Even if Aunty Funke was not suspicious, Grace would not be doubtful of me. Now that I brought her here, she seems clingy, and she’s way smarter than I expected. She might figure this out in no time. Anyway, what do I do now? Susanne, who sat in front of her wall mirror, chewed on her thumbnail. Her eyes squinted at the effects of her thought. ‘No! There is no way any member of the Balogun family will find out. And I can’t live without Micheal. I can’t abort this child as well. How can I be so stuck in this?’
‘Tap! Tap! Tap!’
Susanne darted her gaze at the door. Then she stood up from the standing mirror and walked up to it. Pulling down the doorknob, Susanne’s gaze met with Micheal. Her heart raced as she turned to face her husband. His presence startled her.
“Darling... What are you doing here?”
Micheal stood with bolted hands in his pocket. His face raised to her direction as his firm jaws clenched.
With a nervous laugh, Susanne tried to play it off. “Oh, dear... How long will you keep standing outside my door? Uh?” she stammered, her voice faltering. You could have just called me. I don’t bite.
Micheal’s stern gaze pierced through her feeble excuse, and Susanne felt the weight of guilt settling in her chest. She studied him. His eyes frowned at her in a sceptical glare.
“Tomorrow, I’ll accompany you to the hospital of your choice. I don’t mind dedicating the entire day to you.”
Susanne’s jaws slacked as she shut it to an exaggerated smile. Forced and asymmetrical, then she paused. “I can go myself, it’s not as if I’m a child.”
It’s decided then. I and the driver will await you outside first thing tomorrow morning. Sweet dreams. Micheal muttered before stepping out of her sight.
A hateful hiss whooshed out of Susanne as Micheal stepped into his room. It pissed her off so much.
Despite her best efforts, Micheal’s disappointment was obvious. She couldn't convince him, and she knew it. As Susanne’s words trailed off, she realized that the trust she had broken with her deception weighed heavier than any hidden pregnancy.
In the living room of the guest house, Grace's phone rang repeatedly, but she didn’t reply. She just sat, watching it ring. Ore wouldn’t stop calling. She despite him so much and it terrified her to face him. Or speak to him. All Grace wanted was to avoid him as quick as possible. Or called her repeatedly until a hand snatched his phone from the back. He turned to see that it was his father. Ore’s face contorted to a glare when he saw his dad.
“You’re calling her again, aren’t you? It seems you enjoy wasting your time on that prostitute!”
“Give it to me! Right now, dad!” Ore demanded. “I don’t want to be rude to you. Just hand me my phone!”
“It seems your mum took it from my drawer. You take me for a fool, abi?”
“I’ll leave your house soon, dad!” Ore bursted at Shina, not minding the consequences. “If that’s what you want. I’m over 30 and I can build a family today if I want to!”
“See who’s talking.” Shina bluffed. He broke into a laugh with head tilted to the back. His thick eyebrows raised up while he paused at his the anger on Ore’s face. “You aren’t even a man! You’ll become one when you let go of that stupid orphan girl. You ignored your scholarship for Grace, didn’t you?”
Then Hadassah wandered into the living room. Seeing Shina painting Grace black. It amazed her as she speculated in curiosity. Her eyes gawked at him in disbelief. “Like seriously, Daddy Ore! You’re so impossible!”
Her walking pace fastened as she strode to her son.
Welcome back, Ore. You’ve made me so worried. Grace came earlier today to return the wedding ring. You should have seen how your dad drove her away.
“Dad! I see you’ve done your worse! Since you’ve decided not to see reconsider, don’t come looking for me again!”Ore snatched his phone from his father’s grip, grabbed his jacket on the sofa and stormed out of the house.
“Don’t bother returning home, Ore! If it’s a matter concerning Grace... I disown you!” His voice echoed in the corridor as Ore shut the front door.
“You must have gone senile!” Hadassah shut at him and he paused at once. His friend melts into a loving smile and his hand snaked to her arm, but she jerked off his hand at once. “You will surely regret this! If you can’t let Ore have his way, then just let him be! Are you in your right sense at all? How can you disown your only child?”
“Come on, darling. I said that just to scare him.”
Without words, Hadassah rolled her eyes at him and walked out of his sight.
“He’ll be back soon, don’t worry.” Shina emphasized, laughing at the look on his wife’s face. It’s been a while since he last saw her like that.
Ore, who sat outside his father’s compound, kept calling on Grace in contact. He couldn’t eat it sleep without hearing from her. She finally held her phone with teary eyes. Look, Ore." Grace reflected. I want you to hate me, too. You’re too soft to let me go and a moment with you right now is so suffocating. She shut down her phone and plugged it into the socket beside her bed. Then, she climbed onto the bed curled up in an ‘S’, thinking about how good it would be if she gets a chance to leave the country. Or enroll herself in the University. She thought about Adanna and her mother. Although Grace missed her the life she previously lived, she pondered about how good her future will be with Susanne until sleep overtook her.
