Chapter 42

Adeline had finished helping Auntie Paulina take her medications. Her health kept deteriorating and she was getting weaker by the day. Adeline was very much worried and wished her mother could get better and not worse.

“Adeline, please help me lie down properly.” Her mother requested as she was struggling to lay down properly in the sofa.

“You know what? Sometimes I feel that my health keeps getting worse because of what I did to the three sisters. Perhaps if I had kept them closer, I wouldn’t be paying for it this way. Maybe, just maybe, I would have still been strong if I had just continued to take care of them. I pray that you are successful in finding them. Then I would have a peace of mind.” Her mother said slowly and sadly, a tear fell from Adeline’s eyes.

She quickly wiped it off so her mother wouldn’t notice.

“I would do everything possible to help find them, Mum.” She assured her mother who nodded her head in response.

“I’m too tired of taking these medicines, Adeline. They are too many and very large in size. I just don’t like taking them however it seems I have no other choice than to take them in. The yellow one especially smells so bad and it makes me feel like throwing up anytime I see it.” She said sadly to her daughter.

“Don’t worry mom. You would soon stop taking it. Just wait and see.” Adeline assured her mother. She didn’t know what else to do than to encourage her mother who seemed to have no hope of getting better.

A few minutes after Auntie Paulina had slept off, Adeline decided to search online for an investigative journalist. She searched and came across Stanley Crown. She read his profile and realized he had experience in the field. She decided to contact him to help her out in the search for the three sisters. Her mother had given her every detail she needed and she was going to give them to Stanley.

****

Priscilla was in her room. She had just finished dressing up after taking her bath. Reynolds entered the room and saw her sitting down quietly in a moody state. He was worried about her. He had observed that her countenance had changed after coming back from her mother’s place the previous week. He had tried to get her to open up however she had totally ignored him.

“Hey, do you care for some snacks?” He asked her and sat beside her on the bed.

“No, thank you.” She responded and shifted a little further from him.

“How is your mother doing?” He asked her and she chuckled.

“You also have her contact. You can call her if you want to. You can also visit her anytime you want to.” She said to him and he smiled.

‘Why are you smiling? Is what I’m saying perhaps funny?” She asked and he laughed, getting her confused. She stood and went to look in the mirror to see whether there was anything funny about her dress or her makeup, which was causing Reynolds to laugh. The more she did that, the more he laughed, getting her more confused.

“Reynolds, can you please tell me why you are laughing?” She pleaded with him.

“Oh, so someone can actually plead. So, you can talk with me?” Reynolds asked, looking into her face. Priscilla sighed and sat back on the bed.

“So is that why you were laughing?” She asked him, determined to know why he was laughing.

“Hmm Priscilla, I’m shocked that you are actually saying something to me today. It has actually been a very long time. You know, some time ago, I lost hope as to whether you were going to ever talk to me again.” He said quietly.

“Sometimes I feel like giving up however I thank God I didn’t.” He said with so much sincerity she seemed to believe him.

“Honestly, I am very much aware of how much I have hurt you. I know very well how much I have hurt you. However I didn’t know getting you to even speak up was going to be this difficult.” He said emotionally to the extent that Priscilla was beginning to feel so bad about her attitude towards him.

“How many months has it been Priscilla?” He asked her.

“You really stretched me. I almost gave up. Thank you so much for opening up to me. Thank you.” He said and made an attempt to hug her. When he saw that she didn’t make any attempt to resist him from hugging her, he went further to actually hug her deeply this time and they both cried in each other’s arms. He was however careful because of the protruding belly she had in front of her.

“I love you Priscilla.” He said and she just nodded in response as the tears wouldn’t allow her enough room to speak up.

****

Stanley was about to step out of his house when he had a call. He saw a strange number and wondered who it could be.

“Hello.” He said after picking up the call.

“Hello, am I speaking with Stanley Crown?” The caller asked at the other end of the line.

“Yes this is Stanley Crown. May I know who I’m speaking with?” He asked, unsure of which female voice he was listening to.

“My name is Adeline. I would like you to help me find three sisters.” She said and he froze, wondering which sisters she wanted him to find.

“Hello? Are you still there Mr Crown?” Adeline asked after she didn’t receive any response after making her request.

“Yes, yes I’m here. I didn’t go anywhere.” He said after coming back into his consciousness. He had been lost in thoughts for about thirty seconds.

“Miss ermm…?” He paused, trying to remember the name she had mentioned to him.

“Adeline Sir.” She reminded him, trying to be polite.

“Okay Miss Adeline. Kindly forward details about your request to my email. Do you have my email?” He asked her.

