Aliyah could not fully comprehend what was going on, but one thing was clear “She has been kidnapped.” She tried to think of anyone who had any bad feelings towards her, and she couldn’t come up with any. She looked at the interior of the car and discovered that her abductor must be very rich.
“What did they want from me? If they wanted me dead, they would have simply shot me and taken off”.
Her abductors left the road and entered a mini-estate before negotiating some streets and turned into a narrow way. They got to a gate, horned thrice and someone appeared to open the gate.
They stopped inside the compound and pulled her out. The house was a beautiful terrace with a modern design and structure, but they pulled her inside before she could finish enjoying the view.
The men dragged her into a beautiful and well-furnished sitting room where a lady was sitting in one of the chairs, smoking a cigarette. Aliyah looked up and stared at a familiar face, something clicked in her brain, and she stared at her in recognition.
“You again?” Aliyah said as she stared at the lady in surprise. She saw the look of shock on the lady’s face too as she was also surprised to see her.
“Are you sure she is the one?” Tara said, staring at the men who brought Aliyah in.
“We are sure ma, her uniform gave her away” one of the men that brought Aliyah in said.
“But how come?” Tara asked as she looked at Aliyah from head to toe.
Linda Thompson walked out of her room and stared at Aliyah intently “Is this the girl” she asked Tara.
Aliyah looked up and her mouth opened in surprise as she beheld the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. When the shock wore off, she had an inkling that she had seen the face before, but she couldn’t place it.
Linda signalled the men to leave after Aliyah had been dragged into a kneeling position, and she took her time to look at her from head to toe.
“Thank God she is not pretty; at least she is not Johnson’s type. I think Otunba is going crazy.” Linda said in relieve.
“I am sure the man is having a brain stroke. I know this girl babe; she used to be a cleaner in Dr Towooju’s hospital” Tara said laughing.
“A cleaner? Otunba must be mad; I think the man has Old age syndrome” Linda said again laughing.
“Her family was in a ghastly accident, and they couldn’t pay the bills. Her mother’s leg was amputated, and she had to clean the hospital in exchange for pain killers.” Tara said as she let out rings of smoke from her mouth. She snuffed out her unfinished cigarette and fixed her gaze on Aliyah once again.
“They are pitiful, maybe Otunba felt like doing some charity work, but he should have left my Johnson out of it. My baby came to me last night, and he was crying, they want him to marry a bag of rubbish he can’t even dream of touching” Linda said vindictively.
Aliyah felt the pains of those words, but she kept quiet. Something told her they might kill her if they think her a threat to their plans. She knew how vicious Tara could be; her life depended on her silence.
“Look at me, girl! I expect you to look directly at me when I am talking to you,” Linda growled.
Aliyah looked up and met her eyes; she saw scorn, mockery, and hatred there.
“What do you think I have that you have too? Why do you think you are woman enough to drag a man with me?” Linda spat out, but Aliyah remained silent, and it infuriated her the more.
“Leave her Babe; you will eat her up. You are not asking her questions that matter.” Tara said, trying to make Linda reason with her.
Linda stood up from her seat and lifted Aliyah’s head with her hand “Why do you want to steal my husband?” she asked slowly, her anger still evident.
Aliyah looked at her with pain and hurt written all over her face “I think you made a mistake ma, I never wanted your husband” Aliyah said sincerely.
Linda stared at her face and saw the sincerity there, her anger suddenly died down and she sat down deflated. She had planned to scare her into running away, but it seemed she was flogging the wrong horse.
“Johnson cannot lie to me, he said Otunba wants him to marry you,” Linda said now confused.
“That was because he wanted to save FUMA Empire. Otunba told me about it two days ago, and I rejected the proposal, but he told me the risks involved. I don’t want to do it, and I am looking for a way to help him without having to marry Mr Johnson” Aliyah said in tears.
“What risk?” Linda asked in surprise.
“Mr Kanmi and his father want FUMA Empire now, they are willing to do anything to have it,” Aliyah said as she quickly tried to calculate how much she could divulge without revealing the family secret.
“What?” Tara shouted in shock; she turned to Linda “Didn’t Johnson tell you this?”
“He must have, but I couldn’t listen past the part where he was supposed to marry the maid,” Linda said.
“Is Kanmi Philips running mad?” Tara asked in rage. “How can that boy show up out of the blues to spoil my plans when everything is almost successful?”
Linda stood up and started pacing the room in anxiety “How much do they want?” she asked Aliyah
“About three hundred million and they want it soon. It seems as if they possess a strong family secret they are using against Otunba. He has to give in to their demand, or they will kill him to get FUMA Empire, FUMA will be ruined either way.
“Oh my God!” Tara shouted as she stood up suddenly and walked towards Aliyah menacingly. “Do you know this big family secret?”
Aliyah shook her head vigorously and dropped her gaze.
“I don’t believe you. How are we even sure you don’t want to marry Johnson so that you can take FUMA for yourself?” Tara said with spite.
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