Damien felt his throat turn dry after Rebecca ended the call on him. He stared at the screen for a minute before it dawned on him that his wife had suddenly changed and did not care about him in any way. At least not anymore.
He placed his phone in his pocket as he slowly found his way to the kitchen. It took a minute to get there. Opening the fridge, he got out a bottle of water and grabbed a cup. He uncapped it and turned it over to pour the content into the glass.
“And who said you could drink our bottle of water?” Justin, Rebecca’s younger brother said
“I’m thirsty” he said, not wanting to argue with them
“You are thirsty for water and not for wealth” The mother appeared next
“I just need water mum” Damien said
“Oh, you shut up, fool. Who is your mother? This would be the last time you would open that mouth and call me your mother. Do you look as miserable as you right now?” she snapped at him
“I’ll place it back” he forced a smile
He spun around cocking the bottle. Justin snatched the bottle. “What are you doing here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to find your way?”
“Oh, he would leave. I’m sure he wants to stick around and claim what is not his. Rebecca told me you signed the papers. Finally, you decided to free us and her from your poverty. You are good for nothing. For a year since you got married to my daughter, you have done nothing. You could not even secure a position in the company you work for”
“I-”
“I am trying Mother” Justin said and he laughed with his mother
“Aren’t you tired of that line? Every single time you are trying. There will be changes soon. I’ll work on it but nothing. Nothing! You can’t do anything. You claimed you got a good degree so why don’t you have a job with it?”
Rebecca’s mother continued, “Take a look at Alex. A young man that is ready to do anything for us. Just a single moment he came into my daughter’s life, changes were evident. You on the other hand” She spat on him
“Mother!”
Justin punched him. “You dare not raise your voice at my mother,” he said as Damien stumbled back not expecting the hit
Justin did not stop there. He knocked Damien down while he was still in shock as to Justin hitting him. It was something new to him. Damien knew Justin was a little bit violent but he had never directed it at him before except today.
Damien refused to hit Justin back even after being thrown to the ground and kept being beaten. All he could do was protect his face to prevent any damage to it. Justin was happy with the turn of events.
Finally, he could beat the idiot who told him he should stop wasting money unnecessarily. It took a lot of effort not to snap at him then and tell him, Damien that he was not wasting money and the reason why he was seeing it like that was because he was poor.
He did not even have a single penny in his name. Damien’s pay in the company could not even prepare a complete meal. If not for Rebecca, who knows if they would have been eating at all? Then someone decided to bless them for their patience with the idiot, Damien.
Alex was the light in the tunnel they always wanted. He was rich and the moment he came into Rebecca’s life, they began having in abundance. Rebecca would come back with cash and even gifts for all of them to hold on to.
Now, Justin chose to beat the living the daylight out of the man who made their life even worse by being poor and leaching onto them. “Enough, Justin” his mother finally said after being satisfied with how much Damien had been beaten
He dared yell at her when he had nothing.
“Throw him out” she instructed
Justin got up from Damien’s stomach, grabbed his shirt and pulled him up. It did not end there. He pulled the innocent Damien who could not say anything but let the young boy pull him towards the door.
Rebecca’s mother opened the door and Justin pushed Damien out. Without a word, he slammed the door in his face. “Mum? Justin? I’m sorry Mum. I did not mean to yell. Please just let me stay. I’ll find somewhere else soon. Please”
Damien stood at the door, knocking and speaking occasionally but the individuals paid no heed to his words. His knocking only attracted the neighbours so with a sigh, he left the door. The only place he thought of going at this point was his uncle’s place.
His parents would not take him back even if they found out he was no longer married to Rebecca. He was sure the president’s daughter had found someone else to get married to and even at that, he could not just forget Rebecca that easily.
He was not in love with the president’s daughter but he was in love with Rebecca. Taking one more glance at the door, he walked away. His mind was having a million thoughts at once. He stood at the side of the road waiting for a cab and then it dawned on him that he had no money on him to pay for it.
He had spent the little money he had on the rose for Rebecca. With he sigh, he began to walk. With his hands in his pocket, he decided to trek a few miles away to get to his uncle’s place. It took him some time to get there.
The huge mansion came into view as he approached. He pressed the button on the intercom. “Who is it?” his uncle’s voice came through
“It’s me, uncle,” he said
“Damien?”
“Yes, uncle”
The speaker went quiet but the gates did not open. After a few minutes, it opened but his uncle stepped out. “Why are you here?” he asked
“I really need a place to stay, uncle”
“I thought you had a place to stay with your wife”
“We just got divorced and I got thrown out of the apartment. I… I don’t really have any money with me right now and I can’t go home either. Can I stay here till I’ve sorted everything out?”