Tired of calling, Ore grabbed his head, brainstorming for a while. She is obviously not in Lugbe. It puzzled him how his almost perfect relationship with Grace came to an end overnight. “Don’t worry, Grace. I will definitely find you. Ore promised himself.”
The next morning before sunrise, Susanne went to the hospital. Dressed and tushed up in a pink stylish oganza dress like a model out of the magazine. Her black high heels graced her feet as she grabbed her phone and called. Grace who was still asleep turned on her phone and saw the call.
"Hello Grace, where are you?" Susanne started.
"I'm at home at the guest house, what is it?" A tired yawn escaped her breath.
"Can we meet right away at Alafia Specialist Hospital? I'll send you the address right away!" She switched off the call before Grace could reply.
"Uh, what a sister?" Grace hissed, stretching out of bed. She hurried into the bathroom and had a shower. Thinking about the urgency of Susanne when she called, Grace put on a blue jean, red polo shirt and a pair of white sneakers.
“Wait, how can Susanne invite me to another hospital? How can she ask me to act like her?' Grace eyes rolled inwardly as she sighed. 'I can't even lie. Her family will expose me eventually. No, I have to convince Susanne that I can't take her place. This is such a a ridiculous idea, I won't be able to help her on this one." Grace said as she walked out of the secret gate and walked up to the main street. She waved to a taxi and it stopped.
"Mrs. Balogun. You have been pregnant for over 3 months now." A female doctor told Susanne.
"Yes, it's 3 months and one week." Susanne corrected. "It will be exactly 3 months and 1 week on Friday."
The doctor took off her plastic hand gloves and washed her hand with a liquid soup. Then she wiped off her hands on a white hand her chief and used hand sanitizer. "The fetus is already forming, but it's hale and healthy. I know you're a model and it's obvious that you're hiding your pregnancy. Dr. Susy leaned forward towards Susanne noticing her creased brows.
"You have been controlling your diet, haven't you?
Without giving a reply, Susanne placed her bag on the table before her and crossed her arms on her chest.
"See how lean you are? By wearing tight clothing, you're putting your child's life in more risk. Look, Mrs Balogun, your fetus may not be defiant in nutrition but your sense of fashion will affect your baby."
She handed her a white envelope. Susanne opened the pregnancy results. Her eyes narrowed down to the letter as she vividly went through it.
"Do you really want this child? Your health is also involved. So, I advise you take more rest and start receiving pregnancy treatment."
"I know." Susanne muttered beneath her breath.
"Good." A small smile fired on the doctor's lips before she walked away, leaving Susanne to ponder on her advice. Then, a text came in from Grace.
'I'm outside the hospital.'
'Good, come in.' Susanne replied her text immediately.
About to step out of the ward, a call came in. It was from Micheal. Susanne parabulate about picking up his call. She really wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret and she barely gave time to convince Grace to take her place for the day. At least, for Micheal to get convinced that she wasn't pregnant. His call came in repeatedly, Susanne just ignored his call.
"Why aren't you answering your calls? Where the hell are you?" He texted, but she didn't reply either.
A sort of sharp exhalation heaved from Susanne as her hands ran through her black wavy hair, in another tiny gasp. She failed Grace contact once again.
"I'm outside the hospital now, where are you?" Susanne fired without any greeting.
"I'm still at home." Grace gawd with pain.
"How can you still be at home by this time?" Her voice tightened with fright. "Grace....how could you do this to me when I need you the most?"
"You talked about me taking your place for today." Grace choked, as if in tears. "I know you might think it's cool but it isn't. I thought about it and I can't do it. It's a crazy idea!"
Her eyes squinted to the words as her gaze met Susanne walked out of the hospital gates while on call. She looked back over her shoulder and forth again as if watched. The situation tormented Susanne as she huddled to a corner by the black hospital gates. Grace brows rose as she blew out her cheeks, watching her sister from under a tree behind the gates.
"Susanne, what if they find out we're playing a trick or them? What if something goes wrong?"
"I would like to meet up with you privately and discuss!" Susanne's brows pulled as she blurted. Her expression changing from weakness to strength. It pained her Grace was going to change her mind. She left her with no choice. "Like I said, it's no big deal. Just meet up with Micheal already! It's not as if you're doing this at my back. I'm begging you to do me this favour. You'll just follow him to the hospital for a test and that's all. It won't take you two hours. I'll explain everything to you later."
"Why can't you tell me now?"
"You told me okay, earlier, how can you change your mind? Susanne hushed." Her eyes pooling in tears. She gulped down a shallow rapid breath. "What can I do now?"
This made Grace still. "Are you crying? Oh, I didn't know it was this serious. It seems you have a reason."
"Of course, I do have a reason, Grace. I'm begging you I'm God's name. Please, meet with my husband and go for this test. I will meet up with you and explain better afterwards."