After dinner, most of the family members sat in the living room. They were dispersed on the Italian chairs, deep into conversation as they examined the lace material that circulated around. Their laughter filled the sweet scent of the living room. The material will be is for a wedding coming up the following Saturday which the Kola-Daisi's are invited to. Aunty Dammy skimmed her eyes through everyone in the room. They seem so busy and happy. Their laughter reached their eyes. The joy they felt could be sensed in their voices. But is she happy? Does she feel as carefree as they all are at the moment? No one have a perfect life. Everyone got a problem they are battling with personally but they still have a reason to laugh. She can't even find anything funny in what they are saying. The past few days of her life have been grief-stricken. There was nothing to laugh about.

"I want to say something" Aunty Dammy announced. That got everyone's attention especially her mother's. Rebecca who was in a deep conversation with her second son, Aaron, looked at her only daughter. She saw her take in deep air and exhale. She understood and her nerves tensed. Her daughter does that only when whatever she wants to say will make all hell break loose. "I am getting a divorce"

Just the way she expected. Rebecca threw hand. "What?" Rebecca asked, frozen with shock. She lowered the great grandchild in hand to the seat next to her.

The people who looked at Aunty were frozen with numbness. She saw the surprise that dropped their jaws. It's meant to shock them. She can imagine the thoughts circulating their head. Why does she want to end her marriage of fifteen years? Aunty Dammy shifted her eyes to her mother. The woman gritted and had her hand closed tight on her lap, her eyes hard and displeased. "You heard me, mum. I am getting a divorce. I am ending my marriage to Leke" As much as those words break her, she held herself together.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"No. I am okay and in my right senses"

"I doubt it. Listen to yourself, Damilola" Rebecca stood up. "You are getting a divorce. A divorce? You are ending your marriage to Leke" She said like she can't believe her daughter is going to do such thing.

"And nothing you do or say will make me stay in that marriage"

"You are not ending that marriage"

"You have no right to tell me that" She fired at her mother.

"I am your mother"

"And that does not give you the right to tell me if I am to stay in my marriage or not. It's mine and not yours" Frustrated, she threw a hand. "God mum! Are you sure you are a mother? I have been in that marriage for fifteen year, fifteen long years and nothing came out of it. Leke has lost interest. He is living a happy life with his baby mama. He does not care about me again. He does not even come home. I barely see him. I informed him about the dinner and his excuse was he can't leave a pregnant woman for some useless family dinner. Why do you think he's not here? He does not care about you, about me, about anything that has to do with me. It all happened because I can't give him a child" Emotions welled up in her nearly making her gag.

"Then you should have also gotten pregnant" Rebecca fired at her.

Few members of the family cringed at such sensitive words especially Cynthia. The old woman is a terrible mother in law and mother. She's a failure at both. She scoffed inwardly.

"And you think I did not try to?" Aunty Dammy rumbled, aggravated and riled. Tears filtered from her eyes. Her mother's sensitive words cut her like a knife. "Do you know what I am going to and what I had to go through? Do you know how it feels to have hope and then have that hope shattered? I thought I was pregnant but I was not. Of what help have you been?" She cried. Now, she stood face to face with her mother, pouring out her emotions. "You did not support me physically or emotionally. Those days I cried, I could not cry to you because you don't give a damn about me. It's my fault that I can't give my husband a child. Those were your words. Every time I called and cried to you, you always make one painful remark or the other. I had only Tanwa to cry to. She has been there. She is doing what you, my mother, should be doing. I have asked myself thousand times if you are my mother. Are you? You don't act like one. You don't give a shit about me that's because you are selfish. Leke has given up on having a child with me but that will not make me give up on having my own child because I am going to adopt a child"

"You won't do such silly thing"

"I will and you will not stop me. I am going to adopt a baby. Someone I will raise to be my own offspring. I will love him or her like I have never loved before. I will give that child a good life and I do not need your help in doing any of that"

"You will not bring that outsider into my family. Adoption? Are you crazy? Listen to your daughter, Damijo" Damijo shrugged. "Oh, you got nothing to say"

"I stand with my princess" He spoke.

"You have also lost your mind" Rebecca spat at her husband, her body shaking from rage.

