Song: Adina – Sika (I'm just saying, those of you who are into 'that' relationship will be happy with this one)

*Unedited* (I'm watching k-dramas)

Chief Amegah walked like the ground was filthy. He passed Kofi, shooting him a dangerous smile and came to stop right in front of me.

I clutched Elikem to my chest. He'd stopped crying, probably noticing the sudden change in the atmosphere, and he was holding on to me while burying his face in my chest.

"You're like an annoying mosquito that won't go away," the chief began, "and I've tried to be good. I simply brought you here to live your truth, but you won't stop trying to ruin my son's life."

"The only one ruining your son's life, is you." I spat.

"Elorm," Kofi warned.

The chief smiled and turned to him. "I didn't expect this from you of all people. What happened? You're being compassionate? I never thought this day would come." He laughed.

"I don't care about her," Kofi said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Don't lie to me son. I heard what you were saying. I must say, your father will be so disappointed."

"My father?" Kofi asked, frowning.

The chief shook his head slowly. "He would be so disappointed. Then again, he hasn't ever been not disappointed in you, has he?"

Kofi's fists curled. "You must have the most perfect son ever, I presume?"

At that, the chief frowned, then sharply turned back to me. His smile was long gone and he had an ugly frown on his face this time around. "I did, until this whore wormed her way into my home."

I went and set Elikem on the bed and stood with my back to him. I didn't like the menacing nature of the chief's stare.

"How do you do it?" He asked. "I'm genuinely curious. First, my son, now Kofi, the most unfeeling person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Are you that good in bed?" His smile was disgusting.

I took a deep breath, backing away from the revolting older man when Michael suddenly rushed into the room. He was breathing hard and he looked so angry that his forehead vein was popping. "Dad."

"Son, you're such a disappointment. What is this I'm hearing from Diamond that you have a girlfriend and you rejected her? Isn't she beautiful, son? Isn't she modern, so elegant, so–"

"Will you shut up?" Michael interrupted. "I'm not the disappointment. You are."

The chief's expression became unreasonably calmer. "Now, son, don't talk to your father like that. I'm merely looking out for you."

"Sending my fiancée to a whore house, forcing her into prostitution, and lying to me that she willingly left me is not looking out for me." He replied angrily.

"But she's happy here, can't you see? She's already slept with Kofi Faye here and put him under her spell."

"I have not slept with anyone!" I bellowed, fuming. "Kofi doesn't really care what happens to me, and you can't blame him for caring about the safety of a child who isn't even a year old yet!"

Just then, Wolfgang and Nathan rushed in. The chief was just about to reply to me before he saw Wolfgang. "Just the man I wanted to see," the chief began heartily.

Nathan stood in front of Wolfgang protectively.

"Step aside boy, your brother is not the angel you think he is. He can defend himself perfectly well if the need arises." The chief mocked.

Wolfgang didn't say anything, neither did Nathan move. "What are you doing here, Chief?" Nathan asked.

"I have come for my insolent son, of course," then he turned to me, "and to make sure this wench is gone for good."

"You will not lay a hand on Elorm, I can assure you of that." Michael said, stepping forward. "Stop this drama dad. I will come back to the village and marry whoever you want me to marry, as long as you leave her alone."

The chief shook his head. "I tried that once, son. You still found your way back to her. You know, that was partly my fault. I thought you'd come here and finally be free of her spell, yet, you just fell harder. I had to have you forcefully brought back home, and yet again, you found your way back to her."

Michael opened his mouth but the chief held out his hand before he could speak. "Shut up. That's enough. I'm not going to make the same mistake again. Plus, looking at all this girl knows and what she's done to Mr. Faye's sons, it's only a matter of time. If I don't do it, the others will."

As if on cue, Elikem pulled on my shirt, making me look at him. He looked up at me with teary eyes, but he wasn't making any crying sounds. I too felt the urge to cry, but I wouldn't do that in front of the chief.

I was terrified, my heart was pounding and my head was hurting. Death seemed like such a horrible thing to even think about. They could actually kill me, and my brother and the rest of my family would inevitably follow.

I hadn't even lived yet. I was only eighteen. My whole life, I've lived in a community of people who hated and shamed me for things that I never even did. I've never even gotten to live out a single dream of mine.

And now people were planning to kill me?

All because the man who birthed me couldn't keep it in his pants.

