Chapter 28 Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

'Lies will only create an illusion, an illusion so fragile that it can easily be crushed when the Truth comes along'

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Abuja,

Nigeria.

Jadesola.

'I had to take a trip to Lokoja this morning, I tried to reach you earlier but your number was switched off' Aliu said over the phone.

Jadesola rolled her eyes "I forgot to charge my phone last night, I just plugged it now. How come you didn't say anything last night?" Jadesola asked adopting her most upset voice.

She heard Aliu sigh before he replied 'It was an impromptu trip, I have to deal with one of Kadin's most important client today. I'll be back home later tonight or tomorrow, don't wait for me' He responded.

Jadesola growled and stomped her foot, she hated the fact that Aliu was Kadin's errand boy. Why couldn't the almighty Kadin do it himself?

She'd voiced her displeasure to Aliu in the past but he'd been disappointed and upset.

In a clipped tone, he'd told her that he owed Kadin his life and there was nothing in the world he wouldn't do for Kadin.

Jadesola didn't understand his connection to Kadin and honestly she didn't want to, she just wanted to know his connection to Amanda.

She'd refrained from bringing up Amanda Arinze as a conversation topic because she knew Aliu would be super suspicious of her actions.

There were other ways to get what she wanted, if she didn't find any valid information on Amanda then she was going to invite Aliu home for Christmas, maybe something mind blowing would happen then.

"Well what am I supposed to do all day? I don't have a lot of friends on this part of the world. And don't tell me to go shopping again, I don't want to spend the entire day at the mall"

'Sweet heart, I know you. You'll surely find a way to entertain yourself while I'm gone. Just do your thing. I have to go now. I'll talk to you later' Aliu promised and ended the call immediately.

Jadesola stared at the phone in her hand in disbelief. Never in her life, had she met a man as lovable and infuriating as Aliu.

"What does he mean by 'do my thing' ?" she asked herself a little irritated.

She hissed and slumped back on the sofa. "Ugh! Men!" she growled before logging into her social media account with her phone.

She checked Denola's wall and saw a picture of a baby bump. The caption just infuriated her the more

'I thank the Lord everyday for his blessings'

What blessing? Amanda was a curse to them as far as she was concerned and she wasn't stopping till she ruined her.

"I think I need to pay the Sanusis a little visit, I've been loitering around for too long. Time to get my game back on" she said narrowing her eyes.

In few minutes she was dressed in a Kaftan and had wrapped her hair in one of the turbans She'd gotten during one of her tours around the city.

She called Hajiya right before she left the house.

"Hello good day ma" she started when Hajiya answered.

'Hello, who am I speaking with?' Hajiya asked.

"It's Jadesola, Aliu's friend" Jadesola informed as she played with the bracelet on her wrist.

'Oh.....darling how are you? Why haven't you called since that day? Jemila wouldn't stop asking after you' Hajiya responded.

"I'm sorry ma, I actually didn't call because I didn't want to bother you. How is Jemila, is she home?" Jadesola asked.

'Nonsense, bother me? Haba, my dear I love your company. About Jemila, she's not home yet. Do you mind getting her from school for me in an hour? I'm really busy now and Kadin is tied up with something else' Hajiya asked in a sugared tone.

Jadesola chuckled "Yes ma, I don't mind. Just text me the address, I'll pick her up and bring her to you" Jadesola.

'Oooh, sanu. I'll text you the address after I drop this call. Do call more often, I heard Aliu is out on a trip' Hajiya said.

"Yes ma, he left this morning" Jadesola replied.

'Then what are you doing all alone in the house? Come here this instant, you can pick Jemila up later. You shouldn't be alone, I'm old but I can be good company' She said.

Jadesola grinned, mission accomplished. She could tell that Kadin's house held secrets and she wanted to unravel them.

'I'll tell the guards to let you in, anytime, any day. I'm expecting you, good bye' Hajiya said.

"Thank you ma" Jadesola said right before Hajiya ended the call.

She chuckled and did a little dance before walking out of the house.

*

Mayfair Estate,

Lagos.

Amanda.

The gym was Amanda's least favorite place but everyone had insisted that working out at the gym was good for the baby.

"Ugh...fuck this" Amanda said as she deserted the treadmill.

Denola chuckled "Babe, you have at least twenty more minutes, I'm not letting you off easily. Get to work" he said playfully.

"Do you hear that?" Amanda asked with a serious expression on her face.

"What?" Denola asked immediately concerned. He got up from the bench and walked towards her.

"Your baby is complaining and nagging about you tiring us out. He's four five seconds from cussing" Amanda replied.

Denola rolled his eyes "Ha ha.....very funny, lazy ass" Denola said walking back to the bench.

"Babe I'm tired, let's go upstairs and have a shower. I'm done for the day, where did you keep my phone?" Amanda asked.

Denola dipped his hand in his pocket and took out her phone. "Here, says here that you have a text from Daniella" Denola said.

Her heart skipped. "Let me see that" Amanda said quickly walking up to him. She snatched her phone from his hands and turned to leave.

"Who is Daniella?" Denola asked curiously, he could remember seeing a document on her phone belonging to a Daniella Morenike Mayfair.

"Um...she used to be a client. We're still friends" Amanda winced as she lied. Good thing she was backing her husband.

"Odd that we have the same last name" Denola remarked walking over to her.

"What are you talking about?" Amanda asked alarmed. Denola was surprised at the high pitch of her voice.

