EPISODE 17.
🍒 (UNPREDICTED LOVE) 🍒
(C) Judytex_Stories
That evening when Annabelle got home, her son ran up to her and embraced her with excitement written all over his face.
“Mummy mummy mummy” Ebun yelled as he ran up to her with a bright smile across his face.
Seeing her son, Annabelle had to put on a smile like all was well when deep inside, she was hurting really bad.
When she walked into the sitting room, she found Keturah. And immediately she saw her, she broke into tears.
On seeing her, Keturah needed no explanations to understand how she was feeling at that moment. So she simply got up and wrapped her arms around Annabelle in an embrace.
“It’s okay. Everything will be fine” She said rubbing Annabelle’s back.
“I have lost everything, Keturah. Where do I start from?” Annabelle cried.
“Don’t worry Annabelle. The God who gave you the first job will give you a better replacement for it. Trust me, you will be fine” Keturah reassured.
But throughout that night, Annabelle couldn’t sleep. She kept crying until she couldn’t shed any more tears.
A week later.
(Back in Mr. Tobi’s house)
Deji had gone to apologize to Roseline. As all his attempts to reach out to her on phone calls and texts failed.
When he entered the living room, he saw Raymond alone in the living room. Raymond was sitting with his back laying on the couch while his face was on the ceiling.
“Raymond ?” Deji called in a low tone. As he walked up to him.
When Raymond heard his voice, he sat upright and gave him a glare that came from a place of hate.
“And, what are you doing here?” Raymond asked.
“Please Raymond, can you all please tamper justice with mercy? I know I messed up. But trust me. I can make amends. In fact, I am now a changed person and I promise that what happened in the past, will never repeat itself” Deji pleaded going to his knees.
“Don’t you think you should be giving this apology to your son and not me? How could you be so heartless to abandon your flesh and blood? If you had left only his mother, then it would have been understandable that maybe, you don’t have feelings for her anymore. But why abandon your son? Your flesh and blood? I don’t think any of us have the best punishment for you. Because honestly, I am sure that even the heavens are so angry at you right now” Raymond said.
“It’s not like I planned to abandon him forever. I had my plans and reasons. Just that I wasn’t ready yet” Deji said with his face fixed on the ground.
“Well then, if you are here to look for Roseline, then I’m sorry to announce to you, that she has left the country to sort out her emotions,” Raymond said standing to his feet.
Hearing this, Deji raised his head staring at Raymond with shock and disbelief.
“Just hold on. She left something for you” Raymond said walking away.
A few moments later, Raymond returned carrying a small ring box. He walked up to Deji who was still kneeling on the floor and dropped it in front of him. After which, he went back and sat on the couch.
“That’s the engagement ring you gave to Roseline. She instructed me to return it to you. So as you can see, you two are done for real. And this will be the last time you step your feet into this house. Also, I’m sure you’ve received your Job termination letter already. Because I had it forwarded to your email. So Mr. Deji from now henceforth, your services are no longer required in my company” Raymond said.
“Your company? What does that mean?” Deji asked staring confusedly at him.
“Well, in case you weren’t informed all these while, my late father is the rightful owner of that company. He was unfortunate to have given birth late. So I was just a little boy when he died. But before he died, he made his brother Mr. Tobi sign a deal with his lawyer. A deal that stated that Mr. Tobi can take control of the company until I am fully grown enough to take over my father’s company. That was why I returned in the first place. And then decided to start from scratch. At least to get familiar with the business and how things are done. So you see, right now, you are looking at the young and new C.E.O of the Esusu group of companies. That means, there was never a time that you would have gotten hold of the company by marrying Roseline. So it’s fair to say you both played each other” Raymond said crossing his leg.
Hearing this, a sudden weakness from nowhere came upon Deji who slowly sat on the floor with lots of unbelievable thoughts running through his head.
“How is this even possible? No this is not right” Deji kept telling himself.
“You would have gotten hold of his other assets in the states but definitely not my father’s company. And one more thing,” Raymond added. “Just so you know, from now on, this house is officially mine. As it was built by my father. So don’t bother stopping by for any reason to look for Roseline because she and her father have left the country never to return till further notice” Raymond said.
