Lady K

Obianuju took a deep breath, squeezing on tightly to her tiny purse, fear laced with guilt in every corner of her eyes.

It had been over an hour. An hour Forty minutes to be exact, since Emmanuel had told her about what had happened to Jeremiah. The normal her would have not come at all. It always worked the other times he was sick. She'd kneel in front of her Bible and pray, sometimes, she didn't eat for days until she got a call that he was fine, but that was before she didn't meet him, before they didn't get to bond the way they did.

This time was different. This time, she might have been the one to send her son to his grave with her own hands. The guilt, fear and confusion she felt was eating through her, and so she couldn't stay home. She rushed out of her house and jumped in the first cab she could find, her hands trembling like they were doing now. She made sure she was the first to get there. She wanted to see for herself, to see how bad it was. This time she was going to be there for him, she wasn't going to leave until he opened his eyes. She was going to be the first person he saw when he opened his eyes. But when was that going to be though? He was still in the operating room.

She knew she was the only one that could run all the way for him, that was probably why Manny reached out to her when he did. She was well aware of Christian's feelings for him. There was no way in hell he was going to be at the hospital, let alone wait till the surgery was over. Susan basically didn't care about him, and that meant she had the power to hold back information from her children so they didn't show up too, Benjamin on the other hand was currently in Ghana for a meeting, a meeting that he was said to have canceled the moment the news got to him. According to Emmanuel, he was on his way back to the country on a private plane. She was basically all Jeremiah had at that moment.

She let out a frustrated exhale.

How could she have been so stupid? So thoughtless? How could she have let him talk her into stitching him up without seeing a proper doctor first? It wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth the feeling of hurt and frustration she was going through at that moment. What was going to happen when everyone found out she was the reason he was rushed into an operating room? What would happen if anything ever happened to him? She was trembling. She couldn't lose him. She exhaled again, shaking her head slowly. It was getting really hard to breathe. She felt a hand slowly reach for hers. She slowly turned to Natalie who had been sitting beside her, waiting patiently all along. Natalie had managed to remain calm. It was useless if they were both trembling at once. Someone needed to comfort the other, and Natalie always knew how to be calm, even in the midst of a storm. It was her charm. She could see the tears in Uju's eyes. She squeezed on tightly to her hands.

"You don't have to worry." She told her. "I'm sure he's going to be fine."

Uju wanted to believe her. She really did, but she couldn't smile the way Natalie did. She was suddenly bad at faking emotions at that point. It was really hard, especially since her son was battling with his life at that moment. The last time she had ever felt that way was when he got into that accident in the states. She had hoped and prayed nothing like that ever happened to him again. Little did she know she was going to hurt him with her own hands.

They began to hear loud footsteps approaching them. Really loud. They sounded like three or more people were walking together. They both turned quickly. It was Susan and her children, a man and a woman holding cameras, and Emmanuel was right behind them. Obianuju scoffed.

Of course. Seeing that Susan had brought the press in, it was obvious she was trying to take advantage of the situation for the media as always. You see, Susan had an obsession with portraying the role of being a good mother to Jeremiah in front of public eyes. As a woman that was deep into politics, her image as far as the public was concerned was important to her. Besides the fact that she was the wife of the chairman of Benoil, being the mother to one of the youngest and uprising stars in the country made her famous, and she sure knew how to exploit that fame for her own benefit. Of course she was going to show up with her family and the press during his surgery. She couldn't even care enough to show up at least a bit earlier.

Natalie scoffed softly. Seeing Susan hurry the way she did to them, managing to dress like she didn't have the time to dress even when she had a whooping hundred and twenty minutes to get to the hospital, and then smudged her makeup with her fake tears, made her really weak. She really had enough of that family's drama. Guess that's what happens when you get married into a family with a lot of secrets. You just have to live in their secrets, even if it exhausts you.

"My son." Susan hurried to them. "What happened to my son."

"Mother." Natalie got up slowly after letting out a weak sigh.

"Natalie!" She grabbed Natalie's arms and then held on tight to them. "I heard the news. Where's Jerry? How is he doing?"

