023 JOANA'S POV I raised my head up and looked at her; then I knew that something was wrong from the way she looked at me; there were tears in her eyes; I rushed upstairs and went to hold her. I took her from there because she was not meant to see that. She was never meant to see any of that, and it was my mistake; I should have locked the door when I left the room. I trusted them enough to leave them in the room. Part of me was happy that it was only her who left the room and not her two brothers. " Can you promise me something?" I asked her. I know I was meant to be mad at her for disobeying me, but I had no time for that right now. " Yes," She nodded her head. " I do not want you telling this to your brothers, not to anyone as well. You should not dare say it to anyone." I pleaded with her, and that was because I was not sure she would keep our little secret; I asked her to go into the room, then I closed the door, and I made sure that I locked the door. I was not g
024 JOANA'S POV I stood there, looking confused. " I do not think this is happening to me because of Caleb. He has been the one helping me, and he helped me get back on my feet after what you did to me; I do not think I should take that for granted, and go ahead to accuse him of doing that," I said. He ran his hands through his hair. " I know what I am talking about. He does not look all that good, and you should be careful," he said. He then looked up at my office window; I had no idea why he did that. " I want us to go for lunch, will you be free for that?" He asked me. I wanted to be free from Caleb, so I agreed, not because I was ready for any conversation with him but because I wanted to get away from work and the energy Caleb was bringing to me. We got to this restaurant and it was so good. I looked around and wondered why I had not been in this place before now. " You like it here?" He asked after he saw the way I seemed pleased with the place.
025 JOANA’S POV How could I have been so dumb? I wanted to be free from stress, but I ended up being humiliated yet again by that woman; I wondered when she was going to change. I don’t blame her; she has always been filled with jealousy, but she should accept the fact that I am and won’t go back to Clinton. Never Again. I went back to the office to find Caleb having a worried expression all over his face, his eyes locked with mine. “Where were you?” His tone was a bit harsh, but that didn’t hide the concern in his voice, I let out a soft sigh, heading to my seat about to bury my head in work. “I went out for lunch...” “With Clinton?!” The jealousy in his voice was not shocking anymore to me, but I won’t say I was not surprised, “yes... with Clinton,” I continued my work, trying to avoid any more conversation. Caleb was clearly filled with rage, running his hands through his silky hair, “Joana, I really hope that it’s not what I am thinking?” My hands went to a sud
026 JOANA’S POV Caleb dropped me at my home a little bit later than expected, we were entangled with a little traffic, but I was glad, “thanks for the ride. Text me when you get home.” I said softly, waving at him until he zoomed off. I walked into the house expecting soft giggles or the kids yelling at themselves as they usually do, but the house was awfully quiet. I walked towards the kitchen and the living room and went as far as the indoor theatre, but they were not there, “could they be asleep already?” I was walking towards their room when Peter came out of the room calmly, closing the door behind him, trying not to make a sound. His eyes locked with mine, “oh, you’re back,” he said in a very low tone. He walked towards my direction as we went towards the kitchen. “You came back home very late today. It took me a while to put the three to sleep,” his voice was very gentle. “I apologize for that; I was caught up in work and did not expect time to run so quickly, a
027 JOANA’S POV I chuckled softly, plugging my hair dryer to dry my hair; I slowly typed a reply, “Traffic these days is quite insane, but at least you got home on time.” It got delivered; maybe he was freshening up. I used the opportunity to dry my hair completely, packing it in a messy bun as I retired to my bed. I was scrolling through the new designs I had come up with when Caleb replied. “I know, right? Sorry about the delay; I needed a quick bath. My whole body was wrecking with sweat,” “It’s fine. We both had a hectic day,” “Hope the kids were not mad at you for returning home very late,” “They were asleep by the time I had returned, I know I will get an earful by tomorrow.” The message was on delivered, and he seemed he was attending to something, I returned to check out the drawings, and I felt like something was missing but I honestly didn’t know where the diamonds that would be used were going to be exquisite, the labelling was perfect, the colour tones but
028 JOANA’S POV Today was really it for me. It was going well for me, and I felt like the heavens were finally on my side. “I thank you so much for your cooperation, sir,” I said softly, smiling through my teeth, “I am meant to thank you. You are really a woman of your word; even with my time, you managed to make everything go smoothly, and I respect you for that.” I smiled softly as I led him out of the room, my secretary was behind him to escort him to the garage, immediately they left the room, I slumped on the chair completely exhausted, he was truly a man of taste, I don’t blame him, he was really paying a sum of 100 million dollars for a jewelry for his daughter. “Rich people do the craziest thing,” Caleb yawned, turning on his chair; I turned and gave him a side-eye. “You’re talking like you’re not from third-generation wealth,” I clicked my tongue at him. “I know I am from wealth, but c’mon, 100 million for just a piece of jewel is madly insane; no wonder the b
