How pained?

I drew close, like I was seducing him unto my arms. I wrapped my arms around him, (Jamal loved it so much anytime I did that) smiling endlessly, tears rolled down in the mist of my mischievous smiles, he got worried suddenly

  "Danielle, are you ok? Danielle? What would you like me to do?" He looked helpless

  "It's easy (tears rolling and still smiling) serve your heart on a platter.....that's all I want for breakfast and I'd love your daddy-boy for lunch...." I was swinging my body side to side

Jamal looked lost and restless. Then I walked away, went up to our bedroom, Jamal was right behind me. I took off my robes with nothing on me not even an underwear, he took a towel to cover me up

  "Don't do that! I'm your wife now." I said still leaving faint smiles and tear drops

  "Danielle!" He called gently to avoid my anger, he turned away trying to call our family doctor

  "Im your wife." I walked into the bath tub and sunk my head beneath the water silently.

He turned to me realizing I said nothing. He ran towards me, grabbing my body out of the water placing me on the bed, he wore back my robes under the blanket that was below my chest.

He tried to revive me countlessly, he then did the mouth to mouth respiration then I came back alive, panting silently. He hugged me tightly, soaking me in his tears

  "You should have let me die instead....." I defiantly said almost whispering

  "I wouldn't let you die, i can't!" He defended

  "That's the problem. If I stay alive, they'd have to die.....you shoulda let me die in the tub, Your loss!" I turned away

The doctor arrived in 20 minutes, I demanded that the doctor returned home

  "Danielle, he'd only check you up. You drowned for crying out loud" he screamed

  "Sir, you might want to keep it low in here, with her." Dr Jim suggested

  "I'm sorry...." Jamal pleaded

  "You see doc, he loves me and would not let-me-die." I clenched my teeth speaking to Dr Jim

   "Babe? Can he at least do some checking and prescribe some pills..." Jamal suggested 

  "No husband. I'm fine, I only passed out, now I'm back all strong." I rejected

  "Mrs Khaleefa...." He called

  "Miss Chris.....thanks for your commitment, I'd contact you myself, right?" I smiled

  "Yes sure." Dr Jim left in confusion

  "I see you hate Khaleefa..." Jamal got disappointed

  "So much, right now. I wish it was Mrs West for the record...." I shrugged to annoy him

I could see Jamal's disappointment

After two hours,

The door bell rang, Jamal opted to get the door but I refused. I opened the door, Lola stood there with a trolley 

After I had scanned her body like some scanning machine, I finally spoke

  "Welcome home, Baby Mama." I said politely

  "Are you insane?....." Lola tried to argue

  "I think so. Jamal took my sanity, so I must be insane. Now move in!" I ordered with a firm look

Lola didn't expect this gesture, they both expected a fight combo I guess, but I was ready to make them suffer for their sins. They actually made me this way, no doubt.

Jamal was silent while I walked Lola to an empty room neatly arranged

  "This is your room, feel free. I prepared it myself." I left

It felt like another dark me, speaking instead of the Regular Danielle. Jamal and Lola were really shocked by my attitude

  "You should call her out after shower, we have a meeting in 15!" I ordered

Jamal did exactly as I told him

He sat at my right and Lola at my left on different sofas.

  "Let's talk about us, how about that?" I smiled

  "Uhm, i really need to take my leave....." She tried to go.

  "Anti natal?" I sweetly asked

  "Oh yes. Anti Natal" she concurred

  "Ok. I'd be the doc instead, or maybe you might get scared, I have a doctor for you......No one is leaving this house. We'll wait until the child is born....then you watch me kill the child" I said 

  "You are not doing...." She got scared, being defensive

  "Try me!" I smirked

  "Danni, can we at least talk about this?" He digressed avoiding the threats looking restless

  "Smart ass! Yes we should" I looked around expecting objections but there was none.

  "Jamal, what the hell?" Lola went to her room

  "Do you not want to apologize to your Baby mama? She's raging!" I left to the bedroom

Jamal headed to Lola's

  "You are despicable....what sort of a girlfriend is that, she tells you what to and how to do it?" Lola fumed

  "Get it together! That's my wife! Danielle is my wife, didn't you notice the ring?" He defended

  "Oh really? Y'all are married, who knew about this secrecy?" She tried to mock

  "Everyone except snakes...... You know what, it was useless really useless looking out for you. I wish i never accepted this bastard you call a child...." He insulted

  "That's our child...." She addressed

  "Your child, lady. Did you have to get me drunk, did you have to lure me into this shit? If you loved me, you should've said something..."