"We haven't heard anything from the doctor yet mother." She told her. Susan placed a hand on her chest and staggered a bit. Pretending to be weakened by the news. Nicholas grabbed on tight to her.

"Mum."

"Mum," Kodi was almost crying too. "Mum, do you think Jerry is going to be okay? He's going to be okay wouldn't he?"

Susan was barely even listening to her. She peeped at where the man and woman were standing, with the corner of her eyes just to make sure the were taking everything. She scanned through the room and that was when her eyes settled on Obianuju, for the first time. Uju raised her eyes to hers too. Susan glared at her and then gasped.

"What the hell is she doing here?"

Obianuju slowly got up from her seat. She knew by then, she had to explain herself.

"Who asked her to be here? Who said she could be here?"

"Susan." Obianuju managed to say to her. Susan scoffed in disbelief.

"Impossible." She turned to Emmanuel. "How is she here?" She asked him. Emmanuel stepped forward to explain.

"Mum-" Natalie cut them both off. "Mother, the press is here." She had to remind Susan. The least they could do was keep up with the act since they already started to. There was no need getting into a fight at the hospital. Susan drew a deep breath. She knew Natalie was right. The more attention she gave to Obianuju, the more it was going to make the public question her relevance to the family. She was just going to let her be for now. She had to.

"What about the chairman?" She turned to Emmanuel. "Any news from him yet?"

"None yet ma."

She exhaled and then retraced her gaze back to Obianuju, eying her for a long second, right until the door to the operating room opened, and a doctor walked out of it.

"Doctor." They all turned and took quick steps to him, including the media. Susan took the lead, while the man looked at them one after the other. "Doctor, how is my son?"

The man in a white coat took a deep breath, and then pulled down his nose mask.

"Mrs Ozor."

"How is my brother, Doctor?" Kodi jumped in. "Is he okay?"

The doctor nodded.

"The operation was successful." He managed to smile just a little bit. "Although we are still in the process of stitching him up."

Obianuju let out a really loud relief sigh.

"It happened to be that Jeremiah experienced an injury that almost hurt one of his arteries, more like a stab wound, and then he stitched it up on his own without seeking professional help first. The wound also got infected over time. It's a good thing he was brought in right in time."

"What!"

"An infection?" Obianuju gasped. "He almost hurt an artery?"
They all turned to look at her. She stared at the doctor. "I didn't know he hurt an- I didn't think the wound was that deep."

The doctor paused for like a second and narrowed his gaze at her. That was strange, out of everyone in that room, she was the only stranger he couldn't recognize.

"And you are?"

Obianuju blinked for a moment, she needed to be sure that he was referring to her. She swallowed hard, not quite sure she knew how to answer the question he had asked. She could feel how Susan's burning gaze was on her, even after she had eyed her, pushing her away from standing right in front of the doctor and taking her place there instead.

"She's no one." Obianuju inhaled sharply as she raised her head to Susan, wondering why she had said that. It wasn't like she was wrong, who was she exactly to Jeremiah? As far as the world was concerned, as far as his family was concerned, she was no one and was always going to be. She bowed her head in defeat.

"Were you the one that stitched him up?" The doctor went on to ask her, he didn't need to pretend like he hadn't heard what she said before.

Obianuju shut her eyes, and then let out another frustrated sigh.

"He came to me and asked for my help." She said. "He didn't want to go to the hospital. I should have persuaded him."

"You know about this?" Susan asked her, turning fully to face her. "You did this?"

"I know I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?!" Susan yelled at her. "What would you have done if something bad had happened to him? Would you have said you were sorry? How could you be so careless?!"

"There is no need for all of that, Mrs Ozor." The doctor cut them off. "Good thing is we've been able to take care of the situation. This lady here did a good job with the stitches. The cut was a small one, and so it didn't look deep, I guess that's why she didn't consider other options. Let's just wait for him to open his eyes so he can tell us what really happened to him."

"C-can we see him, doctor?" Kodi asked. "Can we at least wait till he wakes up?"

The doctor exhaled.

"At times like this, we usually recommend that the patient at least opens his eyes first and is stable before we permit visitors-"

"Please doctor." Kodi pleaded with him. "Just till he wakes. Please." She was almost going to cry, and it melted the doctors heart.

