Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Five days had gone by since Amsey got victory in the court. His father had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack.

However, Nigerians seemed to be unconcerned about his plight as they kept on raining insults on him, calling him an excuse of a father.

Everyone was talking about it and they were all sorry for Amsey for all he had passed through but seemed not to care at all about his father.

I watched as the whole matter slowly ate Amsey up, he acted like he was fine but I knew he wasn't; he loved his father a lot and wanted to be sure he was actually fine and he didn't want to be the cause of him being unhealthy.

Myself on the other hand was just wondering what the result of the DNA test will be, it seemed like the whole nation had forgotten about my own ordeal and only remembered the case between the present governor of Lagos State and his son.

That was one thing with people; give them something new to talk about and they'd be off your matter. I'd be lying if I said I missed the probings, the accusations, the trolling and the bashing.

As a matter of fact, I felt free and wonderful. I had gone back to all my social media accounts and felt free to surf through the internet, hardly coming across a post or tweet concerning my baby daddy.

"Yes!!" I said, as I looked at my third completed song from my upcoming fourth studio album, I had just finished writing it and I liked it.

Just like turning lemons into lemonades, I had turned my previous situations into music. The first song I had written was, "Whatever happened to us?" I had decided to write something like that mostly because of my experience with Amsey, how we loved and cared for each other then somehow drifted apart.

I felt it was something most people who'd been in love could relate to, you guys love each other so much and you chat till the next morning and even talk for hours but soon, that love dies and once in a while, you ask yourself questions like what in the world happened?

The second one was titled "Too blessed to be stressed." It was also something I had gotten from my conversation with Amsey, the words had just flown out of my mouth and I guessed it was an awesome phrase.

The lyrics were too cheesy though but with a nice beat, it was definitely gonna be a huge sale and I knew Mr Muffin was going to love it; he didn't care about the lyrics, he just cared about the money.

Besides, it was something destined to become an internet slang, for captions and for bragging...hashtag I'm too blessed to be stressed.

This third one was titled, "Free." It was just making peace with people and letting go of grudges to be instilled with freedom and peace within you and I felt it sounded great but I didn't think it'd sell that well in Nigeria as it was structured for a slow and mild tempo and Nigerians loved to dance.

I removed my AirPods and left the studio and opened the door which led to my main bedroom. Actually, my bedroom was very large so I had a side for my studio room which was just behind a door coloured in the same white paint as the bedroom walls so it was highly unnoticeable.

The studio was soundproof and I wrote my songs, listened to music and sang there without anyone's disturbance.

I had found my AirPods there underneath a CD and I had been accusing Rita falsely. Luckily for me, she wasn't aware that I had suspected her of taking my stuff without asking. She only thought I had missed her and had gone to her room and that was how I discovered Amsey's documents.

I opened the mini fridge in my bedroom and took out a bottle of chilled water which I gulped down thirstily, the feeling of cold water against your throat as you swallowed it was one of the best feelings ever.

Amsey and I saw each other everyday, watched movies, ate together and discussed about stuff; life was so perfect with him in it and I knew I hadn't made a mistake in forgiving him.

I stretched out my waist and heard a disturbing cracking sound, I twisted my neck and stretched my arms and legs which all cracked and made me feel relieved and stronger.

Gosh! My body was getting stuffy from staying home all day doing nothing and eating like a newly released prisoner.

A thought crossed my mind so I got on my weight scale and what I saw terrified me. Gosh! I was weighing 56kg, I used to weigh 55kg in the past, that signified that I had added one kg.

"Oh my goodness, am I getting fat?" I thought aloud as I hurried to the mirror where I examined myself and was more than confused on seeing no difference in my stature.

I went back to the scale and it read again that I was weighing an awful 56kg, ruining my perfect stature that I had maintained for the past three years.

I looked at myself in the mirror and still couldn't tell the difference but I was covinced that sooner or later, the 1 kg will be obvious and I won't be able to do anything about it, maybe the news reporters will even accuse me of being pregnant and I so wasn't ready for another drama.

I grabbed a pair of black joggers and a white tank top which I put on then I wore a white pair of sneakers and took and tied my waist bag around my waist which contained my phone.

I sighed and told myself that I was gonna get rid of the 1kg I had gathered right away as I left the room with my AirPods plugged in my ears.

