Chapter 77

THE TRUTH

Obiefune guided Obiukwu to her room where she peeled off cloth and went into the bathroom. The meeting was placed on hold, while Obi's siblings cleaned the mess their sister made.

Embarrassment dwelled in Obi's mind as she had a bath. Her mind went to what the lawyer had stated, it felt strange that her husband did not leave any of his property to his own children.

Obi remembered his death and assumed that he did not get the chance to do it. But wasn't the date on the paper, the same as when he died? It was all so confusing. When did he do all that?

When she came out of the bathroom she was surprised to see Obiefune still waiting. Obi cleared her throat announcing her presence as he stood staring at the mirror.

"I am fine now, I just felt nauseous" Obi stated heading to the drawer

"I asked if you were before, you told me otherwise." he stated grumpily with his hands filling his trouser pockets

"I was.. I am good" Obi abruptly replied, not knowing what else to say. She cleared her throat and spoke again

"I want to change my clothes so that we can continue with the meeting" A part of Obi was elated with the marriage clause but she still felt it wasn't fair to her unborn children. But then even if she indeed eventually got married to Obiefune, she knew that he wouldn't be unfair to Benjamin's children.

Obiefune scanned her in a towel and made no attempt to move. He only turned his back to her while she sought out her outfit. Obi's mind went to the first time she had been naked in front of him. She felt her cheeks get warmer and she quickly reached for her under wears and got them on. She slowly reached for a gown and threw it on but unfortunately it hung above her belly. Obi tried to pull it down but grunted instead. She cleared her throat to gain Obiefune's attention and when he turned he only raked his eyes over her for a brief moment before moving to where she stood.

"Well I'm not surprised, for a girl with a boy's name, you're just not as smart as one"

Obi grew speechless as he went to the zip of the gown and pulled it down, before stooping low to pull it over her stomach. She felt her pulse quicken as his hands scarcely brushed her stomach and thighs in the bid to let the material down. Her emotions were all over the place owing to her pregnancy.

He went to her back and slowly dragged her zip up. After he finished with the task he stood there staring at Obi.

She couldn't explain what it was, but it was as if her body was yearning for Obiefune to hold her. Obi shook her head and chalked it up to pregnancy as she stared at his expressionless face.

"Imagine what would have happened if I left. You need to stop thinking about that day, it won't happen again." He stated in a brusque manner pulling Obi out of her momentary trance.

" Isi? "(What did you say?)

"Love and lust are always in the eyes Obi. I know that which you have at this moment." He stated on a grim note before proceeding

"Benjamin the so called better man decided to treat you like an Object, passing you off to me like some gift. Did he think he was doing me a favor? If they're not ready to contest that will, I'll make sure I do it with my last dime. And it's not because I don't like the idea of being wealthy, it's because I don't want to marry you. I used to want to but now I don't want to marry another man's widow. It does not speak well for me, besides I have made plans to move on and live my life and honestly I am ready to be so selfish this damn time! That I would only put my own needs above everyone else's"

The words were like blades, slicing through her heart and causing Obi so much pain as she heard them from Obiefune. He had good reasons for not wanting to go along with Benjamin's plan but he sounded like marrying her was like swallowing venom. She had thought with how smooth everything was going on between them that he still cared about her. But he had stayed away for five months, maybe he had actually fallen in love with someone else and was only being nice to her before she mistook everything.

Tears were already brimming in her eyes and Obi cursed herself for being so emotional. She didn't want his pity so she walked into the bathroom and cleaned her face.

She came to see him standing in front of the bathroom looking a bit concerned "Are you okay?"

"Yes, adị m mma,(I am fine) on this side of the house, Objects don't have feelings. Benjamin was the better man and I know he must have made such requests for a reason. But you're right, you shouldn't put your life on hold because of anybody. You are free to go, trust me I don't want to marry you! No man can live to the standard my late husband has created and I wouldn't want to give anyone else that chance. Biko let's go downstairs and get this thing over with, so that I can think of other important things "Obi replied swiftly causing Obiefune to grow speechless

Obi observed his face hoping to see some sort of remorse for his statement earlier, instead he walked away from her.

When she was hesitant to follow, he called out to her" I na abia? Are you coming? "

Obi followed behind him avoiding his body as they descended the stairs like they were filled with thorns.

When she got down, she apologized for what happened and urged Mr. John to continue.

