HER BABYs SECRET Episode 63 by Ebunoluwa Ademide
Theme: Who should be blamed?
Arike’s POV“My father signed the billion naira deal with Adedayo after we got married. I got to know that they used me to get what they wanted from my father. Adedayo stopped paying attention to me, he barely cames home to sleep and when he was around, he never looked at me. Several times I had to get us drunk so we could make love as couples but for how long did I keep doing that? A long time and each time he wakes up ext day, he feels irritated by my presence. Dayo made me feel worthless, so I changed up too. I slept with few men just to hurt him. I felt abandoned and useless so tell me one reason why I shouldn’t make him suffer?!” She grimaced, anger clear in her expression.
“So you also didn’t accept the divorce because you wanted him to suffer?” I asked.
“Yes..he can’t back out..never. We vowed forever at the altar..so I am not going to accept to divorce him.” Her eyes flooded with tears and this time around I could see the pains in them.
Both parties are both claiming victims, now who should be blamed?
“So you framed him just to make him suffer too?” I asked hoping to get what I wanted from her.
The corners of her mouth turned up. “Yes..he has to be the one to suffer while I be the victim!”
I closed my eyes…this was it…she just confessed it! Shalewa had let her guard down because she was angry. I should still push through with my plan to get more from her. Though I felt pity for Shalewa too for everything she went through in this marriage.
“You don’t have to do this…” I said my voice coming out in a tight whisper.
She shot me a glare. “I will do everything in my power to make sure that Dayo ends up in Jail!”
“Shalewa there is still chance for you to come out clear and confess the truth. We can settle this out of court if you want..” I tried to persuade her.
Her jaw clenched and expressed hardened even more. “Settle? Settle what? This case? No..Get out! Get out you imbecile! Get out!” She snarled.
I felt insulted by her words! I don’t really care if Dayo was also to be blamed for what was happening! Shalewa went to far! She should have devised another way to get back at Dayo for hurting her. And isn’t lying about who the father of her child was enough to make him suffer? Dayo found out the boy he assumes to be his son wasn’t really his child – that was a huge blow for him.
“Get out!” She pointed towards the door.
My mouth twitched. “Justice will prevail!”
“Get out!” She reached out and pressed the alarm on the door.
“I will see you in court.” I said before storming out of the room.
I could hear footsteps approaching probably the guards meant to watch the door or the nurses on duty, and then I ran the opposite way to avoid them. I hope this doesn’t stir up trouble for doctor Nelson. I rushed into doctor Nelson’s office.
Bamidele and Doctor Nelson were still waiting for me.
“How was it?” Bamidele asked.
“It wasn’t easy..she found out I was there for Dayo. But I am afraid that she might tell the nurses about me because she pressed the alarm before I left. Won’t it get you into trouble because you told the nurse that you want to give Shalewa her drugs?” I blabbed in fear for Doctor Nelson.
I was afraid that he was going to lose his job if they decided to investigate it.
“You don’t have to worry…I didn’t meet up with Nurse Joy the other time because I knew this might happen. I told the nurse not to worry that I won’t be able to attend to Shalewa.” He explained.
“So no one will think you are involved?” I asked.
“But why didn’t nurse Joy go in to give Shalewa her drugs?” Bamidele asked.
“Wait..what if she saw me when I went into the ward and decided to listen to what we talked about?” I asked again, Bamidele and I exchanging glances.
Doctor Nelson just watched us as we bombarded him with series of what ifs.
“Nurse Joy went out for lunch and please don’t worry I will take care of things around here.” He said calmly.
I was surprised by his calmness…maybe he was right. Nothing would go wrong since everything had seemed to work out for us.
“Did she confess anything to you?” Bamidele asked.
“I was able to get some truth from her…” I brought out the recording device attached to my trouser band and gave it to Bamidele.
“What do you think before I play the recording?” Bamidele asked.
A knocked came on the door and I froze immediately. Doctor Nelson gestured to us to stay quiet by placing a finger on his lips.
“Yes..who is that?” He asked.
