Chapter 17: Chapter 17

~Third Person POV ~

"What are you talking about, Martins?" Sarah asked with a shocked expression on her face.

"She looked exactly like Ella, mom. What the hell is going on?"

Sarah sprung up from where she sat. "What... Are you sure? What is her name?"

"Her name is Akeyla but that's not the problem here mom..." Martins sighed and stood up. "Why does she look like Ella? The resemblance is not a coincidence, mom."

Sarah swallowed hard as she kept moving her eyes around in shock. She could not believe what her son was telling her. If he had really seen someone that looked like Ella, it could mean he really saw Akeyla.

"Tell me mom, does Ella have a twin?" Martins urged his mom.

Sarah heaved a long sigh and sat down on the bed before she looked up to him. “Yes, she does.” She finally said.

Martins stared at his mother with a shocked and surprised expression on his face. “Why am I just learning about this, mom? Were you never going to tell me? I almost pulled that girl into the car today mom thinking she was Ella.”

“Calm down Martins.” Sarah said before she added. “Sit down let me explain better to you.”

Martins stared at his mother for a moment and sighed before he sat down beside her with his head facing the ground.

“Well, Aniyah is a twin and the person you saw today must be her twin sister, Akeyla. Over 20 years ago…” She explained to him how she met Maria and how they got separated. “…I didn’t know what to do when she suddenly disappeared. When I asked around, I was told by a few passersby that she ran out of the hospital with Akeyla. And so I assumed that the men must have seen her…” She sighed and rubbed her sweaty palms together before she continued. “I went back home with Aniyah hoping that she would come back but she didn’t. One month passed and then two months but there was no sign of her. So I packed up my things and took Aniyah with me. I couldn’t bear to leave the child at the orphanage and so I thought it would be better to bring her over since Stella was not able to give birth. I thought maybe the people had caught Maria but I still hoped she was alive with Akeyla…”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this before, mom?” Martins cut her off with a frown on his face. “You told me the baby was from the orphanage mom, you even gave showed me the papers and…”

“I couldn’t tell you Martins. I wasn’t sure Maria was alive and you might not take in the child if I had told you all of that.” She said to him.

He ran his hand over his face with a frustrated look. “This whole thing is messed up mom. What are we going to tell Ella if she sees that girl? Would I tell her that I’m not her real father? How is she going to take all of this?”

Sarah didn’t say anything but kept looking down. She was still in shock with the whole thing. She still found it hard to believe because she had not seen Akeyla for herself and she wondered how she would look like even if she was Aniyah’s twin.

“And you are even saying that their mother was murdered by her own lover! What if that lover is their father?”

Sarah sighed again. This was why she kept the whole thing from her son because she knew he would ask all these questions and would be bothered. She was already close to her 80s and was not getting younger. She had been hoping and praying in her heart that Maria was okay and wished she could see her and Akeyla before she would die.

“I’m sorry for keeping all this from you Martins; I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you.” Sarah apologized as she looked down.

“This isn’t about apologizing mom. What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know yet…” Sarah said and sighed. “I have to go and find them first, Maria and Akeyla.”

Martins turned to her abruptly. “And why would you do that?” He asked with a puzzled expression as he wondered what his mother was planning to do.

“I have to go and see for myself, Martins.”

“And what would you say to this Maria when you get there? That your son adoption the other twin? And do you even know if she is alive? What if she’s not the one taking care of the girl?”

“That’s why I have to find them and see for myself…” She looked at him. “I understand that you are afraid of Ella finding out that you are not her biological father but we can’t turn a blind eye to this.”

Martins stood up from the bed. “This is all your fault, mom!” He yelled at her. “If you had told me about all of this, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Sarah stood up as well. “If I had told you about this, you wouldn’t have adopted her!”

“Why would you think so? I could have still adopted her.”

“You wouldn’t have adopted her and you know it. You would have asked me all these questions then and will tell me to take the child to an orphanage!”

“But this is wrong, mom. Their father could still be alive. What if things get complicated later? What would we do?”

Sarah sighed and swallowed as she started sweating from her head as well. She couldn’t bear living Aniyah at the orphanage when her own son was in need of a child and so she brought her to him. She knew if Maria and Akeyla were alive, things would get complicated later but she didn’t care.

“I’m really sorry son but we still have to set things right.”

Martins furrowed his brows, “Set what right? You are not planning on telling Ella the truth, are you?”

“Not yet, but she would still have to know son. She has the right to know. She would feel hurt but she would not love you less.”

“And what if she does?!” Martins yelled in anger and also in panic. He could not afford to lose his daughter. She might not be his biological daughter but he had come to love her dearly and he would not be able to bear seeing her hurt. He feared that Ella might be able to take the truth. She might seem all tough and stubborn on the outside but she was actually very fragile at heart.

“This is my entire fault.” Sarah slumped on the bed and buried her head between her legs. Martins looked at her and sighed. He could understand why his mother did what she did though. Back then, he and his wife were in deep need of a child since she was not able to give birth after ten years of their marriage. They were about to adopt a child when his mother brought Ella to them and since worked in an orphanage home, he didn’t ask her many questions. And now, he suddenly found out that she has a twin. There was no way things were going to remain the same if Ella found out about all of this.

He sighed and sat down beside his mother. “Well um… We shouldn’t tell her anything yet. We should check the whole thing properly first.”

Sarah turned to him and nodded, “Yes, you are right.”

He stood up. “I have to go to the company now and sort out some things with Richard. We will talk about this when I return.”

“Alright.” Sarah nodded

5:00PM

Martins sat at the dining table along with Sarah and Stella but Ella was not present. He knew she was done at the company and must have gone somewhere else.

“Where in the world is she now?” Martins asked with a frown as he took a bite from his food.

“She said she was going somewhere with her friends and that she would be back tomorrow.” Stella explained as she drank from a glass of water.

“Tomorrow? Where is she going with her friends?”

“I don’t know but I think it’s a party.”

“This isn’t the time for her to party around. She has to take his thing serious.”

“Just let her have fun, Martins.”

Martins sighed and continued with his meal but then he paused when his phone rang. He reached for it on the table and glanced at the caller. His eyes narrowed at the unknown number that showed on his screen before he reluctantly answered the call.

“Yes?”

“Are we speaking to the father of Miss Gabriella Aniyah Bolaji?” A male voice asked from the other end of the call.

Martins paused for moment and looked between his wife and mother before he spoke. “Yes you are. May I know who this is?”

“We are calling from Hope hospital sir; your daughter had a very fatal accident.”

“What?!” Martins sprung up from the chair with a shocked expression on his face while Stella and Sarah stared at him with a worried expression.

XOXO