"Mum, nothing you say will make me change my mind. I am forty and old enough to make decisions. I have the right to be happy without your consent and this is the way I choose my happiness"

"I have finally given up on you, Dammy"

"Good thing you did" She turned on her heels and stormed away.

Meanwhile, at the backyard, Lola sat at the edge of the pool with Lolu next to her. They had their legs in the cool pool of colourless liquid, enjoying the feeling of frostiness against their skin. Lola swayed her legs while Lolu's legs stayed motionless in the water. They had been seated outside for as long as they could remember, talking and comparing their feet.

"There is no moon nor a star tonight" Lola raised her head to the sky, the auburn plaits cascading down her back like climber growing down a wall.

"Are you fighting him?" Lolu asked.

"Who?"

"Your husband"

Lola rolled her eyes as she swings her legs inside the water. She had Lolu's blazer draped over her body. The dress she had on could barely give her warmth from the chilly night.

"He is just pissing me off" She looked into the water. The water was a reflection of the night. The starless and moonless sky above could be seen in the dancing surface of colourless liquid. Rays of lights spluttered over the water. As she sways her legs, her image danced making her laugh a bit.

"Why?"

"I don't know. He is just annoying" She gave a careless shrug.

"I have known you for as long as I can remember and I know when you are lying" She lifted her head up. Lolu gave her a smug smile. "What's actually the problem?"

"Nothing" Her brows puckered.

"When did we begin to hide things from one another?"

How will she tell him? How will she tell him what she did not say to anyone? She is holding so much in. Since she arrived at the dinner, Anthony's call had been coming in, a reason she had to silence her phone. She knows Anthony would be angry but she can't blow what she is trying to cover.

"What is your relationship with him like?"

"I don't know"

"Don't give me that reply. Has it progressed?"

"It did"

"It did?"

"Yes and I pushed him away"

"Why? Why, Lola? Listen pretty" He held her face in between his hands, his eyes bore into hers. Those eyes, the way they looked into his, he felt like they could read his mind. "I don't know what that guy feels for you but you have to know something if you want your marriage to work out, you have to let go of whatever is holding you back. The guy likes you, Lola. He wants you. Do you see the way he looks at you? And the way he throws daggers at me when you give your entire attention to me, it could kill. He is jealous. And if a man can be that jealous, it means one thing. He likes you not just like you. He likes you a lot"

Lola laughed quietly, taking her face away from his hold. "It is surprising to hear it from the lips of a man who has feelings for me" She said looking away. Her words, like unforeseen tolling waves, slapped against Lolu harder than a rock would. She gazed back at Lolu. "You think I did not see it?" The edges of her lips went up a bit. "You think I did not know?" She raised an eyebrow. Waves of heat rushed through Lolu that he felt like his shirt has become an oven. "I pretended not to because I did not want to complicate things between us"

Too speechless, too knocked for six, Lolu's lips moved but no word came out. So she knew all these while? All the time he thought he hid his feelings well, she saw everything? Jesus!

"Babe" A feminine voice called. Lolu puffed out air as he felt relieve. Just the perfect time. He got out of the water to meet his girlfriend.

"Did you find a restroom?" He took her into his arms.

"Yes. This house is big. It is a palace"

"I know" They turned to Lola. "I want to introduce you to someone" Lolu's hand shook at his side. He tried as much as possible to stay till and composed. When his eyes met Lola's intimidating brown eyes, he looked at his girlfriend. Lola tried not to scoff. Of all women in the world, he chose some....her eyes skimmed through the girl. She does not know what to say. She's speechless. The girl seem to be from a lower class than Lolu and herself. She can tell from everything on her. Why will Lolu choose some low life hoe? She tried not to scoff. Well, she's beautiful but not as beautiful as she is. Lola Kola-Daisi got an extraordinary beauty no one can deny. She lifted her head. "Lola, meet my girlfriend, Ejaita" Lolu did not miss the way Lola grimaced at the name. "Short form Jaita"

"Where are you from?" She moved her eyes to Jaita. Her voice was quiet yet firm. Jaita shifted on her feet which Lola did not miss. "That name sounds new to me" Brows puckered, her neutral facial expression did not flinch except the blinking of her eyes which did not leave Jaita's eyes.

Jaita looked down. "I am Delta state" She managed not to stutter.