“I’m sorry, Damy. You know you are not in good standing with the family. I cannot let you stay. All I can do is withdraw from R****h Align like you requested”
“Uncle, it’s just for some time, promise” Damien pleaded“I’m sorry, Damien. You chose your coat” With that his uncle stepped back into the house leaving the young man standing outside without a means to get a placeDamien had nothing with him, extra clothes, money, food and not even a place to stay. In a blink of an eye, Damien had nothing. He had no wife or family. They all turned their backs on him. He did not blame his uncle for turning him awayDamien’s father had a strong hold on everyone in the family. If anyone went against him, they should be ready to take the consequences of their actions. A clear example was Damien himself.His father's wrath was not spared from him after he went against his bidding. With nowhere else to go, Damien wandered around until he got to one of the city’s bridges and took position under it. It was early in the afternoon and the sun was at its peak so he had to take refuge under the bridge.Sitting there idle for a few minutes led to him feeling sle
“Babe, please” Rebecca pleadedShe was with Alex in his office. It was a new day and a few hours after Damien’s arrest. At first, she let Damien be arrested as that might teach him a lesson not to interfere in her matters again. However, she thought his arrest would only last for the night.When morning came, she asked Alex if he had released Damien but he replied that he had not. Alex had said he would release him later but after a few hours, he told Rebecca he changed his mind.He wanted Damien to rot in jail for all he did so he was moving Damien from detention to prison. He deserved it. But Rebecca kept on pleading with him to change his mind. “Please, baby. You know how his poor people behave. They always feel entitled” she said“And that’s why he needs to stay in there. Prison is the best place for him”“No, Baby. Please, just release him. I promise he will not bother us again. I’ll make sure of that” she said playing with her index finger on his chestAlex thought for a little
It was finally official that Damien had nothing. His wife was gone. She went to be with another man. Her family threw him out of the house.His uncle could not take him in be his father and his father did not also want him back. Damien left the mansion dejected. There was not a single idea of how to go about his life.He could not even start up something. Not a penny was with him, there was no roof over his head. It was slowly turning dark indicating the close of the day.This was the second day of him being homeless. Damien wandered around for a while until he decided to find refuge in a nearby church.He walked in with his hands in his pockets then took a seat at the last row of the bench. His eyes were glued to Mother Mary who was at the front, close to the altar.There was no one in the church except him. The plan was simple, he would stay in the church until he got something to do or at least a better place to stay.He did not even have friends he could call to help him at this p
“Hey," the lady said and looked away from him, wiping her face with her handDamien stood awkwardly for some time before he sat beside her. “I could not help but notice you were in a bad mood," he saidHe kept his distance so as not to scare her away. One thing a crying lady would not want was to feel threatened at her lowest emotional point. It worked when he dealt with his sister, mother and Rebecca so he believed so to be true.“What? You want to mock me?" she snapped at himDamien shook his head. “No, no. Everyone can break down once in a while. It's normal. I just thought you needed someone to speak to. You know, listen to you" he saidShe studied his face for a while then looked away. “I'm Damien" he placed his hand on his chest“So what now? I should tell you my name so you could question my weakness"“I can never do that. You can choose not to tell me your name. It's your choice. I won't force you"They both turned silent as she began to sob, her chest rising and falling. “I…
They had just stepped out of the male boutique where Joana spared no expense in getting him any clothes she thought would be good for him.Damien did not try to make a choice. He was not planning on having a choice when someone was helping him. Though at the back of his mind, he wondered what he was going to do with the clothes since he had nowhere to stay.Surely, Joana was not going to give him a place to stay because he coaxed her when she was down. He could not be walking down the road with nice clothes but empty pockets.But Joana had other plans and she asked the question after they had placed the bags in the back seat. Damien froze because he was not expecting it.“I'll pay you a thousand a month, plus a room in my house and meals every day" she added to her questionThat was an offer of a lifetime for him right now. He did not have a job anyway so he accepted. “I accept," he saidIn his head, he was taking a billion somersaults because now he did not have to worry about a roof
It has been three days since Rebecca finally settled down with her boss, Mr. Alex. The days leading up to their marriage and the three days after their marriage were bliss.Alex was all that family was looking for. He did everything they wanted and needed. Money was not the issue with him. Alex did not mind spending it on Rebecca's family and even Rebecca.He showered her gifts. Every day, Rebecca got new things. Clothes, shoes, new gadgets, anything she ever wanted. For her mother and brother, they got money every single time.Alex gave them all they needed. He bought them properties. He furnished the buildings for them. It was a dream come true for the family.Rebecca's mother would always make side comments about Damien. It was either 'If you had stayed with that fool, we would not have gotten to this point' or 'Glad the poverty that man brought left with him' and many more thingsRebecca said nothing. Even though she did not fully agree with what she said. Damien was a good person
Damien on the other hand was having a peaceful time of his life. All he did was follow Joana everywhere and protect her. It had been a month and he had noticed a few things.Apart from being surrounded by riches, she had no man in her life. Well, one man, her ex-boyfriend has continued to be a pain in both of their lives.Joana had said she blocked him but he kept loading up her phone with other people's numbers and threatening her. He was nothing but obsessive and overprotective.Sometimes it led to Joana crying most times that would require Damien to soothe her. They slowly began getting close. He got to know a few things about her. Her likes, her dislikes but they kept it professional. Damien was there to work and he concentrated on that.It was a Saturday morning, and Damien was busy working his way around the kitchen. He recently began cooking because he did not want Joana to spend money just for a meal when the money could save them a bunch just by cooking it at home.Because he
Damien grabbed his blazer from the bed and put it on. His eyes caught the file on the bedside table and for the twentieth time since he woke up, he had been ignoring it.Again, he took his eyes away and turned around to face the mirror. He had on a black shirt under the blazer matched with black, bogus trousers.He stared at himself in the mirror, frustration in his eyes as he sighed. Briefly, he shut his eyes to control himself. For a moment, he felt hurt but he forced a smile on his face to hide it.Raising his hand, he read the time on the wristwatch. He was ten minutes late for work already. But despite that, there was not an ounce of giddiness to get to work.The past week has been hell for the young Damien. Some work-related but most of it from his dear wife. He spun around and was about to pick up his bag when he instead picked up the file on the bedside drawer.This was a week since this file was given to him to sign. It was heartbreaking when his wife of four years chose to h