Marked ( Nigerian) #4

Chapter 20

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Remi strolled past several staffs as they greeted her on her way to the kitchen, she could only respond to them with a smile as she brushed the remains of sleep off her eyes.

"Good morning ma'am" a cheerful voice said

Remi stopped in her stead as she walked into the large kitchen to look at a cheerful lady in her mid 20's

"My name is Ife and I am your new assistant" she said as Tobi walked in behind her in his robe "Good morning sir....."

"hmmmm" he was his response as Remi shifted to let him pass. He walked past the kitchen and into the terrace that overlooked the garden.

she had never seen his morning routine before.

Staffs rushed over to where he sat, one handed him the newspaper and placed more on the table beside him. He started to scan through the paper as One staff filled a cup with orange juice while two more worked out the process of filling the table with more breakfast that he could eat. They placed a plate for her on his left.

"We need to run through your schedule with Mr Talabi and the family for the following months" Ife said as she strolled to the double glass doors leading to the terrace. She held the door out and nudged for Remi to come over.

As Remi walked through the door, another staff held out the chair for her. He finally looked up from his paper with a small shrug on his face he resumed what he had been doing.

"I have gotten an updated schedule from Mr Talabi's office and you will be representing him at an Islander wedding On Saturday to officially make the relationship and engagement public. Then a number of interviews for publicity purposes, a ball and a gala then the traditional and white wedding ceremonies which would be televised. The stallion office has also prepared formal statements" Ife said quickly. Remi felt overwhelmed as she looked over to Tobi who took a sip of tea behind his newspaper and carefully placed the tea cup down

"As soon as the wedding ceremonies have been carried out, you will be resuming as the head of the islanders women club........You also have a meeting with The PR team and your Grandfather in law in three days,"

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That got his attention as he dropped the newspaper slowly, folded it and placed it on the table beside him.

He watched as Remi got overwhelmed as the girl went on about how carefully planned her life will be.

"That's enough"

"Excuse us" He said without taking his eyes off his wife. He waited to hear the door close behind her.

He leaned into the hand of the chair closest to her and brushed his lower lip with his finger.

"5 Questions"

"that's not enough"

He raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she wanted to dare him into debating about the allowance he had given her. She sat into her chair, giving up on any hope of him letting her ask more than she could.

"Who was she" she blurted out. A smirk grew on his face and she instantly regret that her first question was about her "I assume you knew who she was"

"Yes Ophelia" He said. She had told him about their little conversation by the sea. "what about her"

"Nothing" she said afraid to know the truth about their relationship

"Your grandfather, should I be scared?"

"He is not your friend" he said before eating from his plate "he is not your enemy either"

"Was he the reason why you had to mark me"

"He didn't order your death, there are rules and We are Islanders" he said before taking a gulp of his orange juice "After the bus and the car pack scene, you started off a ripple effect of a rule where whoever kills you and presents you to my grandfather gets whatever they want from him. It puts an end to your disrespect and shows off respect on the bounty hunters side to my grandfather. with my grandmothers ring, I marked you and as long as you had the ring, you were safe"

"so why didn't you tell me"

"I didn't think it was fair for you to know everyone that came across you wanted you dead. Every staff in the house, every family on the island" he leaned in to talk to her "we need to sort out your knowledge on the family and the island before you meet with grandfather and the women's clubs"

Remi thought hard as to what her last question was going to be

"are you scared?" she asked as she watched him freeze and then drop the spoon onto his plate. clean his mouth with the napkin embraided with his own crest.

"scared. I have never been scared of anything my whole life Remi" He said "If its in regards to the campaign, I have enough power to make myself the president if I wanted to. I am simply being humble by trying to redeem my family's name in the politics of the country from the ground up"

"okay then"

He stood up to leave and slid an envelope onto the table and pushed it towards her.

"enjoy" he said as he walked away.

she opened it to reveal a solid gold ATM card with her name and surname on it and a letter addressed to her from the bank

Dear Mrs Remi Talabi....