Song: Take Care of You – Stonebwoy & Adina (My woman crush 😊)

*Unedited* (Fun fact, this chapter is the twenty-second day in the book)

I was still choking. He got off me and I immediately rushed to the bathroom, coughing my lungs out. One of the pills was just at the end of my tongue, so it came out easily. Another one was stuck at the base of my throat and no matter how hard I coughed, it refused to come out.

I collapsed on the bathroom floor, struggling to catch my breath. The water had rushed up my nose too; it was uncomfortable. I coughed again as the tears rushed down my face.

Someone was touching me. I opened my eyes to see Kofi, crouching above me. "What do you want now?"

"Sit up," he commanded.

The pill lodged in my throat felt even more uncomfortable while lying down so I decided to sit up.

"Good," he said, "do you want some more water?"

I looked at him, frowning. "You got what you wanted. In an hour or more, I will be half–dead."

"Yes, but you didn't swallow all of them, did you? I heard you coughing to get it out."

"I've swallowed it now," I lied. From the corner of my eye, I spotted the pill that I'd managed to spit out. I put the heel of my left foot over it.

"You might be lying so you're going to drink water, whether you like it or not."

I exhaled. "Okay."

"Now, Wolfgang wants to see you so stand up." He took my arm and practically forced me up. "Are you okay?"

I glared at him and ignored the question. He took me downstairs to the same mini hospital that he took me to when he suspected that I had an STD. There were hospital rooms if you went farther.

He took me to Wolfgang's room. Wolfgang was shirtless, sitting on a bed with dried blood in his hair and on the side of his face. He looked fine apart from that.

There was a nurse behind him and she held a needle and thread. There was a tray on which there were bloody glass fragments on a table beside her.

Nathan was on a chair beside his brother's bed. He was frowning deeply, an expression which looked so unnatural on his face.

All three of them looked up when we entered. Wolfgang looked at me for about half a second before he averted his eyes.

Nathan looked at me for a while longer, not bothering to hide his unpleasant frown. He too looked away soon after.

"Here she is," Kofi said, smiling due to the obvious tension in the room.

"You did this and you didn't even manage to escape," Nathan piped.

I didn't want him to hate me. He was one of the enemies but I didn't want him to hate me. "I'm sorry."

Wolfgang looked at me. "You got to the gate though? Right?"

"Does that matter?" Kofi asked angrily.

"I did," I replied Wolfgang.

He smiled. "That's good to hear."

"Really?" Kofi bellowed. "She almost kills you and you've forgiven her already?"

"Come here," Wolfgang called to me.

I went and knelt beside his bed. He put his hand on top of my head, patting me like a dog. I frowned. "Stop that."

"No," he replied. "stay. At least until she gets all of them out, okay?"

"Of course. I–I'm sorry. I wouldn't have... I wasn't–"

"I understand okay? I get it. It's okay."

"It's not okay!" Kofi yelled.

Nathan turned to him and stared pointedly. "That's not your decision to make."

Kofi's expression was filled with disbelief. "She tried to kill our brother!"

"Kofi, get out." Wolfgang said.

"Rhys, I–"

"Devan, please." He interrupted. "I'll come and find you when we're done. We'll talk, I promise."

He scoffed and went away angrily, slamming the door behind him.

"I'll go and talk to him," Nathan said. He didn't look at me as he left.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"But you did."

"I know..."

"But it's okay. I deserved it."

I shook my head. "No, you didn't."

"It's my fault that you're here. If I didn't bring you, you wouldn't have done this."

"If you didn't bring me, the chief would've just made someone else do so."

He smiled. "That's true."

I nodded. "Kofi told me that you had a concussion."

Wolfgang rolled his eyes. "He was lying. My head hurts and there's glass in my scalp, but it's not too deep. I'll be fine."

I took the wet rag on the table beside him and squeezed the extra water out of it. I assumed it was there to clean his wounds when all the glass was removed, so I used it to wipe his face.

