5. Lawrence

Lawrence Sabaya sat in the car for a few minutes longer watching the mansion with distaste. He knew his wife waited for him behind those walls but he really couldn't bring himself to care. He knew he shouldn't blame her for how he lived his life for he was the one responsible for his choices but he had to blame someone or he would have broken. Truth be told he despised Angela but he needed her to survive. The reason why he stayed though was the fact that Angela held his daughter Shirleen somewhere in a bid to control him and so far she had succeeded for he danced to her tune like a marionette on strings pulled by her. So to hurt her he had decided to be unfaithful because after all was said and done she loved him still. A sardonic smile appeared on his face at that thought. He still remembered the day after Shirley had been killed. What still irked him was the thought that he had hidden his mistress and daughter away well and there was no chance of Angela finding out, or so he thought until that morning. How wrong he had been. He had woken up that day fifteen years ago a smile on his face ready to visit his daughter and apologise for not making it for dinner as promised. Angela had been in the kitchen preparing breakfast for him. She was a good cook and during their dating days she had told him that she had once dreamt of becoming a chef but her father had quashed that dream. He had walked down the stairs into the open plan first floor where the kitchen, the dining room and the living room flowed into each other perfectly, elegantly, and expensively. He sat at the dining table a satisfied smile on his face looking at the English breakfast laid out before him. His seat always had a good view of the television which was on but on silent. He was just starting his political career so he tried to keep himself ahead of the news but that morning something else caught his attention and the fork he was holding dropped in a clutter. Angela sat down and looked at him her eyes blank. "I remember the day we met. I was fascinated by the young handsome, forthright man who was charming but shy. It was obvious you did not have money but the passionate way you spoke of starting a political career was touching. It reminded me of my passion and even with all the money at my disposal I could not pursue it. Then you started courting me fervently and the fascination turned to love. You won the one thing many had tried but failed to win. You won my heart," she said softly turning to look at the table. "I defied my father when I agreed to marry you. He was so furious he disowned me. He thought you were using me and all you wanted was my money. I disagreed. Six months into our marriage I found out how wrong I was and how right he was. The pain I experienced that day was nothing like I have ever felt. You were already in love with Shirley before you met me but she didn't have the money and power to further your political career so you started looking for a naïve rich girl to fool and you did find her in me." Those words were spoken bitterly. "I could do nothing because I really loved you so I stayed and with every time I knew you were with her I broke. I found out she was pregnant with your child of course and I went over the edge. That was when I left." She turned to look at him again and her eyes were cold. "That was when I changed. I stopped expecting or hoping for your love but even so my heart still loved you something fierce. I could not bring myself to let you go. I wanted to make you as miserable as I was. Love is not a game for three my love and you should start learning that now. From now on you are my prisoner and you will stay that way until I make you president of this country and I will stand by your side as the first lady. I will fulfil your dream but you won't enjoy it. This is the price you will pay for making a deal with the devil. Your heart for your dream. The same way you had done it before but this time it will be literal. We will get there together but you will be my willing puppet." Lawrence stood up in anger pushing away his plate. "I should probably inform you that your daughter Shirleen will be my guest for an indefinite amount of time. So you better behave my love if you want to keep her safe. We don't want anything to happen to her like it did her mother now do we?" Lawrence walked out of the house without looking at her and she was left alone with her breakfast. What he did not know was for a few seconds or so she sat there looking at nothing and the tears flowed silently down her face. She was used to the pain but it didn't mean she didn't feel it to the depth of her broken heart.

Lawrence finally decided to join his wife in the house and his bodyguard opened the car door for him. He grinned carelessly at the bodyguard. He had accepted a long time ago the truth that none of the guards surrounding him were loyal to him. They were all loyal to Angela alone. He made it through the double oak doors into the house. His wife was in the living room reading documents scattered on the coffee table. "You reek of cheap perfume and desperation," she said without looking up at him.

