𝟑𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥

~~ 73. ~~

This time the lady said nothing. She could see the tears and hurt on Mrs. Jolaoluwa's face. And she knew she wasn't making anything up. She really went through that. She had just tried picturing those things in her head as she said them. For her to be in that position. It was hard to think about it. She doesn't think she could ever endure that. Just a year that things had turned so sour for the family, she knows how hard it was for them all. Not able to eat what they could afford before, and not able to attend parties like they usually do, their friends began to drift away, no invitations, no money for shopping or to buy new phones and cars. It was very hard.

But worst of it, how would she have been if she had been the one working to get the money to get all those things? She doesn't think she had ever worked so hard to get anything in her life. How could she when she has her parents who can give her literally anything she wants without blinking an eye?

She couldn't imagine living such a life.

Even in another lifetime. Not ever.

She had enjoyed the things of the world, been to places, meet with celebrities and influential people, and dine and partied with them. She had grown up in the best home anyone could ever ask for. And she won't trade that anywhere, anytime. So she can't imagine a life that wasn't what she grew up in.

Mrs. Jolaoluwa could see the confusion and disbelief on Bertha's face. She was obviously thinking about what she had just said to her.

Then she added. "That is what my son faced growing up." She said and the lady peered up at him. Her eyes now held sympathy. "He grew up without a father. He struggled to make a living. To everyone out there, he is the richest, one of the most handsome guys in the country. A young billionaire. But he worked his way up there. He suffered and struggled to be someone. There were years of pain, abandonment, suffering, hunger, and sleepless nights for him to be there. But he could have had everything on a platter of gold when he have a powerful influential father. But he still had to work for it."

"That is why I told you that I don't pray you to have to go through what I and my son went through. I don't. It was hard and painful." She sniffed a tear and looked away.

"Ola.." The man called quietly. His voice was shaky like he had been crying - probably from listening to her.

"I am... Sorry. I am sorry. We are sorry." Bertha apologized.

"What's the point?" Mrs. Jolaoluwa asked. "The deed had been done. If we had died in the course of trying to make a living, I won't be here to receive apologies. And I am very sure if this calamity hadn't fallen on your family, Lawrence would have never turned back to look for me and my son." The man closed his eyes and shake his head miserably. Because she was right. He wouldn't have. For years he had forgotten she even existed or he had once been in a fake relationship with her.

"I don't really care about myself but my son. He needed a father but he wasn't there. He didn't care. Why would he? He has the perfect woman with the perfect family strata. He had beautiful kids with her. Why would he care about a poor boy born by a low-class maid whose father was a gate man and whose mother was a house cleaner like her."

"No Ola... Don't... say that... Please... Please."

"Why shouldn't I Lawrence? Answer me. Isn't that the truth? It wouldn't have been so hard if you had ended things with me before you left the country. But no, you choose to use my weakness against me. You slept with me, looked me directly in the eyes, and made false promises. You even wrote letters to me when you left with all those sweet poems and promises. But I never meant anything to you. I was just a pawn in your game of chess. I was so easy to manipulate and have fun with it. Wasn't I?" Now she can't hold the tears that fell down her face.