absolute rationality. I never associated with the rich having such short coming.What was I getting myself int
I sat elegantly yet shyly as I was superbly decorated more than the former. This time diamond bracelets piled my neck and wrist. On my feet was a pair of Italian stiletto and my wedding gown was shapely made from the Royal Home of England. The tailor-made wedding gown caught my shape so invitingly that my curves and hour-glass shot out at the right edges and corners.“Wow this is so much for a wedding gown that would worn by the mad man’s wife,” one of the maidens gossiped with another by the corner as they gaped at the POS slip for the purchase of the wedding gown.“How much is it worth?” another asked cheerfully.“Eightmillion dollars!” the maiden replied, and cast an inspective gaze at me, probably expecting my reactions.My eyes almost burnt with tears at the thought of my attribute hence forth; mad man’s wife. That was what I was brooding about inwardly not even the worth of my wedding gown. I wondered how I was going to deal with the reserved emotional trauma this marriage was g
I halted my step and could hear voices whispering from ear to ear over the reason for my tears. Fanny Luis’s jaw dropped upon seeing my teary face and I doubted if it was for me or for his reputation.The voices were as the chirping of innumerable bees; they were murmuring about my fallen countenance. I just wish I could chin up and be matured before these gusts.“Why is she all tears?” a voice among the guest queried.“Isn’t she happy?” another replied coldly.“Oh it could be tears of joy,” another suggested.“Who wouldn’t be emotional? She is fortunate to marry the billionaire’s mad son,” that was another voice which sounded even more offensive than all the voices.The guests whispered among themselves, while the waited for the next line of action.I stood in my gloom, locked and pressed my hands in front, with my gaze lowered, at least with the intent to hide my sullen teary face from any careful onlooker.All of a sudden a lush silence hung over the entire building as piles of cha
“Why are you fidgety? Don’t you know you are married couples now, and soon you two would share same bed and roof?” Salsa snapped to me once I dared to withdraw to the wall as Brian advanced forward to sign on the agreement papers.Salsa’s words etched off every memory of what an ideal husband should look like and installed in me the belief that every husband was supposed to be insane; that I had no right to protest in this marriage.The two hefty men dragged him to come forth and he shuffled his legs, unwilling to make a move and throwing his face side ways to bite them since they seemed to be stronger than him. He was chuckling idly now and struggled violently with the two hefty men; to an extent the hefty men didn’t want to get much violent with him since this could result to hurting him.“Brian! Brian! You had better respect yourself and come forth to sign the papers. You are not going to keep us waiting. This is a time we have been anticipating as a family. You can’t ruin this mom
I wished the buzzing and merriment would continue forever, so that I could find reason not to return to my mad husband. For over an hour now I had stilled my sight upon a large mahogany door which I perceived was the entrance to our chamber. I sniffed and got swallowed into the heavy expression on my face.Shortly after we were legally joined together, Fanny approached me with the one million dollar credit card. I sobbed and dared to perk up as he spoke to me.“This is your gift for agreeing to marry my mad son,” he said and touched his face as though he was yet to forget the saliva Brian plastered on his face. “Once again, congratulations, Melissa Brant and welcome to the Fanny’s,” his voice brooded excitement even when his face said otherwise.I forced a smile yet I could barely keep the smile longer than normal. He handed me the credit card, grinned and joined the guests.“Congratulations, Melissa,” that was Opula’s voice right behind me.When I swirled around behold there she was
Soon, everyone left for their various homes and I was still breaking words with Salsa, who I knew was tipsy and heavy in her eyes after having so much to drink. Virtually everyone was alcoholic tonight and I wondered who would run to my rescue if Brian should pounce on me like a lion.“Won’t you go to your husband?” Salsa reminded me with an emphatic look on her face. She rolled her eyes at me and smiled briefly in what I took for mockery.I could perceive much of the exudates of rum from her now.My countenance fell hugely especially when I recalled the man she called husband wasn’t just mad but violently mad. Wasn’t he the reason I was still outside till this moment? I just wish they could mind their business and let me perch wherever I wanted.Salsa’s eyes were still around me, perhaps expecting nothing else than my response.“I will…I will go…go to him,” even my voice shook with uncertainty and I became scared to call him my husband. That clause wasn’t yet activated in me. I only