"I thought you invited me all the way here because you prepared dinner for your wonderful husband," Lawrence replied sitting down a smile playing on his lips. She placed the document she was reading on the table with a sigh and looked at him. Her eyes flashed with something like pain but it disappeared just as fast. He knew how he looked. He looked like a man who had just rolled out of another woman's bed which was a true assessment. What bothered him was that for two years now his indiscretions seemed not to bother or cause his dear wife intense pain like they used to. He still felt pain when he thought of Shirley, pure crippling pain and he wanted her to feel the same way he did for the rest of her life. "If I remember correctly honey the last time I cooked for you was the morning I shattered your heart like you shattered mine," Angela said smiling back at him. The smile disappeared from his face and Angela smirked at the knowledge that she had won that knife fight hands down. "I think it is time I brought Shirleen back home, don't you? I cannot chance you misbehaving and offsetting my plans. I am too close to state house to allow you to continue making such foolish and poor mistakes." The look on his face was pure torture. "That poor girl still thinks that you don't know where she is and still has hope you will go rescue her. What she doesn't know is that for ten years now you have known exactly where she was but you never went to see her. Why?" Angela asked. When he did not answer she laughed and walked to the bar counter and poured herself a drink. "My father always said, do not underestimate men's capacity for greed it supersedes their capacity for hope. It seems this applies to you my love. Your greed for power has superseded your love for your daughter. How sad."

"I have been your loyal puppet because of my daughter. I know you don't understand the concept of being a parent considering you are barren but if anything happens to her. I will kill you," Lawrence said his voice hard and unbending. The glass in Angela's hand shattered when she tightened her grip, the red wine mingled with her blood and dripped onto the white carpet at her feet. Her eyes looked tortured beyond belief and she turned to look at him. Just as sudden pure hate swept across her face. "You are right," she said her voice devoid of any emotion. "I don't understand the concept of being a parent because I was denied that chance by my husband and his mistress. Now that I think about it I guess you didn't know I was pregnant because when I was pregnant I realised my husband's mistress was also pregnant with his child. I hid my pregnancy from my husband because I didn't know what he would have done. I was in pain; I was broken and my husband was happy his mistress was carrying his child. Due to all the stress I gave birth prematurely with a lot of complications. My daughter died soon after her birth and I was informed I can't have any more children. You think you hate me my love? Then you have no idea how I feel." Angela slowly opened her clenched palm and some glasses fell to the floor. She gently pulled the glasses embedded in her skin without flinching and turned without another word and exited the room.

Stacey made her way into the office without knocking carrying a first aid box. She was the only person in Angela's life who would get away with that simple act. Angela sat behind the office desk her eyes trained on the computer screen before her with unseeing eyes. She was lost in memories that caused her pain every single day of her life. "I no longer have tears to cry for that man," Angela whispered. Stacey walked around the desk and gently turned the seat so Angela had no choice but to look at her. She pulled a chair and sat next to her placing the open first aid box on the table. Angela may not have any more tears for her husband but her voice held a bottomless pit of pain. "I no longer have tears to cry over the pain that man causes me." Stacey didn't reply instead she gently cleaned the blood coated hand, Angela held out for her. If only Angela did not need her husband to get her to the state house then Stacey would have killed him a long time ago and stopped the cycle of pain her boss went through. "Stacey," Angela called softly and Stacey looked up at Angela, "What does it feel like to love and be loved genuinely?" Angela asked. "Do you feel happy and content? I think I once felt that feeling but I no longer remember it because I learned it was fake." Stacey looked back at the hand she was bandaging. "I wouldn't know," Stacey said just as softly.

"What a pair we make," Angela said.

"All you have to do is give me the order and you will never have to see him again," Stacey replied. "I would do anything you ask of me."

"I know and for that I am grateful," Angela said leaning back on the sofa. "What of Shirleen?"

"We will be ready to bring her back into the country as soon as you give the order. I opened up the house in Tigoni. The repairs will be complete in two weeks."

"The country house in Tigoni is remote enough. No close neighbours so no risk of her being found. I approve." Stacey nodded and stood putting back the chair and collected the bloody gauze. She turned to walk to the door. "Stacey," Angela called and she stopped to look at her, "My husband is not to be harmed in any way. We need him alive."

"As you wish," Stacey replied and left the room.