I stepped closer to the Okpara family after I had bid farewell to my daughter and Charles. For some reason he was becoming more comfortable talking with not just Christy but the driver and I too. Whereas my own Charles was not comfortable to spend the night at home after he had sleep walked into my ex/present friends house.

I pushed thoughts of my husband aside, there was a butterfly that needed to fly in front of me. The young lady looked at me with surprise and excitement as I closed the distance between us, while Jude could barely look me in the face. Grace was only amused by God knows what and she gave me a huge smile.

My eyes wandered to the young woman and I could see the similarities between her and Jude. She had a straight face, a dimple on her left cheek and a small pointed nose. She stood very close to Grace, not knowing how to react to me.

"Amara greet your aunt properly, she may not recognize you but your brain cells can vividly recall her, don't they?"

The girl walked to me and hugged me briefly, said "good morning" and walked to her mother's side.i didn't even like the way grace talked to her

"Your daughter looks very beautiful Grace, she's a grown woman. It's just quite unfortunate that I remember so little about her, please bring her to the house. I think Christy would also love to catch up with her"

I turned to Jude and greeted him, he mumbled a response.

My eyes moved to the young lady, then to Jude, back to the young lady. When our eyes met, he understood why I was staring.

He made an attempt to say something before he was cut off by Grace.

"I told you she's like her father in so many ways, the only thing she claimed from me is my other X chromosome and my blood group, Jude's genes were not fair to mine"

I tried as much as possible to look surprised while Grace was even more amused.
The only thing that bothered me about his deceit was the fact that he had always brought me in to help him out with issues that the young girl in front of me could very much handle.

She was almost eighteen, so she definitely knew what brand of sanitary pads to use.

Grace was very much amused by judges discomfort but I couldn't let her have the upper hand.

"well Jude is a wonderful man, I think your daughter would be a wonderful person, don't forget to stop by oh and thank you again for helping me with Charles"

I left the three of them and headed to the office. Onyi was absent and I wondered why she didn't tell me. There wasn't much work to do, but I felt very lonely as my other colleagues barely spoke a word to me.

The empty notebook on Onyi's then appealed to me then I figured I should start scribbling just like Mr Ajayi. Before writing I found it amusing to mimick his serious face and the voice in my head sounded just like his.

On the first page of the book, I wrote past - present then turned over to the next one.

My name is Victoria Patricia Chinedu, my parents couldn't decide on which name to stick to, so they named me after the queen Victoria and added Patricia of course. I am married to a lovely husband and we both have a beautiful daughter

That was all I could write before I was summoned by Jude. As usual the name callers fished out new gossip and names for me.

"husband snatcher" was the one on board, but like always I didn't care.

I got to his office and when the door creaked open he was facing the city again, just like the first day I saw him.

"please come in Victoria, we have a lot to discuss"

I stepped in and sat down, waiting for him to begin. He must have been searching for words to start with because his were not moving, but his eyes were on me.
Finally I disrupted the silence with

"you have a beautiful daughter, she looks so much like you. It's funny I actually thought you were too young to have a teen daughter. I didn't even know your daughter is almost an adult"

He laughed and sat down on his chair" I am 43years old Victoria, I'm not so young but I just happen to be among the lucky few that look nothing like their age. Like Pharrell Williams, Richard mofe Damijo and you"

Me? "

Yes, I know very much about you, I should have told you about my wife. I was just so surprised when you couldn't remember me, I brought you into the office to make small talk because I thought you'd probably remember me. Vicky you and I, we go way back and we shared so many good memories,it was painful that you couldn't remember.You still look very beautiful at 40,one could mistake you for a lady in her late twenties.

We did what? "I was shocked by what he was saying, was he trying to insinuate that I had an affair with him. Every other thing didn't make sense, just the idea that I had history with him had ruined everything. Was that why Charles was so possessive of me, was that why he didn't want me to go?

Omg!

"We were very close, Vicky I care about you and your well being which is why I need to tell you this. You are not safe,not with Charles or even my ex-wife. Don't you see it? Was your accident really an accident or was it planned? Think about it."

"Jude, I am perfectly safe with my husband and I don't know what you meant earlier but that is not the woman I am now. I will not let you make me believe something so absurd. Why would I cheat on a man as good as Charles?"

"Well because he slept with your best friend, my ex_wife. You fell apart when you found out, I was broken as well so we found comfort in each other's arms."

"I don't believe you!"

There might have been truth in Charles sleeping with Grace,but mine was just unbelievable

He was lying, I couldn't just take any more of his lies. So I stood up and walked away, "I couldn't believe that there was truth in what my coworkers said"

I took my belongings and left, the office was too stuffy and I needed air and space to clear my mind.
I was a hypocrite, I was a whore as well.

When I got home, I just lay down on the bed and wept. How I became engulfed by sleep was what I couldn't explain but the next time I woke up, I noticed Charles was in the room. I must have slept for long. I gently turned to my other side, still pretending to be asleep. I wasn't ready to face him, knowing that he was right about Jude.

He went into the bathroom, came out with a towel. He strutted to the bed, he lay down very close to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"you never sleep on that side, you are such a horrible pretender, your feet have been shaking "

I smiled upon hearing that and turned to face him. He planted kisses on my fore head, down to my nose and finally to my lips.

"I am so sorry for scaring you and being an ass two days ago, went to clear my head a bit, I wasn't happy when I found myself at Grace's and I felt disappointed in myself. Vicky I love you so much, the mere thought of losing you kills me. I just want us to be fine. I love you, no matter what I will always love you. I'll always return to you, always "

I didn't even know when I sniffed,who maybe Charles started cheating on me because I did it first, who knew maybe I slept with Jude first before he did the same with grace. I was really a horrible person.

" hey, what's the problem? Are you still angry with me? "

" no, ummm, I am just taking in your scent, you smell nice and you are very sexy"

He smiled and kissed my lips slowly and when his lips left mine, I was turned on.

Charles, was I a horrible wife to you? Did I cause you pain? "

" well yes hun, but then wife's are naturally pain in the asses of men. Hey maybe we shouldn't think of the past, how about we fix this new development with my big friend"

The laughter that escaped my throat was loud and I just wanted to kiss him more. "he's not big, he's just manageable, besides we should be worrying about my clothes, not him"

He lifted me gently and started helping me off my clothes. While kissing me with so much love and passion.

I let out a soft moan when his lips met my neck
"peel the onion"

I was surprised when he said that and I smiled.

That was exactly what I had said, but maybe this time. It was me whose secrets needed to be shed out.

And truth be told I was scared, what secrets did I harbour before the accident?

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A/N: Tell me what you think about this chapter, thank you for following us so far, love you 😘❤️😍