CHAPTER 76

Strange things were happening all because of the possessiveness of the power of the closer gates. Martin tried to help Ruth get up but Ruth refused. 

" Don't you dare touch me Martin. I am not your little pet any longer. I don't need you" said Ruth.

Martin still assisted Ruth and forcefully carried her upstairs to their matrimonial room. He then threw Ruth on top of the bed which made  her to strain on her back. Ruth gathered her strength and got out of bed. She went close to Martin and stood there filled with lots of courage which astonished Martin. 

" Listen to me Martin. I need sometime alone. It's either you leave the room or I leave the room for you. Which one?" Asked Ruth. 

Martin silently left the room. Ruth locked their matrimonial room. She sat on the bed for a while crying. 

RUTH'S POV.

I must find out what is really happening. I must find out exactly what made Lady Ruby to lie against me. That imbicile. They call me a little girl because I was married at sixteen but I must fight for my family and go back to school. I must protect my marriage and my family. 

After a few minutes of thinking, Ruth went to her closet and changed her clothes. She opened the door and went straight to Magdalene's room. She assisted her to get up and held her arm leading her downstairs. They entered into the car and left. Since the incident , Ruth did not want to leave Magdalene behind. 

" Ruth ! Mama! The doctors said that they will discharge me tomorrow. They say that my health has improved. I am so happy " said Naomi smiling. 

Neither Ruth nor Magdalene smiled. They all seemed sad. This made Naomi to be filled with lots of worries. On seeing this, Ruth knew that Naomi needed explanation of the sudden sad mood. 

" Mom! I don't want conceal this from you. We have not found the person who tried to shoot you yet. Do you remember I told you purist got poisoned? Martin has concluded that it was me after a statement given by Lady Ruby. Why ? A man whom I had shared with the same matrimonial bed mama" said Ruth crying. 

Why would she not stop crying? 

She was indeed hurt .

" But now your mama is going back home tomorrow. The three of us will be able to protect each other. We will all make things right. We will send Faith to prison" said Naomi. 

Magdalene felt sad. She blamed herself for not being able to defend herself. It was all for the sake that she was growing old. She had no time to fight around with people. She only wanted power and nothing else. 

" As the head of this family, I will be the one to make things right. You both should leave everything to me. I am now the owner of the closer gates" said Magdalene feeling too proud of herself. 

" Mama! Grandma! I want to go and check on Purist. In order to solve this matter, I need to know what exactly Purist told Martin. Please, you two take care of each other" said Ruth who left to Purist's ward. 

She found Purist still resting. She tried to wake Purist up who finally woke up after a few hours of sleeping. 

" Mama! Where is papa? She was here with Lady Ruby" said Purist who seemed a bit scared of Ruth. 

" Why do you seem scared? What did you three discuss about ? Was it about me? " Said Ruth filled with lots of curiosity. 

" Nothing much, just the fact that you poisoned me. I am so scared of you. I don't even want to call you mother. I thought I made the right choice by telling Papa to marry you but I was wrong. I should never have done that since you are too young to get married. Get out of my room" shouted Purist at Ruth. 

Ruth immediately left the room. She did not really understand the main reason why Purist's attitude had changed towards her. She went to the washroom. She entered and sat there crying. She cried there for countless times. Her eyes were all red not until she heard someone coming out from one of the closed rooms in the washroom. 

" Crying seems good on you baby. Within a peak of time , my family will be right back on my arms and there is nothing that you will be able to do about me. Shine on your way baby girl. Don't you ever poison my poor Purist again okay" said Tere who did nothing but tease Ruth as she wiped her tears. 

Ruth stood and looked at Tere angrily. She moved closer and held her neck tightly although she never wanted to hurt her. 

" You might have got everything you want Tere but don't forget that the closer gates belong to my family. What? You want Martin, you can have him. After all, he was your leftover from the beginning. But mark my words old woman that this will not last long. Wash your face thoroughly because you look a little bit wrinkled. I want to pass" said Ruth who left the washrooms.

Tere followed her and pulled her hair till Ruth fell down. Ruth stood up and slapped Tere. All the nurses were shocked by the situation which made Ruth to leave. She didn't want a fight since it was a hospital and they could have been chased away. Some patients there had the phorbia of tension. Ruth went outside the hospital but Tere followed her till they were finally on the highway. 

" Now slap me back Tere. I knew you would follow me till here to slap me back. I have told you that I will take my family back. Unless.....you take them out of the closer gates but I will still follow them. I am not only a married at sixteen girl but a powerful woman who would do everything for her family Tere. Smile while you still can because when you start crying you will burn in hell" said Ruth as tears welled down her years. 

" I cannot be threatened by someone who sheds nothing but crocodile tears. You brought this upon yourself by agreeing to get married to my husband. You fell in love with an old man,  too shameless of a young girl to sleep in the same matrimonial bed that I used to make babies with my husband" Said Tere laughing annoyingly. 

" And what about you? What makes you different from me? You have Haggai's son and that's too shameless for a married woman. Now go ahead, you daughter needs you or Haggai's daughter needs you" said Ruth who left. 

Tere sat there in deep confusion. What did Ruth try to say? Did she know that Tere never gave birth to a son but a daughter?   That is what Tere had to find out about before her secret was pinned out to the public. It was an insult to her that somebody else knew her secret. 

Ruth ran as fast as she could to Naomi's ward. She knew that Tere could follow her and that was what Ruth did not want any longer. She entered the room and was surprised to find Martin there. 

" What do you want? Do you finally want to take me to prison for poisoning your daughter? " Asked Ruth. 

" You poisoned our daughter Ruth but I have realized that I have been unfair. I have realized that I need to hear your side of the story. I need to hear if it was indeed you who gave that poison to Purist" said Martin filled with lots of curiosity.

" She's not my daughter. Purist is your daughter. There is no need for me to tell you my side of the story since I have nothing to talk about. Get out and go to your daughter since Tere should be there waiting for you" said Ruth who pointed at the door. 

Martin stood there aghast. Ruth pushed her outside and locked the door of the ward. She did not want to discuss about anything anymore. She was too tired for anything. All she wanted was just that Martin trusted her by the fact that she did not poison Purist. 

" Why are your eyes red Ruth? Have you been crying? What is the problem?" Asked Magdalene. 

Ruth never wanted to hide anything from Naomi and Magdalene .

" I went to visit Purist as you all know but Purist does not want to see me any longer. She believes that I am the person who tried to kill her. Tere on the other hand has won Purist's heart. Now their family is complete. I am loosing everything" said Ruth crying. 

 Magdalene and Naomi went closer to her and tried to comfort her . According to them, leaving Martin was the right thing for Ruth since Ruth needed to go back to school and study well. 

Ruth hugged the both of the tightly as tears welled down her eyes. 

MARRIED AT SIXTEEN.