He smiled and caught my hand. "Careful princess, I might start thinking you care about me."

"Maybe I do."

Suddenly, he frowned. "You shouldn't."

"Please, don't start. I don't care about all the bad things you've done... for now. Just don't start with that stupid sentimental thing saying 'I'm a bad person' and all that senseless crap."

He just looked at me and laughed. "If you say so."

I sat beside him until the nurse was done. She bandaged his head and left.

"I'm not going to give up."

"What?" Wolfgang asked. He was holding his head like he was in pain.

"I'm going to find my way back to that village to evict that corrupt chief, and be with Michael."

Wolfgang shook his head. "They're very powerful men, Elorm. That's much easier said than done."

"That's the kind of mentality that keeps evil people in power. Since no one will stand up to him, I will."

He smiled. "You're really brave, you know that right?" He touched my nose. "But brave people don't always end up winning. Sometimes, they die."

"I prefer that to living a long life knowing I did nothing to stop the injustices taking place in today's society."

He smiled again. "Yes, of course." Then, he exhaled and his smile faded. "You mentioned Michael. I can take you to see him."

"All the way to the village?" I asked, shaking my head. Kofi's pills will have kicked in by then.

"No. I know his father came for him – forcefully too – some time ago, but he's back and he wants to see you."

"What? Really?" I jumped up in shock. "If you're pulling my leg, it's not funny."

"I'm not. Come on," he stood up, then he frowned deeply.

"Your head," I sighed. "I'm so sorry."

He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. I felt terrible. "I'll... I'll be fine." We went to his car which was parked outside and he began the drive.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The polo club," he replied. He was still frowning.

I wanted to tell him to hurry up because I already started yawning. I couldn't fall asleep – or die – before I had the chance to speak with Michael, but I had a feeling that telling Wolfgang about the pills would only make Kofi angrier. Right now, that was the last thing on my mind.

I was glad when I saw the polo club loom into view. As soon as he parked the car in front of the large building, I jumped out and was about to rush inside the building when Wolfgang shouted, "Wait! Do you even know where he is?"

I smiled sheepishly and waited for him to get down from the car, which was a slow process because of his injury. "Where is he?" I asked.

"He's waiting for us at the restaurant." He took my arm and led the way.

When we got into the restaurant, I was overwhelmed by the amount of people having breakfast over there. They all looked so rich. I didn't spot Michael, until I had the eerie feeling that someone was watching me.

I followed my instincts and there he was, sitting at a table for four and smiling at me. I nearly fell because of all the happiness that was surging through me.

I ran to him. He stood up before I could get there and pulled me into a hug. I didn't care if anyone was watching as I buried my face into his chest. "How is this even possible?"

He held me, not answering for the longest time.

"Excuse me, I don't know about you two but I came here to eat." Wolfgang said, interrupting us. He took one of the seats, looking bored out of his mind.

I felt bad for making him jealous so I pulled back from Michael and smiled at Wolfgang. "What, no privacy?"

"He can't actually leave us alone," Michael answered for him.

"Why?"

"It's complicated," Wolfgang replied.

I decided that I'd get answers about that from him later. "I don't understand, what happened with your father? How are you here?" I asked.

He sighed. "I'm meeting my betrothed."

I stepped back. "What?"

"He's here to meet his betrothed. They were supposed to meet at another restaurant, but we planned and changed the location without his father's knowledge. My point is, you don't have a lot of time before his future bride gets here."

Future bride.

"Elorm, Elorm, listen to me," he cupped my face and lifted it so that I was looking at him, "the only woman I have eyes for is you. No one is going to change that." He said.

"I don't know, Michael. You haven't seen her. She's so beautiful..." Wolfgang whistled.

We both glared at him.

"I don't care if she's the goddess of beauty." He turned to me. "Do you trust me, Ellie?"

