Chapter 49

Mama Silver first starts by looking towards Abby... "So let me first start by saying thank you to Abby here... I called you and you immediately answered and rushed to help... I'm glad for your friendship towards my daughters and the part, you played in bringing both of them together... Thank you, my dear. May you never be put to shame by God's grace.

"Amen ma!" The girls all answered to Mama Silver's prayers in unison

Saying what I'm about to say in your presence means I already considered you a member of this family. Thank God you are already aware of how this whole mess of death and mystery started and I'm happy to inform you all that there's no more death and mystery in Rose's future. We no longer have nothing to fear..."

"Oh my God!" Samantha said and breathed a huge sigh of relief. She has been very worried for the last three days and finally, her worry has come to an end

"Thank God!"

"Oh God, sis I'm so happy!" Danielle and Abby both stood and moved to where Samantha was sitting, each of them sitting on each side of her, sandwiching her with their embraces.

"So I have another news which you might not find so pleasant." Mama Silver said when they were done rejoicing and everyone had gone back to their seats.

"You have to marry Leonard Salvador!" Mama Silver announced while looking straight into Samantha's eyes

"Eh!?..."

What!?..." Omolade and Abby both exclaimed when they saw the seriousness on Mama Silver's face. Only Samantha looked at her grandmother like she was a comedian before she suddenly burst out laughing.

"Grandma don't play with me please, it's too late for that." She said while still laughing. It was when she saw nobody was laughing with her and the very serious expression on Mama Silver's face that her laughter slowed down till it eventually stopped.

"You're not joking!?" Samantha asked Mama Silver, searching her grandmother's eyes to see if there was a chance that the announcement could be a prank.

"You need to marry him, Rose!" Mama Silver repeated what she said earlier again to Samanths to let her know she was not joking.

"Need to!?" Samantha asked stupendously

"Grandma!... How can you ask her to marry him just like that!?" Danielle asked with an unbelievable look on her face. Her voice had lost the usual vitality it normally has whenever she talks

"Grandma he nearly killed her!" Abby said, wondering if Danielle was right when she said Mama Silver might have been kidnapped and was made to talk under duress.

"I know... You don't have to remind me of that fact all over again"

"You knew that he almost killed her, yet you're asking her to marry him!? This is so unlike you grandma, what is going on!?" Danielle cried out in frustration, but Mama Silver just looked at her and sighed deeply.

She wished she could explain more about this so the girls would understand her point of view but she couldn't. She would rather they hate her than risk inviting repercussions on Samantha's head again.

"No!..." Samantha suddenly said after a long pause, breaking the unpleasant silence between them.

"I won't marry him, grandma! It would be over my dead body before I allowed myself to be yoked to that animal!

"It would be your dead body if you don't marry him, Sam! What is the matter with you!?" Mama Silver shouted with tears brimming in her eyes! "And not only yours... Mine too..." She added in almost a whisper. "How you expected me to continue to live after you're gone though is what I don't understand"

Samantha immediately stood from where she was sitting and knelt in front of her grandmother, putting her head on her lap and hugging her close to her.

"Grandma please don't cry!... Samantha said and started crying too "I'll marry him! I'll do whatever you want me to do just please don't cry."

"No Rose!... It is not what I want you to do! It is what is good for you!" Mama Silver said, looking into Samantha's eyes." She looked up and beckoned for Danielle to join them. Danielle stood up and also knelt beside Samantha both looking at their grandmother with tears in their eyes.

"Have I ever given both of you a reason to doubt me?... Have I ever!?"

The two girls both said "No!" While shaking their heads negatively

"If I have not then please trust me on this one... I which I could tell you the reasons why you need to marry him but I can't!... Please I beg you both to understand that I'm not giving you a valid reason now because I don't want to risk another repercussion on you Samantha. It is all going to be okay and everything would soon be clear to you"

"Okay grandma, I understand" Samantha whispered and nodded.

"But what if he tried to kill her again?" Danielle asked with fear in her eyes

"He won't! He wouldn't dare lift a finger against you again Samantha. I promise you that!"

***

A few hours later after the girls have all gone to bed, Mama Silver changed into her white robe and went into her prayer room. After chanting some incantations, she sat on a small footstool and closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, she was sitting on a cream and gold Turkish royal chair, inside one of the most expensively furnished living room built for the royals that she has ever been to.

She made herself comfortable by adjusting the chair to her convenience. She then picked the television remote control lying on the coffee table beside the chair she was sitting on, put on the television, and leaned back to watch the Drama that was playing right then.

In the bedroom upstairs, the woman of the house was sleeping, lovingly cuddle up to her husband. They just got back from holiday in the Bahamas two days ago and she's still feeling loved.

Then she started having the urge to pee. It's not even up to two hours that they retired to bed and her bladder was full again!? She hated this constant feeling of wanting to pee and wondered if it is one of the many symptoms of menopause the doctor said she was experiencing

When she couldn't hold it in any longer, she unhappily got up and entered the bathroom to relieve herself. The most annoying thing about getting up to per during the night was that she won't be able to fall asleep again until maybe after four hours and she hated when that happens. She really needed her beauty sleep now more than ever that her body is showing signs of aging.

When she was done peeing, she washed her hands by the sink and patted them dry with a towel. Then she looked in the bathroom mirror to study her face closely for the umpteenth time that day.

As an ex beauty queen, Regina Da-Silva hated the fact that she's beginning to show signs of aging that her healthy lifestyle and good skincare routine could no longer conceal. The signs are there quite alright, especially on her forehead and around her eyes.

When she was done, she picked a hand lotion from inside the medicine cabinets and applied it generously on her palm, massaging it deeply into the skin. Her hand wash doesn't dry the skin but it doesn't hurt to be extra careful

'Why does it smell different in here?' She suddenly wondered to herself as she walked out of the bathroom. She sniffed her hands to make sure she used the right hand lotion on them.

'No this is not it!' She said to herself while also sniffing the air around her. 'Strange but it kind of smells like the mixture of sea and herbs' she thought and laughed. 'Don't be silly Regina!'

Instead of going back to bed and disturbing her husband with her tossing and turning, she decided to go downstairs and watch a movie or two that would enable her to slowly fall asleep.