Chapter 55.

Talking about the baby, Lisa strokes her baby bump as a smile spreads on her thin lips .whatever it is she has to stay strong for her babies.

Seeing her this way Rosa cannot help but smile too.

"ma'am please follow me", she sounds humble that she almost makes Lisa feel guilty for having a grown woman bow to her.

As she comes down she can tell that the house is very beautiful meaning the owner must be rich

"what am I doing here? " she thinks loudly but the woman who ignores her as she busies herself with serving her breakfast.

she only lifts her eyes to ask her preference ;porridge or milk?

"some porridge please, 'Lisa informs her kindly.

Hearing that the woman smiles with satisfaction" ,you sure know what is nutritious to your baby".

looking at the table covered with delicacies , she cannot help but feel hungry and her stomach grumbles reminding her that she hasn't eaten .

after breakfast the lady whom Lisa came to know as Rosa runs a bath for her and selects some dresses

looking at the full wardrobe she cannot help but swallow whoever bought the dresses seemed to know her taste and size very well . Even the lingerie was of her size it makes her worry even more.

after spending the whole afternoon roaming around the garden the honking sound catches her attention.

for the first time she is relived yet scared ." who would it be, her captor?"

A middle aged woman around late thirties walks in .from a distance she looks like some queen as she walks her swagger screams money.

Lisa doesn't know whether to be sad or relieved. Relieved that it is a woman who is after her and sad because women tend to be enemies to their fellow women.

Lisa jolts back inside, ready to confront her.

seeing who it is she cannot believe it, how could it be her? its has been over fifteen years?'

with a clenched jaw and furrowed brows Lisa feels like banging her head to the wall.

she cannot forget her, the person who lied and used her only for her to jump ship when every went south.

"wh..what are you doing here ?"Lisa asks from her voice one can tell that she dreads meeting this person.

she tries as much as possible to control her emotions

"Lisa darling, long time no see is this how you greet your benefactor? "the lady smiles exposing a set of white teeth

Lisa finds her smile an eyesore, gone are the days when she felt relief seeing her and when her smile alone was enough to comfort her

"which benefactor? Maria the last time I checked you and I were never on the same page.

you lied to me till the last minute ,you lied to me till my grandmother breathed her last breath still hoping that you would show up. Are you even human? Wat do you want from me Maria? Haven't you grown tired of using small tactics to get what you want?" Every word coming out of Lisa's mouth is like an acidic that burns Maria's heart.

mentioning her grandmother Maria's facial muscles twitch a little.

"Maria do you even have a conscience? Yu joined forces with my enemies to trample on me ,you failed to stand up for me when I needed you the most, we took shelter in your home hoping that you would shield us from the harsh realities but no to you we were just pawns. Tell me how would you face your best friend knowing that you had let her daughter down?"

she can see her words are getting to Maria whose eyes have already swelled with tears. She had been living with this guilty for long and crossing paths with her and under such circumstances was something she never dreamt of.

Lisa turns  to leave but Maria holds her back.

"can't you stay and hear me out, hear what I have to say and if you still want to continue hating me then so be it. I let you down but I had my reasons" 

Hearing that from Maria's mouth she feels like clapping for her. she even has an excuse to whatever she did.

"Maria I have long gotten used to your lies and deceit, if there is anything you want to say please don't trouble yourself I am over it. As you can see I am pregnant and I don't want you to agitate me. My babies mean a lot to me".

"you are pregnant with more than one?' Maria's eyes pop out. 

***

After bailing her out Taylor and Richmond look at each other as though they are mortal enemies. what Taylor doesn't understand is why Richmond's eyes are filled with animosity towards him.

"Mr. Richmond can I have a word with you?" Taylor asks ,his question makes Aina stop in her tracks.

she cannot allow that to happen else she will be exposed.

"Father "She calls. Both Taylor and Richmond turn to look at her

Ignoring Taylor she tugs Richmond's arm looking like some sweet daughter . "Cleve is really tired thus cannot drive home if you don't mind can we ride with you?" She made the request knowing that Richmond rarely used his chauffer just like any other day today he came alone.

Taylor had seen through his daughter's act thus jumps in," dear don't worry about driving my driver will personally take you home ". His personal drive gets down and bows to them.

its like a cat just cut Aina's tongue. In her heart she curses, must her father ruin her plans always.

she wants to retort but seeing Mr. Richmond  follow Taylor out her heart almost stops beating. she has to think of something and really fast.

as she lifts her right foot to get into the car she falls down ,the driver with his quick reflexes rushes to her aid. Placing his hands around her waist he helps her to her feet.

