IT'S TIME FOR THE WORLD TO KNOW WHO I AM A tear dropped forth from Annabelle's eyes unintentionally. The ladies who were attending to her paused.She had ruined the makeup.The ladies looked at each other's faces in surprise.Annabelle came to her senses when she realized what had happened." Oh, I'm sorry, I was emotional, I'm sorry," Annabelle apologized and forced out a smile.The lady nodded and took out a tissue, wiped the tears, and resumed her work.Annabelle controlled herself to make sure she shed no tears again.……Reuben went back to the study where Grandpa was sitting." Weldone boy, you've done well," Grandpa said as Reuben entered the room.Reuben let out a smile " It was not easy. She actually controlled herself more than I expected her to. She is a strong woman, " Reuben said." Oh yes, I knew that. S
WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMENGrandma took the lead with her car while Louisa followed in her own car.They got to the crossroads where Grandma's junior sister, Rebecca, who was also Louisa's aunty, was supposed to meet them.Grandma found a good space and pulled over.Louisa found a good space and pulled over, too, behind Grandma Anderson. She left the engine running to be able to enjoy the comfort of her air conditioner Grandma got out of her car with her phone placed on her cheeks.She was obviously on a call.Louisa sat in her patiently as she looked at grandma .A few minutes later, a white Toyota highlander came around and pulled over right in front of Grandma's car.Madam Rebecca got down from the car dressed beautifully. She gave grandma a hug, and the two exchanged pleasantries. Grandma opened her car and took out an invitation ticket, and handed it over to Madam Rebecca.Madam Rebecca took the ticket and walked back to her car.Grandma got into her own car first and drove
ITS WORTH A MILLION DOLLARSReuben put on his suit and stood in front of his dressing mirror. He admires himself with a smile.He heard the music being ended from the event hall, then the voice of someone. He knew it was time to get ready.He quickly walked out of his room and onto the hallway.He met Grandpa Roland, who was going back to his room." We will have to go to the event hall very soon. But before that, get Annabelle and you both come to the meeting room.The elders are ready to meet her, " Grandpa said as he met Reuben. Reuben nodded and hurried to the makeover room where he knew Annabelle was.He knocked on the door.The door opened after a few seconds.Reuben walked in with a smile on his face." Are you guys done?" Reuben asked a s he walked in." Right on time, sir. We are done now, " the leader of the group saidReuben nodded.He saw Annabelle sitting on a chair in a new white, perfect, and befitting gown.The ladies had done for her a light makeup and some touches
WELCOME TO THE FAMILYReuben and Annabelle walked down the hallway holding hands.As they walked, Annabelle heard the voice of a man. It was coming from a place that seemed like it was near to them" Where is that coming from?" Annabelle asked Reuben, pointing a finger to her back." That is from the event hall. The program has already started.Grandpa will join them later.Then we will join them specially, " Reuben said with a smiley face.Annabelle nodded Fierce looking men in black suits were dispersed across the hallway, standing at intervals from each other. Each one of them saluted immediately. Reuben and Annabelle passed them by.Reuben Annabelle walked down the hallway until they got to the end of the hallway. The last door was an unusually big one." Where is this?" Annabelle asked as he looked at reuben." This is the meeting room. Grandpa Roland and the other elders of the family, as well as my female cousins, are in there. They are waiting for us, " Reuben replied with
LETS GET READY Grandpa walked out of the room, leaving Reuben and Annabelle to themselves.Annabelle heaved a sigh of relief" Huh, you have a nice family here," Annabelle said with a smile." Yeah, they are always like that, especially that cousin of mine Andrea, always disturbing me," Reuben said and heaved a sigh, too." But you know you really never told me you have a family as large as this," Annabelle said." uhmm, yes, I didn't really tell you about them. They were also part of the plan, though.Well, since they have introduced themselves to you, I don't think there is any problem again. Anyways, we will be staying here from now on so you will familiarize yourself with them all.You know, my two ladies, they don't stay here, Andrea is studying and Martha are both studying at Oxford University so they hardly come around.The elders all have their business doing, and some of them are married,
HEAD TO THE HALLGrandpa and his group walked down the hallway as they headed to the event hall.They walked slowly as they chatted amongst themselves happily" Grandpa Roland, that lady is such a beauty, I nearly thought she was a goddess," Andrea said.They all burst into laughter." Yes, you are right, Andrea. The lady is very beautiful. I like her already. " One of Reuben's uncles seconded." Well, you are right, though. And she has a good heart, too. You know Reuben took her through a series of loyalty and poverty tests, but she was successful in all, " Grandpa told them."What do you mean?" One of the elders asked." Well, after the Andersons messed up with him, we all knew it was his time to come in then.But he was supposed to be married before he could take over from me.The other lady from the Andersons family never valued him.Not even any member of the Anderson family liked him.Why? Because he was poor.And we all know he acted poor.So when he returned, I was worried ab
