CHAPTER 36

Lota opened her eyes and was

shocked to see that she was in

an abandoned building. She tried

to get up and run out but realized

that she was tied up and that was

when memories of what happened

began to come back to her. She

sneaked up the roof and was

happy that she has evaded the

guards because she wanted to

be alone and have some quiet

time. She had her headphones

on and was listening to music

when suddenly, someone held

her from behind and they began

to struggle. The last thing she

remembered was a cloth touching

her face.

She looked around to assess her

surroundings and see if there's an

escape route. She sighed when

she realized that even if she escapes

from here, she doesn't know where

to run to because she knows

nowhere around here. She has

always been sheltered by Kamsy

and now she really regrets that as

she wished that she had disturbed

for him to let her explore the city.

As she was looking around and

regretting, a lady with a veil around

her face walked in and said "long

time no see in my little friend." When

Lota heard that voice, it sent shivers

down

her spine. She couldn't speak as

she feared to even utter the name

of the person. Tears began to pour

down her eyes instantly as she felt

that this was the end for her and her

babies. She knows that this lady is

ruthless but she still tried her best

to negotiate while hoping for a

miracle. "Samira, I'm sorry if I've

ever offended you and I promise

you that if you let me go, I will run

away from here and never return and

I won't go near your husband again."

Samira laughed as she heard the

little girl begging for mercy "so you

know that the man you are living

with is my husband. Since you know

that he is my husband, why do you

let him touch you and why do you

tell him you love him? I would have

considered your plea for mercy but

you see, that lover of yours offended

me gravely and I only want to use

you to send him a message. I want

him to know that I Samira, I'm not

a weakling and I am more ruthless

than he can ever be. He killed my

father and sent his little riff raffs

to kill me also." 

Lota's tears kept pouring because

she knows that Samira is a lunatic

and she can do anything to her and

nobody will find out because no

one knows where she is right now.

Samira walked closer to where

Lota was tied and touched her

stomach "I hear that you have

two babies in here. You should

really be very grateful for that

because these two babies of

yours will save your life in the

meantime. My father's life and

mine are two lives which will be

replaced by the two in your womb."

Lota looked at the crazy woman

and begged her "please spare my

babies. They are innocent." Samira

laughed and shook her head like

a crazy woman before turning

back and shouting at Lota. "Their

father is not innocent! He did not

think twice when he killed the only

companion that I had in this life." 

She walked away from where Lota

was tied and when she got close

to the door, she turned and came

back, and she smiled at Lota. "Did

you think I was leaving? No, I cannot

leave because you and I are going to

spend some quality time here

together pending when I bring those

babies out of your womb, package

them, and send them to their

worthless father." 

Kamsy has made many calls to

different people and organizations

promising to pay a bounty to

whoever finds Lota. His men who

were on duty when she was taken

are being properly dealt with as they

kept saying that they did not see

anything or hear any sound when

she was taken away. Kamsy raked

his fingers through his hair as he

kept pacing and cursing himself.

"Josh, why did I attend the meeting

that was held today? That meeting

made no sense and I also got

nothing good from it. I got a gunshot

injury and now Lota is gone. She's

gone just like the wind and I don't

even know who abducted her. I

didn't know if it's some members

of the bloodline, the lady vampire

and her Shadows, or kidnappers."

Josh just looked at his friend and

all he could feel for him was pity

because his friend looks exhausted

and his eyes are red.

After seeing how crazy Kamsy

was acting, Josh told himself that

it was probably for the best not

to fall in love. He couldn't believe

that his cold-hearted friend is

the one pacing and worried about

a woman. He began to ask

himself if he will be this worried if

Linda ever gets abducted. He

walked up to his friend and said

"Kay, stop pacing. You are only

stressing yourself and making

yourself more worried by pacing

like this. You have sent the word

out, so let's just wait till morning

and see what will happen." "Josh,

you don't understand. What about

if she doesn't have until morning

in the hands of her kidnappers? I

feel so useless right now as I

can't do anything to help the

woman I love." Kamsy was only

trying to stay strong in presence

of his friend but within him, all he

wanted to do was to go ahead

and trash everywhere.

Samira walked around Lota's chair

and said "I heard that you are

Fred's daughter but it's such a

shame that's his blood flows

through the veins of a coward like

you. Your father was no coward

and it's such a shame to see his

weakling daughter. I guess that

was the reason why he sold you in

the first place because he couldn't

find any traces of himself in you."

Lota also played along in Samira's

game by trying to buy herself more

time. So she replied "I never

accepted Fred as my father which

was obviously one job that he

sucked at. Everybody has something

that they are good at and if being

evil is something that I am supposed

to be good at, then I'm sorry because

I am not wired that way." 

Linda was trying to rest after having

a long day of trying to put together

a modern design with her team.

She was resting on the couch

when suddenly have phone began

to ring. She checked to see who

was calling her but it was an

unsaved number on her phone. At

first, she thought that it was Josh

because she has been avoiding

him since morning. She picked up

the call and the person on the

other end of the phone's introduction

really shocked her. She couldn't

believe that she was talking to

Joshua's mother and she wondered

how the woman got her phone

number in the first place.

