Thanks for the mention ma'am. I'm loving every bit of this story

Nice piece. Well done ma

She should have believed her husband especially after the visit to the prison, now she's been used as a bait... I wonder what they have up to their sleeves

Our girl is married. No weapon formed against that union will succeed.

Wow!!! I never saw this coming. I thought Bella was innocent sef.

I don't trust his Uncle and secretary. Bella might be innocent tho.

I'm loving the change

Ikem wants to distract our sister for meeting her "husband" Biko he should go back to where he came from.

Uncle has fallen in love

Who's this new guy?

Seems Jamil has leukaemia

damselposh:
Chapter One
NONYE


It was already evening when i got down from the bus right at the junction that led to my street. I held the leather bag where i had put my heels in tightly while i walked dejectedly. It was another job interview that didn't go well. This would be the 10th interview or 12th or even 15th? Abeg i have lost count, all they tell me is that they would get back to me but they don't. I stared down at my dress. I had dressed nicely for this interview hoping i would get it.
"I just wore my cloth for nothing" I hissed loudly. Blazers are not something i wear everyday or to every interview but you see today's interview? I had hope i was going to get it the reason i wore my red Blazer on a blue skirt, black singlet underneath and a black stilleto heels, my black handbag that contained the necessary documents required for the interview and my wine coloured wig that sat beautifully on my head. If my dressing could give me a job, i would have landed one a long time ago but it doesn't entirely work like that. I walked deeper into the street, greeting as many people as i could until i got to my mother's shade where she fries yam and Akara. She was attending to a customer when i got there, her face lit up with smiles when she saw me.


"Nonye, you are back" she said after the customer left.

"Yes Mama. Good evening" I murmured.

"Evening my daughter. Nnoo (Welcome)" she studied my facial expression for sometime before speaking up again "Ogini"? (What is it)? She asked.

"Mama i didn't get the Job" I muttered trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall. She shook her head at me and immediately i sighted the pity in her eyes, the tears came pouring. She shifted closer to where i sat and patted my back.

"Ozugo (It's okay) Ebezina (Stop crying) everything will be fine inuru?" (Did you hear?)

"Yes Mama" i sniffed, wiping my tears.

My mother became the stronghold of our family after Papa died in a ghastly motor accident leaving her with two children, i and my younger sister Chimdiya. My uncles abandoned us after Papa's burial because she only has female children. We moved from the Three bedroom flat we used to live in to a self contained apartment. Mama had to borrow money from the women's meeting so many times just to see me through the university and now that I'm done with school, i wonder why the universe doesn't want to give me a job, at least for my mother, she has really suffered a lot. Tears poured again and i sniffed which caught my mother's attention.

"Nonye are you still crying?" She asked.

"No Mama, I'm not" i whimpered.

"It's okay, God will see us through" she replied.

"When? Mama when? It's just like God has abandoned us" i said in a fleet of anger. I was about to say more when Mama's palm grazed my cheeks, i caressed my cheek as the pain from the slap stung my cheek.

"Never talk about God like that" she told me coldly. "If not for anything else, appreciate the fact that you are alive which is the most important. Ndukaku (life is greater than wealth)". She concluded with a hiss.

I looked around her shade fortunately no customer was around to see her slap me.

"Give me plate let me put some yam for you" she told me calmly like she wasn't the person that just slapped me.

"I'm not hungry" I said with a shake of the head.

"So you will reject your own mother's food because of anger" she fused.

"Mama it's not yam i want to eat. Let me go to the house and prepare something for all of us" I stood up while gathering my things.

"Okay and please when you get to the house, tell Chimdiya to come over and help me with the evening sales" she said to my retreating figure, i only nodded my head in reply.

Being 26 and still living with my mother and younger sister in a self contained apartment is an abomination and should be treated with urgent Care. I hissed as i entered our compound. I didn't see anyone outside as there was light and many people were in their rooms while some were yet to return from work.

Following......

It's been long ooohhh... Thanks for the mention.

This is the best Christian romance friction I've read in a while. I can't help but ask for more coz I'm hooked already. You are doing a great job ma'am. Kudos

