Chapter 22 Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"Don't they say nothing is hidden under the sun forever? Well the sun has come out again and she has cast her blinding light in my direction, putting my nakedness under the spotlight for every eye to see"

**********

Risque Bar

Lagos

Hakeem.

Hakeem was in a foul mood, his evening hadn't gone as planned. His dearest wife had decided to bring his father into his bar an hour earlier. The sight his father had seen in the VIP lounge was very ugly, as usual he'd been with his bevy of women, drinking, smoking and frolicking.

To say his father had been angry and disappointed was an understatement. He'd gotten into a serious argument with his father that had caused the old man to leave, swearing never to have anything to do with him till he apologized and changed his behavior.

Who was to blame for this? Nadia of course. The woman was a serpent, why had she brought his father to the bar when she knew exactly what went down there?

He'd refrained from attacking her in the presence of his father because he didn't want to anger his father the more.

He'd remained in the bar after their disagreement to calm himself down.

As for Nadia, he vowed to deal with her when he got home. She would feel his wrath in full force this time.

She liked to play innocent all the time but she was as sneaky as a serpent. She always tried to come between him and the people in his life. She was also good at plotting against him behind his back but he'd teach her that he was smarter.

He was still seething alone and nursing his whisky and wounded ego when Maria his assistant came to him.

She cleared her throat timidly knowing he was in a bad mood already.

"What is it?" Hakeem barked not in the mood for a decent conversation.

"You have a new personal mail, I tried to check it's content but apparently there's a password required. I've tried the company password but it didn't work" Maria informed.

Hakeem got up immediately knowing it was Kadin's mail. "Next time try not to open my personal mails before telling me" he said eyeing Maria.

"Sir..." she stuttered. "I didn't read the mail.." she was saying when Hakeem cut her off.

"Not from lack of trying, just get me my laptop and go home. I won't be needing your services for the rest of the day, I'm going home very soon" Hakeem said taking his seat again.

He briefly wondered if Kadin's mail would contain more information about Amanda. Atalia had threatened him to keep his mouth shut but what if he couldn't hide this one secret from Denola.

He didn't wonder for too long because Maria returned in minutes with his laptop. He quickly took it from her and typed in a password he knew by heart.

'Dear brother, I've attached a picture of my wife and a map of where she was last seen in Jos to this mail. It is important that you find her current location before contacting me again. Be discreet because she must remain unsuspecting of my plans to bring her back home'

Hakeem quickly clicked on the attachment, wondering if it still had anything to do with Amanda.

"Maria, go now and get me a flight ticket to Jos tomorrow" He instructed.

"Are you going on a business trip?" Maria asked curiously.

"Yes, very important business" He said when his eyes finally rested on the picture.

*

*

*

Mayfair Estate

Lagos.

Amanda

'This wasn't her home, she could never be used to this' Amanda thought as she waited for one of the Mayfair drivers to come get her.

Dame Mayfair had gifted her a personal car last night and a driver but she knew it was just another monitoring device.

She however accepted the gift gratefully because she was still trying to get back into her husband's good graces.

If she had her way, she'd have gotten a taxi and headed to work already but no.....she couldn't do that because every Mayfair had their personal driver and a variety of cars.

And she'd just acquired hers.

As she fixed her shoe strap in the front porch, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up immediately.

The Dame squeezed her shoulder gently and smiled at her.

"Good morning Dame" she said smiling back, she was glad she lived with the Dame rather than Atalia Mayfair because the Dame was a nice woman and never failed to defend her.

"Heading to work already, shouldn't you and Denola be in honeymoon Avenue?" Dame asked playfully.

Amanda shook her head "We both have important work to get to, honeymooning can wait" she responded.

"Well... If you say so. I do admire your independence. You're the only Mayfair woman to ever do her own business" Dame Mayfair complimented and sat beside her.

Amanda smiled "I had Denola's help, I can't take all the credit. He was there for me when I had nothing" she said remembering the good times.

Dame Mayfair smiled "I used to have a clothing store before I married my late husband. When we got married however, there were two many Mayfair business I had to attend to. Hosting events, planning parties, meeting the wives of the rich and the famous, having Mayfair heirs. I barely had any time for my clothing store and it failed and crashed eventually. I could have gotten it back but my husband, God bless his sweet soul. My husband would have none of that, and so I became the trophy house wife" Dame Mayfair finished.