"I'm going for a run around the estate," I announced to Mary who was picking beans.

"But you never do that, what happened?" Mary asked.

"I just need to stretch out my muscles. Please, fry the plantains so Cameron will have some of the beans," I said to her.

"Okay ma," She said.

I left the house and stepped outside, Cameron hated beans for reasons best known to him and the only time he managed it was with fried plantains by the side.

I wondered what Cameron will do when he discovered the mystery surrounding his birth when he was old enough. Even if I never disclosed the entire truth to him by myself, he was destined to know about it one way or another as the internet never forgets.

One day, my Cameron will be all grown up and be a renowned footballer representing Africa well. He had such great football skills and I could only hope he finally got a football scholarship or an admission into a good football academy.

I had submitted a video of him playing football with some other kids last year to a football academy in Spain but he had been rejected and I was planning on sending another video to Moorland football academy in the UK.

Him wanting to be a footballer may just be a childish phase he'd later outgrow but Mary had informed me that his sports teacher kept on commending his dribbling skills and due to his persistence, I gave in to his demands and had sent that video but unfortunately for him, it had been denied.

That, however, did not make Cameron discouraged; it only prompted him to do better and he was determined to get into a football academy this time around.

I was happy he was a strong kid but I was scared of my son going abroad and leaving me all alone, I was probably going to relocate to the UK to be with my son if he got admitted.

I felt a hand tap my shoulder gently and I turned around to see Amsey panting heavily and sweating.

"You look terrible, what's the issue?" I asked.

"I've been calling you nonstop from afar but you kept on running and even quickened your pace," He said.

I took out my phone and paused the song which had been playing, "Sorry, I couldn't hear cause of the music."

"It's fine but why are you running?" He asked.

"Because I have legs," I responded.

"Very funny. It's just unusual to see you run, you are always indoors doing nothing," He commented.

"What will you rather have me do? Go out on dates?" I retorted.

"Yes, that's if you want me to go there and make a scene," He said.

"Stop being overly possessive, it's not like we're in a relationship or something," I said.

He chortled, "Relationship? You mean like boyfriend and girlfriend, right? Please, we're too old for that," He said.

"Speak for yourself," I told him, sticking out my tongue.

He laughed, "You're so cute."

"Awwwn," I said, blushing.

"I'll soon be moving out," Amsey suddenly said as we walked towards the house.

"You're going to your multi-million naira mansion, isn't it?" I asked.

He smiled, "I'll be coming to visit."

I heaved a sigh, "People have been clamouring for your father to step down," I said.

"Yeah, they're so insensitive...."

"Insensitive? They heard his conversation with me, he's planning on making their lives miserable," I said.

"I'm fully aware of that but they should consider the fact that his heart is weak and his condition will only worsen by seeing the bad things they're saying about him," Amsey said.

"You're...such...a...good person. It's so hard to believe you still care about your father after all he has done to you. How come you don't hold grudges? How come you're so carefree? How come you're literally so perfect?" I asked in wonder.

"Am I?" He retorted, rhetorically.

"I don't think you've ever done something wrong in your lifetime, you're just too good to be true," I said.

"We all have made mistakes," He said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"And what's your mistake?"

"Betraying you," He said, pursing his lips.

I sighed, "We've gone through that matter over and over again, I understand why you did what you did and thankfully, you've gotten all you've ever wanted and I'm not in a bad position either."

"I know but... "

I cut him off, "No buts. I agree that I was annoyed with you but I understand your point of view now and I don't want us to talk about this anymore," I said.

He smiled, "Okay then, you know I'd always do anything that's for the best, right?"

"I know, Amsey and I trust you," I said.

He looked in my eyes and patted my hair.

"Do you think I'm some sort of doll?" I asked, with a smile.

"Dolly Cassie," He said, chuckling.

"You're weird."

"And you love me like that," He said.

I stared into his eyes and was waiting for a kiss from him when my phone rang.

"That came in at the wrong moment," Amsey said, wearing a long face.

"I know, right? Who the hell is it?" I asked no one in particular as I took out my phone.

The number was saved to my phone as "Doctor DNA." I thought for a while and soon, it hit me; it was the same doctor who had carried out the DNA test for my son, the same one who had a daughter who was a fan of mine. I had forgotten his name and that's why I had saved his name in that manner.

