Chapter 3
....STELLA...
I am in a state of panic as I begin to run around the cemetery screaming Zoey’s name but she is nowhere to be seen, I spot my parents and Becky outside the cemetery and rush to them,
“what do you want, didn’t I make myself clear five years ago, you are no longer part of this fmily, now that the funeral is over, go back wherever you came from” Dad says, I look at mom hoping she would stand up for me but am left disappointed when she hangs her head low
“if you were smart enough, you should have had an abortion, I would have taken you back into the family but look at you now, you come to mom’s funeral with a child with no father “ I blink away tears knowing this isn’t the time to be emotional
“ where did you take my daughter?” I ask him, am convinced he did something to Zoey after hearing how bitter he is
“what the hell Stella!” mom asks
“my daughter just disappeared, she couldn’t have gone anywhere on her own. Now, tell me where she is” I demand getting more furious each passing second. A slap lands on my face causing me to fall to the ground
“you little hoe, after everything I did for you and you dare accuse me of kidnapping your little brat?”
“and by everything you mean what exactly? If I find out you did anything to my daughter, I will kill you myself”, has Benji and his family make their way out of the cemetery, I rush over to Daisy again
“Daisy, how did the man Zoey went with look like?” my hands are shaking as the fear in my heart gets worse
“he is tall like daddy and was wearing glasses” the little girl explained
“what happened?” has much as I hate Benji, this isn’t time for that as I realize he is the only one who can help me
“my daughter, she was playing with Daisy, someone has kidnapped her Benji, I will die if anything happens to her” unable to compose myself, I begin to cry,
“Daisy, go to mom’s, I will pick you up” Benji says before grabbing my hand and leading me to his car
“where.. where are we going?” I ask him
“to the police station, don’t worry, am sure she is okay” I want to believe that, I pray that would be the case, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to my little angel
“stop crying now Stella, everything will be okay” he tries to assure me
“you are a parent youself, tell me, would you be calm in this situation?” I ask, Benji is silent
“that’s what I thought” I say looking out the window as more tears flood my eyes. We get to the police station, however the officer refuses to make it a case as it is less than 24 hours since Zoey disappeared, am furious and frustrated but before I can give him a piece of my mind, Benji brings out a black card and shows it to him, the officer immediately faces the floor,
“am sorry, I will open the case right away” he says and excuses himself. I stare at the black card Benji has
“whats that?” I ask
“ the black card, its symbolizes power, only five people in newyork have it, you would be surprised to know the amount of power this has” he explains
“am sure if Ben was still around, he too would have one” I say
“its been five years Stella, when will you forgive me and move on?, I have tried to tell you many times I didn’t know it was you under that mask!” And am not buying this bullshit
“you basically stopped me from removing our masks because you knew I would known you were not my Ben”
“why would I sleep with my brother’s fiancé? I thought you knew me better than that Stella,” I too thought I knew him but that night changed everything. The officer comes back and explains that a search for Zoey was to ensure, he advises us to go home and stresses he would call if anything came up, he also urgers us to keep our phones on incase the kidnapper calls,
“I want to go with the search team, there is no way I can sit and wait” I dont know the state my baby is in and if she is okay, my mind wouldn’t be at easy until I found her
“am sorry ma’am but i can’t take you along, wait patiently and let us do our job. You will be the first to know if anything comes up”
“come on Stella, lets go, you look like you can use some rest, your daughter will be found soon”
“easy for you to say when yours is safe at home” I say with a deep sign.
“lets go” Benji holds my hand and leds me to his car outside
“take me to my parents house” I say, am still convinced Dad had something to do with this, maybe he was embarrassed that I attended the funeral, if it meant begging him for my daughter then I would gladly do that. when we get there, we found everyone gathered in the living room, mom is on her knees in front of dad crying while Becky watches from the couch sobbing quietly
“speak of the devil and she appears!” Dad exclaimes when he notices our presence. Though it hurts to see Mom being mistreated, I don’t say anything as I believe she deserves it, that’s karma for her.
“where did you take my daughter Dad?” I ask making him laugh
“you still think I know where your brat is?, get out of my house now!” he yells, he goes as far as calling two guards to escort us out, when am about to resists, Benji looks at me
“we should go” he says as he grabs my hand and takes me to his car
“take me to my hotel” I say with a deep sigh, as the car drives off, I lean my head on the window and fall asleep.
When I wake up, the car is in front a beautiful penthouse
“where are we? I thought i made it clear I want to go to the hotel” I say
“I know but Daisy wanted to spend some time with you, besides, we are a few mintues from the police station which would be easy in case we are needed” has we get inside the penthouse, am amazed, the internet didn’t lie, Benji was really a billionaire.
“make yourself comfortable, I need to pick up Daisy from mom’s, there is food in the kitchen, eat something” he says
“why are you being nice to me, you know I hate you” I ask, a grin appears on his face
“I guess am just a good person” he says and walks out. Has I make my way to the living room, i notice a red hair band on the floor, upon picking it up, I immediately recognize it, it’s the same hair band Zoey had on before she disappeared. My mind goes into panic mode, was Benji the kidnapper?...