"I saw a document on your phone. Daniella Morenike Mayfair, that's she right?" Denola asked looking at her.

Amanda stepped back so he wouldn't hear her heart pounding. What else had he seen?

"How could you go through my phone?" She asked trying a different tactic.

Denola let out a little laugh "Babe, it's nothing. I wasn't invading your privacy, It was in South Africa and I was looking at our pictures in your gallery" He explained.

"Excuse me? That's invading my privacy. How could you? I'm not all in your business so how could you?" Amanda yelled and walked out of the gym.

Denola watched her a little confused.

Why was she so upset over nothing? He was about to go after her when he remembered The Dame's warning about pregnant women and their moods so he decided to give her space.

Amanda placed her hand over her chest as she entered her bedroom and closed the door. "This girl will not put me in trouble" she muttered as she read the text.

'I know you don't want to discuss this yet but what are we going to do about Jemila?'

Amanda let out a tired sigh, another issue she couldn't ignore. She was truly neck deep in a lot of problems.

*

Jadesola.

"Auntie Jade look, today I painted a picture of my mommy" Jemila said shoving a square sized cardboard in Jadesola's face the minute she got into the car.

"Wow, this is beautiful. I'm sure it looks exactly like your mommy" Jadesola said refraining from cringing at the distorted image.

Jemila shook her head "No it looks ugly, my mommy is very pretty. I'm not sure daddy will like this" Jemila said with an adorable pout.

"I'm sure it's really pretty, if I had a picture of your mommy maybe I'd be able to judge" Jadesola said.

"Ooooh I always keep a picture of my mommy in my school bag. Daddy gave me one after grannie took out all the pictures" Jemila said.

Jadesola's heart plummeted as Jemila reached into her bag and took out a picture of her mother.

"See my mommy" Jemila said shoving a picture of her mother in Jadesola's face.

Jadesola stilled as she looked at the picture. "Your mommy is so pretty" Jadesola said through clenched teeth.

If she didn't know Amanda so well, she wouldn't have recognized her at all with the traditional garb and accessories she was covered in.

'Deceitful bitch, I just knew she was a fake bitch' Jadesola cussed under her breath.

"What?" Jemila looked at her with innocence.

"I said we should go get some ice-cream and cake" Jadesola faked a grin.

She was going to ruin Amanda or Whoever she was when she got home.

"Auntie Jade please don't tell Grannie about the picture." Jemila said in a mousy voice.

Jadesola smiled "Okay honey, trust me" she said smiling sweetly at Jemila.

Who would abandon such a lovely daughter and a rich, handsome as hell husband.

What did Amanda want anyway, and why was she pretending to be someone else?

She needed to know everything before she left Abuja.

*

Jadesola was still reeling from the shock of her discovery when Aliu came back from Lokoja that night.

She tried to pull on her cheery mood but Aliu was no fool. He could sense there was something wrong so he pestered her for answers.

"What's wrong honey?" Aliu asked.

Jadesola sighed, she couldn't tell him the truth yet. "It's just Jemila, I picked her up from school and we talked a little" Jadesola started.

Aliu frowned "What did she say?" He asked even more concerned now.

"She was speaking about her mother and she was so sad. I just want to know what happened, I can't ask Hajiya because we aren't so close yet" Jadesola said.

"Forget about that Jadesola, don't worry your pretty head" Aliu said.

Jadesola glared at him "I care about Jemila and you trust me right? Why don't you tell me anything?" Jadesola asked.

Aliu sighed, he couldn't tell her that he didn't trust anyone easily at least not until he'd run a background check on them.

He hadn't done that with Jadesola because his feelings wouldn't allow it.

"Listen to me, it's nothing for you to worry about. Even I don't know much about it. Kadin's hurt is still raw and he's refused to say anything other than the fact that her and her brother plotted against him and ran away with his daughter and money" Aliu started.

Jadesola absorbed the information "Why do you think she really left?" Jadesola asked.

Aliu sighed "Only Kadin knows why, they were the model couple before she had Jemila. After Jemila's birth, she became withdrawn. It was hell for she and Kadin during that period. She left the house one morning, saying she wanted to cool off. That night, Kadin phoned me and told me that His family was gone. Her brother resigned from Kadin's firm the same day she eloped. We later found out that he'd stolen from the company. They'd even taken Jemila with them. Kadin was heart broken for so long, that was the only time his guard was down" Aliu said.

Jadesola shook her head "We found Jemila with a family in Enugu some years back when she was barely over one. Kadin's lawyer managed to get her back to us without too much trouble. The family claimed they had no means of contacting Hassana, she'd told them she would come and get Jemila when she was ready but they would receive money from an unknown source every month for Jemila's care. We traced the source to Jos, but we found nothing. We tried Lagos, but it seems she'd been there for only a short period. I believe she's left the country but Kadin has refused to believe that Hassana would leave the country without their daughter. Kadin managed to convince his daughter that her mother worked out of the country but the poor girl is getting smarter every day. We told the Amadis at Enugu to call us when Hassana finally returns. We have them under surveillance but she's still a no show. As for her brother, we got him some years back. He said he'd lost contact with her after they'd left Enugu. He was the one who actually led us to the Amadis" Aliu finished.

Jadesola sighed and rubbed his chest, she wished she could tell him the truth at least for Jemila's sake but not when Amanda or Hassana rather was still pregnant with her brother's child.

She feared what Kadin would do, she knew he was not one to be messed with.