“I think I saw it online while surfing the internet.” She responded to him.

“Perfect.” He said.

“Send the details to my email and then we will continue from there. Kindly let me know if you have any further questions.” He said to her.

“This is well noted Mr Crown.” She responded before ending the call.

She was very glad that he had not declined the offer. From his profile, she could see that he must be a very busy person. She decided to send every detail as soon as she could, in order not to lose him. She strongly believed he could be of great help to her in her search for the three sisters.

Meanwhile, Nicole had been speaking with Dr Sam. She wanted to know whether there was a cure for the prostate cancer her boss was suffering from.

“Well Nicole, I can’t say much because I’m not the one who examined your boss and I haven’t had the chance to examine him either.” Dr. Sam began after Nicole had come over to see him. He was their family doctor and he was very good at what he did.

“So is there no hope for him doctor?” Nicole asked him worriedly.

“Well, it may be dependent on how early the cancer was detected. These days we encourage the men to just undergo a test to see whether they have the disease or not. This is because when it is detected early enough, it can be cured before it spreads to dangerous parts of the body. Normally when one begins to feel the symptoms of the disease, it may be that it had already started to spread that’s why they had began feeling the symptoms. At that stage, the doctor can only prescribe some medications to help manage the situation.”

The doctor said and Nicole listened with keen interest.

“So doctor, do the men come to do the test?” She asked him curiously.

“Well, honestly most of the men don’t do it.” He responded.

“But why doctor?” She asked him.

“Honestly, the test is very costly.” The doctor was frank with her and she seemed to understand as she nodded her head slowly.

“What you can do right now is to encourage him to take his medication continuously and have regular check-ups, as and when needed.” He advised.

Sonia was walking towards her office when she suddenly bumped into someone, causing all her files to fall on the floor.

“Hey, watch where you are going.” She said and bent down to pick the files from the floor. She didn’t even recognize whom she had bumped into. After picking up the files, she stood and saw Stanley standing right in front of her. She was confused and didn’t know where to turn her eyes to.

“I’m sorry for bumping into you Sonia. Can I have just a few minutes of your time?” He asked her and without getting any response from her, he held her hands and dragged her out of the office’s reception, sending stares their way as Sonia struggled to free her hand from his. However he was too strong for her.

“Let go of me!” She demanded, not wanting to have anything to do with him. However her demands fell on deaf ears as Stanley continued to drag her until they got to the car park.

“What at all do you want from me, Stanley? Oh! Maybe I didn’t give you a response the last time so you want an answer right? Tell me Stanley!” She demanded, hitting his chest in the process.

“There are some people who are searching for you and your sisters, Sonia. So I thought I should tell you. I am the one who has been hired to carry out the investigation. So I thought to let you know.” He said and paused for a moment as Sonia digested his words.

“What? What do you mean? What did you just say?” She asked him surprised that someone would be looking for her and her sisters.

“Oh. I think I know who it could be.” She said blatantly.

“It would be Samuel Goldfield I guess.” She said and laughed.

“You are wrong about that Sonia.” He answered her.

“Really? And how do you know that?” She asked him.

“I have done my investigations, Sonia. Samuel Goldfield is not the one looking for you and your sisters. After all, he knows where you are. So even if he would make a search, he would do it for only your two sisters.” He replied and she realized what he had said made a lot of sense.

“Errrr so who, who is ermm looking for my sisters and me?” She asked him stuttering, and he laughed as a result of how calm she had become.

“I thought you were not interested to know. I thought you wanted me to let go of your hand. So what has changed now Sonia?” He asked her however she remained silent.

“I have been making attempts to reach you for a long time now. However you wouldn’t answer my calls or reply to my text messages. All because I expressed interest in you? Suit yourself, Sonia. I just thought I should let you know that I’m trying to locate your sisters. By the way, I already have an update on the eldest sister. She is standing right in front of me. My client would be very glad and take me very seriously.” He said with a grin and turned to go.

“Please do not go Stanley. I’m sorry. We can talk about this. Please do not be angry. Please.” She pleaded with him however he wouldn’t listen. He walked toward his car, entered the driver’s seat and drove off, leaving her standing there alone confused and deep in thought about who could have asked him to carry out the search.

****

In the Reynolds household, Priscilla was pacing up and down in the living room.

“Madam, please calm down. You need to be strong for yourself and the baby.” Lordina tried to calm her down however her pleas were not helping as Priscilla continued to pace back and forth in the living room.

“Please drink some water.” Lordina offered however Priscilla wouldn’t take a sip.

