Chapter Four

"Are you waiting for someone 's call, Liza ?"Jean asked ,with a doubt of her face .

"No ,I'm not !"Liza said ,with a bored smile on her face .

"Oh come on ,there's no need to lie to me !

When we were shopping earlier at the mall ,it was quite evident that you had something else on your mind so tell me what it is or don't you trust me now ?"Jean asked ,walking up to her .

"It's nothing like that Jean ! Umm ! I really don't know why I'm like this !

I'm really feeling tired and bored and unhappy !"Liza said ,with teary eyes .

"Maybe ,she missed me !"Ben said ,from behind with an ambivalent smile on her face .

"Daddy !"Liza called out and hugged him tightly.

"I had missed you a lot ! After I returned from Acart ,mummy told me that you were on a business trip !

You don't know how much I have missed you !"Liza said ,facepalming her dad .

"Hey Jean ! "Ben said ,hugging her shoulders tightly.

"Brother in-law ,I'm glad you are back !"Jean said ,equally hugging him tightly .

" Have this ! I bought this present for you ...!"Ben handed over the present to her .

"Thanks brother in-law ,you are the best !"Jean said ,happily and opening up the present .

"And you too my dear ,I have something precious for you !"Ben said ,tugging her hair behind her ears .

" What is it daddy ?"Liza asked , curiously .

"Alright ,close your eyes !"Ben said ,with a smile .

Liza did as he wanted and he dropped a car key into her hand .

"Wow daddy ! Wowwww! This is superduper amazing !

I love it ..wow !"Liza said , hugging him with so much love .

"Wow! A new car ?

Congrats to that Liza ! I did the bigger job here by asking your daddy to come over and cheer you up so I deserve a special thank you for that right ?"Jean asked , facepalming her tightly .

"You're the world's best aunt ! I love you so much Jean !"Liza said ,hugging her shoulders with a cuddle .

"I'm happy you're happy ! I love you a lot Liza !

I really do !"Jean planted a kiss on her forehead .

Liza was very happy that her dad bought her a brand new car .

The house was filled with so much happiness when they got home so she decided to prepare her family some food !

It was a new recipe she learnt over the internet and she wanted them to know that she had great cooking skills .

"What do you think Liza is preparing in the kitchen ?" Goodie asked ,Corazon with a smile on her face .

"Let's just wait and see .I'm having watery mouth already !" Corazon said ,with a smile spiced up with much curiosity .

Everyone sat at the table waiting for Liza to bring to them her recipe .

"I'm finally done!" Liza said , putting the meals on the table .

She could tell from their faces that they didn't know what food it was .

"Alright ,why don't you have a taste and give me your comments ,huh?"Liza said , anxiously .

"These are curry wursts ! I know it's new to you all so I'd tell you its composition!

It's a dish I made with the help of online cooking sections containing hot pork sausages and cut into slices seasoned in curry sauce !

It is best eaten with curry chips since these are chip fries fried in a curry sauce !

It's a simple nice dish you should all start eating like now !

After you are done eating ,you should have the ginger beer I made too !

Don't worry, it's non - alcoholic ! I made it from fermented drink and flavoured it with ginger !

Go on now fam ,taste my meal and tell me how it tastes !

I'm having butterflies in my stomach already !"Liza said ,twisting her fingers anxiously.

.. ..

"Finally ! My plans have come to pass !Clinton has fallen into my trap and it's now Liza's turn to cry bitterly !"Melody smirked and walked towards a waiter who was standing at the balcony of her hotel room .

"Thank you very much for adding a sedative to the juice last night , this is your money !

Remember ,no one must know about it !If anyone comes to know about our little secret then you know the implications would be that bad !" Melody gave the money to the waiter at the hotel and ordered him to leave .

"My dear Clinton ,it's true that nothing happened between us last night but I needed to do this to break the relationship between you and Liza !"Melody said ,rubbing her hands on Clinton's photograph .