Lola tried to slap Jamal, of course he wouldn't let that happen, s

He held her arms

  "What are you thinking, you could hit me as you like? I'm not Jamie, hello? Don't dare a thing" He warned

  "Why are you letting her use you, she ain't worth it, she ain't.....she's only pretending. Can't you see she's tryna kill your son-our son, Jamal!"

  "He ain't my son, he ain't worth it...I will never love you or your bastard, do you understand?" He scolded and warned at once

  "You don't mean it, do you?"

  "Danielle is right for doing this to us. She was right about you!" He left

I dialed Tedd

  "Tedd!" I sweetly called

  "Hi Danielle. I'm surprised you called" 

  "Don't be. Thanks for the information. She really is a snitch." I added

  "So what do we do? About West?"

  "Leave that to me. I'll keep you posted."

  "Thanks then. We'll be in touch!" He hung up

I knew Jamal overheard us talking

  "You knew about this all this while?" He asked surprisingly

  "If you won't learn to put me first, others would!" I turned away, sipped on wine.

He held me from behind, I smiled like I was over him. I turned to him and kissed him, it felt like I was actually patching things up

  "You don't deserve me Jamal. Its time we told Dad he has a grandson." I said

Obviously, I wanted more scorching & dramas.

  "Danni, isn't it enough already? I'll do what it takes to pay for this...."

  "I will tell Dr Khaleefa everything, from start to finish....." I assured

  "You wouldn't!" He added

  "I'd repeat, try me!" I assured again

This is enough pain for the three of us, I needed us to taste it. Right from the first time we started up as friends, we always had each others backs, we bored same cross and burden, we had same fun but taking away each other's happiness was out of it. Lola betrayed me, she shouldn't expect the best gesture from the malicious attitude she portrayed. 

I'm totally a changed person, my revenge falls directly to Jamal and Lola, mostly Lola. She deserved the the most of it all, she pretended to feel agitated over our closeness, without stating the facts behind it. If my presumptions are correct, they must have had a thing going on when Jamal came in town, maybe that's the reason she wasn't mad at him and maybe that's why she told him about our girl stuff. I think It was all planned out. What I still don't understand is how she got entangled with West, how on earth did they know each other? Lola doesn't buy burgers from such stalls, so how on earth did she get to know him. She pretended to not know him after persuading me to tell her about the guy I met tht day, somehow there has to be a definite presumption, at least one of them.

Weeks on,

I woke up a lonely girl once more, I was dressed for a jog as early as 6am. I came home 6:45pm,  exhausted and sweaty, shower wasn't a choice, I did it. I got a call from Omar

  "Omar?" I answered

  "Morning ma'am! There's a pending update from the McClures....." He tried to explain

  "Omar, can I face time you later, I'm trying to work on something right now...." 

  "We could just set up a Zoom Meeting instead, its really important" he opted

  "That's when you come in, 2pm ok?" I concluded

  "Ok ma'am.....And Jamal?" He asked again

  "All good! See you soon!" I hung up

Jamal walked in wiping off, he had an appointment with his Dad, of course work.

  "Morning honey!" He kissed me in the forehead regardless

  "Can you not do that again?" I demanded

  "I'm really sorry, Danni. I just can't, you can easily kill me right now, like what am I living for after all?" He turned away headed to his closet

  "Nothing. Killing you would be easy and straight, I only want you to suffer" I jabbered

He came closer, facing me.

  "I deserve everything you doing to me right now, I sure deserve it but can you at least leave the poor child out of this or maybe my Dad out this. Waking up to not seeing your face, I can't hold you or speak with you is enough torture. If we had a divorce, maybe it would be less torture but No, I can't reach you even when the distance between us is just an inch away......its enough torture. I dunno how to make it up to you, but I'll keep trying as much as I could." He turned away, he dressed up in a designer deep sea blue suit and designer shoes. 