LET'S WELCOME OUR HOST FAMILYThe master of the ceremony, John, was with the family's event planner in the hall discussing something.The hall was already half filled, and guests were still trooping in.The music band was still playing a song, and people were nodding to the rhythm.He glanced at his wrist watch, it was just ten minutes to the scheduled time of the commencement of the program. The event planner knew that too and wrapped up what he was saying. " Looks like you have to get ready now. Kindly go to the technical room to get your microphone fixed so you can come and start your work," the woman said to John.He nodded and quickly got on his way to the technical room. He emerged a few minutes later with his body microphone fixed to him.He sat down on a comfy chair at a spot where he could see the stage clearly. (That was actually the place designated to him to sit when he wa
INTRODUCE THE FAMILY "So, ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for our first honor of the house, She is the chief auditor of the Brooks family and one of the best auditors in the country, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause for Miss Andrea Brooks " John said as he introduced Andrea on stage.Andrea emerged from the place where Mrs Thompson was, she walked majestically up the stage, waving at the crowd as they clapped happily, welcoming her on stage.Andrea sat down on one of the chairs on the second row, with a smile on her face." Thank you, thank you.." John said as the clapping died down amongst the guests." You are welcome, Miss Andrea. John said with a wide smile to Andrea. " Andrea nodded with a smile." Right, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome our next in line…."Within five minutes, John had introduced everyone up the stage except one, Grandpa Roland.The seats on the podium were all filled up except three.He introduced him on stage, calling for a
I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER Grandma had just returned home from the courtroom and was in her mansion. Madam Martha and Madam Rebecca were with her, still trying to console her. Grandma could just not bear to see her going to jail. She had broken down in tears right from the courtroom and had to be brought home. They had to bring her to the house forcefully. As they sat down weeping, a knock came on the door. “ Come in please” Madam Rebecca said The door opened, and a guard walked in. “ There are some people here to see you ma'am” the guard said. Grandma was absent-minded about the whole surroundings as she kept weeping. “ Who is that?” Madam Rebecca asked. The guard did not reply. Instead, he stood aside. Three policemen walked in with one other man. The man without a uniform came forward. He had an ID in his hand and a paper in the other hand. “ My name is Mr Andrews, and these are inspectors Jack and Jill, we have an arrest warrant against Mrs Evelyn Anderson, and we
CHAPTER 267Monday morning. CourtroomThe courtroom was set for the proceedings to take place.Reuben was seated with Annabelle and their family lawyer.They sat on the side of the plaintiff.On the defendant side sat Grandma Anderson, Jake’s father, madam Rebecca, and a few new unfamiliar faces.They had two lawyers on the defendants side, The Jakes family lawyer and the Anderson family lawyer.They were all seated and waiting for the proceedings to start.Earlier in the previous day, Grandma, together with her family lawyer, had visited Louisa and Jakes again, and they had spoken.According to the conversation with their lawyer, they were better off by pleading guilty to the accusations and pleading for mercy, in that case, they were going to be pardoned and their sentence was going to be released.They had come into an agreement with the family lawyer for the Jakes family to do that.Both families had no money left in their accounts to drag th
THE VISITThe driver drove into the premises of the police station.The sun shone high above the sky, and everywhere was bright light.Grandma got down from the car and hurried towards the entrance." You are welcome ma'am" one of the policemen who knew her greeted her as soon as she entered." I want to see Louisa now," she fumed, ignoring the greeting from the policeman." Certainly ma'am, you have to wait for just a few minutes. I will be right back with you, " the policeman said with a dry smile and walked back in.Grandma stood in front of the policewoman at the reception.She looked at her with a deadly look, and the woman did her best to avoid the gaze and ignore her.Grandma stood there shaking vibrantly.She could feel her knees hurt from the stand, but she ignored the pain and stood there.Her only aim at that time was to see Louisa and speak with her, and that was exactly what she was doing.After standing for about three minutes, she was already losing her patience.Just
