(Phoenix’s POV)
I heard Sterling making a call in one of the rooms and I could hear him all the way from the nursery and when he came back him, taking slow strides towards me, I had to ask, “Babe, who was that?” turning my attention from the sleeping baby to him.
He raised one of his brows as though he was in a confused state, “It was Olivia, apparently she needs a weeks’ leave of absence from work for a family emergency,” inserting both hands into his pocket.
I too was surprised, in all the months since she was employed, she had never asked for a leave of absence, “Are you sure? The Olivia I know doesn’t talk about her family that often. Are you sure that she didn’t have a fight with Denzel?” I too was concerned.
He sighed and took his left hand from his pocket to ruffle his very awesome hair, “I asked her about it and she said that it’s not a fight but a family emergency,”
“I will call her right now and talk to her to really know what the problem is but if I do find out what the problem is, you won’t rescind on your decision,” I said, eyeing him closely and waiting for him to defy me.
“I promise,” and he surrendered peacefully without a fight.
“Alright then, I am just going to wheel myself to the kitchen and call her and then call Deborah Obasi, my friend in Nigeria? I think this trip is long overdue and we both know that we could really use a break and there’s that wish of mine that you are yet to grant. The first wish on my list is traveling to Nigeria and spend at least a week there,” I needed the break so badly that I couldn’t wait to get Dr. Hailey’s approval to travel.
He nodded before walking over to Emerald’s crib and leaning over, “Yeah, sure, I didn’t forget but you forgot that we have a kid now, so who are we going to leave her with for a whole month?”
I sighed loudly—this man, always looking for an excuse to be with Emerald, “Well, Emerald has a lot of people right now who love her and would be glad to take her off our hands for a month, so there’s nothing to worry about. I am just going to go right now and make the calls and please, no touching because if she wakes up, it will be your turn to watch over her till she goes back to bed; it is already late as it is,”
“Yes, ma’am; I will just sit over there and watch her,” I watched him sigh out loud dramatically before reclining on the hammock personal inserted in the room.
Emerald was like a drug to Sterling and he kept getting addicted to her. He attended to her way more than I did and I wasn’t complaining either. I wheeled myself to the kitchen and took a pack of already opened and eaten Oreos. I took out my phone and video called her so I’d see her face and know if she was lying. The phone rang and after a while, she picked up.
Her face popped up and I could see a piece of either a white cloth or tissue beside her and then she greeted me like there was no problem, “Hey Phoenix, how are you?”
I looked at her briefly before answering her honestly, “I am fine, Ollie but I am not sure that I can say the same thing for you,”
“What do you mean?” she really was trying to play smart with me but I knew her well.
I sighed as I made weird funny faces at her, “You have been crying and if you want to deny that fact then I am going to show you evidences,”
She said in a haste, “I promise, I haven’t been crying,” Total lies.
I raised an eyebrow at her in a questioning manner as though to tell her ‘who are you kidding,’. “Your eyes are puffy and red, I guess you forgot to completely wipe you face clean because there’s a little bit of snort coming out of your nose,”
She pushed something by the corner of wherever she sat to the floor before talking to me, “Oh….”
At that point, I knew that something was eating her up and I had to be persistent to get an answer out of her, “Come on; tell me, what is it? Is it Denzel? What did he do?”
Her eyes started to water at his name and I knew that the problem was Denzel and not her mum as she had claimed, “He lied to me about who he was?”
Okay, that wasn’t what I was expecting but what the hell?
“How do you mean he lied?” I had to know for sure.
“His real name is Denzel Tom Silva and his dad is the owner of…”
“Silva Automobiles?” I completed her sentence for her but it was more of a question on my part? What the actual hell?
“Yes and he gave me his reasons for doing so but it just made me feel like he didn’t trust me or he didn’t value the love I had for him—like it was something so fickle to play with,”
“Oh dear, so that’s why you took the break, because you needed space and didn’t want to be in the same building as him?”