"My dear I don't even blame you, the whole thing even made me nauseated too! Isi ọ dịkwa Benji mma? Was my son mad? How could he not have given anything to his children! Mandating his wife to a loveless marriage for reasons that I do not seem to fathom. Putting his pregnant wife into this mess! If no one else is willing to battle this in court I will. My unborn grandchildren were left with nothing! " Jude patted the back of the old man advising him to be calm as he vibrated vigorously on the chair like a rolling tennis.

"Uncle honestly I stand with you. I do not want anything Benjamin is offering! Any of it. So if there's a way we can get the court to see reasons with us, we will. I am in support of everything you said. I have a right to pick my own wife, choose my happiness!" Obiefune declared causing Obi's heart to cringe out of disappointment. Unfortunately she was receiving his message loud and clear. He didn't love her anymore

Mr. John grew speechless at the sudden outburst. But he urged them to be calm while he finished with the reading of the document. He managed to coerce them into listening which they did with very much exasperation. When he left, the whole room was thrown in chaos. Obi only sat and watched, listening to the words every one of them was spewing at the same time.

After they finally grew quiet, they turned to Obi who was quiet. "Obi what do you think?" Her father in law enquired concerned with her own opinion because she was one of the major people affected.

Obi cleared her throat before speaking to him. "My late husband was a very kind man, too kind if you ask me" she replied chuckling "But he is dead and even though he meant well, I wouldn't want to subject his cousin to something as disastrous as a somewhat arranged marriage with me. I loved my husband very much which I cannot say the same for Obiefune but if indeed there's any need to remarry in the future, I'd very much likely want to be choosing the man myself. So I agree with all of you, ka anyị gaa (let’s go to ) court" Her father in law nodded in concurrence with what she said and so did many others in the room. Obiefune also nodded to what she said before Obi walked out of the room. She went to be with her sons who were busy playing games while the rest of the family members dispersed not wanting to disturb Obi because they felt the will disconcerted her.

Obi was happy that Benjamin was kind enough to give her siblings more than enough. Everything down to their fees would be settled, he only failed to make arrangements for his own children. "What on earth was her husband thinking?"

Her mind went to the words Obiefune spoke earlier about the thought of marrying her and her heart cringed. The universe must have sent the wrong message to her, he was not her happiness not in the least.

Obiefune came into the room where she was with the boys and bade them farewell before leaving. Obi was too upset to even look at him, so she shut her eyes so that he would ignore her and thankfully he did.

Obi spoke with Chioma over the phone but ignored details about their meeting. She quickly dialed her father in law to ascertain if he had arrived at his place safely. The old man assured Obi that he was fine and even hinted about his own will. He promised Obi the finest lawyer to take up their case. The Injustice on his grandchildren was grave and he was going to rectify that.

Obi walked to the room and fished out her husband's briefcase. She opened it and started fishing out the documents inside it. There were deeds of lands, including the ones he bought in her name. She was hoping to see something about his will, anything that explained the reason for his actions. She removed the documents simultaneously and when she got to the last, she was disappointed. She picked up the paper and read what was written.

They seemed to be her test results. She confirmed they were actually hers after going through the paper. She had indeed been pregnant with Obiefune's children before she got married to Benjamin. Obi placed everything back into the briefcase, extracting only the pregnancy test result.

She stayed with her siblings discussing school and other things. They were still surprised that Benjamin gave them so much. Benjamin always treated them like family so Obi was not too surprised.

Obi walked into her children's room beckoning on her siblings as well. When they all arrived at the room she fished out the pregnancy test and handed it over to her brother Tobe before he passed it onto the girls.

"Sister, it's a pregnancy test from nine years ago!" Tobe notified her and she nodded

"Is there any problem?" The girls questioned her noticing her grim expression

Obi shook her head before turning to her sons. She got them to pay attention then patted their heads before proceeding to speak to them.

"There's something I should have told you all, something that I have kept secret. Even though I found out this year"

"Mummy are you sick like daddy?" Chukwuemeka questioned with trepidation in his little eyes.

Obi gave the boy a weak smile before shaking her head. "No, no I am as healthy as an ox. I am very much healthy and the babies are too, this is a different thing entirely ịnụ" She assured her son

The boy was relieved and so were her siblings as Obi noticed how they exhaled deeply.

She drew in a deep breath before exhaling shakily. A part of her felt so scared about what she was about to do, while the other part of her felt relieved. Her own family, her sons also deserved to know the truth. Her siblings also deserved to know everything. Someone else deserved to be there while she disclosed the truth she thought at the last minute, but her mind was already made up.

"Your uncle Obiefune is your daddy"