"Babe, the way this woman is behaving is making me suspicious," Bella admitted as she narrated how her visit to the hospital with Stella went. "What's making you suspicious?" Maria questioned."Everything! I mean everything about this woman is making me suspicious. That woman is too nice; she's nice to a fault. I never believed that she would agree to follow me to the hospital today even though I intentionally did not inform her beforehand. I only did that to test her but that woman burst my bubbles. She even bought flowers, provisions and gave me cash. Hope this woman has not know my motive? Or maybe she's just dancing to my tune so that she will catch me red-handed and probably destroy me?""Why will you even think about something as weird as that?" Maria questioned."I'm not a dummy, babe. If this woman wants to play games then I am ready to play with her. We will drag it to the very end.""It's your evil deeds and evil plans that is making you suspicious. Shey, someone cann
"Please, have mercy on me." He shouted as he jumped out of his sleep panting heavily. Susan his nanny, ran towards his bedside to check on him."Calm down, sir." She soothed using her hands to press his chest gently."No, I need her to forgive me. I don't want to die without her forgiveness; please, beg her for me. I'm suffering already, karma is dealing with me." He cried with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I will, sir, but you have to calm down. Should I call the doctor?""No." He disagreed."Okay, just calm down, sir. I think you had a nightmare.""No, it's not a nightmare but a vision aimed to taunt me. I- need- her- to- forgive me." He uttered with a faltering voice."Just calm down, sir." She soothed."I have an idea," he said after a brief moment of silence. "Idea? Tell me about it, sir.""Get me a paper and pen.""Okay, I will be back in a jiffy, sir." She said as she scurried out of his ward."Here is the paper and pen you requested, sir." His nanny said as she walke
Maria stood transfixed in the same spot for a while, trying to decipher the voice she was hearing. She moved closer to the entrance of Bella's room and she could hear her whimper and sniff. She wrinkled her face in confusion; what is wrong? Is she crying?" She pondered as she turned the doorknob and walked inside.She met Bella sitting on the bed with her two legs wrapped together, hugging her pillow close to herself."Oh my goodness! What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Stella asked rushing her words."No, I'm not crying. My face is just removing water." She replied as she used the back of her palm to wipe her tears."I'm not a dummy, Bella. What's wrong, why are you crying? Talk to me." She said with concern written all over her face. This makes Bella burst into another round of uncontrollable tears."shh! babe, just calm down, everything will be alright." Maria soothed placing her head close to her bosom."No, everything is not alright and it will never be alright. I mean, living
Stella looked for the perfect spot to park her car and brought out her phone to check the address."yeah, I guess we are there already," she said as she picked up the packaged gift she bought earlier and then, step out of the car."Hey, be careful!" She warned as the kids got down from the car.After making sure her car has been locked, they head towards the gate and pressed the doorbell."Good afternoon, ma'am." The man who appeared to be the gatekeeper greeted as he opened the door."Please, is this Mr.Tobe's house?" She asked."Yes, ma'am. You're here for the birthday party, right?" "Yes.""Oh! please come in, your friends are having fun inside already," he said as he opened the gate widely for them to enter. He led them towards the entrance of the house; the sound of the music playing inside could be heard as they moved closer."Hey, Mrs. Jacob, you are here already," Tobechukwu exclaimed with a big smile plastered on his face as he saw them."ha! Yes, we're here.""Hey kids, h
"Wow, this is good news!" Stella exclaimed with a wide smile."Yeah, it is. I have been smiling and laughing all day because it was sudden and unexpected. Our staff organized a party this afternoon to celebrate our victory.""Wow, that's good. I'm elated.""To be candid, I was already losing hope on the project only for me to receive a call from their MD that they are ready to sign up for the contract and that was how God did it miraculously and we signed the deal.""Our God is a wonderful God and he does wonderful things in the life of his people.""Yes, my dear. ""How was the birthday party you told me about?""It went well. It was just a normal parlor party, everything went fine and the kids had fun too.""That's good to hear."" I observed something odd when I was there, though.""You do?""Yeah, I noticed I didn't see the celebrant's mother which was very very challenging. I mean why will a mother not be around to celebrate her daughter's birthday?""It's possible. What if she w
"Hi, sweetheart, I missed your call earlier. I'm sorry, I have been busy." Stella said as she walked out of the hall placing her phone in between her ears and shoulder as she used her other hand to look for her car key in her handbag."Yeah, I understand. How was the seminar?""Oh! To God be the Glory, it went well." "That's good to hear. Hint me, how did everything go? The exciting part and all that.""Yeah, a lot of exciting things happened and I can't wait to share it with you but that will be later because I'm just leaving the venue now.""Why are you just leaving?" He asked in Surprise."Yes, the seminar ended late.""Oh! You can't come back to Lagos today anymore, it's late already. I was thinking that you are on your way back already.""Nope, that will be tomorrow. I will just lodge in a nearby hotel, my host has arranged one for me. I am heading there now, It's about ten minute drive from this place.""Okay, that's better.""Yeah, I will call you later. I need to go and fres