029 CLINTON'S POV The car was moving fast. What happened to the brakes?! Joana was moving too fast. The next thing I know; a loud crash. Right in front of my eyes, a trailer ran straight to it; her car kept tumbling over, my heartbeat was faster than a cheetah, and my breath seized; I just couldn't believe it. The police that were chasing her called the ambulance as I pulled over, rushing over to her car. “Sir… you need to stay calm…” The police tried to calm me, not allowing me to cross over to meet her. “Get your hands off me…" That's my wife,” I roared in anger. With the last strength in me, I pushed them aside and rushed to the car to bring her out. “Joana… Joana…” I called out to her, and my hands trembled as I tried to open the car door. It was tight shut, and any moment from now, the car would explode. I couldn't think straight. The good-for-nothing police couldn't help things; I needed to think and act fast. I looked for something stro
030 JOANA'S POV *TWO DAYS LATER * The sounds. My head kept buzzing. I flickered my eyes open, but all I could see were white lights. Was I already dead?! The white light became clearer as I saw the ceiling; I turned to the side, seeing a lady in white attending to the machine that made the sound. “Where am I?” I groggily said, my body ached, and the words that came out of my mouth were barely audible. Finally, the nurse turned to me, her eyes widened, rushing out of the room, leaving me in dead confusion. The nurse came back with a doctor and Caleb. Seems I was not dead after all. The doctor flashed a light into my eyes, not too bright but not too low; I noticed Caleb's tense body. He was having a tough time trying to stay cool. “I am going to ask a few questions to confirm something, my dear,” the doctor said in a very calm tone. I nodded slowly. “What is your name?” “Joana Henshaw,” “Who is this young man next to me?” I redire
069JOANA'S POV“Caleb… do me a favour,” I asked softly, squeezing the paper and throwing it away.“What favour, and what was in that paper?” He tried to glance at my path, but I had already disposed of the paper.“I'll explain later, but can you move back into the family house,” I immediately held my seat belt when he abruptly stepped on the brakes in the middle of the road.“Are you nuts?!”“Someone could have gotten hurt!”I yelled at the top of my lungs, placing my hands on my chest to calm my thumping heart.I checked around to see if there were any drivers on the road because they would surely land curses at Caleb's sudden reckless act.“I'm meant to ask you that you want me to move back in. Why?”“Firstly, get back on the road. Otherwise, we're going to get a ticket for stopping in the middle of the road. Once we get to the office, I'll explain better.”Caleb mumbled under his breath, and we got back on the road. On our way, I got a text from Clinton.“I've dropped the kids at
068JOANA'S POVCaleb brought out his middle finger at me and went back to his room. It was fun seeing him and cute and all.I retreated back to the room when I saw Mirabel lying on the bed sleeping again, I knew it. Her brothers must have woken her up since the two were up.But Japheth and Jake were already in the bathroom, splashing water everywhere. It was an annoying habit of theirs to fully wake themselves up.“Do you want your punishment to increase…”*“You're going to fall if you keep running around like that…”The kids were exploring the house while we waited for breakfast until Jake ran into Gates Senior.I immediately ran to him, but before I could take him, Gates Senior already had him in his hands.Jake looked terrified, “good morning, sir,” he said calmly.“Good morning boy, running around like that, you were going to hurt yourself,” he said to him softly.“Good morning, sir,” I said, reaching to my son, “I apologize. My son was just enjoying the house so much that he di
067JOANA'S POVCaleb wasn't happy that I was toying with his brains. He had no idea what I was talking about.“If she didn't have the child, then she would be panicking, but she's awfully calm,” Caleb asked, genuinely confused.I chuckled softly, “That's her facade, something she had been building for a long time,” I let out a tired yawn.“I need to head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day in this house.”Caleb nodded softly, “Good night, have a good sleep.”Caleb slowly closed the door behind him. I slowly tucked myself, and a soft chuckle escaped my lips; Anita had been on top of this game for too long.It was time to make a triumphant return. Would I use my knight or play the games with my pawns?*I slowly flickered my eyes open, reaching out for my phone. It was barely 6am, I was hit with a terrible headache, and I needed some painkillers.Pushing Mirabel softly to the side, I made my way to the kitchen to make some warm lemon tea.I got closer to the kitchen when I heard
