Chapter 39: Chapter 39

"I'm tired, let's go inside. I'll ask Maria to prepare dinner so we can eat in my room" Halal smiled dropping her glass.

'That's great, it'll be your last meal before your death' Eva smirked.

Halal got up and turned to Eva "You shouldn't have taken that drink" she smirked.  Eva paused "What?" she asked.

"That drink I gave you before I sent Daria away on purpose. I didn't want any witnesses" Halal smirked.

Eva gasped and tried to get up but she felt a sharp pain deep in her muscles. "Ahhh! Halal, what did you put in my drink?" Eva moaned in pain.

Halal smirked. "You're not the only one with friends at the hospital, I've been waiting for this moment since Deborah emailed me, since before you arrived" Halal said squatting right in front of Eva.

"You must be confused sweetheart, but don't worry. I'll tell you everything" Halal smirked.

The Week Before Eva's Arrival

'.......I'm very sorry for everything I, my son, and Eva have done to you.  I'm tired of this evil and I want it to end.  Eva is coming to Lagos soon, she's coming under the guise of a reunion. Don't be fooled Halal, be prepared, she's coming to kill you. If you don't believe me, call my son, your ex husband. You knew him as Valentino but his real name is William, he's Eva's half brother. I hope you forgive me, I'll send you enough proof that will help you hand over Eva to the police for justice.' Halal read the last paragraph over and over again.

Hot tears ran down her cheeks, all these years she'd thought she was the problem.

All these years,  Valen....William...had made it seem like she was at fault.  That she was cursed, barren, unfortunate and a lot of terrible things.

"She not only planted a man in my life, she killed my children and now she wants to kill me all because of some filthy amount lying in a bank account. Money I know nothing about! God why?!" she screamed pulling her hair with her hand.

"Why did you allow such evil to befall me, what did I do to you, God why?!" she screamed.

"So Valentino......no William had drugged me just so their plan would work. What...what if Valentino hadn't gotten me pregnant...That doesn't even matter any more. She ruined my life, my relationship with Darrell,  she played with how many years of my life!" Halal sobbed.

Her hands found her phone, through her  teary eyes,  she found William's number on her phone and called him.

"Halal.... I've been waiting for your call" he stated and remained silent. "You bastärd, how could you do this to me?!" she screamed.

"Why did you do it, did you want money so bad that you didn't mind killing our children in the process?!" Halal asked.

He remained silent. "Why? How could you be so heartless?!" Halal asked breaking into tears again.

He sighed 'It wasn't about the money Halal,  it was never about the money. I loved Eva and when she told me you'd hurt her, I wanted to help her get revenge.  After getting married to you Halal, I knew immediately that you weren't capable of everything Eva had accused you of. I couldn't get out of the marriage, if I had, Eva would have killed you immediately. I stayed away in Port Harcourt all the time so I could get in the way of all of Eva's plans to hurt you.  I'm sorry I treated you terribly, I couldn't let Eva suspect my love for you.  I'm so sorry Halal,  I didn't know she was responsible for the death of our children. I'm genuinely sorry Halal' He begged.

"You can take your apology to your grave, the only reason I'm sparing you is because....is because I understand a mother's pain to lose a child. And despite everything your mother has done to me, I won't do that to her"  Halal said wiping her tears away.

'Thank you Ha .....' Halal cut him off angrily.

"Don't thank me yet. If you want to redeem yourself in my eyes,  you'll come to Nigeria immediately to help me deal with the murderer of our children" she said coldly.

'I'm gathering evidence to keep Eva locked away for life' he said.

Halal scoffed "The only prison Eva is going to get locked in is the one I'm going to make for her, the police have no business in this matter. I'm going to deal with her myself, over my dead body will she get away with everything she's done" Halal said with vengeance coating her voice.

'I will help, I'll be in Nigeria by Monday. We can start making plans then'  William said.

"I've already made plans, just make sure you show up at the party. Trust me,  you don't want to miss the fireworks" Halal said and ended the call.

Presently.

Eva looked at the woman in front of her in shock, everything Halal had been doing since she arrived was pure acting. Who would have thought Halal would make a good actress?

"Your drink contained suxamethonium chloride. It's a drug used to induce temporary anaesthesia or paralysis. When injected, it takes two or three minutes to work. When taken orally it takes longer, that's why I had to get rid of Daria quickly. There are only three people asides you who will know about this. I,  your half brother William and my father" Halal said slowly.

"Your paralysis is going to last for just thirty minutes, before then we'd have bound you and have you taken to father's warehouse at the back of the house, I wanted to take you to my old house but father has an underground basement here. That'll be better right?" Halal chuckled getting up.

"Ha... Ha...wha... " Eva tried to talk but her mouth was filled with saliva. "Don't bother trying to speak, what you're feeling is the effects of the drug.  Excess saliva production, muscle pain, irregular heartbeat, you'd probably get rash soon. Do you realize I could just kill you now? but I won't. You see, unlike you, I'm not a murderer but I can be your punisher  for life" Halal said.