I nodded, but I knew that wasn't what it was about. There was no way it was about trust. He couldn't control who he would have feelings for, I knew that.

If this girl was so beautiful like Wolfgang said and she had a nice personality, them being close to each other all the time would inevitably result in them developing feelings for each other.

I could only hope that she was a horrible Etornam-type person.

"I missed you so much," I hugged him again.

"I missed you too. I don't want to be away from you," he said.

"I don't want to be away from you either. I hate it there."

"Wolfgang told me that he convinced Kofi to let you live there without working."

"Yes, but it doesn't make it any better. What am I going to do Michael? Spend my whole life over there?"

"I'm going to get you out of there Elorm, I promise you."

"Please, I don't need a saviour," I rolled my eyes jokingly.

"There's nothing wrong with accepting one. It doesn't make you any less of a woman. I hate that society has made it seem that way."

I rolled my eyes. "I know, Michael. Geez, can't you take a joke?"

He laughed. "Sit. Are you hungry?"

"She can't eat. Your betrothed will be here soon."

"Can you stop calling her that? What's her name?"

"Di–" Wolfgang was interrupted by the incessant ringing of his phone. "It must be her. Elorm, we have to go."

"No, please, don't," Michael begged. He looked at me pleadingly like I had a choice.

"She has to. We can't risk Diamond snitching to the chief."

"That's her name? Diamond? How pretentious," I rolled my eyes.

"I already know I won't like her," Michael added.

"Elorm, let's go." Wolfgang urged.

I hugged Michael again. I didn't want to leave. "Maybe we can meet after she's gone?"

"I'd like that," Michael said.

We both looked at Wolfgang. He rolled his eyes. "Okay. You can even wait here in the restaurant. You'll get to see her too."

I was about to leave when Michael took my hand, pulling me back. "Hey, I know I haven't said this in a long while, but I want you to know that I love you."

I gasped in shock, looking up at him. "I didn't think I'd hear you say that again. At least, not for a long while."

He smiled at me and chuckled. "That was a very clever way to avoid saying it back."

I gasped again. "N–"

"Don't worry. You don't have to. Not yet. I–"

"Elorm, let's leave, please." Wolfgang urged.

The restaurant's door opened and a bodyguard in a suit walked in.

"That's her entourage. We'll be at another table Michael." Wolfgang forcefully grabbed my arm and took me to another table as she entered.

It wasn't so obvious, but half the restaurant went silent. Almost everyone looked up at her.

The jealousy I felt at that moment when I saw Michael stiffen at the sight of her was not a small deal.

She was beautiful.

She exuded so much class and elegance that it reminded me of where I came from.

I was a simple village rat compared to her.

Diamond was a light skinned beauty. A literal goddess. She was so slim and tall. She had such flawless milky skin. Her face was devoid of make-up, just lip-gloss and long, false lashes. Her silky hair was straightened and fell to her shoulders. She was wearing a simple blue dress that hugged her slender curves nicely.

I bowed my head in shame. I didn't feel worthy to even look at her. Under the table, my hands squeezed the life out of each other while my stomach tied itself in knots due to jealousy. I wished we hadn't waited. I wished we'd left.

"Hey," Wolfgang called me. I looked at him. "order something. I know you're hungry."

"Okay," I smiled, albeit sadly. "I want Hausa koko and koose."

He laughed. "Good choice. Really."

As he called the waitress over and ordered breakfast for both of us, I looked back at Michael and Diamond. They were smiling. They were having a conversation that seemed to be amicable enough.

He'd forgotten all about me.

"Wolfgang, I change my mind. Can we go?"

The waitress left before he answered me. "What happened? Elorm, don't tell me that you're jealous just because she's beautiful."

I bit my lip that was already bruised and broken. "Look at them, Wolfgang. Look at her. I don't think Michael even remembers that I exist."

"If it makes you feel any better, I still think you're more beautiful."

"Oh please," I scoffed.

"She just has pretty skin. She's not really all that."

