Chapter 11…STELLA…“Daisy darling, go inside and order some food” Benji says, Daisy gets out of the car and rushes inside the restaurant“since when did this become your favorite restaurant?” I question him when we are left alone“I was missing Ben a lot in the past so I usually came here” his answer makes me even more furious“you have no right to miss Ben, it was because of you that he died!” I yell“how the hell is it my fault Stella?, was I the one driving the car that night?” he asks in rage“no you weren’t but you where inside his fiancé pretending to be him” my eyes are watering as the familiar gut feeling washes over me“I HAD NO IDEA THAT WAS YOU STELLA!” he yells throwing his hands in the air“you fucking did and you know it!” I say pointing a finger at him, Benji lets out a sign and then gets out of the car. I stay in and take long breaths, when am able to compose myself, I try to get out of the car but realize it is locked from outside“Damn you Benji!” I yell in frustr
Chapter 13…STELLA…A while later, I reach the lake house , Mario helps me put my belongings and introduces to the care taker, a middle aged woman called Mrs.Smith,“can I trust her to remain with Zoey?, I need to go and see Benji” I ask Mario“of course you can, besides, I have a studio room here so I will send my guard to bring my paintings here so I can stay with you for a while” I am relieved to hear this, I trust Mario and know Zoey will be fine with him“thank you Mario, I owe you one…please tell Mrs smith to make some snackes and a glass of milk for Zoey” I instruct“okay”. I borrow Mario’s car and make my way back to the city which is an hour away.When I get to Benji’s company, am told he is busy and isn’t prepared to see anyone but I still barge in his office finding him busy on his computer, he looks up and his gaze meets mine“am busy, come some other time” he says going back to his computer“I need the passport” I say standing in front of his desk“if you want to leave th
Chapter 14…BENJI…I hit the desk when Stella and Maria leave the office, I knew Maria was a sly manipulative woman but I didn’t think she would accuse me of raping her. Whatever she insisted happened between us, I had no memory of it. I let out a sign as I thought of what Stella might be thinking about me at the moment, I let out another sign as I reach for the DNA test results and stare at them for a moment,Why did Stella lie to me about Zoey, she kept my daughter away from me and made her grow up in poverty for five good years, what is she afraid of?.Many hours later, Its time to knock off, I pack my things as my secretary reads out my schedule for the next day. I then make a call to my personal driver Garvin“where are you?” I ask him“am already outside” he says, I hang up the call and go outside where I find him in the car, when I get in, he drives off“is Stella at home?” I ask“no, she and the little girl haven’t returned since they left in the morning” he explains“what?”
Chapter 15…STELLA…“stella, come here, you need to see this!” Mario calls from his studio, I turn to look at zoey whom am playing with in our current room,“continue playing honey, I will back in a sec okay” I say“okay” Zoey answers, I smile and head to Mario wondering what it was he wanted me to see,When I get into his studio, I find his eyes glued to the Tv“Benji held a press conference to find your daughter” he says, I turn to look at the tv“that asshole, am going to kill him” I say, on the tv is a picture of me as the main suspect of the kidnap of Zoey Edwards. I don’t even remember how that picture was taken, I begin to wonder what the hell is wrong with Benji, how the hell would he do this to me“you are going to get arrested the moment they find you” Mario tells me,“you are right but I wont be arrested because of this, I will be arrested because am going to kill Benji” I say as I pace around the room restlessly“maybe you should give me a call” Mario suggests, I get my ph
Chapter 16…MARIA..I am unable to concentrate on work as my mind is filled with images of what I had seen in Benji’s office earlier, how can Stella do this to me?, I am way more angry with her than I am with Benji.I had spent five good years trying to get Benji for myself, I used all the tricks in the book in hopes of him looking at me as a woman he can be with but all my efforts were in vain and now Stella shows for a few days and they are already having sex.Stella should have told me if anything was going on between them, am angry she didn’t mention it and pretended to hate Benji in front of me. A knock on my door drives me out of my thoughts, I compose myself before answering“come in” I say, Dad walks into the office looking angry, it is then that I realize I have not gone through the documents he had sent me earlier“its been almost two hours, what the hell are you doing?” he asks“I was a bit busy, I will go through them now” I say picking up the documents among the pile of f
Chapter 17…STELLA…“what sort of deal?” I ask Benji, whatever he has in mind surely it cant be a good thing“I want Zoey here with me but since you cant live without her by your side, I want you to move here, there is prenty of rooms in my house, both you and Zoey can be comfortable, plus, I can open up a bigger restaurant for you here” I laugh upon hearing Benji’s words, had this man lost his mind or what?,“so what do you think?” he asks with a smile,“what I think?, am not a charity case Benji, am capable of taking care of myself and my daughter, we don’t need any of the crap you just said” I say,“fine, I was hoping we do this the easy way but since you are proving to be sturbborn then I will have you arrested and take my daughter away from you” he threatens making me sign,“you want to separate me and my daughter?, she is five for pete’s sake Benji!” I exclaim“that is not my intention so I would advice you to think about this carefully cause am not bluffing” he says, I let out
