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 20…BENJI…“did you look into what I asked you to?” I ask Garvin on a phone call“yes sir, it was Maria who had anonymously made that post about Stella” Garvin replies“alright” I say and hang up the phone, Maria was really crossing the line, I have to give her a warning.I did think of telling Stella everything about her sister but I know she wouldn’t believe me and even if she did, she would be hurt as she considered her an important person in her life.I stare at the wall clock, it is already half passed midnight, I close my eyes trying to get some sleep but then, Stella’s face appears in front of me,How would I manage to woo a sturbborn woman like her?, I get up from bed and grab my diary, I then begin to write down the things Ben did that made Stella fall in love with him, maybe if I do those things, I would have a chance with her…The next morning, I have Garvin take me to the Adams company before going to work, when Maria comes in, she finds me waiting for her,“you ar
Chapter 21…STELLA…Am pissed at Benji’s statement“just because you have all the money in world doesnt you know anything about parenting cause if you were good at being a father, Daisy would have been seeing everyday instead of only weekends” I say, I can see my words have affected Benji“yes, maybe I haven’t been a good father to Daisy that’s why I want to make sure I don’t repeat the same mistake with Zoey” he says,I go to my room and get Zoey’s teddy bear, I then go back to the living room and carry Zoey in my arms“you will go with Daddy okay” I tell her, she looks excited as she hugs me“thank you Mummy” she says, seeing Zoey been taken away hurts in ways I cant explain but I believe she also derserves to get to know her father a little more“take care of my daughter, if anything happens to her, I will cut off your head” I warn Benji pointing a finger at him“don’t worry about that, she will be fine” he says as he gets her from me, I walk them outside and wave at Zoey as the c
…Benji…Its 11pm and I hear a car enter my yard, Garvin calls me and I answer the call“who is it?” I ask“its Miss Stella” he says, am surprised Stella would come to my house at this time of the night“who is she with?” I ask Garvin“with Mario and she seems drunk” he answers“okay, let them in” I respond and hang up the call, I stand up and go outside where I find Mario helping Stella out of the car, am instantly furious that he made her drunk to the point of her failing to walk“what did you give her?” I ask as I carry her into my arms“she only had two bottles” Mario answers,“get out of here before I lose my temper” I say to Mario who immediately goes back into his car.I carry Stella inside looking at her drunk state as she sleeps soundly in my arms, I take her to my room and make her lay down, she opens her eyes and looks at me,“Ben, you are here” she says as she hugs me tightly crying, I want to tell that am Benji but I find myself tongue-tied and only pat her back in comfort
CHAPTER 23…BENJI…Stella and I head to the hospital as Zoey begins to cry,“does this happen on a regular basis?” I ask Stella whose eyes are already watering by now“no, Zoey doent get sick” she says touching her forehead“her temperature is raising” she says,“she will be fine” I assure her even though am worried out of my mind.Zoey suddenly begins to cough out blood, this makes me stop the car as I carry her in my arms,“Benji, there is Blood” Stella cries out, I start the car again as Zoey passes out and drive at an insane speed,. One hour later, Stella and I stand outside the ICU room as the doctors attend to Zoey, after what feels like forever with Stella crying the whole time, I follow the doctor to his office while Stella goes with Zoey and some nurses to her ward room.“I believe you are the father of Zoey Adams” the doctor begins“Zoey Edwards, am in the process of changing her last name” I say, the doctor nods“your daughter was experiencing seizures in the ICU room, I be
CHAPTER 24…stella..A few hours pass as we wait for the test results, am sitting on the couch with Daisy’s head resting on my lap while Benji is sitting on the bed beside Zoey and holding her hand,Over the past few hours, Zoey barely wakes up and when she does, its only for a few mintues.I cant help feeling that my life is cursed, everyone I have ever loved left me, first it was Ben, my parents and now Zoey, no there is no way I will lose my baby.The door to the ward room opens dragging me out of my thoughts,Mario walks in with a plastic bag,“am sorry I couldn’t make it on time, the road was blocked because of the rain” he explains,“its fine. You should have waited for the rain to stop” I say. There was a big storm which was even dangerous for him to be driving“are the results in yet?” he asks, before I can answer him, the doctor walks into the room, Benji and I stand up immediately“please follow me to my office” the Doctor says, with my heart beating at a rapid pace, I follo
Chapter 25…BENJI…“did you do what I asked you to do?” I ask Garvin on a phone call“yes, but unfortunatly, there is none” he answers, I let out a sign of frustration“continue looking until we find a match for her” I say, I am then disturbed by a knock on the doctor,“keep me informed” I say and hang up the call,“come in” I say when I hear a second knock on the door, Stella walks in carrying her handbag“are you going somewhere?” I ask, she nods“please look after Zoey, Maria is with her at the moment” immediately she says this, I panick, I don’t trust Maria enough to let her stay with my daughter, she is crazy and can do anything,“okay” I answer Stella and rush to the room Zoey is in, when I barge in,I find Maria holding the tube of the drip connected to Zoey“what do you think you are doing?” I question taking steady steps towards her“nothing, what did it appear I was doing?” she asks with a sly smile, i wrap my hands around her neck“Benji” she says as she begins to choke, as
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