Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Darrell finally caught up with Doctor Harvey in the lobby after the man had successfully avoided him for sometime.

"Doctor Harvey, can I see you for a moment?" he asked.

Harvey smiled nervously "The firing of the staffs has nothing to do with Halal's case" he said immediately.

Darrell paused, what was wrong with Doctor Harvey these days? He was acting strange."That's not what I wanted to talk to you about actually" Darrell said.

"Oh, really. Then what is it?" he asked.  Darell saw a few nurses lounging around the lobby and decided it was better not to tell him here.

"Let's talk in your office" Darrell said. Harvey nodded and led the way.  Once they were seated in his office, he urged Darrell to continue.

"Doctor Harvey are you aware that Victoria is responding to treatment? Mathew said he's been calling you for a while now to inform you but you've been ignoring his calls" Darrell said fixing his eyes on Harvey's expression.

"Victoria is awake?" he asked immediately.

"Not yet,  we're hoping for a quick recovery though" Darrell answered.

"Oh that's wonderful" he smiled painfully.

A part of him was happy about Victoria's recovery, the other part was dismayed because it wouldn't be long before she woke up and exposed his wife.

"That's not all Doctor Harvey, Mathew told me that he received a call from....." Darrell was saying when Harvey cut him off.

"I heard you're in a relationship with Mrs Amity" he said his eyes meeting Darrell's.

Darrell took in a sharp breath "Yes,  and she's no longer Mrs Amity. She's divorced" Darrell said. "You two were in a relationship before that" Harvey continued.

"With due respect sir, my personal life isn't anyone's business" Darrell frowned.

Harvey smiled "I'm happy for you boy,  she's a good woman. I just don't think she's safe here though" Harvey said.

Darrell sighed, at least that had gone well.  "Darrell what are you doing next week?" Harvey asked cautiously, he'd heard from his wife that the woman in the shadows would be coming into town the following week and he was genuinely worried about Darrell and Halal.

"Nothing, why?" Darrell asked.

"Would you like to go to Calabar with your woman next week?" Harvey asked.

Darrell paused, he was surprised at the question. "My wife and I were planning to go to Calabar next week but something came up, why don't you go in our place? We've made reservations already, I wouldn't like it to go to waste. Think of it as a birthday present" Harvey smiled.

Darrell smiled back "Thanks a lot sir" Darrell said.  Harvey waved a dismissive hand "It's nothing" He said. He would never be able to live with the guilt of losing Darrell or Halal because of his wife's mistakes.

"Calabar?" Halal scrunched up her face.

"Yes, Calabar" Darrell repeated. They couldn't go to Calabar, not when she was throwing a surprise party for him.

"Why do you want to go to Calabar for a week? Calabar is very boring at this time of the year" Halal said.

Darrell shook his head "It's a gift, I can't reject it" Darrell said. "Darrell I don't feel well enough to travel, I can't go" Halal said.

"You're not well enough to travel? You look perfectly fine Halal. Once again Halal, I'll be really pissed if I find out you're planning a surprise party" Darrell warned.

Halal rolled her eyes "What if it's a small party?" Halal asked. "Halal, no party please. Let's go to Calabar,  I thought you wanted to unwind?" Darrell asked.

"I don't want to unwind anymore, besides Eva is coming over next week" Halal informed him.

"Evangeline?" Darrell asked.

"Yes, she called to say she was coming. And she'll be staying here, please....it'll only be for a week. She won't be a bother, I promise" Halal said.

Darrell sighed "Fine. You can stay here with your cousin, I'm going to Calabar. Maybe I'll take Felicity with me. She certainly needs a vacation" Darrell hissed and walked out of the room.

God forbid him living in the same house with Eva, they had so much history. History that Halal knew nothing about because no one had bothered to tell her.

Lagos

Several years ago.

(Patricia's residence)

Eva knelt before Mason in tears "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry. It was a mistake, I swear it was a mistake" she begged.

Mason shook his head at his fiancée "Eva you told your cousin to keep me occupied by accompanying me to the mall while you came over to seduce her boyfriend? You, a woman who is engaged!" Mason looked at her in disgust.

Eva shook her head "No....No....Darrell please tell him nothing happened" Eva begged turning to Darrell who was standing beside Patricia.

Darrell turned to Mason "Nothing happened" he said coldly.

Nothing happened because he'd refused Eva's advances. Right from the day Halal had introduced him to Eva, she'd made it her goal to steal him away from Halal. Not because she loved him, but because she wanted to spite Halal.

First she'd tried to get him with money and outrageous gifts that he'd always rejected. When that didn't work, she tried this.

Halal and Mason had gone out to the mall to get more drinks for the engagement party the next day.

Barely an hour after Halal and Mason had left the house, Eva came into Darrell's room wrapped in a red and black satin robe.

"Eva?" Darrell sat up on the bed.  "What's going on?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked smirking. She took off her robe leaving nothing to imagine.

Darrell looked away "Eva, I don't know what you're playing at and I don't know why you're doing all of these.  First it was Tag Heur watches, Armani suits, Italian leather shoes, a car, a credit card too. I'm not interested, why won't you get the message? If I didn't accept the car you got me, how the hell do you think I'd accept a roll in the sheets with you?" Darrell scoffed.

"Come on Darrell,  don't tell me you're not attracted to all these hotness. You'd be a fool not to, after all your girlfriend is starving you" Eva mocked.

"You're not my type, also you're getting married" Darrell said.

Unfortunately for Eva, she'd not locked the door when she walked in.  Patricia was the first to walk into the room, Darrell was explaining the situation to Patricia when Mason had walked in.

He'd discovered halfway to the mall that he wasn't with his credit card, so he'd asked Halal to drop him off and go on to the mall herself. So he could go back home to get it and join her afterwards.

Mason shook his head "I thought you'd changed Eva" he said painfully, he shook his head again before walking out of the room.

Mason left the house immediately cancelling the engagement, Patricia had been pissed off. Eva refused to accept she was at fault and blamed everything on Darrell.

Till today Halal didn't know what had gone down and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Harvey, you know what would happen if Victoria wakes up" Janice panicked.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Harvey asked.

"We have to do what it takes to keep the family together and safe" Janice said.

Harvey shook his head "I'm not getting my hands any more dirty for you, I love you but that's a line I'll never cross" Harvey said.

Janice scoffed "Don't worry, I'll take care of my problems myself. It appears that you don't love me enough" She said and stormed out of the room.

Her hands were already stained with the bloods of several people, one more stain was nothing.

Victoria had to die.