  "I love you!" He almost whispered and left

There again! He melted my ice cubes. Its a been a few months now, Jamal and I wrecked our ship causing this thin lines obstruct our existence as a couple. I made Lola's life a living hell, I made her feel inferior instead, I couldn't believe Lola was actually the pilot on the plane. A call interrupted my thoughts, it was Ada

  "Ada!"I sweetly called

  "Danni, what's up with you? Like, are you ok?" She got worried

  "C'mon Girlie! I'm fine, I wasn't eaten or something...." I shrugged

  "You think it's funny? This is inhumane....." She spilled

  "Ada I'm so sorry, can we talk over dinner at 7pm?" I opted

  "Yes anytime. You've got a thousand to confess as well!"

  "There you go! (I rolled my eyes) I'll call you ok?" I pleaded

  "Better off. Hate ya!"

  "Me too!" We laughed and hung up

I was trying to get cookies when Lola bumped into me, she expected that I get off her way first

  "Are you going to move aside or you loose this champ?" I asked

  "You wouldn't dare. If you could maneuver Jamal you wouldn't dare me......" She blabbed

I slapped her then she fell to the ground

  "Say one more thing, I'll slit your throat" My nerves responded 

She stood up taking a pan to hit me, I dodged it. She threw a knife at  me yet I dodged

  "Really, you want murder you'll get it" I pushed her to the ground again

  "You're a whore, you've never been better. Is that all you got?" Lola pressured

I got really angry, I couldn't help it remembering the absurd things she did to me, she threw a ceramic plate at me hitting my head, I heard nothing but sharp pitchy sounds clouding my ears, I was bleeding. I ran upstairs to stop the bleeding immediately, Lola followed behind, running upstairs like I did. I wondered how a pregnant lady could be this strong and relentless. I really had no intentions hitting Lola, Jamal had a point earlier. She came after me with a knife trying to stab me, I took a bat at the hallway trying to avoid her targets, she resisted

  "I swear on my life Danni, I'd kill you" she clenched her teeth in fury

  "You got a chance right now, back off!" I yelled at her

  "Come at me. Isn't this what you wanted, to kill us--do it!" She yelled back

The hate I developed for Lola exceeded maximum, I was totally out of control, I pushed her down the stairs in anger. What sort of a demon is this, how could she not avoid death.

I watched her roll down the stairs, I sat leaning on the wall all drenched in blood. Lola didn't move a skin, I managed to get off the stairs to her direction, it was a pool of blood, she lost her child, that's certain. I stood above her head wishing more hate even if I never wanted her down the stairs, it  really was self defense.

Jamal walked in briskly, he probably forgot something, it was a blood pool party. He stood in shock

  "Danielle!!!" He yelled at the top of his voice

I kept my silence, I stood in front of him, staring at his faltering eyes, I held the bat tightly as though I was going to him next. I had nothing to tell him nor defend myself over what he saw.

I could see the disappointment and fury that burned inside him, I guess all he wanted to do was hit me.

  "Danielle, you did it? You killed her? My son....are you this heartless......" He yelled, took out his cell phone to call and ambulance. I waited for the ambulance to arrive, deep down I felt sorry for his son. I shouldn't have pushed her but the pressure was out of hand, she wanted to stab instead. Jamal's thought was I did all that on purpose, I killed them on purpose, that's if they really died.

The doctors rushed on Lola as one of the doctors came towards me, i was bleeding as well. 

  "Hey! Let her be.....she wanted this anyway...." He shrugged and turned away

The doctor insisted on treating me

  "Its OK doctor, I'm fine!" I replied looking at Jamal eye to eye.

The doctor obeyed and they all left including Jamal, as it demanded he did. I couldn't believe my eyes, Jamal chose Lola over me, he actually thought I did it. I wasn't ready to make myself transparent, I was ready for anything be it prison.

I hired cleaning services immediately, they tidied up the place, I wired the cash then they left. Ada called my phone over five times I didn't respond, the sixth time I responded while sitting in the tub in our bedroom looking the chandelier inches above my head

  "Danielle, are you ok....Jamal called me earlier..." She asked in concern

  "I'm fine..." My voice dimmed, almost whispering

  "Are you ok?....hello?.....Danni?" 