"I see" The words rolled out with gentle smugness. "Well" There was a pause. One slow movement of her eyes perused Jaita. She nearly smiled. The lady feels intimidated. Just what she wanted her to feel. "It's nice meeting you, Jenta"

"It's Jaita" Jaita corrected. Lola already had her back to them.

"I know" She smiled over her shoulder.

When she walked farther away, two pair of eyes stayed on her. Lola smirked. She loved the way she made the girl feel. She made her feel low and somewhat nervous.

"She's as proud as they say" She heard Jaita speak.

"You will love her if you get to know her" Lolu assured.

Well, that's so sad because there is no way she's going to meet Jaita again. Lola looked at her phone. Just like she expected, a call was coming in and there had been many missed calls before that. Like two naked wires coming together and causing a spark, her anger sparked within her.

"What?" She answered the call.

"Where did you keep your phone? Are you intentionally refusing to pick my calls?"

"Can you get one thing straight, Anthony?" She grinded her teeth, her hand fastening harder around the strap of her sandals. "You can't be calling me as if I ran away. Understood? You are already a thorn on my skin so stop bothering me with calls"

"So calling my girlfriend is a bother?"

"Girlfriend?" She huffed. "You are doing enough by making my life more miserable than it is so just stop making it harder for me. You have no right or whatsoever to be tailing my movement. You have done enough by allowing me to cheat on my husband. You wanted me in your bed. You had me and you want more? You will have me but do not dream that we are anything but two people who just get pleasure from one another. No strings attached. Like I said, I will give you a call. Stop frustrating me!" She screamed and ended the call.

Blood rushed to her head. She gripped her head. People want to drive her crazy. Anthony want to make her mad. God! He won't succeed. She spun around. He heart lurched in her chest, eyes went wide as every muscle in her body became stiff at the person standing right in front of her.

"Hmmm.....hmmm....Joshua?" She called.

She slammed her head against an imaginary wall. Joshua stood, his eyes narrowed as he looked her. The frown on his face, hardness of his eyes showed he was angry. How long has he been there? Lola felt doom finally looming over her. She has been caught red handed but it's not what he thinks. She got a grip of her shaken self then spoke.

"What are you doing here?" Came her rude and cold question.

"I see you are getting pleasure from tossing me aside like a used rag"

"Excuse me?"

"For God's sake Lola, what did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. You are just pissing me off. The same thing you are doing right now"

"What do you even think you are putting on?" He pointed at her clothes.

"A dress. Any problem?" She asked bending to the side which accentuated her hips.

"Really? This is a dress?" He asked quite frustrated. He wanted to hold his head and just shout. His frustration was piling up and he does not know how long he would hold it in.

"Yes and I asked any problem?"

"You won't kill me before my time"

"I can't see myself holding a knife and aiming it at you" She fired.

"Do you have to be extremely savage with your replies?" He sighed. "As much as I love what I see right now, I hate it when other men have to see it"

"So you are here to play husband duties?" Lola eyebrows came together. Her anger intensified with fire blazing in her brown eyes. "Or what bullshit are you trying to say?" she took a step closer to her husband.

"Lola please" Joshua begged lifting a hand up.

Lola's nose flared. "Are you a goat Joshua? Don't you understand body language?" She barked. "Don't you understand when I does not want to talk to you?"

The beseeching expression on Joshua's face began to change into a frown. His bushy eyebrows came together. The lines on his forehead deepened. A scowl formed over his perfectly shaped lips. "You won't talk to me that way. Watch your tone" His voice turned icy.

For a woman who does not learn from past mistakes, Lola became infuriated. What a tone to use on her? Just because he had once put her in her place does not mean he will keep doing that. She is up for a challenge today.

"And what will happen?" She jammed her hands over her waist. It was a dare. Her eye were challenging as if telling do what you want and let's see where that gets you.

"Lola, we........"

"Look here Joshua, I am having headache right now and your crap is the least I want to listen to. Please" She hissed and whizzed past him.

"I was a cultist" He revealed causing her feet to stop abruptly. Lola froze as she moved to take another step, her eyes going wide with shock. No! She did not hear well. "I used to be a cultist" Came Joshua's clear and loud voice. He said it louder for her to hear him clearly. "I was the Don of The Blades and Lolu is someone I know from UNILAG. You can say I made life miserable for him"

Cold chills washed through Lola's body as if she had been bathed with freezing water. The gravity of his words could cause her to turn and look at him but she stood motionless, disbelief holding every part of her, every sense of thinking and her voice. Oh God! She breathe harder. Her chest heaved up and down. Jesus Christ! She thought but could not get the exclamatory words out of her lips. A cultist? Joshua? She exhaled hard.