“Doctor, it is me..nurse Titi.” A feminine nurse said.
“Should we go and stay in that room…?” I mouthed.
“No..stay..I am consulting you as a couple.” He said and we nodded in agreement.
“Nurse Titi..please come in…” Doctor Nelson said.
Bamidele reached for my hand as soon as the door opened. “Babe..don’t worry..everything will be fine..”
I sniffed in pretense. “I hope our child is safe…” I sobbed.
We acted like a couple in here with our doctor for consultation.
“Yes..nurse…” Doctor Nelson said.
“Ahh Doctor….your attention is needed in ward 305.” She said.
Ward 305? Was that Shalewa’s ward?
“Why?” Doctor Nelson asked.
“The nursing mother is complaining that she is having a hard time breathing.” Nurse Titi answered.
Slowly I heaved a sigh of relief.
“Oh okay..I will be with you shortly.” Doctor Nelson replied.
He gave her instructed on how to help the nursing mother.
“Okay Doctor.” She said and the left the room.
“That was close.” I breathed out.
Doctor Nelson stood up from the chair. “I have to attend to a patient.” He said.
“We will go ahead now too.” Bamidele and I stood up too.
“Please help Adedayo get out of this mess.” He said.
“Don’t worry we will do our best.” Bamidele said.
“Thank you for helping us, doctor Nelson.” I said while Bamidele shook hands with him.
And we all walked out of the office. Doctor Nelson bid us goodbye before walking away while we started out of the hospital.
Bamidele replayed the recording when we settled in the car, he replayed at every point Shalewa had said things against herself.
“The law is always on the side of those who can pay their way through. I think they are planning to bribe the judge or something.” I suggested.
“You are right but all the things she stated here can be used as concrete evidence. Dayo is innocent and it is obvious that she framed him just to get back at him.” I said.
“And she doesn’t feel remorseful about it. If Dayo wins this case then we can in turn sue her for defamation of character and public humiliation.” Bamidele said, his mouth set in a hard line.
“Intentional homicide on her child, how could she fall off the stair knowing that she was pregnant and she even hurt Dayo by breaking a bottle on his head. What if he had died?” I screwed up my face.
“If she is not careful..she might get a long sentence.” Bamidele said.
“What do you think concerning what she said about Dayo and his father deeds?” I asked.
“In this case I think Mr Awosika should be blamed for all that is happening to Dayo. He must have pressured Dayo to marry Shalewa for the sake of the family business.” Bamidele responded.
EPISODE 64
Theme: Modern slavery
Arike’s POVMy phone vibrated in my purse and when I took it out to check, it was an unsaved number.
“Is it Busayomi?” Bamidele asked.
“No..the number is not saved on my phone.” I answered.
“Do you want to pick it or ignore?” Bamidele asked again.
“I will pick up the call, it might be one of those police men I gave my number to at the station.” Then I swiped the green button to accept the call and put it on speaker.
“Hello…” I heard a feminine voice over the phone.
“Yes..please who am I speaking with?” I asked.
“Arike, it is Moyosoreoluwa..do you remember me? I am Adedayo’s sister.” The voice explained herself.
Recognition registered in my mind. “Oh Mrs Moyo…how have you been?” I asked.
“I have been good and forgive me for calling you unannounced.” She apologized.
“It is alright.” I answered.
“How have you been too?” She asked.
“I have been well..and alright too. I hope there is no problem ma?” I asked.
“There is no problem but I am calling to see if we can meet?” Moyosoreoluwa asked.
“Oh..okay..when do you want to meet me?” I asked.
“Can we meet now if it is okay with you?” Moyo asked.
I exchanged glances with Bamidele and he nodded that I say yes.
“Alright..I am less busy now so we can meet.” I responded.
“I will text you the address to my place.” Mrs Moyo sounded happy over the phone.
“Okay..I will be with you soon.” I said before the call got disconnected.
“I don’t know why she wants to see me all of a sudden.” I said to Bamidele with a raised eyebrow.
“Maybe she has something important to say to you. It might be about Dayo.” Bamidele scratched his head with the car key.
