CHAPTER ONE

MUNA

I woke up with a throbbing pain in my head and neck. Trying to come to terms with the events of last night, I found that too challenging and so I left my bed to the bathroom on shaky legs.

While brushing my teeth, I finally remembered what happened last night. I was at a friend's party. I'm not a huge drinker, but after the huge argument I had with my Dad yesterday, I just needed to ease of some stress.

While trying to remember how I got back home last night, my phone starts ringing. Letting out a groan after seeing that the caller ID was that of my father's secretary, Will Robert, I answer the call.

"What is it this time? I've told you, I want nothing to do with the galleries. I'm perfectly happy as I am!" I yelled.

"Muna, I called to inform you of your father's present medical condition," Mr Robert said in a quiet voice.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with the old man this time?" I queried, trying to sound uncaring, but there was still a hint of fear in my tone.

My Dad once suffered a partial stroke two years ago which he miraculously recovered from, I hope nothing was wrong with him this time.

"Your father just had a heart attack. He is currently at...," I heard Mr Robert say, but the rest of what he was saying, I couldn't comprehend.

"What? What happened to him? Text me the hospital details, I'm on my way!" I yelled, suddenly completely sober.

After ending the call, I brushed my teeth, took the shortest shower ever, pulled on a cotton sundress and dragged my long, curly, afro hair into a messy bun.

This wasn't what I expected, did my Dad have an attack because of the fight we had yesterday? I probably shouldn't have said all those things.

He was only trying to make me take interest in the gallery's affairs, but I kept arguing instead. 

Though my Dad had hurt me and lost whatever respect I had for him a long time ago, I still felt bad for him. He's all I've got since Somto died and Mum was sent away.

Rushing out of my luxurious apartment, don't miss the sarcasm there. I left with my phone, car keys and purse, and took the lift down to the garage.

*****

After six hours of waiting at the hospital for my Dad's surgery to be over, the doctor, a lean and tall man in his forties came out asking for a family member or guardian to speak to. 

"Yes, Dr Raymond, I'm Munachi Rowland, the patient's only child. How was the surgery?"

"We managed to perform a bypass surgery on Mr Rowland. He had a heart attack because of coronary artery disease. There was too much blockage of the coronary artery, resulting to his heart attack. Luckily he was brought here in time for the surgery. It was a very successful procedure."

"Thank you Dr Raymond, can I see him now?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Your father is still in a delicate condition, we wouldn't want him to get stressed out by meeting anyone yet. You can be rest assured that he is safe, after the stroke he had two years ago, he's indeed very lucky to survive this. We'd like to observe him for a few days before we can allow any visitors of his."

"Okay Dr Raymond, thank you so much."

"It's not a problem, it's my job and besides I've been a friend of your father's for about three years now. Please, come with me to my office, I have some questions for you," Dr Raymond said in a very calm voice.

"Of course Dr Raymond," I replied and followed him to his office.

After we both took our seats, he asked, "Did your father mention anything that has been troubling him of recent?"

Thinking of how strained our relationship has been since Somto's death years ago and Mum's going away, I wasn't sure what to say.

"I...," I was still thinking of what to say when Dr Raymond interrupted.

"I don't mean to pry into your family affairs, but Mr Rowland is a good friend of mine, I only want the best for him. I would advise you to refrain from arguing with him or allowing him to stress himself out a lot after his recovery. His blood pressure is not at the best level and he is almost sixty, you truly need to treat your father with more care from now on," he explained.

"Yes, doctor. Since you are a close friend of his, do you have an idea of what could be stressing him out so much?"

"I wouldn't be too sure, your father is a very private person, but I guess it has something to do with work. He built Rowland Galleries from the ground up, so it means a lot to him. You could try speaking with some of his staff to find out if there's something going wrong with the company."

"Of course doctor. Thank you so much," I tried to smile, aware that I looked nothing like the famous online fashion influencer at this moment, but a crazy person, recovering from a bad hangover.

After explaining some other things in relation to my father's condition, I left his office in search of Mr Robert whom I found in the private waiting room.

"Mr Robert, I want you to tell me the truth. What is going in with my Dad? Why is he so worked up? Is something wrong at the company?"