"You want me to get rid of her?" Kofi asked.

"You're not actually considering it, are you?" Nathan asked incredulously.

"What do you want me to do?" Kofi asked, arms akimbo.

"Not stain your hands?" Wolfgang offered, finally leaving the comfort of Nathan's back.

"Yes," the chief said, answering Kofi's question, "that's exactly what I want."

"Okay," Kofi replied, looking at me.

I froze.

"I promise you dad, if you lay a hand on her, I will never take over your businesses." Michael warned.

"Then I'll sell them!" The chief laughed. "Besides, you have a cousin and he can do what you can't."

"Well then, why do you want me so badly?" Michael challenged.

"Why? Because you're my son! Why should I spend my whole life amassing a fortune when my own children can't live to enjoy it? Tell me, does that make sense?"

"Maybe you should've tried amassing a fortune the legal way so that I wouldn't have any doubts about inheriting in."

"It's not that easy son. It's not. See, I didn't become chief of our people by birth right. I was from the gutter, son. I lived a very hard life, but I was ambitious. I became influential, and a couple of people who believed in me decided to settle in a new area with me as their head."

"That sounds nice. If you leave her alone, I will take over the village. I promise you dad," Michael said.

The chief looked thoughtful. "I need your word, son. If you go back on your word this time, I won't hesitate to put an end to her."

"I won't, I promise. You have my word. I will rule and take over any other businesses you want me to take over."

"Very well. You have always been a man of your word. You will leave early tomorrow morning, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, yes dad." Michael nodded.

I let out a breath of relief.

"And you," the chief pointed at Wolfgang, "you will have to answer to your father for disclosing the location of that place to that wench."

"I didn't show her anything," Wolfgang lied.

"Don't be stupid. You're trying to tell me that she somehow stumbled upon the place on her own and knew that her brother was there?"

"I had no idea that you even took her brother. That was just some stroke of good luck, and she found her way to that place on her own. I had no hand in that."

Was he that terrified of his own father to lie?

Mr. Faye wasn't his real father anyway. I wondered what kind of tyrant he was. At least, with Chief Amegah, it was so obvious that he loved his son.

"Really? The employees reported something else." He said.

"I never said I didn't go there with her. All I said is that I didn't take her there."

"It's funny that you think I'm so gullible. Anyways, my son and I will be leaving by tomorrow." Chief Amegah said. "Kofi, can I talk with you privately?"

Kofi nodded and they both left the bedroom to have their talk.

"Ellie," Michael exhaled, rushing over to hug me, "I'm so sorry."

"No, stop," I held my hand out to him, blocking him, "just leave me alone, please."

He looked stunned as I carried my baby brother and went to sit at the edge of the bed.

"I know this is none of my business and that I have no place to say anything, but none of this is his fault Elorm. We can't decide who our parents are, whether adopted or biological." Nathan offered.

"Yes, you're right," I began, "this is none of your business." I cradled my brother's head against my chest, worried that he wasn't crying for milk anymore.

"Elorm, plea–"

"No, Michael. I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Just go. Take your father and go," I said. I shut my eyes as I felt that familiar burning and pooling of moisture in my eyes.

"Elorm, I can't leave when things between us are like this," Michael complained.

Wolfgang sighed and patted his brother's shoulder. "I think we should leave," he said.

Nathan nodded and they both left, closing the door behind them.

"Does it matter? You're just going to leave me and be with someone else."

He slammed the surface of Kofi's small dining table with his fist. "Stop making it seem as if that's the only reason why I'm leaving you."

"I know it's not, but you've already told me that you're going to stay with her when all this ends."

"If all this ends," he corrected.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever considered that I won't be able to end this? According to you and these men, my father has two other business partners. We both know that my father won't hurt me, but we don't know about the others."

"Michael..."

"Yes, Elorm. If something happens to me, I don't want this to be our last time spent together."

"What do you want?" I asked.

He paused and exhaled. "Come here," he held out his hand.

I looked at Elikem, then looked at him pointedly.

"Put him on the ground. The worst he can do is crawl around." Michael said.

"I d–"

"Elorm, please don't be difficult. Stop trying to use him as an obstacle when he's clearly not. What are you afraid of?"

I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth. "I'm afraid of goodbyes."

His eyes softened. "Oh Ellie," he came and knelt before me.

Elikem hit his head.

