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 32…Stella…A few mintues later, three cars enter the yard, I let out a sign of relief,Benji walks out of one of the cars and walks over me “what happened, why do you need to go to your parents?” he asks,“I thought you had an important meeting” I say surprised that he took the time to come here when I only wanted his men,“nothing is more important than you” he says,“now, what happened?” he asks,“dad has mom locked up in the basement since yerterday” I pause and let out a sign,“I know they disowned me and I might look stupid by being worried about Mom but I don’t want him to hurt her anymore” I explain, Benji nods“is the nurse with Zoey?” he asks“yes” I answer,“good, lets go” he holds my hand and walks me to his car,“I can handle it alone, I just need your men in case dad goes crazy on me, you can go back to the company, am sure you have work to do” I say,“am coming with” Benji insists but I shake my head,“don’t please, I insist” I say,“fine, but tell me in case so
Chapter 33…Stella…Dad is restless as we hear a second gunshot, he turns to his men,“go out and check what is happening” he says, his men soon leave the room,“you know Dad, whoever is out there, I hope they are coming for you” I say meaning every word of it, I hug my mom who is still on the floor, I feel how cold she is and turn to look at my monster of a dad,“she will get a fever, she needs to go somewhere warm” I say, Dad laughs to my face,“does it look like I give a shit about what happens to her?” he asks me,“then why don’t you dirvorce her?, you have made her suffer for too long, let her go” I say. Dad moves closer to me holding my chin making me look at him,“you little piece of shit, you don’t tell me what to do” he holds my chin more tightly, just then, we hear a voice,“let go of her before I blow your hand off” I feel relieved as Benji walks into the room pointing a gun at him,“you heard what he said” I say yanking his hand off of me and help Mom stand up,“stay out o
Chapter 34…BENJI…Its been 24 hours and zoey is declared a missing person, search teams are looking for her but there is still no news about her, I held a press conference putting a huge amount of money for anyone who might have seen her anywhere, I also plead on live television telling who ever had her about her sickness and what would happen if she stayed long without her medication but there is still no news about her, at this point, am losing my mind and it doesn’t help when Stella literally goes crazy,I understand her because even though am yet to lose my mind, I feel the same way as her, I don’t even know what to say to comfort her, I cant tell her everything is going to be okay because I don’t know how true that is,It is different than last time, then I knew where she was but now, she is really missing and very sick, I cant help thinking the worst will happen. Am scared, more scared than ever, I have to find her at all cost.My eyes are pinned on Stella who is pacing back an
Chapter 35…MARIA…I am finally going to have Benji for myself, I should have thought about this brilliant plan earlier, this is perfect, just too perfect,I drive quickly to the location I had sent him and happily sing along to the song playing,I don’t remember the last time I felt this excited. Upon reaching the location, I get the marriage document and am about to get out of the car when I suddenly notice Stella who is in Benji’s car,“shit!” I exclaim as I close the door and windows, Benji sold me out, am more than furious with him, how could he do this to me?,I quickly drive away from the location and park my car a short distance away, I then get my phone and call him,“where are you, I thought you would be here by now” he says when he answers the call,“you told Stella about this?, Benji how could you. I am now convinced you don’t want to see Zoey alive again” I vent out,“look Maria, I didn’t tell her anything, she insisted on coming with me and I couldn’t refuse her” he expl
Chapter 36…MARIA…“what?” I ask in disbelief after a few seconds,“he registered his marriage to Stella a few hours ago” the judge says again, I stand up as tears crowd my eyes,I run to my car as I cant control myself anymore, he tricked me, Benji tricked me, how can he?. Is loving him a crime?, why cant he just accept me, as far as anyone is concerned, I am way more beautfull than Stella, am a successful woman handling a very big company, Stella can never compare so why the hell does he think she is better than me?, what was it about that hoe of a sister that is better than me.I quickly get my phone and make a quick call as I sob in agony still in disbelief, the person am calling finally answers the call,“miss Adams” he says, this is part I was supposed to correct him and say am now Mrs Edwards but all that is ruined because of Stella, the hatred I feel towards her at the moment is unimaginable, if she were to be close, I am very likely to just stab a knife in her heart,“where a
Chapter 37…STELLA…“I need to talk to you in private” Benji says, I look at Zoey who is now back in her room connected to all the machines and is now sleeping, her little hand is wrapped in mine,“cant this wait” I ask turning to Benji,“actually, I think its best if you know now” he says, I look at Zoey’s face,“I don’t want to leave her alone, not after what Ruby did to her” I say, I can hear Benji breath heavily,‘for the hundredth time, it was all Maria” he says, at this point, am tired of hearing him accuse my sister, I was there, I saw Ruby with a gun and yet he is insisting it is Maria. All this makes me question the relationship Maria said they had,“is that what you want to talk about?” I ask,‘no” Benji says. I figure he wont leave until I talk to him so I stand up,“two minutes” I say as I lead the way to the passage way.“so the thing is, those documents you signed earlier was a marriage certificate” he says, I look at him eyes wide tongue-tied,“I had no other option, it
Chapter 38…BENJI…Maria’s threat cant be taken lightly, if she is capable of kidnapping a child who is on the edge of death and that too her own neice then she is capable of anything. I am scared something might happen to Stella like Maria warned, I double bodyguards around the house and have five bodyguards assigned to follow her whenever she goes out but even with these measures taken, am still scared for Stella.My phone rings and I immediately reach for it, am surprised that Mom is calling and answer it,“mom” I say,“am so sorry I wasn’t in contact honey, I just came back from china and heard what happened” she says,“its fine, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry” I say, Mom had gone to china for her treatment, I didn’t tell her anything has I was worried about her condition,“how is the little girl?” she asks,“pretty much the same” I answer her,“honey, is it okay for you to come here, I want to talk to you about something important” she says,“yah, I will be
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