"Okay." He finally said. "I'd ask a nurse to bring you to his room once he's moved." He continued. "You could wait in his room for him if you like. But it'd have to be just family." He continued "no press."

Susan held on to the neck of her dress and then nodded right after the doctor. A nurse started to walk towards them while the doctor turned to leave as fast as he could.

"Please follow me to the VIP ward." She announced. The VIP ward. That was exactly where they were supposed to wait for him. She turned to leave, and they all turned to join her as she led the way. Obianuju turned to grab her purse, while Manny turned to address the press. She turned back so she could join them.

"And where do you think you're going?" She refrained from taking another step when Susan walked right in front of her, standing in her way. What was that? What kind of a question was that? "You don't actually think I'm ever going to let you get on that elevator with us, do you?"

"Susan, he's my-"

"He's your what?" Susan raised her voice loud enough to gain the attention of the press. A tiny smirk finding its way to her lips. She was trying to be corny now. She was testing Uju. She knew uju wanted to protect Jeremiah's secret more than anyone. There was no way she was going to risk exposing the truth in front of all those people. Obianuju knew exactly what she was doing. She exhaled.

"Nothing." She said "he's nothing."

"Exactly." Susan told her. "You're lucky I don't have the energy to press charges right now. One word from me and you'd be thrown behind bars. What do you think is going to happen when people find out what you did?" She took a closer step to her. "When people find out that you almost killed your own son? You have no shame. How can you even show up here after what you did?"

"Susan, I was just trying to help him."

"Help him?" She cut her off. "Since when have you ever done anything to help him? You know nothing about him. What makes you think you're in any position to offer help to him? He's an Ozor, always will be, and you, you're nothing. What can you ever offer him? You're useless to him, always was, always will be-"

"Susan!"

"You are not welcome here. Go home before people start to notice who you are. It's not good for any of us. All you do is cause trouble and put him in more danger. If you really care about him like you say you do, then you'd do what's right by him. You'd do what we've asked you to do all these years. You'd disappear and stay away from his life, permanently! You'd go to where even Jeremiah would not be able to find you. That's the only way you can ever help him."

"But I have to-"

"Go home Obianuju." She repeated. "And never show your face in front of us again. Act dead just like you've always been, and stop being a nuisance like you were nineteen years ago, although, I'm not sure you're ever going to get away with this one. "

"Susan!"

"Go home, Uju." Susan turned and then walked away from the hall.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Ten minutes later

Barely thirty minutes, and she had finally accepted the truth, the truth that she wasn't in a place to see him. They were never going to let her see her son, or get close to him ever again. She didn't have to cause a scene. She knew that for a fact. She was just going to leave as Susan had asked her to, and then come back the next day. She was going to keep trying. She wasn't going to let anyone talk her out of seeing him, out of making sure he was okay.

That didn't stop her from feeling so miserable and guilty. The guilt that she had caused all of it, all the pain he was going through, was eating her up. She could barely even keep her eyes and chin up. Obianuju had walked out of the hospital with her eyes glued to the ground. I don't know how to explain it, but she just felt like if she did, there were people on standby to judge her for what she did. Not like she would blame them if they did anyway, she was doing pretty good judging herself already. Her legs were getting weak, but she managed to walk with them still, even if they hadn't stopped trembling for a second. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the black BMW that drove and parked right in front of her, right after she walked out of the exit door of the hospital. At least not until a man in a clean black suit ran to her. Now that had drawn her attention not just to the man, but to the car too. She watched one of the back windows roll down a little bit, and then she froze when she saw who was behind it. When she saw Benjamin.

"The chairman would like a word." She slowly turned to the man in front of her. "Get into the car please."

Obianuju thought for a second. She didn't need to guess, she knew why she had to get inside that car, and she knew she had to do it before anyone noticed. She was beginning to tremble again. It had been eleven years. Eleven years since she saw the man in front of her up close. At that point, her heart was racing. She held on tight to her bag and then walked with the man to the car. She knew she had to be brave, for Jeremiah at least. The man opened the door, and she got in. She took her time, taking a lot of deep breaths as she kept her eyes fixed on the windscreen, pretending to not be so shocked at the fact that the only man she had ever loved was sitting right beside her. The man who had never even had the time to reciprocate his love for her.