I answered the call with different thoughts filled in my head.

"Hello, it's Cassandra Peters speaking," I said.

In a matter of few seconds, the doctor dropped the bombshell that dulled my senses and made my mouth go agape.

"I'll be right there," I told him and ended the call.

"What is it?" Amsey asked.

"It's umm... the doctor. He has umm... He concluded the DNA test yesterday and has invited both me and those bastards to the laboratory to hand over and read out the results to us," I explained.

Amsey looked quite shocked as well, "It's fine, Cas. You just need to calm down and go there."

"I'm scared," I admitted to him.

"Scared of what?" He asked.

"I don't want the father of my child to be any of those men, especially not John and Mr Grumpy, I don't want that," I told Amsey.

"Well, you just have to be strong, Cas. No matter what happens, I can guarantee you that no one will take Cameron from you," Amsey said.

"You promise?" I asked.

"With all my heart," He promised.

I slipped into his arms and hugged him tightly, wrapping my arms around his back and he hugged me back, pulling me closer to me the beating of his chest as he patted my head.

"You have all it takes, Amsey, don't let anyone take away my son from me, please," I said, tears dripping from my eyes.

It had been extremely tough holding back the tears and acting like I was fine while pending the day the DNA results will finally be out but now that it was out, I could barely keep calm as all my fears seeped through me, shattering every ounce of courage I had summoned over the past few weeks since the men had come back into my life, one by one.

"You'll be fine, Cas and I swear, no one will take Cameron from your side, none of those men will even come close to him," Amsey assured and I believed his words, at least, by half.

Approximately an hour and thirty minutes later, I arrived The Lagos University  Teaching Hospital with Amsey, Rita and Pastor James by my side with my bodyguards following closely behind us in the Camry.

As we stepped out of the car, I felt a frisson and my fingers quaked.

Amsey held my hands and that soothed my nerves, whatever happened today was going to make my life have a twist in one way or another.

I had just dressed casually in black trousers and a T-shirt matched with sandals and I didn't really take note of my companions' outfits.

"Welcome," The doctor said as we stepped into the private room we had entered the previous time.

I only nodded as I saw reporters and paparazzi were present. Whatever happened to the room being private? I wondered who could have called them in and with them being present, I had a hunch that everything won't go just fine.

"How do you feel today? Who do you think the father of your child will be?" A reporter asked.

"What do you have to say to the people who have called you immoral for kissing another man who isn't one of the prospective fathers of your child?" Another reporter asked.

"Are you going to take legal means to insure your custody over your son?" Another one asked.

They kept on talking and talking while Pastor James and Rita tried to keep the matter under control with no success. Amsey held my hands and made sure I was fine and urged me to ignore the reporters and not say a word.

"Just keep quiet. The doctor is going to disclose the results right away so why are you so impatient? It'll do us a lot of good and save us time if we all keep our mouths shut and let the doctor do his work," John said in a harsh voice, instilling total silence in the room.

Wow! That was nice, I'd admit.

The doctor sat as the reporters and paparazzi recorded videos of everything going on and took pictures of everything. I could swear that at least, two of the people present in the room were recording the whole situation live.

We were asked to sit and we did as my heart thumped loudly and my head banged, scared and worried.

"I have the reports of the DNA test here with me and I carried out the test two different times within a short time because I worked diligently on it since it's a Nationwide case. However, the results were the same on both occasions and....."

"Skip all these unwanted information and read out the results. You have to read out the results in the order of penetration, I went first and I'm certain I'm the father of the boy so just call my name as his father so we can all go home and forget about this whole issue," John said, rising from his seat as he interrupted the doctor's speech.

The doctor cleared his throat, "Okay then, I'll adhere to your instructions. The results will be shown on the projector after I'm done reading them out," The doctor said.

I silently prayed that the monster, John, wasn't the father of my child or else, I'd be forced to dance to his music.

"I'd go straight to the point. The probability of Mr John's paternity to Cameron Peters is....." The doctor paused, leaving us all in a dramatic suspense.

"Carry on, I'm the father, not so?" John asked, laughing boisterously and parading round the room screaming: "I told you so."