She laughed "You know the best part of this revenge? No one will ever suspect me,  I know nothing, I'm innocent, I have a good reputation. They'll all think you've run away and you're hiding somewhere, but in reality you'll be in a very comfortable prison paying for your crimes. Till death to us part Eva, till death do us part sister" she said kissing her forehead.

Eva tried to gasp but couldn't, she heard footsteps and looked up slowly to see who had come.

William and Jacques were standing beside Halal.  "When anyone asks, tell them she left with her boyfriend. William will drive out of the compound so it'll look like they left together. Dad, you and I will take my darling sister to the warehouse. After that, we'll have a nice dinner and wait for Darrell" Halal smiled.

"Alright sweetheart" Jacques smiled. He'd do anything for his daughter. If she wanted revenge, then he'll be behind her all the way. No one hurts his baby girl and gets away with it.

Darrell rushed into the house as if he was being chased by demons.

Confusion and relief filled him when he saw Halal and Jacques sitting at the dinning table laughing and talking. Eva was nowhere in sight neither was Halal in danger.

"The runaway returns home" Halal said once she sighted him. He rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.  "I thought I was going to lose you....." He kept muttering.

"Darrell I'm fine, what's wrong?" Halal refrained from pulling away from him.

"Daria said you had a work emergency......what's going on?" Halal asked, her was voice strangely comforting.

She heard his pounding heartbeats slow down and wondered what had gone wrong. "Darrell what's wrong, talk to me.  Where is Felicity, is she okay?" Halal asked worriedly.

"She's fine. Where is Eva, why did she leave?" Darrell asked.

"Her boyfriend came to pick her up, they left minutes ago. Why....?" Halal looked at his face to study his expression. Had he been aware of Eva's plans?

"Why did you rush in here looking for Eva?" Halal frowned.

Darrell sighed "It's a long story, let's talk about it some other time" Darrell said not ready to go into details.

Halal's frown deepened "I want to know now" she demanded.  Jacques knew it was time to give them privacy and left the table noiselessly.

"I'm listening" Halal said. Darrell sighed "Halal I know you love Eva,  I don't know how you're going to take this. I didn't tell you because I wanted to protect you and I didn't want you to get hurt or heartbroken" Darrell began.

Halal's eyes remained cold as she stared at his face. "What did she do?" she asked.

Darrell couldn't meet her eyes "A lot Halal, a lot of unbelievable things...." Darrell was saying when Halal interrupted. "For God's sake Darrell just spit it out!" she shouted.

"She's been hurting you, she...she's responsible for everything...." Darrell muttered.

Realization dawned on Halal, He knew. All along Darrell had known that she wasn't barren or infertile, cursed or whatever, all along he'd known that Eva was responsible for the death of her children but he never told her.

He'd just let her assume she was the problem, let her go through emotional torture. All the sleepless nights, the tears, the worrying, he could have just told her she was fine, he could have just told her the truth that it was Eva who was responsible for everything but he didn't. He just let her suffer and kept on lying and hiding the truth from her.

"I don't want to hear it... " she held up her hand.  Darrell looked at her confused, seconds ago she'd been wanting to know everything and now she didn't?

"Halal, I know you love Eva but listen to me. Felicity and I just found out...." He stopped when he saw a pained expression on her face.

"Felicity?" she asked. So he'd told Felicity but he'd not told her, who else knew about it? She wondered. Did Daria know, Victoria? Oh my God, was it Eva who had hurt Victoria?

"I have proof, the files. I can show you....I'll explain everything to you Halal, let's go home" he said clueless about the things that was going on in her head.

"I want you to leave" she said. Darrell met her eyes and saw the tears forming. He knew immediately that something was really wrong.  "Halal...." he started.

"Just leave" she pointed to the exit.  Darrell stopped and wondered why she was crying.  Had he said something?

"Halal please don't....." he started but saw her sorrowful expression growing furious.  "Get out!" she yelled at him.

Jacques walked back into the dining room when he heard Halal's loud, furious voice.

"What's going on?" he asked cautiously.  "Kick him out" Halal said angrily.

Jacques turned to Darrell "What's going on?" he asked again.

Darrell shook his head "She's upset, I'll see her tomorrow" Darrell responded.

"I don't want to see you tomorrow, or any other day, I don't need you. Just get out!" she screamed.

Darrell nodded and walked out of the dining room.  He saw the happy birthday banner on his way out, Happy birthday? More like tragic birthday.  Everything had gone the wrong way today, maybe not everything. At least Janice and Harvey would be at their rightful place tonight.

It was two o'clock pm the next day when Halal finally got out of the room. It was Maria who had woken her up, saying some people were in the house to see her.

"If it's Darrell just send him away, I don't want to see him or anyone else" Halal'd murmured.