“You maybe right because Moyo is the closest to Adedayo amongst his older sisters.”
A message peeped on my screen.
“She just sent me the address to her home.” I showed It to Bamidele.
“Okay..it is very close to my law firm so I will drop you off.” He gave me back my phone and started the car.
******************************Finally we arrived at the address Moyosoreoluwa sent to me. I bid Bamidele goodbye before walking up to the gate.
The gateman came to the gate. “How may I help you ma?” He asked.
“Please I am here to see Mrs Moyosoreoluwa.” I said.
“Okay..what’s your name?” He asked again.
“Arike.” I answered.
“Oh okay..she already told me someone with the name is coming to see her so I just wanted to confirm if you are the one. Please come in ma.” He opened the gate to let me in.
“Thank you.” I said to the young man.
I walked up the small stairs leading to the door and pressed the doorbell. I heard a voice screaming that she would be out soon. And some seconds later the door opened revealing the woman I had known for many years but I haven’t seen her for a very long time.
Moyosoreoluwa was the second daughter of Mr Awosika. She left the country after she got married to a wealthy businessman when Dayo and I just finished secondary school. It has been over a decade now and I really don’t know much about her. I don’t even have the slightest idea if she was still married or divorced now.
“Good day Arike.” She greeted me with a cheerful smile on her face.
“Good afternoon Ma.” I managed to smile back at her.
“Please come in.” She stepped aside and opened the door wide for me to walk into her home.
“Thanks for coming when I haven’t even checked on you for years.” She said, walking towards a set of couches in the living room.
“No it is alright and good to see you again ma.” I replied.
I wasn’t close to any of the Awosika Sisters except for Adedayo. They were far more older than me so it wasn’t even easy relating with them.
“Please take a seat.” She pointed to a couch facing her directly.
I did as she instructed.
“What will you like to drink? Tea? Wine? Juice? Soda?” She asked.
“No..I am alright ma.” I replied.
“What about water?” She asked.
“Okay..that’s fine by me.” I answered.
She stood up and walked away to a part I assumed to be the kitchen. And she came back with a tray filled with a bottle of chilled water and a glass cup.
“No don’t worry ma..I can do it myself.” I stopped her from pouring me water.
“Alright..” she sat back on the couch.
“Thank you ma.” I poured myself a glass and drank little from the cold water.
“Arike, I am sorry for calling you unannounced.” Moyosoreoluwa apologized.
“It is okay..I am sure..that you must have called because it is important.” I said.
She shook her head in agreement. “Yes..I have called you here because of Dayo’s case with his wife. I went to see his lawyer yesterday so he mentioned your name and said that you are working with him together with a very good lawyer..what is that his name again?” She tried to remember.
“Attorney Bamidele.” I helped her out.
“Yes..so I got your contact from barrister Prosper.” She explained.
“Yes I hired attorney Bamidele to help with Dayo’s case.” I said.
Sadness clouded her features. “I just found out about Dayo’s issue with his wife. And I really appreciate your help, Arike you have always been there for my brother since you guys were little.” She stuck her nose in the air and sniffed.
“You don’t need to thank me. When I found out about Dayo’s case, I couldn’t sit back and watch him go to jail for crimes he didn’t commit.” I said.
“I went to see him at the station after I spoke to his lawyer. I know my brother very well even though he is hard hearted like my dad, still he would never hurt anyone.” Her eyes twinkled with sincerity.
At least someone from his family believes Dayo is innocent. I thought within.
“We are working on getting his bail.” I said.
“His lawyer told me that you have some evidences against Shalewa that would prove Dayo’s innocence.” She said.
Wow! Barrister Bamidele was such a loosed mouth. I thought we agreed not to tell anyone about this evidences we have against Shalewa. Wait up, was that the reason why he asked Bamidele to send him the recording.
“He told me that you have a witness that is willing to testify in court in favour of Dayo.” She added.
I shook my head in response. Barrister Prosper has spilled too much to Moyosoreoluwa.