“Get me my phone, quickly!” She demanded and Lordina hurried to get her the phone.

“Dial my husband’s number. Call him and put it on loudspeaker.” She said and Lordina quickly looked for Reynolds's number on Priscilla’s phone and called him.

He answered and Priscilla quickly spoke up.

“The baby is coming! I think the baby is coming.” She quickly said and Reynolds got alarmed.

“Hold on there. I’m coming right away.” He said and quickly hung up.

He took his car keys and rushed out of the office. He called the hospital to get prepared with female midwives to attend to his wife who is in labor. He received another call and saw that it was his secretary calling.

“Yes?” He quickly said after picking up. The confused secretary who didn’t want to risk losing her job quickly went straight to the point.

“Errmm Sir, the new president of the association is here to see you. He says he would like to work with you.” She quickly said and waited for his response.

“What? Really? Errmm my wife is in labor and I want to rush her to the hospital. Please let the association president know that I will give him a call as soon as everything settles down.” He responded to the secretary.

“This is well noted, sir. Congratulations in advance too for your baby.” She quickly said.

“Thank you so much.” He responded with so much joy that his secretary could sense it in his voice.

Reynolds kept pacing back and forth in the ward as the female doctors and nurses attended to his wife. He didn’t understand why they seemed to have kept long and he was becoming restless.

“Please Lord, please let it be a safe delivery.” He prayed silently in his heart. He wasn’t the only one praying. Lordina was also praying silently in her heart, with her eyes closed. Finally, the door to the labor room opened and one doctor came out to speak with him.

“Congratulations Mr Reynolds. Your wife just gave birth to a bouncy baby girl.” The female doctor said to him and he was overwhelmed with so much joy; and so was Lordina.

“Can I see my wife now?” He asked the doctor.

“You need to hold on a little for the nurses to clean up and then you can go in.” She replied to him.

“Alright, that is perfectly fine by me.” He responded joyously.

***"

One of Reynolds' drivers had gone to pick up Anita from school as instructed by Reynolds.

“Where is my daddy? I want to go home with my daddy!” Anita demanded and expressed discontent at seeing the driver.

“Hey Anita, you need to go home with your driver and then you will see your mummy and your daddy okay?” One of her classmates convinced her and she finally decided to go home with the driver. The thought of seeing her parents at home excited her.

When they got home, her parents were nowhere to be found. Even Lordina wasn’t around and Anita began to cry. Immediately the driver’s phone rang and it was Reynolds who was calling.

“Have you taken Anita from School already?” Reynolds asked him and heard Anita crying.

“Let me speak with my daughter.” He requested and the driver went closer to Anita. However she just hit him hard and won’t listen to what the driver had to say.

“Tell her we’ll be home soon.” Reynolds said after sensing what was going on.

In about five minutes, Priscilla arrived home with the baby in the company of Reynolds and Lordina. Anita was very much excited to see her parents and she quickly ran to hug them.

“Mummy! Daddy! She shouted with joy as she held onto them very tightly. Luckily Lordina was holding the baby.

“Daddy, I’m super mad at you. Why didn’t you come for me in school?” She asked her father, not knowing why he had sent the driver to pick her up.

“Well, it’s because I was going to pick up your baby sister from the hospital my dear.” He responded and she turned to look at Priscilla who had taken a seat on the sofa due to stress. She suddenly seemed to realize that her mother’s protruding belly seemed to have gone down. Then she saw the baby in Lordina’s arms. She wanted to run towards her mother however Reynolds restrained her, not wanting her to hurt Priscilla who was already sore and stressed after childbirth.

“Mummy and the baby need to rest now okay?” Reynolds said and proceeded to take the child from Lordina so she could attend to Anita.

“Lordina, please ensure that she bathes, does her homework and takes her dinner.” He instructed the maid.

“But won’t you and mummy eat dinner with me?” Anita asked disappointed.

“At the right time, I would gladly eat dinner with you and Daddy and the baby okay?” Her mother assured her and she seemed to calm down after hearing her mother’s soothing voice.

Reynolds decided to call the association president to hear what he had to say concerning the reason for his visit. What he heard the president say was unexpected and it shocked him to the bone. He turned to look at Priscilla who wondered what exactly the person at the other side of the call had said to make her husband smile.

“Are you okay honey?” She asked him, expecting a response. However Reynolds just continued to smile and she got more confused. She was glad that he was smiling.

“Who did you call?” She asked him and he moved closer to her. He took the baby from her arms and looked into the baby’s face.

“My baby girl, thank you for bringing good good news!” He said excitedly before handing over the baby to her mother.