Wow... I didn't see this coming. What a twist

What a heartless father. I pray nothing happens to Laila

degelinglacis:
Chapter Four

Chioma was the lesser evil I had to choose to help me with the pregnancy pills.
When she came into the house asking me what gift I wanted for my coming seventeenth birthday. I swore her into silence and told her to get me a contraceptive pills. Her eyes glittered with greediness, I thought she was going to demand money from me. But she surprised me by requesting that I become her close friend. I thought about it, I still didn't like her but over the years I have learnt to protect myself. That was the way I kept surviving in the Danladi's world. And I had to protect myself from her. One wrong word in father's ears meant punishment and she was father's plaything that babbler a lot. I agreed to her request, I knew I would soon be out of her air once I was eighteen and married.
I was dressed in a long sleeveless blue gown with beaded lace on the bodice, and a silver cape with stones completed my outfit. Chioma helped me put my makeup on because I hadn't gotten the hang of it yet. My hands shook too much for an accurate eyebrows. I ended up looking like an Indian princess with the false nose ring. I loved the dress and I felt beautiful in it. My little sisters had a similar gown to mine without makeup on their faces. I had banned them from wearing one, I wanted their innocent childish faces to be a reminder to father that they were just little children.
My birthday was a house party. It happened in the large living room. The staffs had removed most of the furniture from the room and pushed the rest to a corner to make room for people and tables for a buffet. Beautiful flower arrangements in white and bold blue matching my gown decorated the table. It was Chioma's brilliant idea.
The moment I stepped into the room, with my little sisters, a hush descended over the small crowd. Chioma gave me an encouraging smile, when my gaze landed on Saadat, my perfect heels felt slippery and I almost did a face plant if not for Laila steadying hand. Saadat stood beside his father, his mother and Yazid. Saadat expression was unreadable. He stood there, cold and rigid. I could feel the lecherous gaze of Yazid but I kept walking to the direction of my family. When I got there, father received me with what he thought was a pleasant smile on his face but which made him looked old and scary. Father informed our bodyguard to sent my little sisters upstairs and that dropped my mood. When my imploring gaze shifted to Javed, he gave me a warning glance. He couldn't help our sisters. It was obviously a crime in our home for the heir to have any interaction with female members not to talk of speaking up for them because it would make him weak like us.
I did the cake cutting, Chioma played hostess perfectly, entertaining all the guests with small talks and hors d'oeuvres. I sat down alone wondering what activities would be next. This was my very first party, I didn't know what was expected of me. When Saadat stepped in front of me, my heart started pounding, my nerves must have shown on my face because he asked me if I was nervous. I shook my head. He extended his hand toward me. I put my hand in his avoiding his gaze. Saadat pulled me and tug me to his right side and his palm rested very lightly on my hip. Being this close to him made me feel uncomfortable, I didn't know when I removed his hand from my hip. That act surprised me and Saadat obviously because his eyes twitched in amusement before he grabbed my hand and kissed it not minding the presence of our guests. He took me to some people I didn't know. Aside from my parent, securities and his family, I have no idea what the names of the rest of the fifty plus people are. I was sure they would belong to some other crime families or some neutral people in power. But that doesn't make them innocent, as long as you're powerful you can never be innocent. Power intoxicate people, they carried out acts that destroyed others because they wanted to flex their strength and desire to be feared. Just like my father.
Saadat introduced me to his friends who offered congratulations for my new age. The rest of the guests swarmed around the buffet table. I smiled brightly at them but it was fake. You can't be a Danladi and not have mastered the art of fake smile right from an early age.
I followed him outside and we had another photo session at the beautiful garden. His arm tightened on my hip and I wondered what was the purpose of the photos if it wouldn't be on social media. I peeked up at Saadat, his face was contorted into a perfect gentleman he even smiled once. I stared into the camera with confused look, the next pictures would be the following year and that would be my wedding. The media would see a dream couple while it would be a start of another nightmare worse than the one I was born into. The moment was over, the photographer was done snapping pictures. I left Saadat there and kept walking very fast looking for a solitude. I found one at the far back. I was only seventeen, I shouldn't be thinking of marriage if I were born into a normal world. My birthday party should have been filled with girls and boys of my age not a fiancee older than me by fifteen years. I was tired and drained and I gave in to the tears hoping that it would set me free, free from the pains ahead. No matter how much I thought I could fight, set my self free from the horrible marriage life that awaits me, I could never match this man's intelligence. I was bound to him for life. He would kill my body and soul slowly, shred me into thousands of pieces of hurt and anguish.
"Johara" Saadat called me in that deep voice. He must have found me. And to think I'd hear him say my name for the rest of my life made my insides tightened with anxiety.
I looked up and all I saw was the fifteen years difference between us. Fine, he was a man in his prime. Tall, broad and dark, dressed in a dark blue native wear with a great artwork. His face was cold with well groomed beards. It all pointed to the fact that he was a grown up man with sophisticated education and I had no proper one. I just completed one year at the online university. What were we supposed to talk about?
I loved telling stories, I even had a few pages of a romance story I wrote. I doubted my storytelling would mean a thing to him. It would definitely sound stupid to him. I was just a gift meant for sex and a birth vessel. I was a liability to him. Money laundering, silencing his enemies was his forte and sleeping with runs girls was his favorite pastime. I can't even give him a proper business idea. I dreamt of love, a happy home but I would be having none of that with him. I was a mere gift, who knows maybe I was an unwanted gift. It was his father who wanted me before he quickly passed me to his son. In our world, a man could speak up for himself especially if he was the heir and in his prime age but Saadat did not refused me and I wondered why.