Aina yelps as she slaps his hands away calling him all sorts of names; a bastard, monkey, moron ,exploiter and pervert.

the driver stands back stupefied and stunned by the sudden turn of events.

seeing she has already attracted the attention needed she further accuses the driver of pinching her butt.

her accusations invites condemnations from people. They have already judged the driver and to them he is already guilty ,given chance they might beat him to death.

taken aback the driver tries to explicate himself but Aina's argument is too strong and for a country that is the leading advocate in ending violence against women he finds himself in hot soup. To make matters worse  he is still on the police stations' territory.

Richmond and Taylor rush over. seeing two influential men standing their the police act swiftly in cuffing Taylor's personal chauffer.

seeing things are going her way she gives a satisfactory smile, not caring that the driver might be spending ten plus years in prison based on her lie.

Taylor cannot allow this to happen if his driver is imprisoned then it will be a slap to his face ,people will say he is a pervert who is surrounded by perverts. "officers before you take him can we check the surveillance footage", he points to the cctv camera on the nearby building ,it must have recorded everything

Aina shudders from within ,she never thought of that .How can she allow that to happen.

Trying to be magnanimous she offers to drop her charges taking into account the fact that the driver is her father's personal chauffer and instead of being locked up he will be dismissed from duty. To those around her she sounds reasonable enough but its too late for that.

Shally walks back with a link to the footage and at that moment she happens to hear Aina's senseless argument. "miss she says, we shouldn't let perpetrators off the hook just like that, what if he assaults another person tomorrow ,we should try to stop this by putting them behind bars where they truly belong"

saying that she hands the tablet to the officer who cuffed the driver.

watching the footage they turn to look at Aina questioningly

"he never assaulted you did he?" the officer asks as he uncuffs the ghastly pale driver.

Aina looks to the ground ,shuffling her feet and all teary. If looks could kill then she would have been buried six feet under by their eyes.

Richmond almost bursts with anger "why would you utter such a lie?"

she opens her mouth but no word comes out

she just toasted and roasted herself.

Richmond cannot help but wonder how many lies Aina has told and how many people have gotten hurt by her well cooked up stories.

once in his life he feels like he had been taken advantage of.

the ride home is long and quiet , occasionally Aina would turn to look at him but he maintains a straight face behaving like she is non-existent.

Cleve had been sitting in the car all this while even when things were getting hot outside he never even for once stepped out of the car or rolled down the window to ask what was happening.

reaching home Aina rushes to her bedroom and rummages through her stuff.

she doesn't find whatever she is looking for ,agitated and crazy she turns the whole room upside down .when Cleve opens the door and sees the mess he just bolts it and turns back.

trying to calm down she opens the mini fridge in the bedroom, alcohol won't help much but it might help her keep her feet in the ground.

finally she is able to think clearly ,going through her phone she realizes she never kept the old ladies' number with her rather her mother had always had it.

changing into a a light t- shirt and a pair of black jeans she heads out.

****

At their family house- the Taylor house she inserts her key into the key hole.

Feeling it unlock she feels happy that the locks were never changed  after her mother-Su's death.

scanning around no one seems to be at home.

its the first time she had been here ever since her mother's death. nothing has changed as everything seems to be in its place.

in the bedroom she goes through her belonging but findings nothing ,seeing the balcony door open ,she takes two steps towards it and a memory of her mother hanging onto the grills flushes through her mind.

she immediately shakes her head as if wanting to do away with it.

Looking for this?" she turns around to be met by a man in black wearing a mask

she becomes stiff as dead

"how did you get in?" her voice is filled with nervousness

"through the front door of course just like you .I should be the one asking why you came back all o a sudden? did you forget something behind and you are afraid that the police might find it?' The man replies as an evil yet charming smile plays on his lips.

Aina gulps "I don't know what you are talking about and I have always lived here'

"hell you do, he sneers ,I was hear thus saw it all and you baby girl couldn't wait to tie that little toy of yours down.it makes me wonder what is the grand plan?" saying that he pinches her chin.

Aina feels like throwing up ,for starters this moron is the cause of all her misery.

"before they can finish their conversation light footsteps are heard approaching".

helpless she turns to look at the man but he has already vanished

she doesn't have time to think  but looks for a place to hide or something to do to avoid suspicion

Taylor comes up ,seeing her at the balcony holding onto the grills he cannot hide the surprise on his face

"Aina!!  you came ?"

"father!" she sounds as a pitiful child 

he is stunned to hear her call him that, it has been long since she called him with respect

she runs into his arms with her face covered in tears

"father is mother really never coming back?'

he embraces her tightly this is his little girl not the scheming and vicious woman from earlier who would step on people without an apology.

"I am sorry for being a bad daughter, I have been in denial.it just occurred to me that I will never see mom again". Aina bawls her eyes out