"Unfortunately, Mr John, the test report shows your paternity to Cameron as 0.000 percentage. You have nothing in common," The doctor said.

Amsey burst into one of his mocking and annoying laughters and Rita followed suit. I found it amusing but I didn't have the heart to laugh, there was still a possibility of Cameron being Mr Grumpy's son.

"Moral lesson: Don't catch your chicks before they hatch," My father said as he laughed as well.

"This isn't over yet and I know you've bribed the doctor to lie. That boy is my son, he's mine," John said, banging his fist on the table.

"You're just a pathetic loser," Amsey said.

"What did you say?" John questioned, lunging forward.

"Go back to your seat!" I heard Wale'e fierce voice say and I turned around to see him and Michael standing in the doorway.

Thank God they had come in, I knew now that no one could try any sort of rubbish with their presence in the room.

John cowered and went back to his seat, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Please, doctor, be fast about this whole thing," Pastor James said.

"Okorie Johnson is also confirmed to have no linkage with Cameron as the paternity test proved there is absolutely no father and son relationship between them," The doctor said.

A sudden whoosh of relief surged through me, leaving me less scared and not that apprehensive anymore.

If Reverend Lawrence was Cameron's father, I had less to worry about. But what if he was pretending to have changed? No, I had to be positive at all means.

"Does this mean the rapist is the father?" A reporter asked, saying everyone's thoughts aloud.

Why did she have to call him a rapist? It just made me remember the kind of disgusting man he is. In all sincerity, none of the men were fitting enough to be my child's father but at least, the remorseful one could be the one for my son; it's not like I could change what was already on ground.

"The ex-convict and ex-reverend is the father of the child? Wow! This news is going to sell really well," One of the news reporters chipped in.

The doctor cleared his throat, "Actually, there's a twist in the tale."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, speaking my first words since we arrived at the laboratory.

"I have in my hands the DNA test report of Mr Lawrence and Cameron Peters which makes it an obvious fact that even him is not the father of the child," The doctor said.

I stood up abruptly, "You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head.

"What could you possibly be talking about? What's he saying?" I asked, looking at Amsey for backup.

Amsey stood and rubbed my shoulders, "You'll be fine, Cas."

"Tell him to stop saying trash and speak the truth," I said, really furious.

"I'm saying the honest truth, ma'am. None of the men you brought here is related to your son. I did the test twice and got the same results," The doctor said.

"Cassie P, did you lie about your story to get public sympathy?" A reporter asked.

"That's ridiculous! I didn't, I swear," I said.

"Sandra, just shut up and say the truth. Who else did you sleep with on that day?" Mr Grumpy roared.

Tears slid down my eyes, I had never expected that my morality will be questioned.

I followed my instincts and went to John, grabbing his collar.

"Tell me the truth, John. Was it you? Did you bribe the doctor to lie just to tarnish my reputation?" I yelled.

"For crying out loud, Sandra, why would you think of such a thing?" John retorted.

"All I know is you hate me so much and you'd do anything to insult me publicly," I yelled.

"In case you lost your sense of reasoning, I also wanted that boy to be my son so why would I have wanted things to turn out this way? I won't even have bothered coming here had I known you are a lying slut. Get your hands off me," John yelled and removed my hands from his collar.

People outside the hospital walls were in no doubt watching what was going on. I was doomed, my whole career was messed up.

"You, did you let any of your friends make love to me that night you drugged me and I slept off?" I asked, facing Reverend Lawrence, hoping he had the answer.

Reverend Lawrence shook his head slowly, "No one slept with you asides from me."

I shuddered. I knew what I was doing, what happened to me? Why was the DNA report false in every sense of the word? I trusted myself, it happened that night with only three men and they were all present or could it be that the doctor used the wrong blood samples?

"This is Akimbo Oluwashola, reporting live from LUTH. It seems that everyone's angel, Cassie P, isn't who she claims to be. We have every reason to believe she may have bribed the doctor to tell a lie that one of the men she put forward is actually the father of her son but the doctor backed out of their agreement," One of the reporters said as she was being recorded.

"You're lying, that's absurd. I didn't bribe anyone, let's go check at another hospital," I said, with tears rolling down my eyes.

Rita stood and hugged me closely and whispered to my ears, "Maybe you slept with someone and you can't remember."