On wobbly legs, Lola walked away. A cultist? The word cultist rang in her head. Joshua used to be a cultist? That means, he had killed people. Cultism in UNILAG meant killing people and creating terror in the school. Her head pounded. He was the don. The leader. The one controlling a group of crazy and wild boys. Did she hear him clearly? You did.

That's the reason behind his tattoos and scars. She felt light headed as she ambled into the living room where everyone was. Her husband was a killer. Oh Jesus! She halted, closed her eyes to calm down her jittering nerves. A headache was knocking to be freed. She lifted a hand and pressed it on her forehead. When she opened her eyes, the sight before her had straightening. Joshua rushed in behind her but paused when he saw and sensed what was going on in the living room. He scanned everyone's face, from Damijo's angry face to Josephine's confused look. His expression was the same look on Josephine's face, confused and lost until they fell on a particular figure. His eyes grew wide. He felt his heart skipping from his chest to his throat. His breathing seized. Oh no! Jesus! He groaned mentally.

"Loretta?" Lola and Joshua voiced out.

-----

Haseenah paced the living room, her eyes constantly going to the antique wall clock. She had to wait. She needed to wait for him even though he won't appreciate. Her heart won't be at peace knowing Ahmad was still out there late at night. Haseenah sat, crossed her legs and rested her back against the high back of the sofa. What drifted across the room was the soft scent of her soaps and body creams, a mixture seductive and alluring.

There was a slight headache knocking at the back of her head. She exhaled, shutting her eyes. Her creamy skin was purple at her elbow and below her eyes. These scars had appeared two days ago after Ahmad had lost it over a simple question and thrown his tantrum by slamming her against the wall and sending a blow against her eye. Luckily, the blow had landed on her cheek.

She fought back tears, tears she refused to spill. She knew there were reasons to such hatred from her husband. She knew them vividly but chose to ignore them. There was no use crying over a spilled milk. Only if Fatimah had not died. But if Fatimah had lived, would she be able to take the pain, the negligence and the fact that abundance love would be granted to Fatimah and not her but at least, she won't be living under a roof like a slave and continue to receive beating that were not meant to be given.

As she buried herself in her thoughts, she moved a leg. A tear slipped and she had not chosen to wipe it away. She allowed it to flow. She knew there was no hope. There is no way out. Leaving meant ruining the relationship her father and Ahmad's father had. Her father would not want to do anything that would ruin his political career. She remembered the day Ahmad had hit her for the first time. She had called. She had wept on phone and what her father said was it was a misunderstanding between them and they should solve it. Her mother said she had to bear. For God's sake, Ahmad had hit her. He had slapped her and that's what her parents could tell her.

Haseenah rose her head upon hearing the honking of a car. It was familiar. The sound of a car driving into the compound led her to her feet. She glanced at the clock. The long hand had just clock ten and the short hand pointed at eleven. What kind of responsible man comes home eleven fifty in the night? She wiped away her tears.

"Welcome" She greeted collecting his bag. Ahmad had barely granted her a look. He breezed past her to take a seat on the sofa she had gotten up from. Haseenah sighed before shutting the door. She turned the lock and pulled the silky curtains together.

"How was work?" She asked placing his bag on a chair but got no reply. Ahmad fetched his phone out of his pocket. Haseenah took that as a cue to leave the kitchen and came back with a cup of water in a tray.

"Here, have water" She handed him the glass. He looked at her. His gaze hard and cold that it sent shivers down her spine. Haseenah's heart skipped. She knew that look. What has she done? Ahmad collected the cup. An evil glint brightened his eyes as he twirled the cup in his hand.

"I think you need the water" He shoved the water on her face. She shrieked, jumping back. Water ran down her nightie, freezing her skin. "You disgust me" He spat. "Here" He held out the cup to her. With trembling hands and fresh tears building at the brim of her eyes, she collected the cup.

"How about food?" She squeaked out.