He laughed and carried the boy, sitting beside me and putting him on his lap. "I don't want to say goodbye. But..."

"But what?" I asked.

"I... I didn't want to ask you to wait for me. I was scared that it sounded too selfish."

"Michael," the stupid, ugly, treacherous tears were rolling down my cheeks before I could stop them, "I wanted you to ask me to wait."

Michael set Elikem on the floor but the child simply sat there and kept looking at us like he was watching a movie. "Why would you want that?"

"See, I don't know if our feelings for each other will change over the years, but I wanted you to ask me to wait, because that would've made me feel like you cared. The way you were telling me goodbye like it was so easy... it broke my heart."

I saw an unnatural glimmer in his eyes before he hugged me. I pressed my cheek against his collarbone, revelling in the warmth of his hug.

"Saying goodbye to you is not and will never be easy, my love." He pulled back and looked into my eyes.

Michael had chocolate brown eyes, but you would never see how chocolatey they are until you were looking closely. His eyes were filled with moisture, just like mine. But unlike mine, they were obediently stuck in his eyes.

He glanced at my lips, and I felt a war amongst butterflies taking place in my stomach. He looked back into my eyes and smiled a tiny smile. "I really wa–"

I didn't wait for him to finish talking. I pressed my lips against his.

It was the most amazing feeling in the world; kissing Michael.

He responded quickly, pushing his fingers into my hair with one hand and using the other one to bring me closer to him.

He lifted me and put me on his lap, while I wrapped my arms around his waist.

I wondered again whether he'd been practicing with someone else, because he was such an amazing kisser.

He sucked on my bottom lip for an entrance, running his hands along my back while sending delicious shivers down my spine. I pulled back for a second to take a breath, but he quickly used that as on opportunity to turn us around and push me on the bed.

I looked at him, eyes wide, while biting the corner of my bottom lip.

His eyes bore holes into mine as he crawled over me, taking both my hands and pinning them above my head.

"Michael," I whispered.

He wasted no time in covering my mouth with his, making sure to hold me in place.

There was nothing chaste about our kiss as he used his tongue to explore every nook and cranny of my mouth.

I arched my back and broke my hands free of his hold, only to put them on his chest and turn us around so that I was the one hovering over him.

He smiled mischievously.

I kissed his hard stomach, using my hands to slowly lift up his shirt.

When my hands came into contact with his bare, hot skin, he sucked in a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

Just as I was about to lower my lips to his skin, a startling cry came from behind me. I jumped up in shock, suddenly remembering that Elikem was still in the room.

His mouth was open in a pre-scream, so I dashed and picked him up. He opened his eyes once he saw me and thankfully, he didn't scream like I expected. He just buried his head onto my chest and began to sob at a reasonable volume.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realise that... he was still there." Michael said sheepishly.

I smiled at him. "Don't worry. I forgot too."

He nodded. "He looks hungry."

"He is," I said, "he hasn't had his breakfast and now it's almost afternoon."

"How about you? Have you eaten?" Michael asked me, pulling his shirt down and standing up.

"No," I grinned embarrassedly, "I'll go and make sure Elikem is fed then I'll find something for myself."

"Okay," Michael nodded. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"What... is something the matter?" I asked.

"I... I just..."

"Michael," I teased, "say whatever it is that you want to say. Don't be shy."

He smiled guiltily and exhaled. "Do you want to meet me... in my room? You know... to, um... tonight?"

I knew what he was asking for.

Sometime ago, I would've been enraged that he was being so blunt and would've probably stormed out of here angrily.

But I was a different person now, and there was a possibility that we would never get to do this. I'd always wanted to be with him on our wedding night, because I wanted our first time to be special like that, but the way things were happening, we weren't even going to have a wedding night.

Besides, this way, I felt like I'd have an advantage over Diamond.

I'd be his first.

Plus, I loved Michael. I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone other than him.

"Yes, of course," I blushed.

He smiled, but it faded quickly. "You know what I mean, right?"

I turned away shyly, smiling so hard that I thought my cheeks were going to burst. "I know what you mean."

He smiled, then exhaled in relief, doubling over with his hands on his knees. "For a second there, I thought you were going to say no." He laughed.

"Not after everything that has happened," I chuckled.

He came forward and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "I'll be waiting."

I wanted to go with him now, but Elikem was my main priority. He'd already suffered enough from starvation.