Chapter 18…Stella…Right in front of everyone, Dad calls two of his men who begin to check up on me, am angry and disappointed, why would dad even accuse me of stealing, however, when one of the guards take out a diamond necklace from my purse, I am left tongue-tied“I swear I don’t know how that ended up in my bag” I try to explain“you dare steal from me?” Dad looks more furious than ever“honey, its no big deal” my mom tries to say but he silences her with his hand“call the police” he says to one of his guards, by now, I begin to cry bitterly unable to control my emotions, was this my family?, how can they treat me like this?,“Dad please, you cant do this” Maria says“stay out of this” Dad says shoting a warning glance at her,I am made to knee down by the two guards as we wait for the police“you could have asked if you wanted money instead of trying to steal from us, there is no better place for someone like you except prison” Dad says, I continue to cry feeling my heart get m
Chapter 19…STELLA…“marry me Stella, that way, you will save your honor while I raise my kids together” he says, I move my head near his month“what are you doing?” he asks, I sniff near his mouth“have you been drinking?” I ask, he shakes his head“am as sober as anyone can be” he says,“I don’t know what gave you the impression that I can ever agree to marry you Benjimen Edwards, you are pathetic” I say. What the hell is wrong with him, he is Ben’s twin brother for heaven’s sake, how many more times did he want to disrespect him, isn’t he even ashamed of himself“I loved Ben, I still do, I can barely look at any other man since his passing. You are dating Selina, why don’t you ask her to marry you instead?”“I broke up with her” he replies“why?” I ask, did he just realize that it wasn’t a good pairing?,“we don’t have feelings for each other” he says“well, I too don’t want to be married to someone I don’t even like” Benji is quiet and starts the car again,I notice he has a sad
Chapter 54…Benji…Stella’s news of being pregnant takes me by surprise, under a different situation, this would have been one of the good news but not now, the only thought in my mind is if Zoey is going to survive until the baby is born,“you don’t look as happy as I thought you would be” Stella says looking away,I can see a hint of sadness on her face,“I am happy, just that, I talked to the doctor last time, Zoey wont live that long” Stella’s eyes begin to water as she looks at me, I hate to see that expression on her face, I have hurt her by telling her this,“how long does she have?” she asks as she wipes off the tears on her face,“I don’t know, just not long enough until the baby is born” if I tell her that Zoey has less than a month to live, she will be more heart broken and I don’t want her to feel that way.“am scared Benji, what should we do?” she asks, I pull her in for a hug,“just hope for a miracle to happen” only If it is possible for Ben to come to his senses and cha
Chapter 53…STELLA…Benji is on his way back home, as I wait for him, am nervous, I couldn’t tell him I was pregnant the last time we talked, am nervous and anxious, the only thing putting my mind at easy is the fact that Zoey is doing a little better. Over the course of the week Benji has been away, his mother and Daisy visit almost everyday which is a huge relief,Maria doesn’t come much because of how busy she gets at the company, but since I told her I was pregnant, she no longer even calls, I understand she is upset with me because of how she feels about Benji so I let her be.There is a knock on the door, before I can answer, the door opens and Mario walks in with a bunch of flowers and some chocolates, I stand up meeting him half way the room with a hug,“hey” I say,“hey, I see our princess is still sleeping”, my eyes drift off to Zoey whom he is looking at,“yes, she was awake most of the night” I then lead him to the couch and we sit,“tell me the truth, where is Benji?” as
Chapter 52…BENJI…Its been two days, Ben is nowhere to be seen, Tan tells me he comes home very later and goes out very early, I know he is doing this on perhaps just to avoid me so this evening, I refuse to leave his house without talking to him,I miss home so much and cant help worrying about Zoey and Stella’s well being. I sit on the couch across the table with Tan on the other side, its past 8pm, the twins are already fast asleep.“are you sure you don’t want to lay down in the spare bedroom?” Tan asks, for what I have seen so far, Tan is a very good man, Ben didn’t derserve him,“I need to leave as soon as posibble but I cant do that If I don’t get Ben to come with me, my kid will die” I explain“am sorry that he is putting you through this, I tried to talk to him about it but you know how sturrborn your brother is” that I understand pretty well,“do you have any idea how can I convince him to help me?” I ask, Tan is quiet for a while,“there is nothing Ben cant do for money. S
