MUNAI woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. Letting out a groan due to the discomfort in my lower belly, I answered the phone without checking the caller ID."Hello?" I groaned, standing up from the bed and registering that I was still in Rainer's apartment."Babe, where are you? I came home and I didn't find you," I heard the voice say.I recognised the voice as Grant's, bug checked the caller ID to be sure."Good morning babe. I'm at Rainer's place," I replied, trying my best to ignore the pain in my abdomen."Oh, I was a bit worried. So are you going to be back soon?" "No, I packed my clothes for work, so I'll just head to my office from here. See you later," I said and hung up.I went straight to my bag and took out the Ibuprofen bottle and popped four pills into my mouth before drinking some water.I gasped when I looked up to find Rainer staring at me."Hey, good morning. Don't you have to go to work?" I asked her."I am a contracted lawyer, I decide my own work hours. Wha
TWO WEEKS LATERGRANT"Man, you look like crap," Michael remarked as he walked into my office.I had been resting my head on my desk when I looked up at his voice and saw him and Flint. The past weeks have been nothing, but stressful, I barely got enough sleep.The stress at work was a lot. There was a lot for me to handle at GS Capital and GS Fitness. After that confession video featuring Elizabeth, I had become quite famous on social media.Everyone wanted to know more about the man who went so far for his love. Jacques Louis and I had also sealed a deal concerning GS Fitness."Not now, Michael," I groaned, holding my throbbing head."I don't get you man, you just sealed two deals you've wanted for so long. Why do you look and sound so down. You've got heavy bags under your eyes, you know?" Flint added.I groaned and finally looked at them squarely, they were genuinely concerned, but I just didn't want anyone's concern, not now when everything felt so meaningless."You know if I rea
MUNAWhen Grant said he was taking me out, I was thinking it would be a classy place, but he actually took me to a drive-in theatre.We watched a two romantic comedies and we actually had a great time. We had pizza and sodas. I was dressed in a red jacket with a white camisole on the inside. What I loved the most about the outfit Amanda picked for me was the dark blue, high-waisted jeans and white boots it was paired with.Grant had dressed to match me in the exact same colours and after taking selfies together in our car, he took to his social media accounts to post them.I watched him while I thought of my recent diagnosis from Dr Peterson. I had done the an MRI test two weeks earlier and sure enough, I had endometriosis. They had found tissues that were supposed to be in my uterus forming outside of it which explained the heavy bleeding, pain and dysmenorrhoea I had been having.When she confirmed my condition, I felt so terrible and heartbroken. I had Rainer to comfort me, but un
MUNAIt was finally Rowland Galleries exhibition day. I smiled when Grant and I pulled up in front of the building.I had to admit that my staff did a great job at organising the event. I was aware of the paparazzi in front of the building. All of a sudden all the courage that Grant had helped me build in the past two days faded. As though he sensed my fear, Grant took my hand and said, "are you ready to do this?"I wasn't ready. I was such a coward and it took everything within me to not call Mr Roberts and tell him to take out all of my works. My father was going to be attending this exhibition, he had high hopes of this exhibition bringing Rowland Galleries back to the top. How was he going to react when he saw my works displayed?He had criticized them once before, I won't be surprised if he hates to see them there.That wasn't even the only issue I had to worry about. I was having terrible cramps, my period was due any time soon which meant another terrible episode of bleeding
GRANTThe exhibition was a huge success and every single person in the room kept praising all the works which were displayed, especially Muna's.I was so proud of her and glad that she took my advice and shared her amazing art to the world. Her works gave off sad and dark feelings, but they were so professional and amazing to look at. In every portrait, one could easily make out whatever mood she had been in while painting.She usually painted to clear her thoughts, so I wasn't surprised that her works were so sad, she had been through a lot in her life, so if painting like this can make her happy, then I was glad to support her.I watch her enchant every male in the room. She smelled so good and I was glad to be the only man in the room who knew exactly what perfume she had on.Her deep red dress fit her so well, it was as though it was designed especially for her beautiful body.Every woman in the room with a partner was put under tension when Muna was close.Before we got here, sh
Sarah walked into her daughter-in-law's room with tears in her eyes. Grant had excused himself to give them privacy.She pulled Muna into a tight hug and they both cried. "I'm so sorry that you're going through this, honey," she said."I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it," Muna replied.Since her first meeting with Grant's mother, the woman had been a friend and most of all a mother to her. She felt more comforted to have her around now.A long time later, they finally stopped crying, Muna felt like her tears had been exhausted."I can understand what you're going through. I also went through the same thing," Sarah confessed.Muna's eyes widened at that statement and she asked, "you had endometriosis?""Yes, I did. I was diagnosed when I was twenty-four. I didn't tell Gary about it and kept it to myself. I thought staying silent about it would one day cause the pains to go away, but when Gary and I got married, he found out after accidentally seeing my test results. "I had ovarian c