I laughed, knowing he was only saying that to make me feel better. I was grateful. "What if he falls in love with her?"

"He's already in love with you."

I shook my head. "Whatever. I just want to leave. Take me somewhere else."

At that, Wolfgang's face darkened. "There's something I want to show you, but it can wait until after Michael's date."

"Wolfgang, what is it?"

The man sighed. "What I'm coming to tell you is horrible, but when you told me today that you want to go after the chief, I thought I should let you know about this so that you won't try that."

"Wolfgang, you're scaring me." I was glad though that at least there was something else to keep my mind off Michael and that jewellery girl.

"You should be scared."

"What is it? At least, tell me before you show me."

He exhaled. "I wonder if this is a mistake."

"It's not. It's better I know everything about the man I'm trying to take down." I frowned as a thought came to mind. "Are you trying to stop me from going after him because you know that if I take him down, your father goes down too?"

He looked up at me, not even bothering to look like he didn't know what I was talking about. "They're all connected. If you bring him down, you bring my whole family down too."

I shook my head. "What was I thinking making friends with the enemy?"

"Elorm, I'm not your enemy."

"Yes, you are! If your father goes down, it's because he deserves it! Stop trying to save him!"

He just shook his head. "I'll wait for their date to be over, then after you talk to him or do whatever it is that you want to do with him, I'll take you there."

"Take me where? At least I want to know where it is that you want to take me to."

"It's another business in the syndicate. They harvest organs from living people."

After dropping that bomb, he got up and left the restaurant.

I stared at his seat, all thoughts and feelings coming to halt, only leaving behind shock and horror.

Did he mean organs, like hearts and kidneys?

"Oh my goodness," I muttered, feeling like I was going to throw up all over the table.

I wanted to see this place. Even though I was scared that what I'd see might give me PTSD, I just needed to see it for myself.

I looked at Michael again. He and his betrothed were still smiling, like their cheeks were made of elastics. I couldn't even smile that long.

I hated the way she was looking at him. It was as if she already had feelings for him. My goodness, she just met him!

I was too afraid to read Michael's gaze. I was too scared to check whether he was looking at her the same way she was looking at him.

I wanted to talk to him again, but I knew I didn't have much time. Kofi's pills should kick in in the next hour or two and I would've passed out. I didn't have time to waste.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, knowing that Michael wouldn't hear me.

I pushed my chair back and began to leave.

Just then, Michael looked at me. "Elorm! Elorm wait!" He jumped up and ran after me.

I was so glad when he saw me leaving. It would've killed me had he not cared enough to notice.

Jewellery girl was horrified as she saw Michael jumping up to follow me.

I smiled.

"Elorm, please wait," Michael caught up to me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Michael, no one's supposed to see me! How do you know Diamond won't tell your father?"

"Her? She's far too nice for that."

"Whatever, let's go outside, please. She's looking at us."

"Okay," he shot her an apologetic look before going out with me. "why're you leaving?" He asked.

"Michael?" Wolfgang looked at him, bewildered. "What are you doing here? Where's your fiancée?"

"Don't call her that." He replied.

"Michael, I have to go, please," I said.

"Elorm, you realise that this might be the last time we'll ever get to spend time together, right?"

"Why? Because you've fallen in love with Diamond and you're going to accept her now?"

He paused. "Elorm," then he started laughing, "you're jealous? You? This is so funny."

I frowned and crossed my arms. "I don't have time to waste."

"Elorm, I know you feel threatened by her beauty b–"

"Oh, so she's beautiful?"

"Yes, she's pretty, there's no denying that."

I glared at him.

"Elorm, listen, wherever it is that you need to be, I'll come with you."

"You can't do that!" Wolfgang came out of nowhere and shoved him. "For once in your life, don't be a selfish rich brat!"

"Excuse me, do you know me?" Michael retorted, puffing his chest.

I rolled my eyes.