Satisfied, Ahmad crossed his legs to rest back against the plush chair. "Don't worry about it. I have eaten"

Of course he had! Not when he oozes of a woman's perfume. It was soft against his clothes but she could still smell it. After she had found out, he had not hidden his affairs. He made it clear like daylight.

"Alright" She mumbled.

When Haseenah came back from the kitchen, Ahmad had removed his shoes and loosened his shirt. He had stretched out his legs on the glass centre table. Moving almost noiselessly, Haseenah bent down to pick his shoes and take his bag. Along with them, she took his wristwatch. Throughout the time she moved around, Ahmad heard the soft flap of her feet against the marble floor. One thing bothered him. The soft yet alluring scent of her perfume. It drifted deep into his nostrils, intoxicating his senses and making him yearn for her like the way a man would yearn for his lover. In his head, the image he had was her in that white silky nightie of hers and him pulling it off. He opened his eyes. Rising to sit up, he turned his head to follow her movement.

Her back side had a way of moving. It was as if she called him to her as she ascended the staircase. Well, he would answer his calling. Getting to his feet, he followed her.

In the room, Haseenah placed his bag where it was meant to be and his shoes in its right place. The room had a familiar fragrance. It was from the turaren wuta she had burned few hours back. Constant burning of the incense in an electric kasko had given the entire house one particular concentrated delicate scent. It was a fragrance she burned every evening, a fragrance the curtains and seats had absorbed. A little touch on either of the items leaves a pleasant scent on the person's hand or clothes.

Haseenah heard the door open then close but had chosen not to turn around. Ahmad headed in. A migraine struck him hard. He had been its prisoner after he left work to visit one of his women but that had not stopped him from having one of the best time of his life. Lara, the woman he had gone to visit, knew how to please a man especially in bed. Lara was not the kind anyone would call pretty but she had features that were irresistible.

Ahmad rested a hand against his hot forehead. He looked across the room where Haseenah stood. The familiar turn he feels in his stomach each time he sees her sets in. It was the turn of disgust and hate. It was what he felt towards her. Everytime, she was nothing appealing to him. He agrees she has a very good body shape. Every curve of hers is right but the hatred he had developed for her over the years had supressed any feeling of pity or like for her.

She was not meant to be where she was today. It was another woman's spot, another woman's place. It belonged to Fatimah. Fatimah was meant to be his wife not this undesirable woman he had with him. He and Fatimah were in the best of relationships. She took his heart with that sweet smile of her, with the little glow in her eyes everytime she let out her soft laughter. She had a good heart, a heart that reached out for others. Ah, Fatimah. His heart clench. The old pain came in and the scar on his heart throbbed. He had wanted to propose to Fatimah. It had been two days to get the ring and prepare for everything. It was then his father had a talk to him. He had found a woman. He knows she would be good and marrying her would expand their business. Like he cares about the fucking business.

The marriage preparation began. Fatimah and Haseenah were friends not best of friends but still close. It had broken Fatimah. How dare he? How dare he leave her for her friend? In return, Fatimah felt betrayed. Haseenah's and Ahmad's betrayal were the least of everything she expected. But he tried. He did everything he could to calm her down. It took him weeks. It was not easy. At night, when he sat in his room and thought about the doom that came his way, Fatimah wept into the night, her heart bleeding.

Ahmad exhaled, settling on the bed. Every want he had for the woman opposite him varnished into thin air. The familiar pain sets over his heart. At the end, he settled things with Fatimah. Their agreement was, a week after his marriage to Haseenah, he would marry Fatimah. Fate had a different plan for him. Before the end of that week, Fatimah died in a ghastly motor accident.

Ahmad shut his eyes, lying in bed. He felt feverish. The pounding in his head was becoming unbearable and he could feel the bitterness in his throat. Behind his eyes, tears assembled but he held them back preventing them from dripping. The day he saw Fatimah's lifeless body in the hospital bed, the time he held it to his and cried out his heart allowing his pain sound raw in his voice, he died with her. Every past memory came back like a playback. His world at the moment gave him the sight and sound of horror. She was not meant to die. She shouldn't have. Why does she have to leave him alone? And he grieved. He still grieved and his way of grieving was venting his pent up anger and frustration on his so called wife. Haseenah was yet to know anything. He would grant her more pain than she wishes for. Her pain is one of his sources of joy. She would cry more and he will be the source of those tears but he won't leave her. He won't free her. He would cause her agony that death would be her only wish.