Falling for the chairman of Benoil was the biggest mistake she had ever made, a mistake she didn't regret, and she had spent the rest of her life making up for it, punishing herself for it, for loving a man that was never going to love her back. He was the same, still the same as he had always been. He still smelt so good, and just as she had always been, she was too nervous to face him, to look him straight in the eye.

"It's been a long time." His voice was exactly the same, and it had the same pressure, just enough to make her heart skip multiple beats. Wasn't she too old for this? For getting unnecessarily excited whenever she was close to him? Hadn't he hurt her enough? Taken from her enough? "How have you been, Michelle?"

She let a really nervous smile appear on her lips the moment he called her name. He still remembered. He still remembered her name.

"I've been well." She managed to say. She was beginning to twist her fingers now, hard enough to hurt herself. Benjamin could see how nervous she was. He could see how red her fingers were becoming. "Thanks to you, I've lived quite a carefree life, a happy life. I owe you everything." She lied.

Uju felt a cold chill pass through her when she felt his warm hands slowly take hers. She froze. She could feel every inch of her body go numb under his touch.

"I heard what happened to our son." He told her. "I heard you helped stitch him up after he was stabbed."

She quickly turned to face him. How did he know? How did he hear about it so quickly? He smiled.

"I know you've been seeing him."

"I sent him away so many times." She said to him. Now she was beginning to get really scared. "I told him not to visit me anymore. I tried to push him away. I even quit my job after you asked me to. He's just too stubborn. He never listens to me." She was talking so fast, that you'd think she didn't have the time to breathe. "I didn't want to stitch his wound. I was going to ask him to go to a hospital, but-" she paused. Benjamin just sat there looking into her eyes. He didn't say a word. "Don't punish him." She told him. "Please, don't punish him for this. It's my fault. I should take responsibility for what happened. Just me."

"You almost got our son killed."

"I know."

"Your son. Michelle, what were you thinking?"

"I just wanted to do something for him." A drop of tear fell from her face. "I've never been able to do anything for him. He wanted my help, and it made me so happy that he thought of me worthy enough to help him. It was the first time. The first time in a long time he had ever asked me for anything. I just couldn't say no to him. I just wanted to help him."

"How did he get the stab wound?" He asked her. She slowly raised her head to him.

"Ehn?"

"How did he get the wound, Michelle?"

She exhaled. She couldn't say it. She knew the moment she told him how Jeremiah got the stab wound, Kora was going to have a plus one added to her list of problems.

"Never mind." He cut her off. He knew she was hesitating. "You don't need to answer that. It's not important right now. I'm sure Jeremiah would be able to talk the moment he wakes up."

"What is going to happen to him?" She asked as she noticed him turn to the other side of the chair. "What are you going to do to him? Are you going to send him away again? Are you going to send him back to the states?"

"I don't know yet, Michelle. I don't know what I'd do with him now, but I do know one thing though." He reached for the brown envelope beside him and got it off the chair. He stretched it towards her. "I can't let you be around him anymore." He encouraged her to take the envelope. She hesitated. It was almost like she knew what was inside it, what he meant. She slowly took it from him, not even bothering to open it. She dropped it on her legs.

"You're sending me away again?"

"You know better than anyone that there's nothing you can do for him. You can't give him anything. All your presence has done is put him in danger all the time. I'm the only one that can help him, that can help our son. Isn't that why you left before? Why you entrusted him to me? So I could give him a good life? The life he was never going to have if he was with you? So he could at least stand a chance to be a part of my legacy?"

She exhaled as another tear fell from her face.

"It's enough." He told her. "You know our son better than anyone. As long as he knows where you are, as long as he knows where to find you, he's always going to come looking for you. He's going to risk everything to be with you and in the end, everyone is going to know the truth. That would put us all in a difficult position, Jeremiah especially. What is everyone going to say when they find out our family has been deceiving them for a long while? When they find out he's illegitimate? When they find out the kind of person his real mother is? A maid? When they find out about you? Just like today, Jeremiah is going to be in danger. His entire career, my company. Would you want that to happen?"