“This is all my fathers fault! And right now I am feeling ashamed to even call him my father!” Moyo stood up from the couch abruptly.
“All he cares about is his business! He used all his children to get what he wanted to favour his business…very greedy man!” She said with a grit.
“I was surprised no one showed up to help Adedayo.” I mumbled as I fiddled with my fingers.
“I took the earliest fight back to Nigeria yesterday after my big sister told me about the case. Adedayo never mentioned it to any of us that he was in such a mess. If he had called me right after he found out Jamal wasn’t his son, I would have helped him one way or the other.” Her face crinkled with bewilderment.
“Your dad knows about the case but all he did was ask the lawyer to meet Mr Oriola for settlement.” I explained.
“Can you see? Did the settlement work out? No!” Her eyes glinted angrily.
“What about your mom?” I asked without even thinking if it was necessary for me to meddle in the family issues.
“My mom kept mute all along! I don’t even know why she is so blinded by fear of what my dad would do to her! We were all forced to marry men we never loved and my mom watched it happen with folded arms! So I am not surprised she didn’t step in to help Adedayo.” She scowled.
Her mouth set in a hard line. “All of our husbands knew our fathers tricked them to marry us for business purposes, so they in turn treated us like we were sold to them. My ex husband called it modern slavery.” Her eyes flooded with tears.
EPISODE 65
Theme: No settlement except seeing in court
Arike’s POV Her mouth set in a hard line. “All of our husbands knew our fathers tricked them to marry us for business purposes, so they in turn treated us like we were sold to them. My ex husband called it modern slavery.” Her eyes flooded with tears.
Ex-husband? Moyosoreoluwa was divorced, my gaze traveled down to her hands and I found no ring on it.
“He wanted us to protect the company that was the only reason why we all agreed to marry his business partners. We got blinded by our sense of responsibility but look at us now…all divorced after being treated unfairly by our husbands.” She expressed her pains.
And I didn’t even know what to do or say to Moyosoreoluwa. I just sat there and listened to her.
“None of us had the chance to do what we wanted, our greedy father never gave us the opportunity to pursue our dreams. As his children, we let him do whatever he wanted to do with us. That is why I blame him for everything that is happening to Adedayo now.” She screwed up her face.
I didn’t miss the pains and sorrow in her eyes, the Awosika sisters must have really suffered in their marriages.
“Arike, I warned Adedayo when he told me dad picked a bride for him. I warned him never to listen to our father and I even offered to help him leave the country. I divorced my husband five years ago, alone with my two kids and had no one so I asked Dayo to come to New York but he insisted on staying in Nigeria. Adedayo also let his sense of responsibility get over him, as the only son he thought he could handle everything because running the company has always been his dream. To be honest, Dayo did a good job at running the company. He did better than all of us so we thought he was also doing well in his marriage. I thought he had finally grew to love Shalewa but…” her voice trailed off.
More tears streamed down her cheeks. “His Fate was worst than ours. We had children, they weren’t taken from us, we gained custody of our children and we got compensated after reporting our husbands in court for violence. Arike, we all faced the same ill fate and we fought our marital battles ourselves without involving our parents.” She nibbled on her bottom lip.
Moyosoreoluwa spoke up after some seconds of silence. “But Dayo’s fate is even worst, he is close to going to jail and our father is not willing to help. I can’t believe he kicked him out of the board and company and even froze all his accounts after so much sacrifices.” Moyosoreoluwa sobbed out loudly.
“Now I feel so bad that I had left him to do things his ways. My brother is innocent and I don’t want to see suffer this way.” She wiped her face.
“Well I blame your father because he didn’t give Adedayo the chance to explain himself and he just chose to believe that his son is guilty.” I said after Moyosoreoluwa was done cleaning her tears.
She shook her head in agreement. “You are right and I think Shalewa should be the one in police custody. She cheated, deceived my brother into believing that that boy was his child and she even tried to kill my brother. Is there a way to file a case against her?” She asked with a glint of hope in her eyes.
