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 26…Benji…Is it the alcohol or does Stella really want me,The passionate look on her face, what happened to the Stella that hates me?, why would she suddenly want me to sleep with her?“you are drunk, the normal you would never ask me to sleep with you” I say, Stella holds me by my hand an drags me to my bedroom,“I want you Benji Edwards”, she says, my heart begins to beat rapidly as I realize that I she addressing as Benji and not Ben, she kisses my lips yet again and begin to work on my trousers but I stop her by holding her hands above her head“you are stressed and just trying to make yourself forget your problems but I know this wont solve anything, go back to bed” even as I say this to her, I am tempted to just pull her closer to me and do everything she wanted“it doesnt mater, I just want you to hold me in your arms and make love to me” even though she is drunk, I know this isn’t Stella, I know her all too well“don’t you want me?” she asks as she begins to sob“yo
Chapter 27…STELLA…Mrs Edwards is surprisingly kind and comforting, I always thought she hated me, that she knew what I was doing the night Ben was involved in an accident and blamed me for it. Before that happened, she was like a second mother to me, I grow up by her side and was used to her. It feels good to see her acting like this around me,“thank you for coming” I say, she kisses my hair with a small smile. Benji’s phone suddenly rings and he excuses himself“when your parents told me they disowned you because you were pregnant with another man’s child, I hated you because my son loved you, I don’t know how things happened between you and Benji but am glad you kept this little girl, I want her to get better so that I can get to know her more, you know how I love kids especially my grand-kids” she says making us both chuckle,“Zoey has never had a grandmother, am sure this will make her happy” I reply remembering the way she smiled when she was happy. I need to make my move befo
Chapter 28…STELLA…My breathing is unsteady as I realize just how hard Benji is for me, I get confused and wonder why he is resisting me,“then why are you holding back?’ I ask, Benji makes me turn to face him,“because you are not the kind of woman I want to spend only a night with Stella”“well then it wont be for only a night, we can make it a week or month if you like” I quickly say, Benji chuckles making me wonder if I said something that was funny“I don’t want that either Stella, you are the kind of woman that I don’t want to have for a short period of time, I wanna spend more than a month with you, I want to watch you grow old, I want to go through everything that comes my way with you, I want to protect and love you in the right way. I want to marry you”, to say I am speechless is an understatement, is Benji proposing to me right now?, I feel like screaming and cursing him but my mouth feels too dry. This is deep and delusional,“i…I will just head to bed and see you tomorro
Chapter 29…MARIA…When I leave Benji’s place, I call the girls to meet me at a hotel, by the time they arrive, I am already two bottles down,Even though am getting tipsy, I can still feel the anger inside of me building up even more,“don’t you think its too early to have a drink?” Maggie asks, I roll my eyes at her angry that she invited Selina. I had cut off Selina the moment she began dating Benji. The fact that they broke up doesn’t mean I want her back in my friends group“why is she here?” I ask facing Selina,“stop being a pussy, Benji and I are over, not that it concerns you anyway” she says with a roll of her eyes.“whats happening with you?” Ruby asks“I want to kill Stella” I speak knowing fully well I mean it,“calm down girl!” Maggie says,“at this point, I can help you get rid of her” Selina says drinking from her glass cup“whats gotten you so angry?” Ruby questions.I pour myself a full glass and drink it in one go before turning to the ladies,“Benji proposed marria
Chapter 30…STELLA…‘Your sister is here to see you’ one of the maids tells me as I sit on the couch in Zoey’s room,‘let her in’ I say. Maria had gone home looking pretty upset in the morning, I didn’t think she would be back here so soon.A few mintues later, she enters the room,‘Stella’ she says with a smile as she hugs me, she looks to be in a good mood‘hey, you are back’ I say, she nods,‘am sorry about ealier, I didn’t mean to be rude, jus that I didn’t tell you the whole truth about Benji and I’, I turn to look at her confused‘there is actually a lot I haven’t told you’‘okay’ I respond not knowing what else I can say.‘two years ago, Benji and I were both drank and had sex, I know I said he raped me but that is because I don’t remember how it happened. Things were different for us since that time, truth is Stella, Benji and I are in love’ I look at Maria eyes wide‘what?’‘I know this is a shock to you but we have been seeing each other secretly, am not supposed to be telli
Chapter 31…STELLA…Benji is just standing there looking into my eyes, I am uncomfortable with his stare as I feel like he is hoping to know the reason am doing this,I now move my hand to his shoulders,“are you ready for this?” even as I say this, I know I sound stupid,“are you having second thoughts?” he questions making me shake my head almost immediately, its not like I dont want to do this, I just don’t know how to,“I think I know the reason why you are doing this Stella” he says making me move an itch away from him,“do you?” I ask,“I thought about this over and over again and the only sensible thing that came to my mind is that you are in love with me” my eyes pop wide as I feel the strong urge to laugh, how delusional is Benji?,“you have a woman in your life right now don’t you?” I ask not responding to his delusional thoughts,“I had a woman in my life, that was Selina but now that we are over, I don’t mind being your man” I yet again suppress the urge to laugh, at this
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