Chapter 57

“Son, when did you arrive and why didn’t you tell me? I would have prepared your favorite dishes.”

She said, with a soft but excited voice, that she had immediately seen Octavius walking into the living room.

“Hello, Mom. I wanted to surprise you, are you surprised?” Octavius said with a smile as he walked towards his mother and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Indeed, I am surprised, but I also know you aren’t here for me, right?” Amanda asked her son as she pretended to be angry making Octavius’ smile freeze as he wondered how he had forgotten that his mother knew him too well.

“Mom, please don’t be sad. Indeed, am not here to visit you but to ask Dad something. I have been so busy lately that I almost forgot about my beautiful mother. Hope you aren’t angry at me,” Octavius said apologetically while Amanda pretended to be angry and ignored him.

Seeing him behaving like that, Octavius pursed his lips but didn’t dare say anything else for fear of offending her and then facing his father’s wrath.

“Mom, I will be back soon. I need to know something from Dad,” Octavius said as he gave her a peck on her forehead before walking upstairs.

When he arrived in front of his father’s study, he knocked on the door and got in after being permitted to walk in.

“Dad,” he said in respect causing the middle-aged man who was reading a book to lift his head.

“Son. What a great surprise! Your sister told us that you would be coming back after a few months as you have something to settle there,” Antonio said as he hugged his son.

Octavius was quite surprised that his sister had already gotten an excuse for him and made her parents understand that he would be far for some while. He knew why she was doing so and appreciated her help although his sister never did anything for free.

“Yes, Dad. I am quite busy but there is something that has been bothering me thus I had to come and ask,” Octavius said in a serious tone causing the smile Antonio to vanish and stare at his son as he knew that if the latter had to travel for something, it had to be serious.

“What is it son?” he asked in the same tone.

“What's the name of the Sander’s eldest daughter?” he asked causing his father to frown.

“Where are you asking that question?” Antonio asked curiously as Octavius never involved himself with other’s people businesses other than their family and the family where his twin had gotten married.

Octavius stared at his father as he wondered whether to tell him what he saw or not. He thought that he had kept his thoughts in check but Antonio could tell from his expressions that there was something wrong and that worried him.

“Tell me, son. You know that you can trust me and I will always have your back,” Antonio said causing Octavius to sigh.

“The necklace that is given to the successor,” Octavius said short words but his father understood.

“The Sander’s heirloom?” he asked.

“Yes, Dad. Do you have a photo of it? If yes, kindly show me,” Octavius asked as he stared at his father waiting for him to answer.

“That, I don’t know but your mother should have a photo of their eldest daughter wearing that necklace as they were close,” Antonio answered while making sure that he didn’t mention the name as he didn’t want to tell the latter till he knew what was going on.

“Octavius, stop beating around the bush. What is going on?” He asked sternly causing Octavius to frown.

“I saw the necklace. It’s a lady younger than I. Her mother died when she was young and her mother left some necklaces for her. I saw the necklace while I was helping her retrieve the necklaces but after I asked her which family was her mother, she returned the necklace hurriedly and closed the box that had other jewels. I saw some bracelets and I don’t know the ring. And another necklace?” Octavius said and Antonio’s face turned serious.

“Where is that lady?” his father asked in panic.

“Dad, why are you panicking? First, tell me the name so that I can see whether she is the same person or am mistaken,” Octavius said causing his father to realize that he had lost control over his emotions.

“Her name was Celestine Sanders,” Antonio said making Octavius frown.

“She isn’t the one. Her name is Sabrina Sanders. The lady told me that the Sanders from the north but I am suspicious. Why did she have to special which Sanders?” Octavius asked as he fell into deep thought.

“How did the necklace look like? Why did it make you think of her?” Antonio asked as he felt that things weren’t as simple as they seemed to be.

“It felt familiar as if I had seen it somewhere before. But after looking at it a few times, I remembered,” Octavius said and his father stood up and walked towards the shelves then came back with an album.

He flipped pages then halted at a certain photo then gave it to Octavius.

“Is this the one?” he asked as he stared at his son.

Seeing the photo, Octavius panicked but then masked it, however, it was too late as Antonio had already seen it.

“No!” he replied coldly causing his father to stare at him for a while.

