Introduction

Chapter 1

The worry on her face made my heart shiver, despite being in so much pain she's able to keep a glowing smile on her face, only that she could not hide the worry and pain behind those smiles even though she tried her best to.

'Jacob please do not worry about me, I'll be fine' she blurted, despite being the hurt one, she's trying to console me, before I could say anything to her the doctor walked in saying 'She'll be here for a while so as to place her under proper observation'.

I shook hands with the doctor and thanked him for helping me take care of my soon to be wife who just suffered a terrible accident due to my carelessness, I asked the doctor when she was going to be discharged and he said not so soon, it all depended on how fast she responds to treatment. Now I have to leave her at the hospital to get food and clothes for her from the house. I wonder what excuse i would give to my father when I get home. I haven't informed anyone about the accident. What would I say? I took my wife to shop and got angry over a minor issue, I entered the car and started driving away leaving her stranded there and while she was trying to chase my car she got hit by a tricycle.

I thank God she was not hit by a car, maybe she would have died now. I don't think I will ever forgive myself if she died because of me. All of this was in my head as I drive into our very big compound. My family is more of extended and we all live together, although this is not very common in a Nigerian house but my dad being the a rich wants everyone to live together as one. That alone is tiring, having to deal with so many trouble and all.

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I am the third and last son of my father, I have two older sisters and a younger sister, we are six altogether. The second oldest son and my younger sister are my step siblings. My older sisters don't leave with us, they moved to their husbands house after their wedding. My brothers stay in the same house with us together with their wives and children.

My father, Chief Ajiboye Oyedepo Johnson popularly known as AJI is a business tycoon, he's into construction business and Nigerian politics but I won't say he is a politician because he does underground politics, he doesn't claim any political party and has never been given a position in government but all contracts pertaining to construction work goes to him. My brother Alex does the office work because my father trusts him the most while my step brother Rejoice controls the site. As for me, I don't do anything for my father's business but I have a part of the shares, I am a web developer, you can call me Computer Nerd as my friends do, I've always loved to work on the computer ever since my father got me my first laptop when I was in basic 3, I designed my first anime using the Scratch Application.

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Back to the matter on ground, as I walked into the house I met my younger sister Sienna on the living room couch, her eyes fixed to the screen of her phone as she types really fast while she giggles, she seemed engrossed. I walked pass her trying to make sure I don't get her attention, because I didn't want her to ask about Lara, my soon to be wife and luckily for me she didn't ask. 'Jacob'! I heard her call my name, why are you walking like that? She questioned, her eyes still fixed to her screen, that was probably the reason she didn't notice I didn't enter with Lara but she knew it was me due to my scent, "Nothing" I replied with a smile on my face. Dad said when you come back he wants to have a few words with you, he's in his bedroom.

I left the living straight to my room to freshen up and also get some clothes for Lara. I know it wouldn't be easy to get food from the kitchen without anyone noticing so I called Felix my childhood friend before leaving the hospital premises and explained everything to him, he promised to help get food to the hospital immediately. Felix has always had my back even back in the university days.

My phone rang; speak of the devil, It's Felix, " guy how far? I just saw your wife, I think she will be administered to a wheelchair. Her condition is a bit critical" he said, the wheelchair aspect made my heart race for a while, wondering how Felix was able to tell that they would give her a wheelchair, he studied pharmacy in school so he knew what he was talking about. This house is going to be a nightmare for me if Lara comes into the house on a wheelchair and I'm the sole reason behind it. I told him not to worry, he told me he was going to stay with her in the hospital till I was able to sort myself. He kind of suspected I was going to be in big trouble at home.

Knowing someone was with her in the hospital I decided to take my time a little, Sienna's voice rang in my head as I turn on the shower, my father wants to see me, well, my father does not just call me, our work is not related the only thing he calls me for is to talk about marriage and also remind me that all my friends have gotten married. That aside, he's definitely going to ask about Lara. I think I'll just tell him the truth, the worst he would do is get angry.

Immediately I finished packing Lara's things into a small box, I headed straight to my father having made up my mind to tell him about the whole incident if at all he asks about Lara.

I knocked on his door and he answered with a "come in Jacob, you're the only one that knocks the door before entering my room" as I entered the room I went flat on the floor, I prostrated to greet my father. One thing that is not missing in our house is our culture and the Yoruba tradition, even when we were in school my father forbade that we wore some type of clothes, like skinny jeans. I can remember vividly the first time my step brother came back from school with a type of haircut called Galas and he was also sagging his trousers. My dad silently called the barber to come to the house and he cleared the bush on his head, as my dad would call it. My dad asked him why his trousers were coming off his waist and he complained that they were too big for him, the next day the tailor came to the house to pack his trousers for slim fitting. The next time he went back to school father bought him blood tonic with so many cereal so he would not be thin and then complain that his trousers were big for him before he comes back home.