Chapter 51…MARIA…“Dad, I think you should let mom out of the basement, she might die If you keep her there for long” I say to Dad while he is sitting in his office his eyes fixed on his computer“she is tougher than you think” he answers. I know but despite having no emotions for mom, she might really die if she stays there for long“I know but its been a week and some days now” Dad lets out a sign looking irriated,“I told her to apologize to you if she wants to be let out but she refuses” I let out a sign,“I already forgave her” I say,“fine, then get her out after work” he says. I smile at him and leave his office,When I get to my office, I receive a call from Mario and immediately answer the call,“hey fake girlfriend” he says in his usual jovial voice,“the phone might be on speaker for all you know, cut that fake girlfriend shit”, after the night we almost got arrested on our first date, Mario and I have been spending time together, mainly because we want to keep the impress
Chapter 50…BENJI…The next morning, Ben wakes me up with a knock on my hotel door, I open the door rubbing my sleepy eyes,“how the hell are you a self made Billionaire if you sleep in like this?” he asks, the only reason I overslept is because I had been tired the previous day, the twins where a handful though am not complaining, I had fun with them.“by staying sober and clean” a frown immediately on Ben’s face as he looks irriated with my response,“I don’t even know why I came here in the first place” he says,“am sorry but am only stating the truth” lying to him about the serious problems he has will only make him do eorse, Tan might be scared to point it to him but not me,“we need to go to the hospital, I have somewhere to go” I stare at the wall clock, it is already past eight,“I wont take long” I say as I head to the bathroom. I take a shower and dress up, in the next mintues, Ben and I are on our way to the hospital, when we get there, the doctor immediately comes to see u
Chapter 48 …BENJI… Mom and Daisy stay at the hospital for a while and talk with Stella, am glad to see her not crying anymore, as it turns out after my little confrontation with Maria, she probably thought it unwise to come and see Stella and went her way which is a huge relief, I cant stand her pretending to be good while she is planning to kill Stella Zoey was brought back a few hours ago and is yet to wake up since the surgery, am thinking of what to do next, on one hand, I want to save Zoey but am afraid of what Maria might do if am away, “what are you thinking about?” my mom’s question drives me out of my thoughts, “me?” I ask when I see she is looking my way, “of course you, you are the only one zoomed out” only if it was possible to tell her what I was thinking, for starters, she would kill me for all the lies, “just worried about Zoey” I say, “you remember my suggestion?” she asks and I immediately shut her up, “please mom, Don’t…” “what is your suggestion Mrs Edwards
Chapter 49…BENJI…After spending close to 48 hours in a plane, I finally land in hong kong,I have been here once or twice for work but never to see my dead brother, I figured he would refuse to see me if he knew so I decided to pay him a surprise visit,I rang the door of a little apartment, while standing there waiting for him to get the door, I cant help being disappointed at the lifestyle Ben had choosen for himself, he lived with mom who spoilt him with everything he can ever want and yet he left all that to end up in such a small apartment,When I hear footsteps approving, I take a step back, the door finally opens and a tall Asian man in his middle thirties Is standing there, I know his name is Tan and a lot more than I need to know though this is the first time we are meeting,“you must be Benji” he says looking surprised,“yes, is Ben in?” I ask,“yes, come in, excuse my staring but you look so much like Ben” he says, I do find his staring weird but I can only understand“I
Chapter 47…BENJI…The next morning, Zoey is awake and asks me to read her one of her favourite books, I happily do so but just before I get to the last part, a nurse enters the ward room,“the Doctor wants to see both of you” she says, Stella and I exchange worried looks,“I will go and see him while you stay with Zoey” I suggest,“okay” Stella says without me even insisting, I kiss Zoey’s cheek and follow the nurse out of the room, when I get to the doctor’s office and see the expression on his face, I already know he has some bad news, nevertheless, I take a sit.“you called for us Doctor, Stella is with Zoey and wont be able to join us” I say“yes Benji. I did more tests on Zoey, her disease is progressing at a rapid pase” he explains, I now understand why Stella didn’t want to come here, I can feel massive fear at the doctor’s words, however, I take a deep breath and look at him,‘and?”“am sorry to say this but she wont make it to the time her sibling will be born even if Stell
Chapter 46…BENJI…The loud ringing of my phone wakes me up, I quickly reach for it and silence the ringing and look at Zoey who is sound asleep, I also look at Stella who is sleeping on the couch and let out a sign of relief both of them didn’t wake up to the sound of my phone,I look at my phone screen and a frown forms on my face as I leave the room, when am in the hallway alone, I finally answer the call,“did you forget its 2am here?” I ask irriated,“no but this is urgent” the person on the call says,‘what is so urgent that you are calling huh?” I already know this is about money as every other conversation I have had with him before,“I need some cash right now” he says just as I thought“I gave you a huge sum of money a week ago” I say“I know but you told me to start up something and I did but this is really urgent” I let out a sign pinching the space between my eyes,“okay, what happened?” I ask,“one of my boys is sick, I need money for his treatment” he explains, from the