Ol Boi! See story wey dem no mention me, skarlett you too much jor. I dey your back like hunch back

Interesting story... Following up 4 real

Skarlett toh gbaski, i salute u jare. Just saw dis nw and i bliv it will be better than secrets and scandals. Big ups to you, just dey burst our brain dey go

skarlett:
Roll call:
Bibijay123
Swann

Yay i was called second

swann:
wow...I can't believe that the story has actually ended. what an emotional ending.







Skarlett, remember to mention me in that new story you're dropping tomorrow

As if God told me


I nearly fainted just reading the prologue. Skarlie, please make this story loooooooooong...

swann:


Yay i was called second

As if God told me
I nearly fainted just reading the prologue. Skarlie, please make this story loooooooooong...

I swear you're one funny chic

Funny enough, i had no idea I would write the story, the muse just came and your voice kept ringing in my head, mention me when you start another story

I'll give it my best shot, you're welcome on board

johnwizey:
Skarl ett toh gbaski, i salute u jare. Just saw dis nw and i bliv it will be better than secrets and scandals. Big ups to you, just dey burst our brain dey go

Thanks dear, I hope it will too.

Dedicated to Missmossy, suzan404, niffyluv and heayey


One

Two years later…

Feyi Afolabi sat at the back of the church in the area that was designated for nursing mothers. The nanny, Blessing, was more than capable of taking care of Tomiwa but still, she wanted to be close at hand in case of anything. Tomiwa was still a baby after all and he needed his mother just like she needed him.

Her heart ached for the past two years of carrying and giving birth to him. It had been a torture all those nights she slept alone with no man beside her to hold her and comfort her in his arms, no man to pace the hospital corridors anxious for the birth of his child or even her health while she’d gritted her teeth in agony for nine hours until Tomiwa was born.

It had been a difficult pregnancy especially given her previous miscarriage but she’d survived and Tomiwa had held on for her too. It was as if he knew right from the womb that she needed him to hang on for her, to survive and give her a reason to live too. And he had. When she had laid sight of her healthy 3.5kg bundle of joy, all her pain in the preceding months had given way to pure happiness. She had never been happier except when his father was still around, but she didn’t want to think of him now.

She looked up from her reverie and realized the sermon was over. The pastor was asking everybody to stand up for prayers. She stood up, putting away her bible and jotting pad where the only notes she’d taken was a reminder to get some supplies from the supermarket on her way home. She had barely been following the service, she thought ruefully. Well, she’d get today’s message cd on her way out, she decided.

She sent Blessing to the car park with a sleeping Tomiwa ahead of her, after service. She wanted to get the tape and not keep them waiting at the teeming media stand with her. Obviously, a lot of people hadn’t followed the preaching too, she thought wryly. She was at the top of the church steps after making her purchase when she saw him.

What was he doing here?

The last time she’d seen him he’d been chugging suitcases out of their bedroom, or more aptly, the room they stayed in in her parents house. Pain had surged through her as she watched him leave and she wanted to go after him and beg him to stay but her mother’s voice floated in her head.

“Don’t worry Fey, he’ll come back. As much as men like him are ruled by pride and ambition, and as much as I hate to admit it, he loves you, so relax. He’ll definitely come back.”

And she’d stayed up all that night, waiting to hear the sound of a car stopping at the gate. He had even refused to leave with the car her parents had gifted them on their wedding. She had looked out of their bedroom window longingly the next day and it had taken her weeks to come to terms with the fact that he was never coming back. That was when the heartbreak had begun, the tears that flowed freely from her face as she cried at the naïve woman she’d been to choose her parents over her husband. To listen to the counsel of her mother.

She had wanted to die, refusing to eat or drink or even leave the house. Her parents had been worried she’d hurt herself and she had so badly wanted to, until she’d seen signs of the life that was within her and then had the will to live.

Panic shot through her and she fought the instinct to turn away from him and run. It had been close to two years since she’d set her eyes on him but the first thing that came to her mind after such a long time, was to flee.