He felt the touch, light and feminine. Sweet scent of flowers and fruit permeated through his nostril. He opened his eyes. Tears made his vision blurry. Her face was close to his. Her gentle touch like the feel of a feather against his skin was soothing. Slowly, the corner of his lips curled up.

"Fatimah" He called, his voice husky.

"Ahmad, are you alright?" Came Haseenah's voice. That snapped him into reality. He blinked. Beads of tears rolled down clearing his vision. The hatred came. The forlorn feeling disappeared replaced with fury. Out of rage, he slapped Haseenah's hand away then meandered in bed.

Haseenah sank into the bed. Fatimah. It was still her. It had always been her. Ahmad buried his face into the pillow he had pulled to himself and curled up into a ball. While he left his wife in unruly ocean of her sorrow, he cried in silence.

-----

Something thick, like a thick invisible cloud hung in the air. It was tension. Tension she realised had a reason. In her grandfather's massive living room, a woman stood. A woman many in the family despised. Her father's mistress, Pelumi, stood in the centre, everyone's eyes on her. Pelumi wore a smile. She was sophisticatedly dressed in a black dress that stopped below her knees. Her hair, a rich honey brown, was held up in an elegant bun. Her makeup was prim that it hid the new lines of old age that were beginning to form and the wrinkles that had begun to show. Behind Pelumi was a thick yet curvy woman. No one would suspect that the woman, who stood fit and strong with a body she earned from constant exercising would be forty seven in few weeks to come.

"You came?" Rebecca's delightful voice broke the silence that lynched in the atmosphere. Without anyone's help, Rebecca stood up, her fragile body moving with an energy she rarely have as she walked to Pelumi. "I did not know you would be coming"

"I had to" Pelumi moved to meet Rebecca.

"How have you been?" Rebecca was the only one thrilled to see a woman others considered an enemy. Loretta stood with gleaming eyes that kept sweeping around the exquisite living room. Wow, the Kola-Daisis are really rich. When her eyes met Joshua's wide ones, the corners of her red lips stretched up wider than they were.

"I am fine" Pelumi laughed. "You remember Loretta" She pulled Loretta closer.

"I do" Rebecca shrilled with realisation. "I have heard so much about you. Come. Come. You should sit down" She led them to a seat. "I......"

"Enough!" Damijo's voice rang through the living room. It was hard, cold and commanding that both Rebecca and Pelumi froze, shock plain on their faces. His anger radiated from him in upsurges. It could be felt, even seen on his face. His lips twitched as he rose with the help of his walking stick. "So you invited her?"

"Yes, dear. Any problem?" Rebecca's voice became sweeter. Her eyes had an innocence that was just an act. The fury she saw in Cynthia's eyes gave her joy. Oh Cynthia, she is yet to know her place. Their feud from past years was yet to end and it was what led Cynthia's marriage to Richard to what it was today.

"Rebecca"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Do you really have to keep doing this?"

"What am I doing, Damijo?" She feigned ignorance.

"You really want to tell me you don't know?" Damijo took a step closer to his wife. Damijo rested most of his body on his walking stick. "You are the big reason behind Richard and Cynthia's ruined marriage" Rebecca's eyebrows came together. Her lips dropped a bit. She wanted to speak but her husband cut her off. "Surprised?" Damijo chuckled. "Surprised I am saying it? Will you deny the fact that you setup Richard with this woman?" He pointed a finger at Pelumi.

"Damijo, why are you speaking like this? What's happening?" She questioned.

"I had kept quiet. I had watched like a fool. Only if I acted faster"

"Then what will happen?" Pelumi chipped in, her expression going cold and challenging.

"I am not talking to you woman and you will watch how you speak to me"

"What's wrong sir?" She took her hand away from Rebecca's hold. Swinging her head high, she headed to Damijo. There was a challenging look in her eyes. "Why do you exclude my kids and me from your family functions? We are also family"

"Maybe I have never said this but I have never consider you and your children family. You are just a mistake my son made and he could not rectify" He spat out with so much disdain in his voice.

"Excuse me?"

"Pelumi" Rebecca called her son's mistress with a pleading voice. She gripped Pelumi's shoulder.