Chapter 4..STEELA..I stare at the ribbon in my hands, my heart is beating rapidly, surely Benji couldn’t do this to me, why would he even help take me to the police station when he is the one behind this? I let out a sign as I try to figure out what is happening and where the hell my baby is.I go to the kitchen but lose my appetite as soon as I see the food, how can I eat when I have no idea where my baby is or if she had anything to eat, I let out another sign and get a bottle of water and proceed to go through all the rooms in the house in hope of finding anything else that belonged to Zoey,I reach Benji’s master suite, above his bed is a big portrait of him and his late wife, I stare at the picture for a few seconds before looking around the room, when I don’t find anything, I go back to the living room and take a sit on the couch, I stare at my phone wishing who ever took zoey would call, eventually, I fall asleep.I am woken by someone tapping my shoulder, ‘Zoey?” I open my e
Chapter 5…STEELA…The officer assures me he would do everything to find Zoey, I leave his office and find Benji waiting for me,“we should go back home” he says,“I will get a cab and go to the hotel, I need something there” I say, I don’t want to go back to his house and pretend everything is okay when I felt the urge to hold him at knife point just to get him to tell me where my baby is.“I already asked one of the guards to move all your things to the penthouse” he says making me furious, how dare he do that without asking me first,Benji really did manage to get on my last nerves, “lets go” he says grabbing my hand and leading me to his car“why didn’t you ask before hand about moving my things to your house?” I ask as we enter his car, Benji doesn’t respond as he calls his daughter’s name“Daisy!” he yells, I open the backseat door and find it empty inside“where the hell did Daisy go?” Benji asks as he pulls out his phone, I look around the surrounding area but don’t find her,
Chapter 6 …STEELA… Benji holds me by my shoulders “tell me Steela, is that girl mine, all you have to do is say it” he says holding my gaze “I already told you she isn’t, do you want me to lie to you just so you can bring her back to me?” I ask, Benji’s eyes widen making me more convinced he really does know where my little girl is, “what are you talking about?” he tries to deny it “I know you know where Zoey is… stop it already Benji, my mind is exhausted, just tell me where she is” Benji looks away, I can see the guilt on his face “why the hell would I kidnap your daughter?” he askes letting go of my shoulders, “when I was disowned five years ago by my parents, I met someone and moved in with him, he is Zoey’s father” I explain lying through my teeth “I don’t see a ring on your finger” he says holding my left hand “we never got married” I lie. I know it seems absurd that I would have stayed with a man that long and have his child without marrying him but I don’t care, I can
Chapter 7…STEELA…After a few seconds, I manage to compose myself and push Benji away successfully slapping him“don’t you ever dare try to kiss me again” I warn pointing a finger at him. What the hell was he even thinking“am sorry i…” he doesn’t complete his sentence and looks away“bring Zoey back and Daisy will be returned to you” I say, Benji looks at me for a few seconds, he doesn’t say anything and walks out of the room. When the door closes after him, i let out a sign of relief touching my lips, Benji kissed me, why the hell would he do that?, I am left confused my mind drifting off to that one night five years ago when Ben died. I can only imagine Ben turning in his grave, anything involving Benji makes me feel guilty, I have to leave this house as soon as I can. I lay on the bed facing the ceiling.After a few more hours, I get hungry and leave the room and go to the kitchen, I find some takeaways on the kitchen counter,I take out the food and begin to eat, the house is aw
Chapter 8…STEELA…“who is it?” I ask anxiously“I saw the man that took her to his car that day at the funeral, he is Benji’s personal drive, I have seen him a couple of times with him in the past” she explains, I just knew it. I let out a sign of relief, now that my suspension was proved to be correct, I am glad, at least I know Benji wouldn’t harm her in any way“do you have any idea where he might have taken her?”I ask“no… how about we meet tomorrow morning so we can talk?” she suggests“that will be great, we have a lot of catching to do” I answer, shortly after making plans, I hang up and finally lay in bed trying to get some sleep.The next morning, I was waken up by a knock on the door,I rub my sleepy eyes looking at the time on my phone, it is already past 8am, I had overslept, I immediately get out of bed and rush to open the door,“Benji says I should call you for breakfast” Selina says“am already late, I gotta go” I say and close the door to her face and head to the bat
Chapter 9…BENJI…“why is she staying here?” Selina questions while we are having breakfast“she doest have anywhere else to stay, I can’t possibly let her stay at a hotel” I say“oh please, don’t give me that bullshit about trying to help her, we both know what this is all about” she says making me put my fork down“can we not do this right now?, you and I are already officially together, I don’t get what’s worrying you”“am not worried, I just don’t her to stay with us” she insists making me stare at her“with us?, since when do we stay together?” I ask, I was already losing my appetite because of this conversation“so now you are chasing me out of your house because of her?” she asks furiously“that’s not my point…” I stand up throwing my hands in the air in frustration“you know what, I don’t have any appetite anymore” I say and go to my room. Since Selina had told me Steela was going out, I figure she would need a car and grab all the car keys, I go outside and call one of my gu
CHAPTER 10…STELLA …After sometime at the park, I decide to go to Mario’s place to check up on Daisy. I ring the doorbell and wait a few seconds before I hear footsteps approaching, soon the door opens and Mario is standing at the door“stella!” he exclaims pulling in a hug“girl, five years and this is the first time am seeing you” he pulls away and looks at my face“you look so beautifully” he says messing with my hair“oh come on, I look horrible” I say, Mario holds my hand and leds me inside his apartment, I look around at the beautiful surroundings“are you married or something? Cause there is no way your house would be this beautifully decorated and clean” I say, Mario lets out a laugh“who needs a wife when I have five maids that do everything for me?” he asks, he takes me to a room where I find Daisy on the floor making a puzzle“look whose here!” Mario says getting her attention“Stella!” Daisy yells and rushes to hug me“hey, are you okay?, I hope Mario was taking care of y
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 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