Chapter 95 Chapter 95
Maxwell
The second Declan stepped fully into the living room, everything exploded. Amelia moved before I could even process it, she lunged at him in pure rage.
“You!” she screamed. Declan barely had time to react before she reached him. Her hands went straight for his face. Her nails dragged across his cheek, leaving red lines behind.
“What the hell—” he shouted.
She tried to hit him again, but I was already moving, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back just as Declan’s hand lifted instinctively, ready to strike.
“Enough!” I barked. I held Amelia tightly against me. She struggled, breathing hard, her whole body shaking.
“You kidnapped them!” she screamed at him. “You took my daughters!”
Declan touched his cheek, staring at the faint blood on his fingers in disbelief. “Are you insane?” he snapped.
“You threatened me!” Amelia cried. “You said you would ruin me! You said you would take everything from me!”
My mother gasped behind us. I tightened my grip on Amelia as she tried to break free again.
“Calm down!” I told her, but she wasn’t listening.
“They called!” she shouted at Declan. “They asked for eighty million dollars! This is your doing!”
Declan’s eyes shifted to me. “Eighty million?” he repeated, stunned. “What is she talking about?”
“Our daughters have been kidnapped,” I said coldly. His expression changed instantly, the smirk disappeared like it had never been there.
“What?” he asked.
If he was pretending, I couldn’t tell. Declan had always been good at hiding things. He was smart, careful and Cunning as hell.
“She says you are behind it,” I said, keeping my eyes locked on him.
He let out a short, disbelieving laugh, even with the fresh scratch bleeding across his cheek. “That’s ridiculous.”
“You have been blackmailing her,” I said firmly.
He looked at Amelia, then back at me. “So she told you that.”
“Answer me,” I snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me about the girls? And why were you taking money from her to keep it from me?”
He didn’t look at me, he looked at Mom instead and shook his head slowly. “I was going through a rough patch,” he said. “You all pushed me out. I needed money, badly. I was going to tell you eventually. I just, I wanted to get back at her for dumping me.”
His excuse sounded weak. Before I could think, I released Amelia and stepped forward, my fist connected with his jaw.
“Maxwell!” Mom screamed.
Declan stumbled back, holding his face. I raised my hands immediately and stepped away before I did something worse.
“How could you do that to your own brother?” Mom shouted at Declan. “Do you even hear yourself? Do you know how cruel that sounds?”
Declan wiped blood from his lip and glared at me. “He started it,” he shot back. “He married my fiancée. You threw me out of the company and handed everything to him. How exactly was I supposed to survive? I saw an opportunity and I took it.”
I turned to Mom, disbelief burning in my chest. “Can you hear him?”
Then I looked back at Declan. “Did you kidnap the girls because she stopped paying you?” I demanded. “Answer me, you idiot!”
“For God’s sake, Maxwell!” he shouted back. “I have been at the hospital with Dad for days. Ask Mom. I barely leave his side.”
“That doesn’t mean you couldn’t arrange it,” I said coldly.
He stared at me like I had lost my mind. “You think I would kidnap my own nieces? Are you insane?”
Amelia tried to move toward him again. I caught her before she could reach him. “You said you would make me regret it!” she cried.
“I said a lot of things,” Declan replied harshly. “I was angry but I would never sell children. Especially not family.”
The room went silent after that. I studied his face carefully. His eyes, the tension in his jaw to know if he was lying but I couldn’t tell. That was what frustrated me the most.
I dragged both hands through my hair, trying to think clearly, but my head felt like it was on fire.
Mom finally stepped forward, her voice firm but calmer now. “We will bring the girls home,” she said. “All of you need to calm down.”
Later that evening, Mom and I were sitting alone in the living room. She kept checking her phone.
“Why is it taking so long?” she finally asked. “Your accountant should have gotten the cash to you by now.”
I leaned back and rubbed my temples. “It’s eighty million, Mom. That’s not something you withdraw like grocery money.”
She frowned. “But you own companies. You move money all the time.”
“Yes, Digitally,” I replied. “Transfers. . Getting that kind of amount in physical cash without raising suspicion takes time.”
She sighed, folding her hands tightly in her lap. “I’m becoming restless.”
“I know.” And I meant it, every minute that passed felt like someone tightening a rope around my chest.
The front door suddenly opened, Mom and I both looked up.
Rhea walked in, She barely acknowledged my mother, just a small nod before her eyes landed on me. “We need to talk,” she said.
“Not now, Rhea,” I said flatly.
“It’s important.”
“I said not now.”
She simply looked at me and gave a small signal with her hand. I stood up slowly. “What is it?” I asked her.
“Not here,” she said quietly, glancing at Mom.
Mom rose from her seat. “Go,” she told me softly. “I’ will be here.”
Then I nodded and gestured toward my office. Rhea walked ahead of me. The moment we stepped into my office, I shut the door behind us. She stood in front of my desk, arms folded.
“I still haven’t received the money,” she said.
I walked behind my desk slowly and faced her. “I changed my mind.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” I said calmly, “I want to see my son before I send you another dime.”
Her expression darkened instantly. “That was not our agreement.”
“I don’t care,” I replied. “I am not going to be anyone’s fool, if you need the money bring the boy here.”
“You don’t get to change the rules now,” she snapped.
“I just did.”
Her jaw tightened. “If I walk out of this house without that money, Maxwell, you will never see your son again. Not in this lifetime.”
I held her gaze. “I don’t mind,” I said quietly. “My decision is final.”
For a second, she just stared at me like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Then she exploded. “So that’s it?” she demanded. “You suddenly can’t afford it? Or you just don’t want to?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“You have been giving me excuses for weeks now, it seems you do not want to see your son.” she continued angrily, “ Yet you are running around trying to raise eighty million naira for kids you just learnt of their existence just yesterday.”
My heart skipped, I went still. “How do you know about that?” I asked slowly. Her lips pressed into a thin line.