"You know you are the main cause of all this problem on ground" He directed his words at his wife.

"Dad" Aunty Dammy stepped forward.

Everyone watched. No one was ready to say anything. Whatever Lola watched caused more pain. Joshua cared about Loretta's appearance. What he had in his eyes when he gazed at Loretta was a question. Cynthia wanted to speak but had chosen to leave the living room. She had had enough of everything. Richard followed her. Aaron was helpless. He did not know what to say or do. This was a normal thing that happened. Pelumi had been a woman who wanted to do nothing but break his family apart. She had succeeded in ruining his elder brother's marriage.

"You stay out of it for now. I have had enough" Damijo barked at his daughter.

"Even though you won't consider anything but your health matters, Dad" Tola, Aaron's wife, spoke. "You don't have to waste your energy and words on someone who does not deserve it"

"Which health do you speak of? The health that has been ruined long time ago? Rebecca" He turned to his wife. "You had a fight with Cynthia and you wanted to get back at her. You thought the perfect way was to hurt her. You are a woman and you know what hurts a woman most. How could you do that to her"

"Damijo, please" Rebecca pled.

"Dad please. It is enough. We can't ruin a wonderful night this way" Adesewa, Mide's wife, pleaded. She rested a hand on her father in law's shoulder.

Damijo could feel the tiredness setting in. He was getting weak and needed to rest. His blood pressure was rising and he knew it. This was not good for him. "I will give you my final judgement. From now on, I do not want this woman or any of her children near my family or my house. Richard brought just a woman to me as his wife and that was Cynthia and I accept only her. Any other woman is not known to me. If you may excuse us" He turned to Pelumi. "Please leave my house when I am still nice"

Insulted, Pelumi left with Loretta. She felt humiliated ad disgraced. How dare he do that to her? Pelumi balled her hands. They will pay for what they did to her tonight. Oh, that's a promise.

Pelumi's departure left an unusual silence around. Lola felt the way she had always feel. She felt the insecurities and fear rushed back into her. The older twins left the living room without a word. Upstairs, Cynthia's voice rang through. Everyone could tell what was happening. It was an argument between Rebecca and her daughter in law, Cynthia. Their voices went high. Insults were thrown and soon Richard's voice could be heard. Aunty Dammy, Tola, Adesewa and Shola headed upstairs. Aaron and Damijo's youngest child, Mide, followed.

"Not again" Toke whined slumping into the chair next to her. The look of despair surfaced.

Like a thick fog, tension etched in the uncomfortable atmosphere. Lola knew what to do. Escape. She searched for her purse around and found it sitting on a sofa. She headed for it.

"I will be leaving" She announced.

"So soon?" Josephine asked.

"Yes. What's there to wait for again? Goodnight" She hugged her cousin. Josephine felt it. The nervousness that radiated from Lola.

"Alright then. I shall......" Michelle began to speak but the sound of glass shattering cut her short.

Everyone present in the living room jerked their head up.

"You are not going to allow her come here and continue to feel like she has a place here!" Cynthia's angry voice resonated through the mansion.

"She is my son's woman" Rebecca shouted back, her voice strained. "She has his children and also have the same right you got!"

Cynthia's mocking laughter came "Mama, you are forgetting something. There is a big difference between a wife and a mistress. I am his wife and she is his mistress"

"You know what" Lola pats her cousin's shoulder. "I will just leave" She gave an edgy smile. "Good night" She journeyed out. "Mofe!" She shouted rushing to the door. "Tell mommy that I have taken my leave" Joshua hurried to meet her.

"I don't like tonight" Toke whined tapping her foot non-stop on the marble floor.

"Amarachi" Amarachi's mother called, her eyes held in contempt as she scanned the grand house. There was money, great money. Everywhere in the house radiated money including those from the prestigious family and she was happy as a mother to have her daughter married to one of its members. "Which kind of family is this? It is so obvious they are full of lies. They are so different from what people portray them to be" She spat out with a fresh disdain.

"No mama, it is not like that" Amarachi gave a nervous laugh. Still laughing, she looked at her husband. The dark look on his face told he does not like what her mother had said.

With what was going on upstairs, everyone around knew it's going to be a long night.

Please vote, comment and share. Thanks.