A SCARY REALITYGrandma Andersons Mansion.Three hours later, Grandma had just alighted from her car with the factory manager.She saw madam Rebecca and Martha coming towards her.They all wore sad faces to meet her.There was an awkward silence amongst the trio as they welcomed Grandma, but Grandma did not say anything.She was just smiling through the whole process.The two wondered what there was to smile about the trouble they had at that moment.They went to the living room, and all of them sat around." Where is Louisa? I was told she was coming to the hospital to see me but she never came.Where is she now?" Grandma asked.She noticed that everybody else's face changed at once.She suspected that something was wrong." What is it? Why is no one talking to me?" Grandma asked.She was eager to know what was going on.The manager looked at Madam Rebecca." Have you told her yet?" She asked him.The manager shook his head in the negative" What is there to tell me, someone to speak
ALL IS UNDER CONTROLLouisa and Jakes were pulled out of the police van, with the handcuffs on their hands.They both looked surprised as they could not fathom how they had just been intercepted in the middle of their operation and arrested by the police.The police had confiscated their phones and all that was with them.Louisa had seen Reuben and Annabelle earlier at the scene, while they walked away, after Reuben told the policeman something.She was sure Reuben had found out about their plan and had laid ambush for them." Is this what your plan led us to? In prison?" Louisa screamed out to Jakes when they were arrested.All she got was a caution from the police to keep her mouth shut, with the addition that whatever she said at that time could be used against her in the court.Louisa knew that was the end.They had been caught in the act, and she was sure that the boys were going to confess that Jakes was their leader.She was caught with Jakes at the same time at that scene,
ITS A STRIKEGrandma was in her room in a phone call.It was time for dinner and she needed to go eat.The househelp had served her meal and informed her about it.Grabdma came out to the dunning room when one of her guards entered, with an envelope in her hand." Excuse me ma'am, there is a parcel for you," the guard said as soon as he walked in." Who is it from?" Grabdma asked " There is no sender's address, only the delivery address, and that is here." The guard said.He handed over the envelope to Grandma.Grandma took the envelope and muttered a " thank you" as the guard left.She was curious as to who would send an envelope without a sender's address.Grandma did not touch any of his cutlery. Instead, he opened the envelope to see the contents.The envelope contained a single sheet.She took out the paper and read the contents of the paper." Dear Mrs Anderson, We have not8ced your recent activities, and we know where you invested all your money..We can assure you that the
THE PLACE WHERE IT ALL STARTED"What is going on here?" Annabelle asked in surprise.She could not just fathom what was going on, although she knew she was just about being kidnapped.Reuben held her hand and led the way back to the car, away from the sirens and the people who were being arrested. " What just happened here? Why is Louisa and that man being arrested? Who are those men? " Annabelle asked all at once." Let's sit in the car and speak for a bit.There are still a lot of things you need to know, " Reuben said as he unlocked the car with the remote.He opened the door for Annabelle to sit down and closed the door.He walked to the driver side and sat behind the steering, roaring the engine to life." I'm ready for the questions now, but before to ask, let me begin with narration," Reuben said as he drove out of the parking lot and out of the premises." I know you have a lot of questions. First of all, our date has not been canceled. We are on our way to a new restaurant.
STAGED KIDNAPFriday Evening, 4:30pm, Honeymoon Hotel.Louisa and Jakes were out of the hotel and were heading towards the garage.They were done with all their planning for their mission ahead, and everything was carefully laid out.Everything they needed to make their work successful was ready.They walked into the garage, and Jakes unlocked the door to a new car.They both sat in it as they talked.Louisa had gone there with a car, but according to Jakes, it was too risky to use her car, as it might be identified by Reuben.They had hired a new car they were going to use.They sat in the car as the driver drove out of the premises of the hotel." So we are going there earlier, so we can monitor their movements, they should be there around 5pm, and we should get there about ten minutes before them.Everyone else is ready over there, and this should not take a long time.We will pull out quickly, " Jakes said.Louisa nodded.She was okay with the explanation and how things were go
TWO WAYSLouisa went to the hotel and met with Jakes as they talked for the last time.Jakes made it clear that he had confirmed news from the Brooks mansion that Reuben and Annabelle were going out on a date the following day.He, however, stated that they did not know exactly where and when they were planning to go.Louisa rejoiced with the news as she knew they were getting closer to victory.Jakes told her he had the vans ready, and they also knew where they would be sending Annabelle after they had gotten hold of her.He had a private ship that was on the shores of the seas, waiting for him.He planned on going back home with Annabelle on the ship instead of air.He was doing that for his own safety, at least,until things went calm.After about thirty minutes of talking with Louisa, they finally dispersed, and Louisa went back home to prepare for the day ahead.It was a careful and nice plan they had laid out there, and they were sure it was going