"Sister Anita, please na, stay with us for a few days before you leave na," Stella whined making a puppy face as she stared at Anita who was arranging her luggage."The house will be boring if you leave again, you know your brother is not around.""To be honest, I wish to stay here for a few days but my schedule won't permit me.I have a lot on my table, school stress is not even taking it easy with me.""Yeah, I know but still..." She paused halfway with a wink." I'm serious. My plan was to spend just three days and then leave. Moreover, I told my mom I will be coming back home today.""We can just call mommy and tell her that you're not coming today again," she suggested with a grin."Ha! No ohhh. I will come back some other time, I promise," Anita said pushing her nose up with her lips."It's okay, I know you don't like us anymore but it is fine," Stella said lowly with a shrug."Ha! Mommy Felix! When did I say that one na? if I don't love you who will I love? if I no love you w
"No, give that to me, it belongs to me," Stella yelled as she tried to snatch her things away from the strange woman."No, you're missing it again. They are not yours, they belong to me. They're now in my possession." She yelled back tightening her grip on it as she placed it close to her chest."Please, let me have them back." Stella pleaded, crying bitterly."That's not gonna happen. They are not yours again. Everything you have are now in my possession and there is nothing you can do that will make me release it back to you." The woman replied rolling her eyes in a wicked manner."No! This is fraud. You can't forcefully take my things away from me like that. It's against the law. I will sue you for fraud." The woman let out a peal of hysterical laughter. "Wow! I never knew you were as dumb as this! You can sue me, stupid woman. Sue me and let's see the lawyer that will defend you." Stella burst out crying "Oh God! How do my things get to this woman's hand? They are mine." She c
Truly, the past few months have been hard on Richard and his family but their tenacious zeal to save their union was enough to keep them out of the arduous phase. Although his wife was battling with an incurable malady, Richard never changed his attitude, he stuck to his vow, giving her affection, care, and compassion. It was the only thing he could do to save his dear wife from the hands of the lethal disease. Getting this kind of tenderness from Richard was more than enough for Stella to encompass this phase and get on her feet. He makes sure she visits the hospital whenever she has an appointment, goes for antiretroviral therapy, and takes the prescribed drugs. Their marriage was getting back to life, full of bliss and happiness just like it, was before the mishap launched.The vicious ally that infiltrated their life, whirled it through anguish, turmoils, and travail. Bella Jonathan was finally out of their life. If everything has gone according to the way Stella planned, th
~Recap" My God! What did we do to deserve all these from you? What was our offense?" Richard questioned in disbelief."I'm sorry I don't know, I was just following the instructions given to me.""Who instructed you?""Bella. Bella Jonathan did.""What!""Yes, Bella. Everything was Bella's plan, I only helped her to carry out the plan.""What!" They exclaimed in unison."No, this is not true. Impossible! I don't believe any of this. Why will Bella even do this to me?" Stella questioned, refusing to believe what Tochukwu just divulged. Richard did not find it hard to speculate, he has a gut feeling against Tochukwu right from time and he was aware of the obsessed love Bella has for him, but he never think Bella could take it to this extent.No! This is outrageous.""I see no reason why I should lie, the last thing I can do right now is to uncover the truth. And yes, this is true, you deserve to know the truth. I don't know Bella personally, not until she contacted me about this busi
The news hit them like a huge bomb, it was too complex to take in. Of course, they had their doubt and were strongly against such news that it was far from being possible. They went to another standard Hospital just to confirm the uncanny revelation but unfortunately, the result was the same.Richard and the kids were compelled to conduct the test just to clear all their doubts but strangely, they tested Negative which means Stella is the only one with the deadly disease. How she contracted the virus was baffling at first, but after different investigations were made, it was traced back to the one-night stand she had with Tochukwu, which revealed that she got the deadly transmitted disease from him. "Ha! All this misfortune for ten minutes pleasure? I'm doomed!" Stella lamented biting her fingers in regret, wishing she could change back the hand of time to amend things. It was hard for her to accept the fact that she was truly an HIV patient, never in her wildest dreams has she e