*****
Tunji watched her turn pale like she’d seen a ghost. He shoved his hands into his pockets and his heart hammered against his chest as she paused on the top step. He’d only been back in town last night and his visit to her parents house a few minutes ago had informed him, she was in church.

They hadn’t been as awestruck as Feyi was, her mother had even given him a slap on the face for abandoning her daughter. He had expected nothing less as he had after all been the one who threw their wealth in their face to work and make his. What he hadn’t expected was the uncomfortable knot forming in his throat as he stared at Feyi.

“Good afternoon, Fey,” he said slowly.

The crowd had thinned considerably around them as people hurried home. Feyi still seemed to have not gotten over her shock, so he climbed up the stairs. He saw her wince and shrink back.

“I can’t do this,” she said and sidestepped him. She ran hurriedly down the stairs unmindful of the precariousness of running on stilettos and in a flash was gone out of his sight.

*****
Feyi forced her focus off the rearview mirror and on the road as she drove out of the church premises. He had recovered from his shock at her response and pursued her down to the carpark. But she’d had a good head start and was already in her car before he could reach the park. His image seemed to shrink further like something from a nightmare as she drove away. Big, strong and very dangerous.

Her fingers started to tremble on the steering wheel.

Blessing had been curious at her hastiness to get them away from the church but she said nothing. Madam could be a nice woman at times and if she’d been startled to hear madam scream at her to use her body and shield baby Tommy from view, she had quickly done it with no queries. Bosses were entitled to their weird behavior every now and then, she thought.

She guided her car out the long street that was Century street and down the beautifully interlocked road in Okota, Lagos. The traffic was relatively light so she increased the speed of her car. She didn’t bother to look back and check if he followed her.

She pulled to a halt and blared her horn impatiently at the gate and eventually wrenched the car door open, leaving the engine and air-con running. She crossed to the other side of the car to where Tomiwa was nestled in Blessing’s arms.

“Give him to me,” she ordered and Blessing thrust the child at her. “Musa will drive the car in.”

As she cut around the front of the car, her eyes slid sideways down the road and just in time to see Tunji get out of a metallic black Honda Pilot parked close to her driveway. He had followed her, she thought with a sinking feeling.

He would know, one look at her baby and he would see his spitting image. He seemed to have registered that she was holding a child as he approached her. Guilt nailed her feet to the floor.

“Whose child is that Feyi?” his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Feyi seemed too possessive of the child for him to think it wasn’t hers and if she was the mother, who was the father?

She flinched visibly where she was standing by the car. “I_I can explain,” she stammered.

“Start!” he barked more loudly than he intended to. The image of her wrapping her long legs around another man and moaning in his arms, struck him low in the gut. He felt sick. “And it had better be good.”

“Not here,” she whispered looking at Blessing who was still in the car unsure of whether to stay in or come out and Musa who was standing at the gate, more interested in the drama that was going on than his duties.

“I’d prefer to know if my wife has been whoring her body in my absence and who to, right here and now,” his gaze was dark and dangerous.

Her initial shock gave way to fury as his words tore at her like a blade. “Tomiwa is fifteen months!” she gasped in indignation. Just then the child’s eyes snapped open and he turned his small head to look at him in childlike curiosity.

Those eyes, they stared at him every morning in his mirror. Somewhere deep in his gut a vortex cracked open. His brain made the calculation quickly. His pulse began to hammer but he managed to keep his voice light when he spoke again.

“The child is mine?,” he asked matter-of-factly daring her to deny or tell him it was all a joke.

“Y_yes,” she stammered, “Tomiwa is your son.”

Relief that she hadn’t slept with another man flowed through him and then it was followed swiftly by betrayal. His mind worked furiously. They had made a child together and she hadn’t told him?

“Did you not think I’d care?” he asked. “Did you not think I’d come back to take care of you and take responsibility for our child?”

“You left without me, you turned your back on me,” she whispered. “I saw no need for you to know.”

“No need?” She winced and he struggled to keep the edge out of his voice. He knew what impact it had on the laborers he supervised on site; Feyi was not one of them. “We are still married Feyi, I’m the child’s father. You think I didn’t need to know? I would have stood by you, by our son.”