"Madam, Darrell with police here" Maria had asked.  Halal sat up quickly "Darrell is with the police, here?" she'd asked.

Maria had nodded and left the room. She was still wondering why Darrell and the police were at her father's house when she walked into the living room.

True to Maria's statement, there were two uniformed men, Darrell, two other unfamiliar men and a very familiar face. Vincent? Aunt Patricia's lawyer.

"Good afternoon" she greeted nervously. Darrell immediately inspected her countenance and noted she looked miserable, his thoughts were immediately centered on the baby's welfare.

"Halal" Vincent came forward and pulled her into a hug.  Halal hugged him back reluctantly, it's been years since she'd seen him.  She wondered what he wanted, probably had something to do with Eva, the money or Deborah.

"Hello Miss Abraham" A man came forward. "I'm detective Jack and this is my partner" he pointed the other man.  "We have a few questions for you" Detective Jack smiled.

Halal maintained a cool demeanor "Please sit down, can I get you anything?" she asked.

"Nothing, thanks for offering" They sat down, Darrell sat opposite Halal and studied her facial expression.  She knew something, he thought immediately.

"We're here to talk about the disappearance of Deborah, your cousin Eva and the mail you received last week" Detective Jack said hitting the nail on the head.

Halal smiled warmly "Eva was here for the party last night, however she left before dinner. She and her boyfriend left quickly, she said they had things to attend to" Halal said.

Percy hummed "Are you aware she stopped by Mr Miller's house to pick up her things?" he asked.

Halal shrugged remembering she'd asked Valentino to "They said they were going to spend sometime together, I'm not surprised she did that" Halal said.

"And she hasn't contacted you since then, you haven't heard from her?" Jack asked.

Halal chuckled "Eva is not a child, I'm sure she's fine and safe. She hasn't called because she's not good with the whole communicating thing, she's always been that way. Right, Vincent?" Halal turned to look at Vincent.

Vincent nodded "She's probably run off" Vincent said miserably. Now how would he find his sister?

"Run off to, you don't think she's gone back to Abuja do you?  I mean,  she would have told me" Halal said.

"Abuja?" Percy asked confused. "Yes,  she told me she now lives at Abuja" Halal said.

Percy and Jack exchanged glances, so Halal didn't even know a thing about this cousin of hers.

Jack shook his head "I don't understand one thing Miss Abraham, after getting the mail from Deborah last week, how could you still host Eva in your house?" He asked.

"What mail? And who is this Deborah?" Halal asked.

"Your ex husband's mother and Vincent's younger sister" Percy replied.

Halal feigned confusion "What are you talking about? Valentino's parents are dead and I didn't know Vincent had a sister. I knew him through my late aunt, ever since she died I haven't heard from him" Halal frowned.

"Valentino, don't you mean William?" Percy asked.

Halal sighed "My ex husband was Valentino Amity, after our divorce he relocated to Canada. I don't know about any William" She said.

"She's right, she was married to Mr Valentino Amity" Darrell said.

"So you didn't receive any mail in your email address 'MrsAmity@gmail'?" Jack asked.

Halal nodded "That email has not been in use since I left my ex husband, I use my work email address now. 'HalAbraham00@gmail'" Halal responded.

"Can I see proof of that? If we log into the email, we can see the last time you logged in and check if you got and read the mail." Percy said.

"I'm sorry.  I bought a new phone after  my previous phone broke down. The email had been deactivated long before that because it was not in use" Halal said.

Jack sighed, they were at a dead end.  This woman was an innocent woman who knew nothing, she didn't even know she'd been stabbed in the back by her close relation or her previous marriage had been built on a lie.

"Alright, we're sorry for wasting your time. Please contact us if you hear from your cousin" Jack smiled.

Halal frowned "Wait, what's this about? Is she in danger,  I want to know what's wrong" Halal said.

Percy and Jack shook their heads "We'll let Mr Miller give you the details. Vincent are you staying or leaving?" Percy said.

"I'll be leaving. Halal, I'll contact you before the end of the week. Congratulations, I heard you're with child" Vincent said. Halal nodded gratefully and stood up to see them out of the house.

The uniformed men left first followed by detectives who requested to talk with the housekeeper and the gateman outside the house, Halal gave them the permission to.

Vincent followed them looking heartbroken, nothing had favored him so far.

Halal closed the door after the men had left.  She turned to Darrell "Get out, I don't want to speak to you" she hissed angrily.

Darrell stood up and walked over to her "Don't you want to know what happened to your cousin, or do you already know?" Darrell asked his eyes boring invisible holes into hers.

"What are you talking about?" Halal asked looking away.  Darrell cupped her jaw "Even if you fool everyone, do you really think you could fool me? I know you better than anyone else, when did you get the mail and what have you done with Eva?" Darrell asked.

His no nonsense expression was back on and Halal knew this was one interrogation she wasn't going to ace like the other.