"What the hell!" He snarled seeing my teary face.
I had no mirror to tell me what I looked like but the expression on his face clearly showed that I must have looked like damnation. But it didn't bother me. There was nothing in me to be embarrassed or self-conscious about not being a pretty crier. I felt nothing but emptiness.
He bent down before me, cleaning my tears with his handkerchief.
"You didn't enjoy your birthday party?" He asked.
I groaned inwardly. He must be daft, I didn't give two hoot about a party or not. My life was messed up and that was good enough reason to cry.
"I thought you would enjoy it that was why I ordered that you must have a party" he murmured
I stared at him. Saadat ordered my birthday to be celebrated? Father never remembered my birthday and stop reminding him too. No one had ever wished me a happy birthday before but having an unknown people doing that today melt my heart. I was suddenly happy.
"So its not the birthday. What is it?" He asked again.
He couldn't fix it if I told him. He wouldn't cancel our marriage and even if he did I would end up being gifted to another man quadruple my age. I didn't want that.
"It's nothing" I pressed out.
"If you cried this much then its a great deal" he said not buying my words.
I looked away, my eyes burning with another round of tears. I'd never felt more stupid in my life. But deep down, beneath the hurt, a false truth showed up. I was overreacting. I knew what my fate had handed me, I shouldn't complain, I should live with it like the women before me. But I could never accept that. To know if delving in a particular career would be successful, check the men there and not the women. Just the same with career, if you want to know what a happy marriage was, check the women in the marriage, are they mostly happy or looking doomed like the women in my world? Because generally, it was a man's world and it would always be no matter how much times had change. And in my world, the rope was tightened.
"Johara you can tell me anything. Did anyone hurt you?"
What does hurt means to a man like Saadat? He wouldn't care if I was beaten by my father he would probably do that to me in our marriage. The only thing that could hurt his pride was if I were raped, that was the only thing he would avenged because it would hurt his pride that he wasn't the one who took my virginity. Telling him I was locked up by father wouldn't surprise him.
"No one did" I told him.
"Then I will have to talk to your father" he said.
That made my head shot up, my eyes widened in shock. I stood up and clutched his arm. "Don't tell my father anything. Please do not"
He moved closer and sank down on the bench, pulling me with him. If he told my father, I'd get into trouble for crying.
"You're my responsibility. I have to protect you from hurt. I thought you were happy at your party, then we had a photo session which went well. So what exactly happened? I don't understand this empty look on your face" He said
"I remembered my mother. I wish she was here today. And I was not happy because my sisters are not at the party with me" the lies flow perfectly from my mouth.
"I'm sorry about your mother" Saadat said, his eyes weren't cold but expressive for the first time since we met. It showed pity, concern and guilt.
We remained that way listening to the music that drifted from the party, and there was laughter and drunken talks. But it'd nothing to improve my ruined mood.
Just then the sight of my little sisters appeared in my vision, I quickly stood up from Saadat's lap like I was caught doing something wrong. Adiva jumped on me with her cake smeared hand. Laila was more reserved, she was eleven and in between childhood and adolescent. I embraced her too.
I ushered them to the seat but Saadat picked up Adiva and threw her up. She burst out laughing, excitedly. I was surprised to see him in such state. He suddenly became approachable and not the ruthless man he was.
"Jojo's fighter" Saadat teased.
"Who gave you cake?" I asked my sisters after we've all settled down.
"Aunty Chioma" Laila answered.
I noticed Laila had never said a word to Saadat before. They hardly exchanged greetings and I wondered what could be going on in Laila's head. As if he read my thought, Saadat smiled at Laila and extended his hand to her. She took it shyly and smiled back at him.
"How's your wound?" Saadat asked Laila. I was surprised he still remembered. The wound left a little scar on her neck after many months of applying honey.
"Its completely healed" Laila answered then her face shot to mine, she looked alarmed. "Sis Johara, did you cry?"
I shook my head. But my sisters accusing eyes landed on Saadat who looked suddenly angry.
"It's not him. I'm just sad father sent you to your room" I quickly said.
"But he will take you away next year and make us all cry," Adiva said, her eyes were shinning with unshed tears.
"I want to go with you" Laila said softly.
"Ladies, I promise I will allow you to visit your sisters from time to time" Saadat promised.
It was better than nothing. But I didn't believe him. Men in our world completely banned their wife's family from visiting. I didn't believe I would ever see Laila and Adiva once I got married.

Nice story man. Thanks for the mention

Thanks for the update...

Tinu lives for her children, she might lose her mind totally if her children are taken from her. Dele should not add to her pains. They should try and reach an agreement as regards the welfare of the children. Chris should just do and be coming back biko

Madonna is in soup coz her pride will not let her apologize

What an erotic scene

I feel her pain jor... It's not easy

Another blockbuster from rachealfst.
Welcome back

My favorite scene

...“Tinu please!” Dele shouted in tears. “Fight it!”
The medic cranked up the knob again. Tinu jerked and the erratic beeping stilled into a prolonged beep. The scribble still into blue straight line.
His doubts as to what the straight line meant was cleared by the crestfallen look on the medics' faces.
“No.” He whispered. His heart raced. She couldn’t be gone, not after they’ve come this far.
“Time of death.” The second man announced. “Sixteen fifty-seven.”
Tears spilled out of his eyes. They had lost her.

It's good that they've made up.
Keep it up bro 'n' Like Oliver Twist we need MORE...!

Wow... I see love. Please you guys should do and get married

You need to see how happy I am. Thanks for bringing Tinu back

Thanks for the update dear

Welcome back man and thanks for the update