By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu
On the other side, at the home of Chioma, Andrew sat in the living room and watched television as he ate papaya. He stared on the screen that displayed the news, which he didn’t pay attention to.
Chioma wore an apron and helped Louisa in the kitchen with some task as they cooked dinner. When the food was almost done, there came a knock at the door.
Finishing the last bite of his papaya, Andrew went to answer the door. He was surprised to see a man dressed in black, holding a briefcase and behind him were three bodyguards. Andrew looked puzzled as he wondered what this man could be doing here by this time of the night.
The man, who was smartly dressed and appeared to be highly educated, said to Andrew, ‘Who is in charge here?
‘May I ask who…you are?’ Andrew asked.
‘I am the lawyer of Nnaji Group, my surname is Ugwu,’ the lawyer responded sternly as he pulled a letter out of his briefcase and handed it to Andrew. ‘As their lawyer; I’ve come to tell you that your family has from now till morning to leave this place. Each of you will get payment of 2000 naira each as compensation. This is a letter of notification; we have the right to do anything to you if your family doesn’t comply with us.’ Then he turned to leave. He stopped when he remembered something. Turning back to face Andrew he added, ‘Even your neighbours are asked to relocate as well.’ After speaking, the lawyer took big poised steps out of the room while leaving Andrew speechless.
Andrew was dazed that Louisa had to pat him on the shoulder before he got back to his senses. ‘Mum…this.’ He handed the letter to his mother.
Louisa turned to Chioma who was behind her and said after going through the file. ‘We are asked to leave. This place will be demolished.’ Louisa looked like she had just been handed a bomb as she went through the letter. She never thought that this place would belong to the Nnajis someday.
‘The landlord must have done this,’Andrew said coldly. Chioma shook her head. ‘I don’t think so…this might be to get revenge on me…perhaps, this whole drama is to make me break up with Michael so that Jessica could have Michael,’Chioma analysised.
‘There was no news about developing this area, why would anyone develop here if not for the revenged which Chioma just said. Plus, 2000 naira for each is way too unreasonable. We know this place isn’t a rich area, but this amount for each person, is too small…Chioma is right. It’s the Nnaji Group trying to help Jessica get revenge on Chioma,’ Louisa calmly said.
‘They didn’t even give us time to find another place,’ Andrew said. ‘Why would this happen now that I am jobless. Why would Jessica use her father to make such a despicable move? Forcing us to relocate isn’t fair. I know that I don’t like this place and was hoping that we moved after I get a decent job…not this way.’
‘What are you going to do?’Louisa looked at Chioma and asked.
‘Mum, I am confused right now. I am in a dilemma…it’s not easy for me.’ Tears stole into Chioma’s eyes. What could have been the reason for this letter? Was it because of her relationship with Michael? Perhaps, this was Emmanuel’s way of finding a chance to help Jessica take revenge, Chioma thought.
‘Everything will be fine,’Louisa comforted.
After Nathan and Sharon exited the bar, they entered their elegant red Bentley and headed for their mansion in Victoria Island, which happens to be an affluent area filled with stylish nightclubs and bars, as well as high-ends hotel lounges. It was in this area that the Ojukwus have one of the most luxurious mansions in Lagos State.
There was no road traffic, so it took them ten minutes to reach home. The surroundings were lit with different colours of brilliant lights.
Cold wind blew through the trees in the compound. All over the place, bodyguards dressed in black were seen patrolling the magnificent compound. Evidently, Obinna paid much attention to his family since they were always on spotlight. It was his duty to always protect them as their father.
‘Did you agree to Johnson?’ Nathan asked Sharon when they stepped out of the car, heading inside.
Sharon rolled her eyes. ‘I told him that I will think about it.’
The servants bowed in greeting when they saw them.
‘He is a nice young man. Just give him a chance to proof himself to you,’ Nathan said softly.
Sharon sighed. ‘I need time to think of how much I love him. I don’t want to hurt him by agreeing suddenly and in the end I will dump him. I want to be sure of what I am getting into.’
Nathan turned to Sharon. ‘Do you like Michael?’
Sharon frowned at his question. ‘Why did you ask such annoying question?’
‘Having a net worth of tens of billions, makes him the lord of a major multinational company. His family is even richer than Aliko Dangote, the billionaire business magnate. Michael is said to be the wealthiest person in Africa, with an estimated net worth of 100 billion dollars. When you add his family’s wealth then you know that it is obvious that they are they richest family in the world… maybe, you could consider marrying him?’
Sharon stopped in her tracks. Nathan stopped
too, glancing at her. Then, after a pause, Sharon said, ‘A lot of successful
male entrepreneurs and highly ranked officials are my suitors, but not once did
I think of marrying them. I have only seen Michael as a friend that doesn’t
mean that I will force myself to him. To the world, Michael shouldn’t be with
Chioma because she is an average-looking and unfamiliar face much inferior to Michael’s
elite-class…but Michael chose Chioma despite the countless rich, beautiful
women that are begging to lick his feet…Michael manages a business empire but
yet chose a lowly girl from a filthy home…that’s love.’ She paused and said in
a low voice, ‘that’s what I want to happen to me. I want to marry because I
love him and not because it’s right. Not because he is rich and powerful but
because we love each other very much. So no, I won’t marry Michael. I see him
as a friend, nothing more.’
Nathan was touched and proud of his sister. Smiling, he said, ‘I know. I was only trying to understand your kind of man.’
They entered the
luxurious living room, and each headed to their separate lavish rooms.
No comments:
Post a Comment