No matter what the world expected of him, he would have done that much.

She still couldn’t believe he had implied that she’d cheated in his absence. The knowledge that he thought that lowly of her, hurt. “I didn’t want to stop you from treading your own path, again.” She said through gritted teeth. “There was no need for you to stand by me. I was fine. I made the decision to go ahead with the pregnancy without you. It didn’t need you and as you can see, we’re doing fine by ourselves.”

There was something in her tone. It screamed a warning at him, an underlying meaning, he didn’t like. “Well, that’s about to change. I’m back and I’m back to stay, and I don’t intend to be cut out of my son’s life anymore.”

Feyi’s eyes flamed, he had just confirmed her worst fears. “We were doing just fine without you, I wish you’d just leave us alone.”

Self-loathing added its weight to the discussion. “Not in this life, sweetheart.” He dropped his face from her gaze. “You and I are not that important in the equation anymore, our son is.” He met her eyes again. “I can’t believe you cheated me out of knowing my son. I find that very low, even for you.”

Feyi paled and her eyes widened. She struggled against something internal. “What do you think?” she flung back bitterly. “You left, Tunji. You left me to pursue your dreams and further your career, I was never going to hold you down with another pregnancy.”

He had sent her his address, three months after he left. She would have just been finding out about Tomiwa then and he was just a call away. It had hurt him that she hadn’t called him or visited, but he knew that hurt paled in comparison to the pain he felt right now.

“Well, I’m back for good now and I’d be damned to have my son live under another man’s roof.”


TBC

This Feyi is such a child... Mchew.... Agbaya!.. So annoying.

skarlett:


I swear you're one funny chic

Funny enough, i had no idea I would write the story, the muse just came and your voice kept ringing in my head, mention me when you start another story

I'll give it my best shot, you're welcome on board

Thank you . I'm happy to be on board

Feyi, don't do the unimaginable.. Let him av his child and u both shd build ur love.

iykekelvins:
I did not even get a mention, and I told her

- _ -

Pele dear, i'll mention you in subsequent updates

Skarlett, why wasn't i mentioned ehn
Nice stowie btw

Now.. This is what i call a Hottie story
I love Tunji already..

I cant believe I came late for a story this good.

Madam! I'm present ooo!

Lawlahdey:
Ska rlett, why wasn't i mentioned ehn
Nice stowie btw

You will be mentioned in subsequent updates, pele

Fey no try at all sha

reading this story and listening to Shawn mendes album(illuminate)...
what a time to be alive
thanks skarlett.

Feyi is a goat, you love a man but you are nt willing to help build his dream, wch kain love is that? Make Tunji collect his child and marry anoda lady, case closed.

so loving this story... skarlett pls mention me when you update.

skarlett:
Roll call:
Bibijay123
Swann
Mhisbliss
Laveda
Twaci
Adeh39
Jagugu88li
Olabantu
Lumzybo
Shilox
Ritababe
Khutie
Mhiz
Oyay
Ps2
Neenie
Queentrippleb
Olanshile2016
Johnwizey
Dominique
Tamedwolf90
Frankcris
Rosalieene
Omakraid

.


Present Ma. Every story was and is a hit, back to back from diary of an assistant girlfriend, to secret and scandals and now Hearts in ashes,

johnwizey:
Make Tunji collect his child and marry anoda lady, case closed.

True dat! Then she will cry heartache, men are dogs. Selfishness can be reciprocated......silent revenge

Dedicated to iykekelvins, rosalienne yorhmienerd, and lawlahdey

Two

FOR the first time in two long hard-travelled months, Tunji Afolabi, strode in through the doors belonging to his newly acquired Lekki offices and instantly claimed the full attention of every person present in the slick modern marble-and-glass foyer.

Tall and dark, blessed with the kind of lean, hard, powerful body of an Olympic trained athlete, the air around him positively vibrated with excess energy as he moved, bringing forth a flurry of, “Good morning, Mr. Tunji,” that sounded breathless and charged.