I barely could shake my head when I turned around and realized there were about six of the security. They made at Brian, over powered him while one unlocked his chains and set him loose. They made sure they took away the chains and any weapon around him.I was abandoned to gazing at them as they dared to put him to rest. The intense struggle left Brian grunting and groaning like a bull on the floor while the security endeavored to pin him on the floor.“Ma’am, the billionaire wants you to know your way around the chamber,” one said while the rest still struggled with Brian. “The chains often cut into his wrist and ankle that is why we often unchain him, especially at night and give him sedatives so he could sleep well at night,” he elucidated yet further.“Would he ever sleep well at night? Why would you put me at risk by unchaining the most violent mad man in Rio Hondo?” I nagged in my head as I scowled my face at what the other security were doing with Brian.I noticed there were wi
I was discussing with Melissa the other day and she mentioned her love for Turkish gown. Although she is from a poor family, her sense of fashion is laudable. She was nagging about the incentive Fanny stopped paying her and how it has affected her number of dresses,” Salsa said to Rod who was smiling cheek to cheek.Today she wasn’t meeting Rod in his private jet but at a cocktail café. It was obvious Salsa had accepted her fate as regards her love for Rod and what she was out to achieve. Things would get more intriguing and shocking as she looked forward to making Rod marry me.Rod smiled cheerfully as he shook his head, “Are you sure she is going to accept it? My heart gets broken each time Melissa rejects my gift. I wish she would accept it if I should buy her the whole world,” Rod said with an iota of doubt.Salsa sucked a brief grin; and it was as if she had taken a personal decision to work out things between Rod and I; even if it would be the only feat she would achieve in her
Fanny Luis was having a board meeting with his staff when the knocking of oxford sounded noisily close by. Although Fanny expected all his staff to be present at the meeting, he only thought the noisy shuffling could be coming from a guest.But the oxford knocked louder as the person walked closer and closer, Fanny threw caution to the wind with his speech. His instinct informed him that the person was as furious as he thought but he took solace in the fact that it could be a guest.With the boldness to continue the meeting, Fanny shrugged off any form of distraction especially the knocking of the oxford.In a short while, when the meeting got heated Rod barged into the conference hall and shot a disgusting frown at fanny.“Rod Benson?” Fanny called, uncertainty clouding his voice with scare hanging in his eyes. “Can’t you see that I am in the middle of a crucial meeting with my staff?” Fanny queried and rebuked his guts through his enraged staff which stood behind a pair of glass.R
The chairman tossed his head in disapproval, “Have you forgotten you took an oath of honesty for this contract? You assured us that all your information and data are correct to your best of knowledge. R and D limited is a company founded on honesty. We abhor dishonesty, Rod Benson. You can’t be married and you claim to be single. This is not even a case of divorce.”“No, please , listen to me, chairman,” Rod interposed him, “Opula is only an admirer who claimed to be pregnant for me. She is just desperate to be my wife and because I am not giving her the attention she decided to go public about it. I have never been married. You can ask my father.”Once again the chairman shook his head in disapproval, “I have no business with your father but you Rod Benson. You have breached the contract agreement on honest and code of trust. We can’t go into joint partnership with a tycoon whose marital status is questionable to the receptionist. Let’s call it a day, Rod Benson.Rod’s eyes flinted
Rod Benson was full of smiles as he drove into the complex of R and D Limited. Today was the D-day , the CEO of R and D sent for him to come over for official finalization of the fifty billion dollars joint partnership with Benson Group.His eyes sparkled with impatience when he alighted and gazed upon the towering sky scraper of R and D limited. His father, James had told him, the joint partnership was going to be stepping stone to their acquisition Of R and D limited. If he could lose anything in the world, definitely not the contract, because in few years time, the Benson Group would be the highest shareholders of R and D.Today was more than a feeling of Halloween to Rod as he curved his cheeks with contagious smile.“You are welcome to R and D limited,” the securities chatted indistinctly to Rod , with a gentle bow and a gorgeous smile, which ushered him into the elevator .The fact was that Rod had attracted the joint partnership deal and James Benson’s joy knew no bound the day