066JOANA'S POV“YOU SAID YOU HAD AN ACCIDENT, BUT ONLY FEW SCRATCHES!!!”Clinton quickly pointed out, his face cold with no expression on his father.“I… I didn't get into a nasty accident, just a mild one, that's why I have a few scratches,” she defended herself calmly.“And you fainted for over an hour,” Clinton attacked her again.She was trying her best to stay calm, but Clinton wasn't going to let her.“Clinton… you need to calm down, we should thank the heavens that she is safe and didn't get into a nasty accident. You would have blamed yourself for life.”I reasoned with him calmly that Anita may be smart, but she should learn how to cover her trails properly.One thing I have learnt so far about Clinton was that he hated being deceived.“I'm sorry… it was just too much for me to handle. Truly, I would have hated myself if anything should happen to you.”Anita smiled softly, “It's fine…” She darted her gaze in my direction. It was stern and deadly but still held an innocent lo
065JOANA'S POVWe arrived at the hospital as the kids waited with Caleb and Clinton, and I went into the doctor's office.“Luckily, there's nothing wrong with Japheth. Everything seems to be okay. He's a strong boy.”The doctor smiled, passing the documents to me and Clinton, “Doc, are you sure? It took us some time for us to get him out of the ball pit.”“The pit was truly deep, but there were no pressures on him, so thankfully, there are no internal injuries.”I let out a sigh of relief as we headed back to meet the others. Clinton got a phone call and excused himself.We headed to the parking lot when Clinton rushed to me, “I'm sorry, I won't be able to drop you and the kids off; I have an emergency.”He bent to the size of the kids, “Hey guys, Daddy is really sorry, but I can't drop you guys off. I promise to take you to school tomorrow.”“Pinky promise,” they stretched out their pinky finger to their father, who smiled and snuck his bigger finger pecked their foreheads and left
064JOANA'S POV“Mirabel…”My mother instinct kicked in, and I rushed to the sound. Mirabel was seriously crying; then I noticed that Japheth was missing, and Jake was removing some balls while crying.“He pushed Japheth,” she pointed to a boy who was hiding behind his mother. A tall man pushed them behind him.“Stop accusing my boy,” he growled at my girl. Clinton rushed him, grabbing him by the collar.“If anything happens to my own boy, today would be the last day you would see life,” he threatened.Caleb managed to bring Japheth. He was struggling to breathe properly.“Why wasn't your kid under parent supervision?” The man tried to defend his child.“Since your child was under parental supervision, why didn't you stop him? Oh wait, he's a child of a bully.”The man wanted to punch him, but Clinton dodged, folding his hand behind his back.“The dog who barks the most can't bite,” he pushed him away, “who's the manager of this place? I want the camera footage of this place asap, or
063JOANA'S POVI sighed deeply, entering the car, Japheth and Jake still had a long face while Mirabel tried to make them smile.“Don't put on such a long face; see, we're finally in Daddy's car,” Mirabel tried her best to cheer them up.Clinton shook his head, sighing, starting up the engine, and heading to the ice cream parlour.“Japheth… Jake, cheer up, remember I promised you ice cream, so if you don't smile, I'm turning this car back home.”The boys slowly raised their heads, putting up a small weak smile. They were still devastated, but I wanted to teach them a lesson.Nothing should ever make them throw their fists no matter the age they were.“Those are not genuine smiles, okay, I'm turning the wheels,” he made a fake turn, and the boys quickly shook him.“We're smiling; don't go back on your promise,” I was about to scold them for their tantrums, but Clinton gave me a glare.“Alright… you win, ice cream here we come,” Clinton cheered loudly.I didn't like the fact that the k
062JOANA'S POVClinton stopped talking. He was quite shocked by my behaviour, but I honestly don't blame him.“Funny how the old Joana couldn't say half of all you are saying,” he finally spoke up with a tiny smirk plastered on his face.I opened the door slightly. “Funny, right? Because the old Joana is dead.”I alighted from the car, walking slowly to pick up the kids when I saw my kids bowing their heads and a woman flaring with anger.Mirabel slightly raised her head and saw me immediately, Mommy…”I rushed to her, confused about the whole situation.“So you're the mother who can't train her children properly?” I raised a brow at the lady opposite me.Her son was standing by her side, I noticed my boys refusing to look at me even when I had arrived.“Japheth, Jake, I want you to raise your heads now,” I said in a commanding tone as they finally lifted up their heads.My boys had a black eye, and my sons had a freaking black eye.“Can somebody explain why on earth my boys have a b
061JOANA'S POVLouisa launched towards me but was stopped by Caleb, “The only reason I haven't beaten you up to a pulp is because you're a lady; don't try me.”Caleb growled as I chuckled lightly. Louisa, fuming with rage, ran to Clinton's side, but Clinton removed her hand from him.“Are you really doing this to me?” She yelled angrily.“You caused it. Besides, when will you stop ruining yourself? You're an adult. Act like one.”Clinton pushed her aside and walked to me. She screamed loudly, drawing attention to her.“Joana, mark my words, you will pay for all these, I promise you.” She picked up herself and left the place with her supposed minions.“How do you survive with this girl all the time?” Caleb scoffed, heading to his car.I chuckled softly, heading to Clinton. He tried to open the door for me, but I stopped him, “I agreed to ride with you. It doesn't mean I'll let you do all these shitty things.”Clinton's face turned cold. I don't know what he was expecting, but I hoped