"Hey Linda, I am Mrs. Ejike, the

mother of the man who you are

pregnant for. Even though you

refused to know who his mother

was before getting pregnant for him,

I am still not mad at you." As the

woman was talking on the phone,

Linda began to smell trouble. The

woman told Linda that she would

like them to meet up the next day

afternoon in a hotel. Linda felt that

if this woman really wanted to see

her for a good reason, why go to a

hotel and not her house? So she

decided to ask the woman some

questions. "Excuse me, madam, I

do not know who you are and I

can't just rush out blindly to an

address to meet a person whom I

know nothing about. If you are truly

Josh's Mum as you claim, I would

like us to meet up at your son's place." 

On the other end of the phone,

Josh's mum got so angry that

she felt like throwing her phone to

the wall because of the lady's guts

and insolence. She smiled at herself

as this will not be the first time that

she is dealing with certain people

who claim to know more than they

do. "Young lady, I am offering you

an Olive branch and this is how

you respond to it? I've been hearing

so much about you and I thought

that you were an intelligent person

but you just proved to me what my

mind has been saying about you.

An intelligent lady will not prove to

be a smart-ass in presence of her

mother-in-law. Instead of saying

what you said to me, you are

supposed to make findings of who

I am before the stated time for

the meeting. Since you've decided

to be rude and play journalist, fine,

let's meet at his house tomorrow

afternoon but make sure you don't

keep me waiting because I hate

lateness and tardiness." 

After speaking, Mrs. Ejike did not

wait for Linda to reply before

disconnecting the call. Linda who

was very tired in the first place began

to feel a headache after speaking with

the woman. She blamed Josh for

never giving her a head start about

how his mum talks or who she is.

Linda sighed before saying to herself,

"now my uptight mother-in-law thinks

that I am the uptight one. She is a

bitch who will never agree that she

is one. How do I meet that woman

tomorrow without us ending up at

Loggerheads with each other?" 

She picked up her phone and called

Joshua and the phone rang twice

without any answer. Linda got

frustrated and said since Josh

wouldn't pick up his calls, she will

make sure she dead his phone's

battery by calling incessantly. She

kept calling and on the fifth time,

he picked up the call and his voice

sounded tired and concerned but

that was not Linda's problem right

now as she wanted to take out the

anger that his mum has awoken

inside her on the son. "Joshua, why

didn't you ever tell me that your mum

commands people at will like they

are her servants? I am too busy

and stressed to play her kind of

games, so I would really appreciate

it if you can call your mother off my

back. You need to hear how she

addressed me and how I was

pregnant for her son and it got me

wondering what she would do to

me if I were getting married to you

but I'm really grateful right now that

that's not the case because I'm very

sure that I would have called off the

wedding with a mother-in-law like that."

Joshua whose plans were to get

Linda to marry him saw his whole

plan crumbling after hearing what

Linda just said. He frowned a little

as he said to himself "mum is there

anyhow you can stay without

sabotaging me? It seems like your

new game that brings you joy these

days is called sabotaging Joshua."

He was quiet for a while before he

said "why don't you go ahead and

see her so that you can get her off

your back once and for all. The Linda

that I know is not a coward who calls

people to get their mothers off her

back rather, the Linda that I know is

the one who faces situations head-on.

I am not against you and my mum

having your issues because I also

have mine with her. I would like you

to know that my mum's only problem

in this life is interference in people's

lives. Whether you like it or not, my

mum will interfere with your life and

your decisions. She also has a way

of talking in order to make people feel

small but she can only get to you if

you let her. I want you to show her

who you are and I also want you to

tell her your mind and make her know" 

Linda gave a short dramatic laugh

before saying "I called you to get

your mother off my back and you

are sending me into the lion's den

to do your dirty job for you? Stop

giving me all that motivational

speech about not letting your mum

get to me and facing her head-on. I

have enough problems of my own as

it is than adding your mum's own to

the heap. Joshua I do not aim to

create new enemies by proving my

point because I have already figured

that your mother will be a very fierce

opponent. I am pregnant and the

last thing I need is to be having

issues right now. So I am telling you

to find a way to handle your mother." 

A few seconds after she spoke, she

did not hear Josh's voice at the

other end of the phone call and was

wondering what he was doing.

Sometimes Linda asks herself how

Joshua was able to go through

medical school and graduate with

a first-class because he doesn't

concentrate on anything that is not

a woman. As she heard silence on

the other end of the phone, she felt

that there was a woman with him

and that's the reason he wasn't

paying attention to what she has

been saying, so she asked him

"Joshua you are saying nothing

right now. Are you busy with a

woman on the other side?" 

Joshua laughed and couldn't believe

that at this time when his friend

was in a critical condition someone

who think that he was with a woman.

But who is he to complain when he

has made that his trademark already.

"My friend's fiancé was abducted

tonight and we don't know who

abducted her. My friend is really

freaking out right now because his

fiance is very young and she is

pregnant. She doesn't know this city

and she knows no one here. She

doesn't have a family. He is the only

one that she has got and he's so

scared right now of what they could

do to her because he doesn't know

the faction of his enemy that has

got her. He is willing to pay a huge

sum of money to anyone who can

bring her back or even locate her. I

am with him right now and can't

go anywhere because he is my best

friend and also my childhood friend.

I will send you a picture of the girl in

case you come across her or meet

anyone who has." 

 Linda felt very bad after hearing

about what Josh has just said

because she was judging him

wrongly just a few minutes ago.

She shook her head as she spoke

to herself "Linda why do you always

jump to conclusions without proper

investigation?" She replied to Josh

by saying, "Ok, please do send the

picture also, I will meet with your

mother tomorrow so that we can

sort out our differences once and for all."