“The only way to clear Dayo’s name is to make Shalewa confess that Adedayo didn’t do anything wrong. Once we tender our evidences Dayo will be free and then we can file a case against Shalewa.” I answered.
The corner of her mouth lifted. “No..Arike that is impossible, Shalewa will never agree to tell the court that Dayo is innocent. There has to be another way to put an end to this mess. And why on earth is she doing this to him?” Moyo rubber her temples.
“I met with Shalewa at the hospital.” I blurted out.
“You did what?” She stared at me in sheer surprise.
“Barrister Bamidele and I visited Brajos hospital where Shalewa was admitted.” I made it clear to her.
“Yes..Yes Brajos hospital..I think barrister Prosper mentioned something that a doctor there is willing to help.” She said.
And how much did Barrister Prosper say to Moyosoreoluwa. This lawyer doesn’t have filter in his mouth.
“Is it true? Please tell me that you managed to get more evidences to prove my brother’s innocence.” Moyosoreoluwa’s voice jolted me out of thought.
What else do I need to hide from her since barrister Prosper already told her about our plans.
“Shalewa framed Dayo because she found out that he only married her to get something from her father. She is making him suffer unfairly because she feels they used her for their own benefit.” I narrated everything Shalewa said to me.
“I can’t believe this is really happening to Adedayo. How could she think of getting back at him this way? She should at least understand that Dayo was just blinded by a sense of responsibility.” Moyosoreoluwa cried even more.
“She thinks that Dayo had every chance to refuse marrying her when his father suggested it. And Shalewa is really determined to send him to jail for deceiving her and her father.” I explained calmly.
“Arike..please help my brother..he can’t go to jail..please.” She pleaded with me.
“We will do our best to help Dayo clear his name.” I said.
“Can’t we just settle things out of court? I mean I could arrange a meeting with Shalewa’s father.” She asked.
It was clear that Moyosoreoluwa was willing to do anything to help Adedayo.
“I am not sure settling things out of court will work out. Shalewa won’t back out until she sees Dayo in jail. So let’s do our best to face her in court and we will win.” I said confidently.
“Okay..since court is the only way out..then let us do it.” She sighed.
“Yes-“
A vibration in my bag stopped my intended statement. I brought out my phone and saw that the number wasn’t saved.
“Sorry..can I pick this call?” I asked.
“Sure..please pick up your call.” She answered.
Then I turned sideways and accepted the call.
“Arike,” I heard Dayo’s voice over the phone.
“Dayo.” I looked at Moyosoreoluwa.
“Yes..it is me..one of the sergeants let me use his cellphone.” He said.
“Are you alright?” I asked in a worried tone.
“Yes..I am alright and I just wanted to check if you have reached out to doctor Nelson.” He said.
“Yes we went to see him today and he gave us the file.” I answered.
“Are you sure things will work out as planned? I mean..will I be able to get out of this place?” He asked.
Tears welled up in my eyes. “Yes..Dayo..you will be free very soon.” I answered.
“Thank you very much, I really appreciate your help. Arike, my sister visited me yesterday and I told her that you are helping me. She promised to contact you but I don’t know if she will really reach out to you.” He said.
“She called me..and I am with her right now.” I sniffled.
“Alright..alright..and thank you for telling the policemen to get me good food.” He said.
“Dayo..please make sure you eat well, you will enough strength to face Shalewa in court.” I grimaced.
“I really don’t want to do this with her but she already started it. So I don’t care about anything, I just want to get out of this place and be free again.” He said shakily as if he was about to cry.
“You will be free very soon, Dayo. I promise you that Shalewa will pay for whatever she has done to you.” I gritted.
“Thank you, Arike.” He said in a tight whisper.
“I will come around to check on you tomorrow.” I said.
“Okay..bye.” Then I disconnected the call.
“Is he alright?” Moyosoreoluwa asked anxiously.
“Yes..he is fine. I have to go ahead now.” I stood up to leave.
“Arike..thanks for coming over and please keep me updated.” She accompanied me to the door.
“Okay ma.” I answered.
And then she bid me goodbye.
HER BABYs SECRET Episode 63
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