That he had the same effect everywhere he went said a lot about the man’s personality. He was sharp, smooth, determined and driven. Working for him was like going on a roller coaster ride. You never expected what was coming next and his unpredictability served to give him an edge in the cut-throat profession of architecture. He was committed, his clients were rarely ever dissatisfied with his designs and he was famously never, ever wrong.

Today he was frowning, the two straight black bars of his eyebrows drawn together across the bridge of his arrogantly straight nose. His dark eyes glinted under the bright light but his features locked in concentration on the conversation he was involved in via his mobile phone. His acknowledgement to the greetings therefore consisted of a series of distracted bobbing of his head as his long stride took him across the foyer and down the corridor to his office.

“In the name of God, Jeffrey” he swore softly, “this is not even remotely funny,” he said exasperated.

“Oh but it is, I’ve always told you to appreciate the beauty of ironies in your life, it would surely make you less uptight.”

“Uptight? I find very few things humorous in my life and finding out my wife’s deceit is hardly one of them,” his voice was lethal now.

“Okay, alright. Enough of the jokes,” Jeffrey muttered. “I thought when men found out they are fathers, they become happier. You’re obviously an exception.”

Tunji felt his heart tug at the memory of his son, more than a year old and unaware of his existence. The anger burning in Tunji’s throat tasted of bile and bitter regret. Reminding him of how Feyi had hidden something as important as his son’s existence only served to rile him, he wondered if he would ever forgive her.

He swallowed his ire and cut his barrister friend off, “Yes whatever Jeff, can you just attend to the business at hand?”

“Yep, definitely an exception.”

“Stop trying to pull my strings,” he flicked out impatiently.

“I’m flattered that you think I can,” Jeffrey drawled.

“And stick to the point,” he added, well aware that Jeffrey was the ruthless, cunning cut-throat king of manipulation so using that kind of invert flattery on him was wasted.

“Well what is the point? The way I see it, this is a no-brainer, you and Feyi are still married in the eyes of the law. You’re certain Tomiwa is your son, y’all should just move in together and enjoy your happily ever after.”

“I wish it was that simple Jeff. I tried to talk to her yesterday but she’s adamant. She wishes to have absolutely nothing to do with me.”

“If wishes were horses…” Jeff sighed.

A growl of bubbling frustration vibrated against Tunji’s chest and at the same moment a small knock at his door heralded Ada, his secretary’s appearance as she stepped into the room.

“Sorry sir,” she murmured quickly, seeing the glowering frown pushing his flat black eyebrows together. “Otunba Gbenga Cole is here to see you sir.”

Tunji froze. Feyi’s father? What was he doing here? How did he... Jeff’s voice cut across him like a whiplash.

“Tunji? Are you there?”

He quickly covered the phone’s mouthpiece, “send him in,” he murmured to Ada and back at Jeff, “I have to go now man, I’ll call you later.”

“Alright man, just stay calm, everything will be fine.”

With his father-in-law’s surprise visit, Tunji certainly hoped so.

*****

“There’s no hope of our finding happiness together mom, I can’t believe you and dad are trying to get involved in this,” Feyi said turning away from the window and crossing her hands in her midriff.

Expensively bedecked in black lace which brought out the contrast with her creamy skin, Tinuke Cole looked every inch the wealthy matriarch of the Cole household. Her ear was dripping diamond earrings bought from her last trip to Dubai and her fingers glittered with the specially crafted cocktail rings on them. Nobody ever doubted that Tinu was a beautiful woman that would stand out even in a room crowded with her own elegant contemporaries. Her dark skinned daughter, it seemed, took nothing of her fair beauty and nothing of her wits as well, Tinu thought dryly.

“Look Feyi, we’re doing this for your benefit and Tomiwa’s as well, its not fair to him that he should grow up without the presence of his father. Tomiwa needs a strong father figure in his life and Tunji needs to know his son. You’ve kept them apart for so long already.”

Feyi frowned. For most of her childhood, she had felt the sting of being an inconvenience, an irritation. She was the pregnancy Tinuke had not expected to have after giving birth to her two sons. It didn’t make much difference to her that Feyi was her only daughter, her usefulness didn’t count in the pecking order of things in the Cole family because she was a girl. That had been until Tinu discovered that daughters were also useful in forming alliances with powerful families through marriage. Then Feyi had moved from becoming a burden to a means to an end.

