CHAPTER 41

It's been a few days since Rachel

was discharged from the hospital

and she couldn't wait to visit her

father's house so that she can

meet her new grandparents. Max

comes to see his daughter almost

every day and he couldn't wait for

the day that he will take her home

to spend a few days with them. He

was so relieved that Chioma backed

out of their proposed marriage. He

was also happy that she didn't take

it the hard way, rather they decided

to remain friends as the two of

them came to a conclusion that

they are not suited for each other

in marriage because they will only

bring out the worst in each other

instead of the best. From the first

day that Max saw Chioma, he knew

that they were not suitable for each

other but what could he have done

when his mother was at the forefront

as usual pushing him to do things

against his will. 

Max only agreed to marry the girl

that his parents chose for him

because he felt that he had nothing

to lose. After all, the only woman

whom he has ever loved seems to

have forgotten him. Now when he

looks back, he feels very stupid

for what he wanted to do because

he thought that he should have

tried contacting Shulamite first,

before jumping to conclusions.

He looked at the whole events

that have happened within the last

one year and told himself that

this could only be the hands of

fate at work because he couldn't

imagine what would have happened

if he has married Chioma earlier

and later find out that he has a

child with the love of his life. 

Even before Chioma told him that

she is no longer interested in

getting married to him, he had

made up his mind already that for

once in his life, he will defile his

parents because he now has a

child and the child's interests

needs to come first. He told himself

that he will not have a child with

one woman and be married to

another as that is not how he

plans to live his life. Having a

baby mama is not something

that Max has ever fancied but

fate has decided to play a joke

on him by giving him a child through

a woman he was not married to

but in all, he is still very happy that

it was Shulamite who had his

child instead of another woman.

While looking at Rachel's picture

on his phone, Max asked himself

if he would have loved the girl the

way he does now if she was from

another woman. Of course, the

answer to that seems to be no

because he feels that he loves

Rachel more because she is from

Shulamite and she also looks like

him. Anyway, he would have loved

her regardless of who she looks

like as long as she is Shulamite's

daughter.

While Max was daydreaming, he

heard the laughter of a little girl

outside and laughed to himself

as he said "I thought about Rachel

to the point where I now hear her

laugh even when she is not here."

He heard her voice again and this

time she was talking to his mother.

He couldn't believe that Shulamite

kept to her promise by bringing the

girl over despite everything that

happened between his mother and

her while Rachel was in the hospital.

He quickly walked outside to greet

his daughter as he will not let this

memorable moment pass him by

because this is the first time that

his daughter is stepping her feet

in their house since he came to

know of our existence.

He walked outside with his camera

while recording the moment

because he will like to bask in

the joy of this moment for as long

as he could. The little girl saw her

father and ran up to him as he

passed the camera to Shulamite

and carried his daughter. Shulamite

collected the camera and

continued recording as the family

walked inside their living room.

When Max's father saw Shulamite,

he paused for a few seconds before

welcoming her and Rachel. After

that moment he refused to look at

Shulamite again as he was

concentrated on his granddaughter

who has captured the hearts of

everyone in the family. Rachel is

truly one brilliant girl as her

maternal grandmother described

her. She brings joy and puts a

smile on people's faces wherever

she goes and that quality alone

was enough to make everyone she

comes across love her.

Before Rachel left home, her

maternal grandparents and her

mother reminded her several times

that she must be nice to the people

that she was going to meet and the

first thing that she should do when

she arrives is to greet them because

elders like children who know how

to greet. So when she got to her

father's house and saw her maternal

grandmother, she went on her

knees and greeted her. Lillian was

surprised that a child could be

raised with good manners especially

in this age where many parents do

not want to offend their children so

they let them do whatever they wish

to do. She held her granddaughter

up and said "you do not need to

kneel before Grandma while greeting

her because Grandma already

knows that you are a very good child." 

When they got inside the house and

she saw her maternal grandfather,

she also went on her knees to greet

him and that brought joy to the

man's face as he saw that despite

the nasty attitude of Shulamite

which he knows about, she was

still able to raise her daughter

nicely. He looked at the little girl

and said in his heart that, "at least

your mother was able to inculcate

good morals into you despite

lacking one herself. I really hope

that she has changed for the better

because I can still remember the

nasty video of her which I saw a

few months ago."

A few months ago when Shulamite

and Ima had their epic fight and

the video was trending, Max's

father happened to come across

that video and that was why he

paused for a few seconds when

he saw that it was the same model

who was involved in that terrible

scandal a few months ago that is

the mother of his grandchild. He

decided not to say anything in

presence of his family because if

his wife finds out about that, she

will waste no time in kicking

Shulamite out of her compound

and that is the least he wants right

now because if such should

happen, they will end up in a legal

battle for custody of the child. If

he knows his wife as much as he

claims to do, he knows that she

wouldn't even care about the child's

feelings as she will fight everybody

in court to get custody of the child

because she already feels attached

to the child.

Mr. George decided to handle

everything in a mature way like the

adult that he is and told himself

that he will find a time to speak with

Shulamite when his wife is not there

because he really needs to know

her mission in his house. He knows

nothing about her or whatever it is

that she has gone through in life

but he knows that having a child at

such a young age could tell on

anyone because society will never

take pity on you when they decide

to judge you and he couldn't imagine

how many judgments she would

have received from people and

even her own parents. Despite

feeling pity for Shulamite, he also

cares about his son because he

wouldn't let her break his son's heart.