She inhaled sharply

"Where are you sending me to?" She asked him. "Where are you sending me to this time around?"

"Somewhere he's never going to be able to find you. Somewhere far. Somewhere no one would ever know you exist. The Philippines."

She shut her eyes for another second, as more tears dropped from her eyes.

"But first you'd have to leave for Ghana tonight. Emmanuel is taking care of your travel plans. You don't have to go with anything, just travel light. You'd be given a chance to buy whatever you need at the airport. You'd stay in Ghana for a week, while we get your papers ready for your travel to the Philippines. We already got everything ready for you, you'd be able to start over. You'd be given a new identity too, a new name, a house and a job. You can start your own family if you like. You wouldn't have to worry about a thing anymore."

"What if I refuse?" She asked him. "What if I don't want to leave anymore? What if I don't want to be out of his life anymore?" She raised her head to his. "It's been eleven years already. I've endured eleven years. If you ask me to live like I'm dead, I'd do anything, but can't you at least let me stay close to him? Haven't I pushed him away enough? Why does he have to go on without his mother by his side?"

Benjamin exhaled. He slowly reached for her hands and squeezed them.

"Michelle, he has his mother by his side. Susan is his mother."

"I gave birth to him. He suckled on my breasts."
She raised her hand to her breasts, and then held on firm to them. "He's my son."

"Then you should do right by him." He cut her off. "I already signed everything. I plan to give Jeremiah twenty five percent of Benoil shares on his birthday. I could give the order to push the date forward. I could give him all those shares tonight just as you've always wanted. With those shares, Jeremiah wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore all through his life. He'd stand a chance to compete for Benoil in the future. Don't you want that? Isn't that what you've always wanted?" He slowly reached for her hands.

"Disappear again." He told her. "Let me take care of our son. Let me make him a King, just as you've hoped for. Help me secure a place for him, a powerful place where he'd never be looked down on, ever. There's nothing you can do for him. There's nothing you can be able to do for him. I can give him everything. I can give him the world. But I can only do that if you work with me, if you let me, if you let him focus. Go to Ghana tonight, and then go to the Philippines just as I asked, and I'd make sure Jeremiah stays here, stays home. I'd never send him back to the states again. I'd make sure he lives his best life, go to school and focus on his career, but it all depends on your sacrifice." He squeezed her hands again as a tear dropped on his hands.

Her heart was breaking into pieces, but she managed to keep her emotions in check.

"Can I see him at least? Before I leave?" She asked him. "I never got the chance to say goodbye the last time."

"He can't know you're leaving. If he does, he would never allow it."

"I won't tell him. I swear I won't tell him. I just want to see him one last time." She forced a smile on her pale lips. "I just want to spend some time with him, even if it's just for an hour. After that, I promise to do whatever you ask me to do. I'll do as you said. I'll disappear just as you asked."

Benjamin exhaled.

"I beg you." she held on tightly to his hands and then squeezed them. "Just one time please, just this once. Let me just spend the morning with him. I'd leave as soon as you ask me to."

He looked at her for a short while. He had never seen her that way in eleven years. The last time she had ever asked him for anything so desperately was eleven years ago.

"You can spend the whole of tomorrow morning with him. A car would be waiting at your apartment to take you to the airport by twelve noon. You'd be on the next flight to Ghana after that." He exhaled. "Thank you." He told her, leaning closer to her so he could look her in her eyes. "For putting our son first, for giving him a chance. Your sacrifice would not be forgotten." He exhaled and then let go of her hand.

"I think we are done here. My driver would take you home now." He knocked on the window, and the man who had been standing outside all along rushed to open the door.

"No-" she cut him off. "I'd just walk home. I live close by-"

"Nonsense." He told her. "He would take you home. It's too late to walk on the road on your own. I came to see our son anyway." He stepped out from the car quickly, before she tried to convince him anymore. The driver closed the door and then hurried to the drivers seat. She watched how he tugged his jacket from the window right before he started to walk into the building.

She slowly turned back to the envelope on her legs. It was happening again, she was leaving, again. She was leaving him again. She sniffed and then took a deep breath just as the car started.

She was leaving him again.