Tinu groomed her to catch the eye of one of the sons from wealthy families within their social circle but Feyi had fallen in love and gotten pregnant for the man she least expected for her. One who was poor, with no social standing or influential family name. She had always been against him from the beginning and Feyi found it astonishing that her mother wanted her to move back in with that same man.

“Mom I seriously can’t believe this, I can’t believe you.”

“What’s there not to believe Feyi? I’m your mother and I’m only trying to watch out for your interest, same with your father. You belong by your husband’s side and Tomiwa needs his father.”

Something definitely smelt rotten. “Mom, what are you and dad getting out of this? Is Tunji paying you?”

“My goodness Fehintola, what do you mean by that?”

Her mother hadn’t acted outraged or offended at her accusation, Feyi came closer to the bed where her mother was seated, “Mom? What are you and dad getting out of this?”

*****
Tunji frowned as he listened to Otunba Cole. This one man, this brilliant and shrewd, cunning-as-a-wily-fox man that had amassed the bulk of his wealth from oil and gas, had been the solid kick he’d needed to stand on his own. Otunba was a ruthless businessman as he was a ruthless father-in-law and although both men disagreed on many things, they had long standing admiration for one another.

When he entered into his office, Tunji had suddenly become aware of the expense of his designer shirt and shoes. His spacious tastefully furnished office that also spoke comfort and new wealth.

The poor boy done good, Otunba had said in silent admiration when he came in. He allegedly had his sources all over the city, so finding his office had been no problem, he informed his son-in-law with a small smile. Tunji knew Otunba was also a man of many sources, some of them, questionable.

“However, my daughter did not have a clue about my interest in contesting for the governorship election,” Otunba’s voice cut through his reverie. “As much as I disapprove of your abandoning her the way you did, I’m certain you can both work out your differences under your own roof and spare the public a shameful show like yesterday’s.”

“So, what you’re saying in essence Otunba…”

“Yes what I’m saying is that I don’t want you both to mar my political career with your petty squabbles. I’m sure you can both work out your differences however you deem fit and away from the public.”

As much as he liked the idea of having his son under his roof, he disliked the unwanted intrusion of Feyi’s father whether his political ambition was at stake or not. “I can understand your personal interest to see us reconciled Chief, but…”

“No buts Tunji, I didn’t come here to give you a choice to accept my proposal or not, it’s a standing order. I don’t want any more public displays of your family’s dirty linen. My wife is at this moment talking to Feyi, its time the both of you work out your issues at least for the sake of your child.”

*****

“Stop being such a child and grow up Feyi, what your father and I are proposing will do you and your son good.”

“But I have no desire to be a dividend, Mom, what kind of life will my son have with two adults that cannot stand each other?”

Tinu’s smile was sly, “I guess you’ll have to see that you both learn to tolerate one another for the sake of your son.”

“Like you and dad barely tolerated each other when we were growing up,” Feyi retorted.

“That’s none of your business Feyi,” her mother snapped.

“But this is my business,” Feyi protested. “I am after all the sacrifice, am I not, in this quest for power?”

“Sarcastic remarks like that are not going to endear you to your husband,” her mother warned. “and for once in your life, stop acting like a spoilt princess and grow some spine. You’re going back to your husband whether you like it or not.”


Tbc

johnwizey:
Feyi is a goat, you love a man but you are nt willing to help build his dream, wch kain love is that? Make Tunji collect his child and marry anoda lady, case closed.

Lol but she didnt want to stop him from achieving his dreams again and blaming her

mhisbliss:
and you had to quote it all, if not for madam skar lett you would have experienced the bliss war

Please for my sake let him not experience the bliss war

ps2:
.


Present Ma. Every story was and is a hit, back to back from diary of an assistant girlfriend, to secret and scandals and now Hearts in ashes,

Thank you sir, you're highly welcome

frankcris:
reading this story and listening to Shawn mendes album(illuminate)...

what a time to be alive

thanks ska rlett.

You're welcome dear