December 20, 2024
AND THE DRAMA CONTINUES:
Ebere and the CEO stayed on the phone that night discussing the situation at hand. Ebere never expected that her husband would one day visit her office. In fact, when she pleaded with him to start picking her up after work daily, she had forgotten that she had a secret with the CEO who she works for.
“If I had remembered our secret, I would not have invited him. He has seen you and he now knows that you resemble Junior and he is asking questions. In fact, he has said he is getting a DNA test tomorrow morning. I’m scared, because the truth will come out if he goes ahead to get the test done. And if the truth comes out, my marriage would be over. I’m in hot soup,” Ebere said to her boss who listened to her silently as if he didn’t care about what she was saying. After a long pause which seemed like an eternity, the CEO finally responded to Ebere.
“I have a solution to the problem. Look, you and I know that the child belongs to me and not your husband. Why not just bring the child to me in the morning? I will keep him in my house.” The CEO said. Ebere was surprised by the suggestion.
“But my husband will find out. He said he is going to take him to the hospital early in the morning for the DNA test. I don’t think your suggestion is a good idea. I can’t do that.” Ebere replied emotionally.
“How will your husband find out? Are you going to tell him you were the one who took the baby? You should do it as early as possible. Do it at the time you used to wake up and prepare your children for school. You should be able to wake up by 5am and bring the child to me. When your husband asks for the child, tell him he has gone to school. That’s all,” said the CEO. Ebere was not convinced. She thinks what the CEO was suggesting was too risky.
“I can’t do that. When the child goes missing, I will be the one to explain to my husband. Look, let’s do it this way to avoid unnecessary suspicion. Why not let us kidnap the child? Let us block my husband on his way to the hospital and take the child from him. That way, the blame will be on him. That way, nobody will suspect us. But you have to send a gang of boys to do it. I will send you the colour and plate number of my husband’s car so that the gang will recognize him when he is driving to the hospital for the DNA test,” Ebere said. She desperately wanted to cover up her tracks.
“That is a very good idea. I will quickly arrange my boys to do exactly what you just said. Please, this must remain a secret between the two of us. Let no other ear hear about it,” the CEO said as he hung up the phone.
In the morning, Ebere prepared the rest of the children for school and excluded Junior. Though, she helped him to take his bath, but she did not wear him his uniform. It was after everyone had eaten breakfast that Ugo came out from his room. He did not talk to anyone neither did he respond to greetings from his wife or the children. Ugo was already prepared to go to the hospital as planned. He grabbed his car keys which was on the table and also grabbed Junior and literary dragged the child outside and made him sit in the front seat of his car. Ugo turned on the ignition of the car and the Toyota Corolla roared to life.
“My mind can never be at rest until I do this DNA test. How can Junior look so much like my wife’s boss? I want to do this DNA test and clear my doubts. If he is my biological child, fine, but if he is not my child, I will kick him and his mother out of my house,” Ugo said in his heart as he drove out of the compound. That morning, he was driving faster than usual because he could not wait to get to the hospital.
However, there was a part of the road where he had to slow down due to portholes and craters. He had gone far from his house, and he was just trying to negotiate some difficult parts of the hospital road when the kidnappers appeared form the bush.
“Stop the car. Raise your hands up and come out!” One of the kidnappers said to Ugo who was practically petrified. The kidnappers were five in number and all of them had guns. Ugo saw the guns and all he was thinking about was how to save his life and that of the child. Initially, he thought they were armed robbers, so he had showed them some bundles of money, but they rejected it.
“We don’t want your money. We want the child. Step down from the car. Make sure you leave the child in the car,” the gang leader said with a husky voice that sounded like a wooden gong.
“Please, you can take the money or take me instead of the child,” Ugo pleaded with the gang but they were adamant. They issued him what he was sure was his last chance to leave the car alive.
“Don’t waste our time. We don’t want to take you. It’s the child we want. Step aside from the car and start running.” The gang leader said. He warned Ugo to run as far as he could without looking back.
“If you look back, I will throw one groundnut to you. You know the type of groundnut I’m talking about right?” The gang leader asked. Ugo started running as he was instructed. All the gang members entered the vehicle and they drove off.
It was Ebere who told the gang the particular road her husband would follow. She also told them the name of the hospital her husband was going to so that they could pinpoint his exact route. The operation was highly successful. The kidnappers called Ebere and she was happy that her husband did not get to the hospital to carry out the DNA test which would have exposed her and the CEO.
“Madam, come to the hotel and carry your baby. We have sent the name of the hotel on Whatsapp. Make sure you bring our N2 million balance,” the gang leader said to Ebere over the phone.
“I’m on my way already,” Ebere said happily. She dialed the CEO’s number so she could tell him the good news.
“The operation was successful. Please, send me the remaining N2 million let me go and give to them and pick the baby,” Ebere said. Soon, she got an alert of N2 million in her phone. She had gone to drop the other children in school. She came out from the school and flagged an Uber taxi which took her to the hotel. When she got there, she picked Junior and took him to the CEO’s house. From there, she went to the office.
When she got to the office, Ebere got a call from Ugo, her husband.
“Junior has been kidnapped,” Ugo said with a voice laden with emotions. He has been crying since the incident happened.
“What? My God! What are we going to do? How did it happen? Where did it happen?” Ebere asked, but Ugo could not talk much because he was feeling too emotional. She hung the call.
“That serves you right! You want to do DNA test. I won’t allow you to expose me,” Ebere said in her heart after dropping the phone.
To be Continued….