“Octavius, you are my son and I know you like the palm of my hands, do you think that you can fool me?” Antonio asked coldly causing Octavius to panic and lower his head.

“Who is the lady? And what’s her name?” he asked.

“Father, please stop asking! There is a reason Aunty changed her name to Sabrina. I was young at that time and didn’t know what was going on but I overheard you guys talking saying that there is an organization that was after something she had,” Octavius said hoping that his father would stop questioning him.

“Good that you know that! It would be a good thing if she died but now that she left a daughter behind, do you think that if those people knew the girl would live peacefully?” Antonio asked.

“Dad, I know,” he answered but he didn’t dare look at his father.

“Octavius, that girl is your friend! From what you’ve said she is! Do you want something bad to happen to her?” Antonio asked.

“Father, I understand, But we don’t even know whether whatever she has is with her.”

Staring at his stubborn son, Antonio wondered what he would do with him.

“How can it not be? Do you know that whatever they are after is for powerful? If anyone else finds out where it is, these rich families will cause chaos. That girl will have multiple organizations and wealthy families after her!” he said angrily.

You might even get in trouble! Stay away from that girl and keep your mouth shut! That’s what we can do best for Celestine,” Antonio said as he massaged his temple he knew that if his wife got to know any of these, she would cause chaos. After all, Celestine was the first friend she made in the capital after she reunited with her family.

“Father, what are they after?” he asked curiously.

“A ring,” Antonio answered him as he didn’t see the need to keep the latter in the dark now that he had already known a lot that he wasn’t supposed to.

“A ring? That’s odd.”

“It's not just any ring. It can save lives. It can bring you back to death and many things. I don’t know what else it can do but that’s what I heard,” Antonio said causing Octavius to frown.

He remembered the fire that Rhiannon escaped and fell in deep thought.

“As I said, stay away from her. Don’t let the girl know that you have known about her mother’s origin. It seems that Celestine had already prepared everything and excuses,” Antonio said as he stared at his son coldly.

“Too late for that,” Octavius murmured but Antonio heard it.

“What do you mean it's too late? Don’t tell me that you came with her,” Antonio said as he had a bad feeling.

Shaking his head, Octavius said, “She is my wife!”

“What the f**k!” Antonio cursed loudly as he couldn’t believe it.

“When did you get married? Also, since when did you start being in a relationship and we didn’t know?” Antonio asked as he glared at his son who was scratching his head.

He knew that since he had already gotten married to Rhiannon, he couldn’t abandon her after knowing the danger that was roaming around her thus he decided to come clean in front of his father but now, he stared wondering whether he had done the right thing.

“We have been married for a while now, almost a month,” he answered with his head lowered as he didn’t want to be met with his father’s fury.

“You married a stranger?” he asked in disbelief as he never expected him to do such a thing.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to marry that woman. She is annoying and acts coquettish with everyone. She has a lot of schemes hidden under her sleeves. How can I marry that woman? So after I saved Rhiannon, I requested her to marry me as a way to pay me,” Octavius explained making his father more shocked.

“And she just married you without knowing who you are? What if she is just after your money?” he asked.

“Dad, how can you say that about the child to mom’s friend? Also, Aunty died and didn’t take care of her, she took care of her when she was little! Also, Aunty had already started a company thus the lady has a company to manage. She has been doing a good job there,” Octavius said as he rolled his eyes.

“The woman Grandpa wanted me to marry can’t do anything! How can she become the family’s future mistress? Now that you know, quick cancel that engagement!” Octavius said not caring what his father thought.

Antonio stared at his son and shook his head.

“I am sure your sister knows that you are married! That’s why she told us we won’t be able to see you anytime soon! If it weren’t for the fact that you have discovered that her life is in danger, could you have told me that you are married?” Antonio asked.

“No!” Octavius replied immediately as he shook his head causing his father to be speechless.

“You should bring your wife and both of you should settle in the capital where we can protect the two of you. I can’t believe at this age am still worrying about you! You will one day be the cause of my death!”

"That's what I was thinking. But there is an issue," Octavius said then stared at his father who raised his eyebrows at him gesturing him to say what he wanted to say.

"Aunty's husband is also in that city but he remarried after..."