Contract husband

” Tell those hit men to make sure his uncle is framed for it….. with this…. My enemies will be completely eradicated…. Making the house and the company fully mine!…. Then we can live together as a family with your mother by my side.” He said, focusing on Rita and smiling.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

” Or isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?” He asked Rita, holding her by the shoulders.

” I know I abandoned you and your mom…. But it was for a good course… I needed to secure your futures forever and that is what I’m doing!!….. just take a look at your brother; Richard…. And consider the sacrifices I made in ensuring that Richard had some shares in the company….. the only two left now is you and your mom, and I’m working on that…. Just give me some time.” He pleaded with his daughter.

Rita glanced at her father and exhaled deeply, her hands were folded together as she nodded her head.

Mr Coker let out a grin And left, bidding them goodbye.

” Rita, I think you should cut father some slacks…. He’s really trying his best to secure our future….. but Ife is giving him a hard time…. You need to try to understand.” Richard advised his sister.

Rita fell silent as she poured herself a drink from a wine cellar.

” You know Richard….. I worry more about you than I worry for the company.” She voiced concernedly.

” Why are you worrying about me?” he asked her.

She sighed.

” I worry that what I fear the most is happening to you.”

Richard straitened and shot her a serious look.

” You are talking in parables Rita…. Why don’t you go straight to the point and shed more light!”

” Richard…. When was the last time you called Mom?” She questioned.

” It’s been a while…. I believe she’s doing fine Rita… what has that got to do with our discussion?”

” That’s the point Richard…. Exactly my point…. Mom and I feared you were going to turn out like dad, and that was why she was hesitant to send you to father and his enstranged mistress 5 years ago!!…. Look at how you turned out to be…. You’ve totally forgotten your root…. You’ve forgotten the toils of your mother!! All because you were too deep chasing another man’s fortune!!”

Richard scoffed unbelievably.

” With fortune comes sacrifices Rita…. I am fighting this battles for all of us!… You! Me! And Mom!…. I expect you to understand Rita….. poverty is an evil bastard and I do not want it reoccurring in my generation…. That is why I opened a trust fund for Kimberly; my daughter… so she won’t have to go through what we went through!!” Richard voiced passionately.

Rita swallowed hard as she drifted in her thoughts.

Her brother was drifting away like the wind, and she was slowly losing her grip of influence on him.

Richard had transformed just within five years of being under his father.

If only her mother listened at all to her counsels of not letting Richard go. But she wanted to be the submissive wife.

Her eyes were moist with tears when she wiped them off with an handkerchief and turned to Richard once again.

” You still do not get it Richard.” She voiced in emotions.

” The real poverty is not in the lack of money…. But being unloved, abandoned, and uncared for, is the greatest poverty of all times…. Do not abandon your family all in the name of chasing wealth…. Because in the end… you’ll realize they are the ones that matters the most…..” Rita paced around as she spoke.

” Evil is taking over you Richard….” She continued.

“Have you ever even thought for once that if you were to switch places with Ife, how will you feel if your father’s labour was taken away from you!!…. How will you be able sleep at night knowing fully well you murdered a man to steal his fortune!!”

Richard hissed in irritation.

” Why did you come back?… Is it to give me sermons on how to be a good boy!!!…. See Rita…. Father mustn’t know you said this or else he will not hesitate to send you back!!!…. This world is about the survival of the fittest…. Only the strong wins the battles… if you know you are not comfortable with our plans, then leave!!… But remember something!!…. This boy’s fortune was what you got you the house you and Mom live in!…. This boy’s fortune sponsored your education through school… this same fortune is what made you who you are today!!…. This….”

” Enough!!!…. Enough Richard…. You are a completely different man from the Richard I grew up with!!!…. You know daddy will never bring Mom back because of her condition…. Instead he is busy frolicking with other women and you turned a blind eye all because of greed….. I will never be a party to terminating a man’s life in other to steal his money!!!” Rita yelled in tears.

” You know what Rita!!!…. You can go back to your poverty lifestyle and embrace it!!!…. I do not give a damn!!!”

Rita broke into loud sobs.

” Mom is sick!!!…. Richard!!…. your mom has been sick for 3 years and you never bothered to visit her for once….. you got married in your mother’s absence…. Whatever happened to your conscience Richard!!” Rita accused her brother tearfully.

Richard sighed in frustration.

” mom is a distraction to my mission right now!!… And besides she made it clear that she didn’t want to set her eyes on me again!! …. So why the emotional blackmail, as if I’m a devil?”

” I thought it was a thing of the past…. Why is your heart darkened with so much bitterness?” Rita asked emotionally.

Richard stamped his foot angrily.

” You know what Rita…. I need some space before my wife gets back… you can come again some other day.” Richard said and walked out of her presence into his bedroom.

They had barely entered the car, when he received a disturbing call.

He sighed heavily and was silent for a while; as if trying to make a difficult decision.

” Everything ok?” Omar asked, a bit out of concern.

He rested his chin on his arm, and fell silent, letting out a deep breath.

” We need to leave town and lay low for a while till our wedding.” He announced.

” What do you mean by lay low?… I do not understand your insinuation.”

Ife turned to her slowly. He wasn’t expecting things to go to this extreme, much less, endangering her life.

” Do you want to die Omar!!” he asked her concernedly.

” What kind of question is that?”

He fell into silence, and took in a deep breath to ease off the tension.

” My Step father is planning to kill us!!…

That is why we have to leave town and come up with a plan for our wedding…”

” Kill us.” Omar gasped, popping her eyes in utter disbelief.

” You know Ife…. The first time you entered my office…. I sensed you will put me into trouble…. And here we are!!!”

” Calm down Omar… this is not what I planned… I underestimated my step father…. But not to worry, I have it under control.”

” You have it under control and you are running away!!….”