Then with a scoff, Deji said,
“No, this isn’t true. Raymond, you are joking right?” Deji asked shaking his head in disbelief.
“If you found that funny then I must say you have a strange sense of humor. Cause I wasn’t telling a joke when I said what I said. But If you want to verify if my words are true, then you are free to go make your verifications” Raymond said.
“I spent five years pursuing this dream. I gave up my family for the privilege that comes from marrying Roseline. And now this? No. This is not happening to me. All these are lies Deji. Yes. They are all lies” Deji kept saying to himself.
“I’m sorry mr. Deji. But I think it’s high time you left my house. Because you have overstayed your welcome” Raymond said.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Flashback
(25 years ago)
Raymond was just five years old when his father’s illness worsened. Being left with no grown son to hand the company to, his father was left with no choice but to send for his only brother Mr. Tobi who was also doing well in the states.
Mr. Tobi flew into the country and met his brother on the sick bed. There his brother pleaded with him to please take over his company until his son Raymond is old enough to handle the business.
Mr. Tobi gave it a lot of thought before he finally agreed. And back then, he just got newly married and his wife was expecting a child.
Raymond and his mother were present when his father and his uncle signed the agreement. And a few days later, his father passed on. And after his burial, Raymond and his mother relocated to the states while Mr. Tobi and his late wife relocated back to the country to fulfill his late brother’s wish.
Even Roseline wasn’t aware of this fact until recently.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Present day.
A few moments later, Deji left the house staggeringly as his head was spinning. It felt like his world came crashing down on him. He got into his car and kept hitting his head on his steering with tears rolling down his cheeks.
“No, this is not happening to me. I can’t believe my five years of effort were wasted just like that. No, I can’t lose everything like this. This is a trick to get me out of the picture. But I must get to the root of this. I must” He said.
Two weeks later.
After weeks of fruitless job hunting, Annabelle went ahead to apply for the job of being a school teacher in the school where her son goes to. Luckily for her, she was given the job.
Annabelle then became a school teacher even though it wasn’t what she wanted.
Although life didn’t turn out the way she wanted, she was slightly happy because she now had the opportunity to spend quality time with her son in school.
During break hour, she was in the playground monitoring her pupils while they played. Just then, her son ran up to her with a white envelope in his hand.
“Mummy mummy” Ebun called out pulling Annabelle’s dress.
Annabelle squatted down and smiled at him.
“What is it Ebun?” She asked.
“Take,” Ebun said offering the white envelope to her.
“Who gave this to you?” Annabelle asked quickly collecting it from him.
When she opened the envelope and brought out the letter inside, she was shocked to see the resignation letter she submitted inside it.
“This is my resignation letter. How did it get here?” She wondered. Then turning to her son, she asked, “Ebun, who gave this to you?”
“Daddy” Ebun responded with a bright smile.
“Daddy? Where is he?” She impatiently asked.
“Over there,” Ebun said pointing in the opposite direction.
“Stay here okay? I will be right back” She said hastily walking away.
She rushed in the exact direction that Ebun pointed out to her. But no one was there. She kept searching the entire environment to see if she would see anyone but all to no avail.
Then as she turned to go with sadness on her face, she stumbled and was about to fall when she felt a hand grabbing her waist from behind.
Out of curiosity, she turned quickly, only to see Raymond.
“Are you alright?” Raymond asked caringly.
Annabelle couldn’t say a word to him. She kept staring at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Raymond placed his hand on her cheeks and slowly wiped off her tears. Then staring into her eyes, he said,
“I’m sorry it took me this long to find you,” Raymond said with a smile.
“Raymond” Annabelle called out amidst tears.
“It’s okay. I’m here now” He said smiling at her.
But Annabelle who could not control her tears kept crying the more.
“I love you, Annabelle. And it’s coming from a place of sincerity” Raymond said.
But Annabelle gave him a weak smile with tears rolling down her cheeks.
And at this point, Raymond had to lean in and console her with a deep and passionate kiss.