I kissed Michael briefly and left the room, heading for the kitchen. All the while, my stomach was flipping – in a good way – at the prospect of what was going to happen between Michael and me.

Elikem was still crying when we got to the kitchen; his volume increasing by the minute. I set him on the kitchen counter.

Apparently, the maids had already cleared the dirty dishes, so the milk he was drinking was gone. I quickly reached into the kitchen cabinet and pulled out a packet of oatmeal.

I grabbed one of the baby bottles, but I couldn't find whatever milk they were feeding him so I simply poured some mango juice into the bottle for him.

He quickly grabbed the bottle from me and began suckling, while I hurriedly prepared his oatmeal. He smiled at me, and even though I was still filled with a little bit of terror – because a while ago, my death was imminent – it felt like the world was a better place, seeing that cute dimpled smile.

Though the thought of Michael and this evening was also one of the reasons why I was so happy.

When his oatmeal was ready, I set it in a bigger bowl of water and put some sugar in it. I didn't use milk because when I read the milk can, children under two years old weren't supposed to take that milk.

He had finished his juice, and I began feeding him the oatmeal. He ate happily and quickly; I was even tempted to slow down.

As I was busily feeding him, I was suddenly unceremoniously turned around, making me drop his spoon in the process.

We both looked at the intruder, who was none other than Kofi Faye.

"What do you want, can't you see that I'm busy?" I asked annoyedly.

"Didn't I ask you to keep your mouth shut? Huh?" He was angry, for some reason.

"Whatever. I'm fine now, aren't I?"

"You're really stupid if you think you are." He glared at me.

Elikem was trying to eat with his hands so I took his spoon from the floor and went to rinse it at the sink. "What do you mean? The chief said he'll leave me alone as long as Michael leaves with him."

"Yes, that's what he wants Michael to think. I have orders to kill you."

The spoon fell from my hands and into the sink.

"You're not off the hook yet. He doesn't believe that Michael won't come back for you." Kofi continued.

"But you're not going to do it, right?" I asked, picking the spoon back up and rinsing it again.

The feeling of elation I had before was long gone, and all that was left was dread and fear. My hands were shaking so badly that the spoon fell again.

"Orders are orders. Plus, you've had it coming." He replied.

I turned around to see him feeding Elikem with another spoon. Elikem was holding his hand with every movement that Kofi made. It appeared that he was already at that stage where he wanted to feed himself.

"You can just say that to my face, while feeding my baby brother that easily?" I turned the tap off and dropped the spoon on the counter. I squeezed my fists, enjoying the feeling of my fingernails digging into my palms and creating bloody crescent moons.

The previous scars had scabbed over, so I simply relocated my fingers.

"What do you expect? If it's Elikem you're worried about, don't be. We'll take care of him."

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let my brother grow up in this environment."

He threw his head back and laughed. "You'll be dead, Elorm. Dead," he proceeded to spell it out for me, "d-e-a-d."

I took in a deep breath, shaking. "When are you going to do it? Are you going to face me like a man or be a coward and kill me in my sleep? Maybe you're going to leave me outside again and let me die of starvation. Will you let Fluffy do it? Or you'll force me to overdose of pills?"

Kofi rolled his eyes. "Like I said, none of those were murder attempts. If I really wanted you dead Elorm, I have an armoury. I could easily be done with you without any drama."

"What are you waiting for then? You can't do it, can you?" I asked hopefully.

He rolled his eyes again. "Of course, I can. There's just one more purpose you have to fulfil before you say goodbye forever."

Goodbye.

The thing I hated most.

I bit on my bottom lip as my breath shook unsteadily. I can't leave yet. Not yet. "What?"

"Well, the chief is convinced that you and I have slept together–"

I couldn't stop the disgusted sound that escaped my throat.

Kofi glared at me before continuing. "–it's his explanation for me being unwilling to do any harm to your innocent little brother–"

"Will you get to the point already?" I rushed him.

He looked at my hand which was gripping the edge of the sink in fear. He smiled and took his time feeding Elikem the last morsel of food in his miniature bowl while I just stood there, shaking and holding my breath.

"He's also convinced that you've been with Michael, and for the grand finale, he's convinced you've been with Wolfgang."

"Your point?"

He laughed, sending fear-filled chills up my spine. "He believes this is why both of them are so compassionate towards you."