Amanda frowned "You don't sound like you enjoyed that" she noted.

Dame Mayfair sighed "I had money and connections, I had acquaintances not friends. In fact I had a lot of things that many women dream of but life as a trophy wife is pretty empty and boring" Dame Mayfair said.

Amanda couldn't agree more and was glad she had her Mandy's Glam to keep her sane and independent.

"Why didn't you leave with Denola this morning?" Dame Mayfair asked.

Amanda shrugged "I wanted to go in my own car, besides Denola leaves for work way too early these days" she said.

"It's the handover, we never expected my husband to leave early. We didn't plan for this but fortunately for us, Denola is competent enough to fill his shoes" she said with pride.

"Indeed he is" Amanda murmured feeling a little guilty that she was trying to take Denola away when his family really needed him.

She had to do it though for her safety and for the safety of the ones she loved. She couldn't go back to her previous life.

She was still deep in thought when Jadesola showed up. "Good morning grannie, Amanda" Jadesola acknowledged.

"Good morning sweetheart, how are you?" Dame asked sweetly.

"Wonderful" Jadesola smiled back and sat beside the duo.

"I wonder why the driver isn't here yet" Amanda wondered aloud.

"Have you been waiting for the driver?" Dame asked surprised.

"Yes, I told him yesterday that he should be here at nine" Amanda said.

Dame Mayfair sighed exasperated "Atalia and her antics, she asked Henry to drive her to Mayfair Towers this morning. Her driver called in sick, she did tell me you weren't going to make use of the driver or the car since Denola's driver was coming back to get you" Dame Mayfair said.

"What? No" Amanda said standing up now. She hadn't even seen Denola when she woke up this morning, much less talk to him.

"I didn't have any arrangements with Denola" She said.

"That's alright, I'll get my driver to take you to work. All along I thought you were waiting for Denola's driver" Dame Mayfair said and got up from the chaise lounge and went into the house to go phone her driver.

"Where are you heading to this morning?" Jadesola asked Amanda.

"Like you don't know I have a business to run" Amanda said and as if on cue her phone began to ring.

She checked the caller ID and answered Davina's call.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Oh my God Amanda, where are you?You have to come right now!" Davina said.

Amanda's heart skipped a bit "What's happening?" she asked.

"Amanda, just get here quickly. Some government officials are here and they are talking about demolishing Mandy's glam. They are already moving out our furniture from the building" Davina informed.

"What?..... No that can't be right. Didn't you try to stop them? they have no right to do that" Amanda said.

"I tried but they all ignored me, it's just I and Mercie here. I've sent the staff home till we sort out this mess" Davina said

"I'm on my way there now, make sure nothing gets damaged before I get there" Amanda said her heart racing as she spoke.

'Just come quickly' Davina was saying over the phone when Dame Mayfair walked back into the lounge.

She saw that Amanda's countenance had changed and became worried instantly. "Are you okay?" Dame Mayfair asked concerned.

"I am fine ma." Amanda said ending the call, she was trying hard to suppress her emotions.

Dame Mayfair touched her gently "You don't look fine to me, What is wrong? talk to us" Dame Mayfair coaxed but Amanda was proud.

She'd suffocate before she let any Mayfair asides Denola in on her problems.

"It's not a big problem, my assistant is having issues at work. I have to go there quickly now" Amanda said.

"Alright, I've phoned my driver he'll be at the garage in seconds. Jadesola come let's go to the kitchen, there's this recipe you must learn today" Dame Mayfair winked at her grand daughter who groaned.

"You know I hate kitchen work" Jadesola complained.

Dame Mayfair chuckled "You're ripe for marriage already, soon you'll be a wife. You can't hate the kitchen forever" She replied.

Jadesola shrugged "I don't think marriage is my calling" Jadesola murmured but the Dame wasn't backing down.

Amanda rolled her eyes at Jade's comment before clearing her throat.

"I'm leaving now Dame, I'll be back before dinner" she said and walked out of the lounge.

Dame Mayfair couldn't help but worry as Amanda left, she knew the girl was carrying big problems on her shoulders but she'd refused to let anyone help her.