With the way Eva gaped at me, one could think I was responsible for the confusion brought upon the police men. Eva, just like every other onlooker thought the police men were under some sort of voodoo from me.Eva had to peer to me and ask, “Why didn’t they see the bag of money in your chamber? What is happening? Where is the money? Did you displace the money?” she asked anxiously.My brow ridge in utter bewilderment, “I am as shocked as you. I wouldn’t have touched the bag of money. I was waiting for the police men to come out with the bag of money but nothing of such happened,” I replied, shot an investigative gaze at my chamber and then whispered to Eva, “Hold on let me see for myself,”Quickly, I stepped into my chamber and met all my properties scattered all over the place. I wondered if emphasis was placed on my chamber or was this how they were going to search all the chambers.“That is my bed,” I mumbled and pointed Eva’s attention to it, “They actually searched it. Everything
Detective Sam had to repeat himself when I hesitated and when I winked nervously, Eva caught my arm and squeezed it briefly. I wished I could carry myself into the chamber. The burden had become so heavy that I couldn’t move my feet anymore.Fear of the unknown had possessed me and when I stared around I could see heavy thick faces staring at me except Salsa who was still smiling cheek to cheek with the freedom of a bird.“What could have happened?” I whispered to Eva, seeking answers urgently, “Why is the detective yelling my name? Has he found the money?” I whispered yet further and nudged Eva on her side.When I nudged Eva, I perceived her body was running temperature and it was as if a hot pressing iron was placed on her body. Her eyes had bleached red and her face was as unconscious as the outcome of this tragedy.“I guess they have found it and he wants to confirm before bringing out the bag of money,” Opula whispered to Kate who had been smoking nervously since the search begun,
Eva had never been tensed and worried as she saw the police men barge into my chamber to search for the money. She thought it was a lost course because she was the one who kept the money under the bed frame in my inner chamber so the money was going to be searched out in no distance time.Eva couldn’t stay at a place and neither could she stop peeping at the ongoing in my chamber. She could hear the shuffling and ransacking of properties in my chamber and the next chant she was expecting from the police men was, “I have found the money!”While Eva paced up and down and sweated profusely, I did even the worse. For the past thirty minutes my knees had been trembling and unable to carry my body.When Eva stepped forward to me and saw the tears trickling down my cheeks, she swallowed hard and whispered to me. “Perk up dear and be of good cheer. I know they are going to search out the money. When I hid it under your bed frame I least expected my father going to the extent of getting the po
There was a heavy pandemonium when I got to the villa. The entire Fannies were out in the sitting room as heavy indistinct bickering hung over them. What the hell was happening? As if there had been waiting for me, a hush tranquility breezed into their midst when I walked in.I met a shocker; standing at the entrance of some chambers with his men was detective Sam, the same detective that arrested my mother, somebody I just met at the police station not quite long.“Nice to meet you again Melissa,” Detective Sam said smiling cheek to cheek, “Do you belong to the Fannies?” he asked.But busy-body Opula replied instead, “Poverty-stricken, gold diggers don’t belong to my family. She was my late brother’s contract wife, but today she is no longer a part of this family because divorce awaits her.”I gnashed my teeth and folded my fist before dimming my eyes at Opula. Of a truth those words got to me and I couldn’t keep back, “I could hit you right now Opula. I could hit you for referring t
“You ceased to be my mother from the moment you attempted to murder my husband. Henceforth, please, mark your boundaries and thread your path. My name is Melissa Luis and not Melissa Brant. I stopped bearing your name when I married Brian. You escaped jail this time; you may not escape it next time. You can go ahead and give my inheritance to the motherless babies’ home. I will be the most fulfilled heiress to know that you did. Brian is my everything. Good day Mrs. Brant,” I said through tears.And when I turned to leave, Rod grabbed my arm to stop me, “Please hold on, Melissa. We break up to make up. Can’t you see your mother is apologetic? Why can’t we make peace here and now? We can’t keep fighting and quarreling…”“Let her go Rod Benson,” mom fumed and sighed greatly , “ I don’t have a daughter. I used to have one but right now, no more. My daughter won’t stoop to as low as getting into a marriage contract with a rejected mad man who has done nothing but ruin to her…”Rod interru