MUNAGrant and I pulled up in front of our house and he got out of the car to open the door for me."Thanks," I said, smiling at him.He held me by my waist as we walked into the house. I had stayed back at the hospital two extra days after the procedure even though I had been cleared to go home and rest."Mrs Stephens, you are back. I'm so glad you're fine," Maria said when we entered the living room.She seemed confused as to whether it was okay to hug me or not I smiled before hugging her, making sure not to apply pressure on me belly."I was so terrified that night when I saw you in that state," she said wiping her tears."I'm fine now, you don't have to feel bad for me anymore," I smiled."Thank God you're alright, Ma'am," Joseph said."What's for dinner? I'm sure my wife would appreciate something extra special after eating so much the tasteless food at the hospital," Grant smiled at him."I made all of her favourites for dinner. Why don't you get settled in? Maria and I will se
GRANTMuna and I were having breakfast when I got a call from Gregory. I excused myself and went upstairs to our room to take the call."What's up?" "I found out the whereabouts of the salamander tattooed guys," he said."Okay, where are they? I'm going to deal with those scums, how dare they threaten Muna's life like that?" I fumed."I can't give you the details now, I'm trying to find out more about who sent them. They are tough guys so it's not easy coming up to them with accusations.""Just keep me posted. I have a feeling they are connected with the threats Muna and I have been getting.""Of course boss," he said before hanging up."Babe, is there any problem?" Muna asked when I returned to the table."I'm good, I have to head to the office now, though. I hate to leave you here, you know?" I said kissing her lips."I'll be fine, this would be my chance to paint and clear my head up a bit," she replied.It had been a week since she got back from the hospital and throughout that t
TWO YEARS LATER MUNA "Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Mrs Stephens to our show!" Elisa Bloom, the host of Crafting It said as I walked up to the stage. I smiled as I took my seat across from her in front of the excited audience. Crafting It was a show where talented artists, authors, songwriters and musicians where interviewed to discuss their success stories. When I had first got the interview invitation from Mr Roberts, I had been unwilling to go for a number of reasons, but after thinking of the positive effects it would have on Rowland Galleries, I finally accepted to do the interview. "Welcome to Crafting It, Munachi Stephens, we are so delighted to have you on our show. Happy birthday, I must say you are indeed much more beautiful in person than on the tabloids. How are you doing?" "Thank you for the compliments, I'm glad to be here too, I'm very tired though, I barely had enough time to rest since I got out of the flight from Lagos to London. I still can't believe it'
GRANT Gregory did a lousy job at tying knots, so I was sure that I would be able to untie myself soon while I watched him explain the reasons for his actions. I couldn't understand why Tobi and Olivia had felt the need to betray us like that. It hurt so much seeing their lifeless body covered with bloodstains. When I got into the factory Olivia had been pointing a gun at Muna and Gregory was behind her with a gun to her head. It was clear that Olivia was the one who shot Tobi, because I saw when Gregory came in and the gunshot had already sounded before then. I just had to make sure that Gregory didn't make use of his gun again. I was sure that Michael and Flint were already on their way with the police. Flint had been right after all, Gregory was the one person whom I should have suspected the most and he turned out to be the one behind the stalking. I was correct in thinking that whoever was sending all those threats was doing it because of how cruel I used to be in the busine
GRANT No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't locate my car which Muna drove off in. I sped up and let out a groan in frustration when I was caught in traffic. How was it possible that Muna drove off so quickly? My phone rang and I sighed as I picked it up. The caller ID was blocked and I figured it was definitely the stalker on the line. "What the hell do you want? Where is Olive?" I asked as soon as I answered the call. "Relax Grant Stephens. I will give you an address and you had better get there as soon as possible or else Olive will pay the greatest price," he laughed and hung up. I punched my fist against the stirring wheel in anger. I frowned when I heard a message tone from my phone. I opened up the message and saw the address he sent. I put in the address and waited for about fifteen minutes before I was finally able to get out of traffic. I said prayers in my mind as I stepped on the accelerator and drove off to the address sent to me. As I got out of my car in fr