Stella's entire body was in the blaze as several thoughts ran through her head. To say she was confused would be an understatement; one voice was supporting the idea, the other was defying, and another one was taking both sides. Her heart kept thumping with great ounce as if she was having a heart seizure. Yet, a rain of hot tears gushed down heavily from her eyes. Without giving it a second thought, she darted back and scampered to where her father was sitting. Went down on her knees, hugged his legs, and placed her head on his knees."Father, I'm sorry.""I'm so..rry.""I'm sorry." This was the only sentence that escaped Stella's lip."No, Stella. Please forgive me, I have wronged you, wreak havoc on your life, and caused you pain. I don't know if there is still space in your heart for you to set me free?" Mr. Busari voiced, with tears trickling down his cheeks.They remained in that position, pouring out their encaged emotions. The only sound that could be heard was Stella's huf
As Stella stepped out of the car, she stood transfixed on a point contemplating whether she was making the right decision. Coming to the house that haunted her does not seem like a good idea but then, Richard stood his ground reiterating that if she was not ready to come there then definitely he was not going to discuss anything with her again even though he was fully aware of the pains this vicinage caused her. "Well, I'm ready to do anything to save my marriage and if it means coming to this place then I am ready.""I have got to try this, without further ado," she muttered and with that, she walked towards the gate. After pressing the doorbell, a few seconds later the door creaked open revealing a young lady probably In her early thirties."Hi, good morning.""Oh! Miss Stella, Good evening, ma." the lady greeted with a smile plastered on her face. "Yes, ma'am, please, is Richard in? I mean Mr. Jacob?""No, ma'am, he's not back from work but you can wait for him.""Ugh! Is this
They waited eagerly at the reception for the doctor to step out of the ward where Janice was been treated. Stella sat down at the far edge of the chair, her head dropped down in sorrow. Richard was pacing around, while Bella just froze to a point not knowing what to do. They were all on tenterhooks.After several minutes of waiting restively, the doctor walked out making all of them jolt out of their worry land. "Doctor, how is my baby?" Stella was the first to throw the question at him."Hmm, we thank God, she's stable for now," he replied simply."Oh! Thank you, Jesus." Stella exclaimed jumping up in relief."For now?" Richard questioned as he reasoned on the doctor's reply."Yeah, thank God she was brought here quickly before the matter got worse, she lost a lot of blood as a result of the shock she went through. Right now, we need to donate blood to her.""Doctor, I'm available."Stella volunteered, stepping forward."But, you're pregnant, ma'am. You're not eligible." The d
"I am sorry about the news, sir." Bella blurted, breaking the deafening silence between them as they were riding back home in Richard's car. "What news?" He befuddled."About the scandal that surfaced last night, I mean about your family..." "Oh!" He murmured in a low voice. "Yeah, it's sad and those mendacious bloggers have made a compulsive, heart-rending story out of it. They're the sole reason why this is trending.""That's not even the problem, I wonder who has been prying into our family matter and then taking it over to social media. This is not the kind of life I want for myself, I cannot even walk freely; you'd see them pointing at me and saying all sorts of filthy things. Honestly, I'm tired, confused, and..." He complained with a frustrating hiss."I am so sorry about this, sir, It's sad that your family is going through this tough phase." "To be honest, I still find this hard to believe because I never expect Stella to engage in such an immoral act considering her stat
The following day, Richard was in his office busy sorting out his work that afternoon when a knock came through on his door."Come in," he ushered."Good afternoon, sir," Bella greeted immediately as she stepped in. "Oh, Bella! I never knew you came to work today, I thought your manager gave you leave?" He asked quite surprised because she just lost her father."Yes, she did sir, but I don't want to stay at home. I am not used to that kind of lifestyle and staying alone will make me start thinking of uncanny things.""Yeah, I think you're right. Hope you're doing well.""Yes, sir, I'm fine.""Hmm, it's lunchtime already, I guess you're busy, sir?" she asked with a slight grin. "Erhm, not really, I'm just trying to round up with this." "So, would you like to have lunch with me?" "Sure, this work can wait." He said getting up on his feet as they both walked out to his office and headed to the cafeteria. And that was how their friendship sprang up again, Bella goes to his office mos
Everyone who came to the burial rite was dressed in black outfits as they came to mourn with Bella over the death of her father.Just a few of her colleagues at work and Maria's long distant family were there. Bella looked awful and miserable, her eyes were puffy and swollen as a result of too many tears running out of her eyes. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing, as she watched them place him six feet below. She strode forward, clutched the shovel, and pour little sand on it. "Accept my heartfelt condolences," Richard muttered as he walked towards her occupying the sit beside her. Maria stood up and excused them. "Thank you, sir." She muttered sniffing."Please that's enough, cry no more. Life is a bale of tears and losing our loved ones is part of life right?" "Yeah, it's," she replied simply with a nod."Well, life has been like that to me right from time; life keeps snatching things so dear to me. Now my only hope is gone, I don't know how I will scale through this..."