“Yeah, that is why and guess what?”
“What?”
“He said that his parents want to meet me and he said this right after he told me about his true identity. Throughout the time that we’ve been dating, I had always wondered if his parents will accept me but this revelation made it worse. He is from a wealthy family and I am not,”
“You really shouldn’t worry about that. I get that you are upset and you have every right to be but darling, you love him so much and you can’t bear to be apart from him and look at Denzel, he is a very responsible young man who loves you without an ounce of doubt. I am sure that whatever his reasons were for lying to you must have been valid,”
“I get you, thank you but I still need the space and the silent treatment will be his punishment and just so you know, he is Sterling’s best friend and Sterling knew all about it,”
“Those men, making us pretty girls worry and cry over them. Be good okay, I need to get something done right now and don’t worry, you’ll still get your break. Bye love,”
“Bye,”
I hung up and sighed lightly—men will always be men indeed but I had to inform Sterling that I knew about Denzel’s true identity and so I texted him.
Me: You know, telling me about Denzel’s identity would have been nice.
My Knight in shining armor: How did you know about that?
Me: Who else?
My Knight in shining armor: That means he told her; oh crap.
Me: You should be punished and you will be punished but right now, call Rex and tell him to meet me in the kitchen.
My Knight in shining armor: Rex, what for?
Me: I am going to the underground cell to meet out guest, don’t bother joining us.
A few minutes later and I was being accompanied to the underground cell with Rex.
******************
The place didn’t reek, I just smelt dusty from not being occupied for too long as it looked as though it was always being kept clean. I looked at our guest and there she laid, on the bare concrete; probably asleep or pretending to be.
I wheeled myself closer to her cell and hit it hard enough to get her attention. It worked and she got up and scurried to the end of the cell, far from my reach. I wasn’t bother and so I spoke.
“Well, well, well, Brianna, it has been a while since you and I both had a conversation,”
“Why pray tell are you confined to a wheelchair?”
“Why I am in a wheelchair isn’t any of your concern and sure, you are free to gloat while you can,”
“What do you want from me? How can you guys be so inhumane to lock me in here with my baby? I am due to give birth this month and see how malnourish I look,” she said in a light voice.
“You are not pregnant and we both know it and I have evidence to prove it. Answer my questions correctly and I will certainly let you out of here,”
“You know, karma really is a bitch, you know that right? All through high school and university, you claimed to be so high and mighty and people like us were the worms but look at where you are now, a wheelchair. I hated you since high school and I still do so when the opportunity jumped right in front of me to ruin you, I took it. You might have gotten the boys attention in high school and the university, I wasn’t going to let you get what you want and hence my plan. Yes, the pregnancy is fake,”
“Oh, Brianna, you carried this amount of hate in your heart for years? You spent your time planning revenge against me over something I had nothing to do with? You are such a fool but I pity you. I will set you free and you must leave this city because if I do, you will be jailed; make something good out of your life,” I looked at her with pity and turned to Rex, “Rex, get one of the guys to escort her out of the house,”
I watched every interaction Rex made and how a few of the guards came down and took Brianna with them, Rex was about going with them but I stopped him.
“Rex, after she leaves this building, track her down,”
“Okay boss but how sure are you that something will come up?”
“She might have the feeling that is being watched and so may not do anything for some days but she will eventually make her move and when she does, we will find the maniac sponsoring her agenda but until then, station guys to follow her and make sure that they go with a camera and let them also take shifts and be in plain outfits so as to blend properly and she won’t suspect a thing. I want details of everything she does,”
“Okay ma’am, I will do that,”
“And while you are at it, I want you to send a message to this email address right here and inform her that we will be visiting Nigeria in a few days and that I can’t wait to see her; I feel lazy doing that myself. Thank you,”
I texted the email address and the exact message to Rex to have it sent to Deborah; a much needed vacation was all my soul needed and the doctor must approve my vacation.