As I entered the room, my father signaled to me to sit on the bed beside him by tapping the bed. I sat down and waited for him to drop his call. While he was still on call I heard him saying to the person at the other end that "that is exactly what my last boy does, he went to university to study that so he won't work for my company" I didn't hear what the other person said which made him laugh so hard. At last he dropped the call. "How are you Bolarinwa?" Well, my dad is the only person that calls us our Yoruba names "I am fine sir" I replied bowing my head as a sign of respect. He continued, "A friend of mine who walks in the ministry told me that they need someone who can help develop a website that they can use to communicate with their client both home and abroad and I told him you'd help them that you've gone to the university to study just that so you will do it for them. I have sent your email to their office, stay glued to your mail box immediately they send you mail make sure you reply and let them know you're available because a lot of people are out there trying to get the contract. That is all I have for you".

I prostrated to thank him for helping me get the contract and immediately he changed the subject.

How was your outing? I heard you took Lara out to get a few things. Before he could continue I interrupted him before he ask about Lara I should break the news to him. Dad, there's an issue on ground I stammered. Lara was involved in a little accident but I already took her to the hospital. The look on his face and the sudden change of mood when I told him about Lara's accident made me scared that I couldn't tell him exactly what happened, I lied. "She was hit by a tricycle while she was trying to cross the road". How did she get hit by a tricycle? I thought you people went to the mall" he was already furious. I was called by one of the workers in the mall to go move my car that the owner of the car in front of my car wants to go out, I quickly went out to do that and while on that she said she was bored without me so she paid the cashier and came outside to where we parked only to face a Speedo tricycle". I narrated the story, though part of it was true and part of it were lies. Dad who was getting more impatient took his car key from the table beside his bed ready to go to the hospital, thank goodness for my mum who entered admist the situation, she was able to calm him down and I assured him that Lara was fine.

He was about calling his friend, Lara's dad but mum told him not so soon that he should see her first before calling her dad.

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Wondering who Lara is? Lara is my childhood friend, she, Felix and me grew up together but she left for New York City for her tertiary education. She came back late last year and to everybody's surprise she has grown to a young beautiful woman, her appearance speaks elegance.

Lara's mum died two years to us finishing high school, she's the only child of her parents and her father decided not to marry unlike my dad whose wife isn't dead but yet married another.

When Lara's mum died, we became inseparable, she spends most of the time in our house because her dad was always off from one country to the other for business. My mum became her mum, during that time I started having feelings for Lara and the feeling was mutual. We had our first kiss one Saturday morning after I confessed my feelings to her and she accepted to be my girlfriend. After we finished high school we planned to attend the same university so we could continue our love story but her dad changed everything after he announced that she would be going to New York for her education. My mum knew what was going on between Lara and me, she tried her best to convince Lara's dad but uncle Williams already made up his mind.

We both cried out our eyes at the airport, I couldn't afford to miss seeing her for the last time. I didn't want to let go but I had no choice. When she first got there we were always face timing but at some point I started noticing a guy, Jeremy, who's always with her, I asked who Jeremy was to her but she said he was just a friend of hers.

I noticed she gave Jeremy all of her attention and they were always together, whenever I FaceTimed her he was always disturbing and all, sometimes she'd forget she was talking to me and leave me hanging. I gave some space and she never said anything about it till I lost interest and stopped talking to her. Because of what Lara did to me I couldn't trust any girl, she is my first love, I had difficulty in moving on. Throughout my university days I never looked at any girl.

It been 3 years since I finished from school and done my masters. Like I said earlier Lara came back from New York late last year and she has been staying in out house, it was when she came back I realized I already developed some kind of resentment towards her. Our parents noticed we had a connection then and they believed when we connect we could make up and continue the love story we left but it wasn't the same for me. One random Friday evening my father called me and told me what he and his friend discussed about Lara and I, I tried to make my dad understand that it's no more the way it used to be but he wouldn't listening, he concluded that because I was still madly in love with Lara I couldn't get myself a girl even when I was in school. I think the same thing was discussed with Lara and she agreed that we would court for sometime so as to get to know each other more since we have been far away for a while.

Now I'm stuck with Lara, the more she tried to make me remember what we had, the more my hatred grew for her. I'd love an explanation on who Jeremy really was. I'm not some piece of garbage that one would just leave and come back to meet it the same way it was left. I wonder why she acts like everything is fine, clearly nothing is fine. She's a good hearted lady but her good heart frustrates me all the time.