"You should be grateful that all the chief did was take you by force! If you run away with her again, he will come for her!"

"Leave me alone. I'm not leaving her this time. Not again."

"Michael."

We all paused and turned around to look at the owner of the new voice. Diamond.

"What are you doing here?" Michael asked.

"What's going on here?" She asked, looking at me.

"I'm Michael's girlfriend, nice to meet you," I held out my hand for a handshake with a smug smile on my face.

"Excuse me... girlfriend?" She repeated.

"Elorm," Wolfgang snatched my bandaged elbow and turned me to face him. His expression was still pained; his head must've still been hurting badly. "stop it."

"Michael, is this true?" She asked him.

He looked at me. "It's true."

She scoffed and began to head towards her car.

I was impressed. For once, a rich, pretty girl who isn't forcing herself on a boy who doesn't like her. I gained some respect for the girl immediately.

"Diamond!" Michael went after her, reaching out to touch her.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled. "I can't believe I was willing to go along with this even though this is the twenty-first century just to find out that you have a girlfriend!"

I noticed that she had a slight English accent. It was hot.

"My–"

"No. I don't want to hear anything. Tell your father that the deal is off." With that, she turned around and headed for her car, closely followed by her bodyguards.

Michael turned back to me. "What was that for? Do you know what you've done?"

"If you want her so badly," I said, "then why don't you go after her?"

"I don't want her! But she's a nice person, she didn't deserve that," he said. He stole a glance at her car which was leaving at full speed.

If anything, I was glad that she wouldn't be sticking around.

"Oh no," Wolfgang face-palmed. "you just signed your death certificate."

"Let's go," I grabbed Wolfgang's hand and began to tug him to our car.

"Elorm, I'm coming w–"

"No! You're n–"

"I'm coming along and that's final. I don't care about anything else. I want to be with you."

I must admit that my heart melted as he uttered those words. I couldn't possibly deny him now. "O-okay. Let's go, but hurry, we don't have much time."

"What?" Wolfgang asked, but I just ignored him and pulled him to the car.

Michael followed us and got in, forcing me to sit at the back with him. When Wolfgang started the car, he gathered me into his arms and hugged me again. "You smell like me." He observed. "Is that my shirt? Those are my shorts, right?"

"What? No." My cheeks burnt with embarrassment. I never meant for him to find out about my weird obsession with everything that belonged to him. That means I came out again shabbily dressed without even realising it.

At least, this time, I was wearing shorts that I managed to fill quite nicely along with a large hoodie and a pair of black flats, one of the few non-heeled shoes in my closet of clothes. It wasn't a very good combination but it was much better than what I wore to the mall. My hair too was okay.

"I love you," he said again like he liked how it sounded on his tongue. "I love you, I love you, I love you–"

"I'm not sure, but I think we both heard you the first thousand times you said it!" Wolfgang piped, sounding annoyed.

We both laughed. "I'll never get tired of saying that." Michael said.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that." I replied.

"Where are we going?" Michael asked. "Is it far from here?"

"It's close to the mansion," Wolfgang said, "not too close, but it won't take more than an hour."

"An hour?" I didn't have an hour.

"Yes, is anything the matter?" Wolfgang looked at me through the driver's mirror.

"No, of course not." I replied. I hoped I could see enough before I inevitably passed out. "Michael, if I faint or anything, take me to a hospital okay? Don't do that stupid thing in the movies where they keep shouting the person's name as if that would wake them. Also don't try slapping me. If I wake up, I'll slap you back."

He frowned playfully. "Do you plan on fainting?"

"No, but you never know. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Okay," he laughed.

We kept driving. I was nestled in Michael's arms and his chin rested on top of my head. It was a very comfortable position, so I kept my leg in a very uncomfortable position so that it would keep me from falling asleep when that ant sensation started.

Michael tried to straighten it but I swatted his hand away.