"Well, Muna, the truth is that the company hasn't been doing so well for a long time now," he replied, avoiding my eyes.

"What do you mean? How bad is it? It can't be that bad, I mean we recently had an exhibition that was a huge success."

Well, you see I probably didn't introduce myself and family properly. I am Munachi Alice Rowland.

I guess you think I have a weird first name, right? That's only because I'm of mixed origin. My Dad is a Nigerian from the South-Eastern side and my Mum a doctor from England who was transferred to Nigeria to help out the less privileged there. 

My Dad was volunteering as a blood donor when they met, it was love at first sight for them. Anyways that's a story for another day. I wanted to talk about what my family is like.

When my parents got married, they had my brother, Somto three years later, they always wanted a son who would take care of my Dad's four art galleries which boasted of several artists with their works, so they were very excited.

After seven years, Mum had me. Understand that I was never neglected, but merely treated as the second best, even when I was the last child who should have been pampered. 

I always had to measure up to Somto's achievements and be just as great a person as he was at everything. 

Somto was the apple of my parents eyes while I was always left to my own advances by my parents. 

Though Somto got all the attention, he never let the age gap between us stop him from playing with me. We were pretty close.

He did so well both in high school and university and graduated as best graduating student of his year. He became director of Rowland Galleries at twenty-three. When Somto died ten years earlier in a helicopter crash, my family was crushed, we've never truly recovered from his death.

Mum slipped into depression, she was very delusional and could'nt believe her favourite child was gone, she finally had to be taken to a psychiatric home. I tried all I could to stop Dad from taking her away, I was only a junior in high school then, but I guess he believed that she was truly crazy after all.

My Dad was also depressed, he barely even spoke to me after Mum left. The best he did was to get me private tutors for each course.

When I graduated high school as the valedictorian, he eventually sent me to Nigeria to study Business Management in Covenant University with hopes that I was going to take over as Director of Rowland Galleries when I finished studying.

That period was when the little cracks that had already appeared in our relationship, turned into even bigger ones.

Mr Robert's voice brought me out of my reminiscing when he said in a sad tone, "Your Dad has been trying to keep you from finding out just how bad the gallery's situation is. You see, the galleries are almost going bankrupt. It has also incurred lots of debts. That was what your Dad was trying to explain yesterday to you. The mismanagement started when Somto of blessed memory passed away."

"How come? Why didn't anyone tell me that it was that bad? I have been living lavishly as always. How come there was never a reduction in my allowance?" I all but gasped, paling at the mention of Somto's death.

"Your Dad loves you so much, he was trying to protect you. He didn't want you suffering."

"Don't give me that love crap. How could he send me so far away for seven years if he truly loved me. I was only allowed to return when he had the stroke two years ago. Forget about all that, just how much debts are we talking about here?" I asked, even though I knew that with the little I made as an online fashion influencer, I couldn't possibly pay them off.

Mr Robert mentioned a figure that I knew I could never come up with in five years. I almost screamed after discovering that more than half of the money came from a certain company, GS Capital.

"The worst part is that your Dad could could get arrested if he doesn't pay back GS Capital before the end of the month, there could also be a seizure of all his assets."

I almost slumped in shock at what I was just told. I tried to sound confident, but probably still sounded like a scared little kid when I asked, "Can you give me the address of this GS Capital? I have to meet with the CEO and see if there's anything I could do."

"I don't know about that Ms Rowland, the CEO is known for being very mean and heartless," Mr Robert said in a scared tone.

"They don't call me a beauty queen for nothing. He'll only melt at the sight of my beauty."

"I think you should take a proper bath and some rest before going to see him if you truly want to use your beauty," he laughed.

"Of course, I'm not in my element now, but when I am, he'd be floored," I smiled.

Mr Robert had been somewhat like a father to me throughout the time I was away in Nigeria. He called at least thrice a month to find out how I was doing, if I was eating well or getting enough allowance. He was also my source of communication with my Dad, that's why it's easy to joke with him now.

"Does this mean you're ready to become the Director of Rowland Galleries?"

"Hell yes, it's time already."