She wanted to help but she didn't know how to go about it.

*********

Davina hadn't been kidding, when Amanda reached her office not only were they various men going in and out of the office removing her properties, but there was a giant red 'X' sign on the wall.

"What is going on here, who is behind this?!" she shouted as she got out of the car.

Some men stopped to stare at her for a few seconds before continuing with their work.

"Will someone answer me this minute?!" she raged again, this time one of the men pointed towards the building.

"oga dey upstairs"

Amanda hissed and sent him a scowl before walking into the office.

The reception was already stripped bare, none of the staffs were in sight.

As she walked to her office, she heard Davina's voice, she threw the door open angrily and quickly accessed everyone in the room.

It was just Davina, Mercie and two strange men in the office. "What's going on here?" Amanda asked.

"You must be the one in charge" a short bald man said immediately standing up from her executive chair.

"I demand an explanation this instant, why are you taking out my office properties, what's the meaning of that?" Amanda asked getting more furious.

"Please sit down, let me explain" The man said in a typical 'I don't care' tone.

Amanda eyed him "I'm not sitting, talk to me" she said.

"Very well then, your building is on government property. I'm sure you've gotten information that the properties on this lane will be demolished this week" the man said.

"Information from where?" Amanda asked irritated.

"There was a meeting two weeks ago and every property owner on this lane were invited. This issue was discussed last Saturday and Sunday" the other man said.

"Well I wasn't there and I discussed nothing" Amanda hissed.

"That's your business not ours" the man said nonchalantly.

"This is absurd, how can you demolish my property without prior notice. This isn't right, I won't take this" Amanda hissed.

"Look here woman, any other official would have brought down this building with your properties in it. I'm giving you the opportunity to get your properties out, this building is coming down today and nothing will stop that. You should have moved before today" the man said.

The other man cleared his throat "This land has been acquired by the Local government chairman of this vicinity, it's just unfortunate that your building is here. You'll be compensated for the damages however. I advise that you make no attempt to disturb or disrupt this process or you won't like the consequences" the man said in a threatening voice.

Amanda stared back at him in disbelief. "Look I don't know what you're saying but it has to be a joke. This is my property, you have no right to do anything here without my permission. As a matter of fact if you don't move back my properties into my building, you'll see my bad side" Amanda threatened.

The man sneered and muttered no doubt some curses in his language.

"If you are looking for who to fight with, why not go to the chairman's office and pick a fight" he said and turned his back on her.

Davina sensed Amanda was going to explode and decided to take matters into her own hands. "Alright sir, we've heard you. All we are saying is you caught us off guard. Shouldn't we have gotten mails before now concerning this? I mean you should have reached out to us since we didn't attend the meeting" Davina said trying to reason with the man.

The statement provoked the first man. "wo wo wo don't annoy me. I'm simply following the orders I was given. If you have complaints go to the chairman's office. Nobody should bother me" The man hissed.

Amanda glared at him, she suppressed the urge to slap the disrespectful man.

Davina sighed "Alright, why don't you give us his address? We'll head there and sort this out ourself" Davina said.

Amanda wasn't pleased about how the matter was turning out to be. "I'm going nowhere, trust me you don't want to provoke me. You better take your minions and get out of here!" Amanda yelled at the man.

"Are you mad woman? Don't speak to me like that. I've tolerated your disrespect enough, one more insult and my men will throw you out!" the man yelled back.

Davina placed a soothing hand on Amanda in a bid to calm her down. "Amanda it's okay, let's just go to their office and speak to the chairman" Davina suggested.

Amanda sent her a nasty look "Don't tell me to calm down!" she shouted before turning back to the short man.

"You're the one who is mad. You're equally foolish, how dare you speak to me that way? If that's how you speak to your wife, don't try it with me. I won't take nonsense from you unreasonable pig!" Amanda cursed.

Her words ignited fire in the man "Me pig? It is your father and your family members that are pigs. Prostitute, I can see you have no manners, if you don't leave this building now. You'll see my red eyes" The man began raining down curses on her and Amanda returned his insults with equal fire.

They were both engrossed in their fight, ignoring Mercie and Davina's effort to get them to calm down that nobody noticed the other man in the room was phoning the DPO of the nearest police station.

Everything went downhill after that.