"My good old days are approaching ! After some few days ,I will become a big time millionaire and you will help me do that !

You are the one to take me out from my poverty Clinton ; only you !"Melody said ,kissing Clinton's photograph .

"As at now ,I will keep the original copy of the videos and images for my own self interest !

Poor boy, if only you knew I gave you just a duplicate of the videos ,haha!"Melody says to herself laughing.

"I know you're smart Clinton ! You will conduct a thorough investigation to prove your suspicions but how will you do that when everything has been tampered with perfectly according to me and my big plans ,huh?!

You'd never find out the truth about last night because I say so !

I might be cheap ,poor and ambitious but I know how to use my head and my body for what I want !

I'm Melody Grey after all ..haha !"Melody laughed hard till her stomach hurt .

.. ..

"Tantalizing! The food is really delicious !"Goodie said ,after finishing her plate .

"Well umm! Not to flatter myself though ,but i know it tastes really good ! You all owe me a present for the delicious meal ..!"Liza added, jokingly.

"Well ,you have it ! I will get you your present at any cost ..!"Corazon said ,happily .

While Liza chit-chatted with her family ,she received a message from Clinton .

*I want to see you babe ,meet me at the cottage!*

Once Liza read this ,her heart skipped a beat and her lips let out a satisfactory smile .

Without hesitating ,she stood up quickly from the dining table and readied herself to leave .

"Hey dear ,where are you going ? We are not done with lunch yet !"Ben added .

"Umm Dad ! I need to attend to something urgent !"Liza said , hurriedly .

"Ben ! It's her lover boy's message so let her be !"Corazon added happily .

"Yep ! It is ! I guess ,we were on the same page this time ,mummy !

I have been waiting for his message for so long and I'm not willing to let go of this opportunity to clear my doubt !

I love you ..!"Liza said , giving each member of her family a peg on their cheeks .

"Wow ! It was cool driving in a brand new car .

I was really enjoying the ride !"Liza happily drove her wheels off the street .

.. ..

"In no time ,Liza would be here and I would tell her the truth before any one else tells her !

Melody definitely has a copy of those supposed videos and images and I know she would want to blackmail me later on !

Before she even sends it to Liza ,I will tell her the truth myself !

Girls like Melody have no shame !

I will tell Liza the whole truth before she gets to know it herself !

I don't want to lose her ..! I can't lose her !"Clinton desperately said , to himself .

"Did you miss me too much ,love ?"Liza asked ,walking from behind .

"Ah well ! Alas ! I saw you but you don't have to tell me how much you love me because I know and by the way ,I'm also angry at you !

I called you severally and sent you so many messages but you still didn't reply any of them !

I was really worried ; I hardly slept ! My world felt like it was crushing without you !

I missed you ..!"Liza said ,taking a seat .

"Clinton ,why are you not saying anything ?"Liza looked into his gaze and could sense he was going through tremendous pain.

Whenever he was in pain ,she could sense it .

His face will turn pale and reddish and his hands will begin to shiver .

That was exactly what he was going through and she was afraid he would burn up with fever soon .

She hugged him without asking him a word !

She knew he needed comfort and that's definitely the reason why he called her to come .

It began to rain heavily and the tides were so high.

The cool breeze from the river kept the whole place chilled and very cold .

After they entered the cottage ,Clinton began to shiver .

"Don't ever leave my side Liza..!"That was all he said as he fell asleep .

She prepared warm water and cleaned him with it .

His fever had began to go down so she needed to collect some herbs and prepare some medicine for him .

They couldn't go back home looking at his condition and there was no nearby hospital to help him out .

When it came to herbs ,Liza was really good at preparing them for medications because she was taught by a neighbour of hers who happened to be a herbalist .It was really cool for her learning about herbs .

She collected a few of them from the jungle and prepared them for him .

His condition was really bad and she wondered what could possibly get him into that state .