Somehow, the secret that Shulamite

has kept hidden for a long time was

exposed on the internet as news of

her daughter began to spread and

many people were shocked to hear

that she has a daughter who is nine

years old as they began to calculate

her age to be sure. Many critics

began to criticize her and said all

sorts of things about her.

Najiba could not believe that

Shulamite has a daughter and all

the years that they were friends, she

never said anything to anyone about

her daughter. She felt betrayed that

Shulamite would hide such a thing

from them and she started to ask

herself how she never noticed

anything. When she heard of

Shulamite's car crash, she suspected

Ima at work especially when

Shulamite decided to quit modeling,

but looking at everything now, she

feels that Shulamite quit because

she doesn't want to die and leave

her daughter behind. Najiba told

herself that she will not put this

matter to rest until she speaks

with Shulamite and give her a piece

of her mind.

She called up Shulamite but the

number was out of service and

she laughed to herself and said "so

Shulamite quit the modeling industry

and blocked everyone that she once

knew. Or is she still angry at me

because of what I did to her at my

wedding when I noticed that she

was ogling in my husband?

Najiba decided to let the matter

rest because she has been very

busy recently as more jobs keep

coming in, all thanks to her husband

Zahid. Sometimes when she

compares her past life and the

present, she smiles and praises her

Mum for being a very intelligent and

caring mother because, without her

mother, she wouldn't be where she

is today. She looked at the wedding

ring on her finger and said "my

reason for marrying Zahid is really

coming to pass as my name is now

on the lips of popular brands." With

the kind of brands that she's

advertising for, she knows that if

she had never married Zahid, she

would have never been an

ambassador of those brands. Just

hearing the words Zahid's wife,

makes people almost bow to her

wherever she goes. She laughed

as she told herself that she will

never let Na'ima reclaim her old

position no matter how much she

tries because there is bound to be

only one wife in the game and not

two. Najiba knows that if Zahid

releases his wife from probation,

she will be given back everything

that she has lost and the two of

them will begin to compete in the

industry as fans will add fuel to the

fire by comparing them and if

Najiba is not careful, she will go

down because Na'ima has been in

the industry for a very long time.

Najiba knows that Na'ima has made

friends in the industry and although

it seems like those friends have

abandoned her, the truth is that

they are afraid of Zahid and what

he could do to them if they associate

themselves with her. So Najiba knows

that the moment that Na'ima comes

back, all those friends will go running

back to her, and the competition

which Najiba already knows that

she will lose will begin.

After marrying Zahid, Najiba came

to understand the proverb which

says "uneasy lies the head that

wears the crown." Everybody sees

her like she is happy and many

people want to be like her but they

do not know the plotting and setups

that happens behind closed doors.

They do not know that she is always

fighting and running against time in

order to remain in her husband's

house as being kicked out is not an

option. The only joy that comes

from being Zahid's wife is fame,

money, and respect because peace

of mind is in short supply and that

Zahid is one person whose attention

is very difficult to have. Before their

marriage, Najiba used to think that

she could bind Zahid to her side

with her very good skills on the bed

but now she knows better.

Ima also saw the news on social

media and it brought her great joy

because she has been thinking

about what she could do to Shulamite

that will really get to her and she

couldn't think of anything but hearing

that she has a daughter now has

given Ima new insights. She looked

at her phone as she continued

reading and laughing because she

told herself that Shulamite will

really feel the impact of what she

will do to her.

 She promised herself that she will

make sure that she hit Shulamite

where it hurts most and that will

be through her daughter. She

decided to postpone Doja's

assassination and kidnap

Shulamite's daughter first.

"Shulamite, just wait and see what

I will do to you. If I don't get your

daughter and hurt her the same

way that you have hurt me then

my name is not Ima. I will shred

your daughter like chicken and send

you the video and her body parts. Did

you think that you can ruin me and

go scot-free? Nobody has ever

escaped from me because when I

punish the guilty, even the innocent

shares from it." After Ima finished

talking to herself, she packed a few

clothes in a suitcase and headed

out of the house as she was not

willing to waste any more time

before striking.

Max took Rachel to one of the

biggest shopping malls in the city

and they had lots of fun playing

games and shopping around. She

was really excited as she told him

that she has been to Disney Land

and many other places outside the

country but she has never been to

this mall. She was very happy as

she passed around picking up her

favorite snacks while eating ice cream.

Rachel has always imagined what

having a father will feel like and

now she's having a first-hand

experience of it.

She loves her father not because

he's buying her snacks, ice cream,

and letting her play her favorite

games but because she has always

wished to have her father by her

side. Now the other kids in school will

not be able to taunt her again by

telling her that she has no father and

her mother has abandoned her

because now her mother is back

home and she has finally found her

father. She looked at her father as

she smiled because her only wish

right now is for her parents to be

together and while she was smiling

an idea popped up in her head.

Ima was also at the mega shopping

mall and was pretending to shop while

she watched the father and daughter.

She couldn't believe that Shulamite

had a child for such a handsome

man but was still greedy and was

dragging Doja with her instead of

going to her baby daddy to ask for

help. While watching the father and

daughter, she noticed that the little

girl ran outside while her father was

still in the mall so she quickly followed.