"Okay..."

"He is assured that you're marvellous in bed. "A 'freak'," he said."

"No," I said, immediately turning around and banging my fists on the counter, "no."

"What? You shouldn't care, you're going to die anyway."

"I'm... oh my goodness," I shook my head.

How did things go from that to this?

Before, all I could think about was spending the night with Michael, and now I was hearing that I was supposed to spend the night with his father instead.

Not just that, but Kofi had orders to end me.

I was going to die.

I buried my face in my palms, shaking so badly that I thought I was going to pass out. Tears seeped through the spaces between my fingers and dropped into the sink.

"Come on, at least you know that you're going to die. Most people don't have that privilege. You can say your prayers now."

I wiped my face with my wet palms. The moisture in my palms was slightly reddish, due to my still vaguely bleeding palms.

I hated the nasty smell of blood. "You're such a horrible person."

"Haven't I heard that one countless times?" He sounded bored. "Come on now. I don't know if you shave but we're going to have you waxed and all that nonsense. He wants you to be 'perfect', whatever that means. You already are."

"Stop it."

"Stop what? It's the truth. You have my ideal body type. It's no secret that you're beautiful. You barely have any body hair, you don't need any make-up, and I'm sure that you don't stink like fish. I don't know why he wants to have all these nasty processes done on you."

"What processes?" I asked, turning around to look at him.

He was carrying Elikem and the child was resting his forehead on his chest with his eyes closed. He must've been full because he looked very sleepy.

When Kofi and I looked at each other, I could've sworn that his eyes softened a little. "A full body wax and some– what did he call it? Dou–"

"Never mind." I said. I'd seen waxing on television. It involved painfully ripping the bodily hairs off the body. My bodily hairs were invisible so there was no need for that. And I did shave. Regularly. "I don't need any of those."

"That's what I said!" Kofi said exasperatedly. "Come on, let's put your brother to bed."

I exhaled again and followed him to his room with shaky legs. I was surprised that I was still on my feet, walking and breathing like everything was okay and I wouldn't be dead by tonight.

Kofi set Elikem on his own bed, but when he turned around and saw me frowning, he asked, "What?"

"He might roll off the bed and fall down."

"Why are you whispering?" Kofi asked me. "Are you that scared?"

I took a deep breath. "No. I'm completely fine. I'm not scared at all."

"I know that was sarcasm," he replied. He created a barricade of pillows around my brother, high enough that my brother was practically encaged.

"Kofi, you're not really thinking of going through with this, are you?" I asked.

He just stared at me longer than I was comfortable with, then, he held out his elbow and said, "Come on."

He took me to some kind of indoor spa. I spent the rest of that afternoon being waxed and massaged. I cried during my wax, but I felt better after the massage.

After that, the women interfered with me in a way I wasn't comfortable with.

I was frowning the whole time, wishing that all this was for Michael. I wouldn't mind if it was for him, because he had my consent to be with me.

His father though, didn't.

After they'd dressed me in sexy lingerie and then covered me with a long nightgown that left everything to imagination, I was left alone in front of a dressing mirror framed with large lightbulbs.

Now that no one was here, I felt so much better crying.

It hurt so badly.

My heart felt like it was going to explode.

My head hurt.

I was shaking.

I couldn't breathe.

I'd ruined my mascara, but I didn't care. I didn't need it anyway and besides, I wanted to ruin this night for that monster.

If he thought I was going to go down without a fight, then he was wrong.

Kofi burst in without warning.

I was already crying violently when he came in, so I couldn't stop at the sight of him.

I turned away.

I heard his loud footsteps as he came closer to me. He was wearing one of those dress shoes that had noisy heels beneath them.

"What do you want?" I asked, wiping the black tears running down my cheeks.

He didn't reply. He simply grabbed hold of my chin and turned my face to his. "You're ruining that eyelash thing."

I shook my head roughly, dislodging his hand. "Mascara," I corrected, "and why are you here?"

"I don't know, Elorm." He said gravely. "I don't know why, but I want to help you."

* * *

Kofi (Since some of you don't know what he looks like)

This chapter ended up too long so I had to break it midway. I hope the ending wasn't too bad.

Anyway, what a chapter! Imagine knowing that you're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it.😨

Though, I'm wondering if Michael is still waiting.😂😂

Don't forget to vote!🌟