My technique worked and I stayed awake for the whole car ride, though I knew my time was near because I was yawning more often now. "Is this it?" I asked.

"This is it," he replied.

"What is this? It looks like a regular hospital, but why is it in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's not a hospital. This is something much more sinister. Come on," he told us.

We all got down from the car. When the people guarding the gate saw Wolfgang, they immediately let us in. I didn't say anything, but that made me aware that he'd been coming here more frequently than he let on.

When we got into the building, doctors and nurses were rushing around like a normal hospital, just that instead of saving lives, they took them. They must've been the doctors who failed too many exams to gain licenses and turned to the darker side.

Wolfgang took us to see children who were locked up in dorms. When we got into one of the dorms, I noticed that the place was very glamourous. They locked the children up all day while making them think that they were getting five-star treatment.

"What is this place and why do I recognise some of these children?" Michael asked, gripping my arm in shock, maybe fear. He was right. Some of the faces looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd seen them.

"Is it just children they work with?" I asked. My hands were shaking at that point, so I held on to Michael while he also held on to me.

"Mostly, yes. I don't think there are any adults anymore. That's not all, there's something else I want to show you." He said.

We left the dorms. He took us to the back of the building and for miles, the earth looked fresh, as if someone had gone through the trouble to dig it up.

"What is this?" I asked.

"A graveyard."

All the wind was knocked out of me.

The fresh dirt went so far that it was out of my sight. The thought of how many children... my stomach coiled, trashed, knotted and finally, evacuated all its residents.

"No!" Wolfgang immediately took off his shirt to catch the mushy liquids before they hit the floor.

Michael turned me around and hugged me. I wasn't crying and I didn't like that he felt that he needed to shield me from anything, but I was grateful that I didn't have to look at all that freshly dug earth.

"Don't leave your DNA here. If this place ever gets raided by the police – which I hope will happen soon – I don't want you to be falsely incriminated." He wrapped his shirt which was now stained with my vomit.

"You're a terrible person," I said, pulling away from Michael's chest.

"I know."

"This still doesn't explain why I recognise some of these children. They... they look like children from my village."

We were back in the building and Wolfgang was heading somewhere with the shirt in hand. I suspected that he was going to have it burnt.

"That wouldn't be shocking. They go by the name of a fake non-governmental organisation called the CWO. They mostly attack villages and other uncivilised places so that they don't have to deal with the law."

"Did you say CWO? Children's Welfare Organisation?"

"Yes, why? Everything you've heard about them are all lies. A front for the media. All they do is kidnap children, harvest their organs and sell them."

"Michael, they were at our village! These children are children from our village!"

Michael shook his head. Disbelief and fear were the prominent expressions on his face. "My father let them come to our village. He let them do this to his own people."

"I know he's kind and loving to you, Michael, but your father is a very ruthless man. Which is why you have to let Elorm go." Wolfgang said.

We'd gotten to a place that was filled with hospital rooms. The whole place smelt like detergents and babies; it sickened me. "I want to leave. Now."

"Just let me burn this." He pointed at the shirt. We entered an office and he immediately opened one of the drawers and grabbed a lighter.

I looked at him suspiciously. He would've only known that the lighter was there if he put it there. Could... could this be his office?

He set the shirt on fire and dropped it into a metal bin. "I only showed you this because I want to show you the kind of men you want to go up against."

"If anything, all this has done," I yawned, "is make me more determined to put a stop to all this wickedness."

There was a child screaming his head off in the background. By the sound of it, he was coming close to us.

"Let's leave now. Please." The screams of the poor child tugged at my conscience.

I knew it would haunt my sleep in the days to come. I yawned again. Aggressively.

"Yes," Wolfgang said.

Michael simply shook his head as we began to leave. As soon as we left the office, we came face to face with the child who was crying his head off and the nurse who was holding him.

I froze. It was Elikem.

Just then, Kofi's pills took effect. I dropped like a stone.

* * *

I hate this story.

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