GRANTWe all heard a phone ring and Olivia moved a few feet away to answer the call.She returned to my side and said she had to go because her editor needed her to submit some chapters. "Keep me posted about Olive," she said and left the room."Isn't that Tobi? Why is he taking Olive away?" Rainer asked."That's Tobi, oh my God. That means that Olive is in safe hands. Let's go quickly to his apartment and get her," Muna said to me"No Babe, I need you to focus and think about this. Tobi took Olive away from here without getting permission from us, doesn't that tell you something?""What?""He abducted her for a reason," I replied.She frowned and laughed shakily, her brown eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Why would he kidnap her? This is Tobi that we are talking about," she said."Munachi, think of things clearly. Tobi left guesthouse yesterday morning on a bad note. Why do you think he covered his face when you guys were there, but then removed the mask later on? He obviously di
MUNA"Congratulations ladies, you escaped within forty minutes which makes you our fastest winners for the day. Do come back another time for a much more thrilling experience as the one you just had," an employee said after we got out of the last door."How about the little girl that was with us earlier?""What little girl?" The man frowned."A man dressed in black came into the second room and took my daughter with him. He said we could get her after the game," I replied."Your daughter left with her father, Ma'am," the man said in a disinterested tone."No, that man is not her father," Rainer said."Listen ladies, the man introduced himself as the girl's father, he even showed us an ID. Why don't you call the girl's father and confirm?"I took out my phone with shaky hands and dialled Grant's number. It wasn't going through and then I remembered Grant was working at home."Isn't he answering?" Olivia asked."No, Grant is probably holding a video conference meeting with his employees
OLIVIA When they all left to freshen up, I took out my phone and texted, "Cheese In The Trap!" I knew I was taking a huge risk, working with someone who I didn't even know to tear Munachi and Grant apart, but I had no other choice. Munachi didn't deserve Grant, I was the one standing beside him all these years and ever since she showed up again, he was no longer interested in hanging out with me. I was going to make sure that the guy didn't harm Grant in any way. I can't even believe I didn't have an idea of what the guy's name was. I came out of my thoughts when I saw Munachi and Olive walk into the room. "We are ready to go Aunt Olivia," Olive said. I smiled at the little girl, she was so pretty, it was a shame that I was going to make the both of them suffer. After I get Grant, I can become Olive's stepmum. I smiled at that conclusion and Munachi frowned, asking, "why are you smiling so much?" "I'm just so happy that you are joining me. I love challenges," I smiled. "Let's
GREGORY'S POVI woke up in my room, but I felt to tired and confused. I really needed to see a therapist, this spacing out was getting too frequent.I brushed my teeth while trying to figure out who this stalker could be. Grant Stephens was a nice person when you get to know him, though he was really cruel in the business world. When I first met Grant, I had lots of grudges and resentful feelings due to my past, but working with him all this time has actually helped me out.I took a shower and got dressed before switching on my computer. I let out a gasp at what I saw. How was this possible?★★★★★MUNA'S POV"I had already given some of Olive's clothes and personal items to the trainer's so that the service dog can get used to her scent," Grant said.We were in the reception area, awaiting the service dog and trainer for Olive's epilepsy."Dad, where's the surprise?" Olive asked, tugging on Grant's shirt sleeve."Hold on sweetie, it will be here soon," Grant replied just as some wome
TOBI'S POVI was in the kitchen making some pasta when I got a new message notification on my phone.I was going to ignore it until I was done, but when I saw the message was from a private number, I opened it up."HI FRIEND, DID MUNACHI TELL YOU SHE'S IN LAGOS WITH HER FAMILY? I FELT LIKE YOU SHOULD KNOW. NOTE: THEY ARE STAYING AT BLOSSOM GUESTHOUSE," the message read.Who the hell was sending me such a message? That didn't matter anyway, how could Muna return to Lagos and not even tell me about it. The guesthouse wasn't even too far away, so I turned off the stove, pasta abandoned, packed a suitcase and left my apartment.I got in my car and drove off to Blossom Guesthouse. There was no way I was going to miss out on a chance to mend things with Muna. Whoever sent me that text might just be my guardian angel.I had no idea who it could be. Could it be Rainer? Maybe she was doing this to get some closure.Whatever, I was surely going to see Muna and I don't give a damn if her pretty a
MUNA"Who do you want to introduce me to? Why are these huge guys following us around?" Olive asked.I turned around to look at the bodyguards Grant hired. Although, we haven't heard from the stalker in a week now, I still couldn't trust that we were completely safe and Grant was ready to do everything possible to guarantee our safety."These guys are just friends of ours that are here to make sure we are safe," Grant replied.We were going to the recreation centre to meet everyone else. I had to admit, I was a bit nervous about my Dad meeting Olive. I wouldn't want him saying or doing anything that would upset her. Grant squeezed my hand as though he could hear my thoughts."They will be fine," he whispered to me.I smiled and said to Olive, "we are going to meet your grandparents.""You mean Dad's parents?""Not just them, but your real grandfather," I smiled at her."Really? I thought he was sick, is he better now?"When Olive clocked six, she began to ask questions about her pare