My phone fell off my hand landing into the water, my vision blurred, I became giddy and drowsy my eyes closed with my head slightly above the water this time.

Ada drove with speed to my house, there was no sign of murder or blood, she called severally but there was no response. She headed upstairs to our bed, luckily she found me inside the tub

  "Danni! How could you do this to yourself? What the hell!" She got tensed

Ada dragged me out of the water placing me on the floor as she took out her phone to dial Eric, I bet Ada was confused

  "Baby?" She screamed

  "Are you ok?" Eric asked

  "I'm at Danielle's. She drowned in the tub...." She was silently sobbing

  "Calm down babe.....call 911...call an ambulance now, I'll see you at the hospital a'ight?" He hung up

Ada did as Eric instructed, Ada tapped on my face countlessly trying to bring me back to life. I opened my eyes gently, gasping for air

  "I didn't want her son dead....." I whispered and passed out again

The ambulance came in 10 minutes then drove to the hospital as I was rushed to an ICU.

Few hours later,

I opened my eyes to find only Eric and Ada standing beside me.

  "Ada.....Eric? Y'all came....." I sat up gently, they both gave a hug respectively

  "We should, I'm good and alive. What the hell is wrong with y'all?" Eric asked in concern

  "C'mon Eric, we ok. Just going thru a rough patch right now...." I simply said

  "That's not funny. Where the hell is he? I called a million times but it keeps going to voicemail, I think I left a hundred" Eric added

  "Don't bother calling him, maybe he's with Dr Khaleefa....yunno work." I defended

  "You ain't telling the truth, I better not hear coz I wouldn't let him live...." His phone buzzed "I got to ok, I'll return.....I have a meeting this instant...its huge, please?" He pleaded

  "I'm fine, Ada is here. Thanks Eric.."

He hugged me once more and kissed Ada on the cheek then left hurriedly. Ada turned to me

  "Do you want to talk about it?" Adam asked

  "What would you do if Eric cheated on you with me?" I asked tactically

  "Uhmmm......I definitely won't allow that.." She said

  "There! That's it. I defended myself, I really don't want to talk about this right now please?" I politely asked

  "Its ok! Jamal is unbelievable though" she said in distaste

  "It ain't him, its her. I wish she died. She did that to hurt me, to take Jamal away. I did not fight over a man, I only thought her a lesson she ain't forgetting for the rest of her life in hell. I'll kill her, even if it meant prison I would kill her." I turned away

  "You're only angry. Let it go..." Ada tucked my hair behind

  "I wish I could" I whispered beneath my breath

Jamal was all up and furious because he lost his baby but Lola survived through the fall, deep down I really wanted her dead instead. 

  "Is she dead?" Lola sat up inquiring

  "I don't know...." He sheepishly replied

  "What do you mean by you don't know? Isn't she your demon wife...." She stirred

  "Are you being serious right now? I left my wife in the house all bloody, I took you instead, making sure y'all survive, is this the thank you I get? What if she dies?" He scolded

  "That would be good for all of us!" She smirked

  "Lola? This is Danielle we are talking about, she helped you...." He reminded

  "....bla bla she tried to kill me, Jamal. She pushed me down the stairs, we lost our only son...." She pondered

  "....You started it Lola, you fucking did!" He yelled

  "I didn't. She tried to stab me, I defended myself instead..... You suck Jamal....after all we had, you'd go for a psychotic patient?" 

  "After all I lost the thing keeping us together, you can actually die for all I care."  

Jamal was about to leave as a nurse came after hearing the uproar

  "Sir, you should keep it low. You could....." The nurse explained

  "Can you at least kill her, or call her boyfriend Instead.....don't try to call me" he warned and left

The nurse turned to Lola

  "Ma'am what is he talking about?" The nurse looked confused

  "Oh him! Ah....he's only upset, we lost a child you know...." She feigned

Jamal never for once visited, yes I didn't expect that too. Dr Khaleefa heard our mischievous drama and Lola decided to press charges against me for attempted murder, hilarious. If Jamal wouldn't ask for the full story, I wouldn't stress to explain either. Her being alive was a continuous war to me, and West would definitely pay for being a hitman. 

This marked the start of a new crisis. I was ready to put everyone crossing my path to his or her level or even less, it's no Presumptions its only Danielle's principles.