I jerked from her grip, "You know me so well, how could you think of something so terrible about me?"

"I don't want to believe the worst of you either but this hospital has a strong reputation, I don't know what to say," Rita said.

"Even her friend doesn't believe her," A reporter chipped in.

"She's such a whore, acting like a saint all the time," Another one said.

"No wonder she never wanted a DNA test done," Someone else said.

I was traumatised as I recoiled backwards, not knowing what had happened to me. All the time, I had prayed that there was a way none of the three men were the father of my child but now, I just wanted the doctor to scream he had just been joking and call one of their names.

I will never be able to live with myself after this incident that had left a stain in my reputation. I was called a prostitute and a nympho in such a short while because I couldn't even point out the father of my son.

Heaven knew how unlucky my whole life had been so why was this happening to me again? Why didn't I know the father of my child? Why was my life upside down? I couldn't even trust myself as I didn't know what was going on anymore.

"That's enough, stop pointing accusing fingers at her!" Amsey suddenly screamed.

"Why should we keep quiet? Let her tell us who the father of her child is," Mr Grumpy shouted back.

"I'm the father, okay? I'm the child's father!!" Amsey yelled.

I cried wishing he was saying the truth, "Amsey, you don't need to cover up for me," I said.

"I'm not covering up for you, Cameron is truly my son," Amsey said.

"What?!!" I asked, really not buying that.

I watched as Amsey fell to his knees, clasped his palms together as he sobbed, with regret evident in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Amsey? Talk to me," I said.

"Remember you promised to stay with me despite everything, right?" Amsey asked as cameras took pictures of us and recorded all that was going on.

"Yes, I'd never leave you. Why are you crying? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Remember the day you went into labour?" He asked, still on his knees.

"Of course, I'll never forget," I said.

"Victoria went into labour as well that day," Amsey said.

I quickly remembered who Victoria was, she was the one that had gotten pregnant for Amsey and had died while giving birth with her child.

"Yes, I remember. What about her?" I asked.

Amsey didn't answer and only cried the more.

"What are you saying? Just speak," Pastor James yelled, clenching his fists.

"One of the doctors first told me one of you died with your child while the other and her child survived. However, the second one corrected him when I had calmed down that one had died while her child lived while the other survived but the child died. Victoria died that day but her child didn't," Amsey said in a sober tone.

I staggered but I was kept from falling by my father. Was he implying what I was thinking?

"Are...are you... Are you saying.... Are you saying Cameron is Victoria's son?" I asked with a stutter.

Amsey nodded, "Yes."

I released myself from Pastor James' hold, "So where is my own child?" I asked, my eyes popping out of their sockets in wonder.

"She died shortly after she was born," Amsey said as he swallowed hard.

"She? I had a daughter? My daughter died?" I raved.

Amsey nodded yet again, "I'm sorry, Cas."

I quivered, "But...but how.. how is that possible?" I asked.

"Due to the complications you faced before delivery, she could barely get out of your stomach alive, she died as soon as you went unconscious," Amsey said.

I was taken aback by the news as I slumped into the chair. I didn't have a child all along?

Amsey grovelled and touched my feet, pleading to be forgiven.

"Why? Why did you do this to me?" I asked him.

"It was for the best, Cas. Even Victoria had said we should take care of her child should anything happen to her," Amsey said.

"I know, I didn't forget but didn't I have a right to know what was going on? You made me breastfeed another woman's son, take care of him all these years without my knowledge. I had every right to know my child died, I had every right to know who I was taking to my house. The doctors...the doctors let you do that to me?" I asked, still crying terribly.

"Victoria requested they gave us the child before she died, that's what they told me," Amsey said.

I buried my face in my palms sobbing really hard.

"I'm sorry, Cas, I'm sorry."

"Get away from me, you monster! Victoria's parents do not even know their daughter left them a grandchild, you and those conniving doctors could go to jail for that. What sort of people are you?" I questioned.

"What else did you want me to do? Cas, the only relative you could have at the time died and I couldn't tell you that. I was going to tell you later on that Cameron isn't your son but you both looked too good together and I was worried that if you found out he wasn't your child, you'd treat him differently," Amsey said, almost shouting.

"So now, I have no humane feelings, is that it? Well you're the one that shouldn't be considered a human being. I'd never treat any child different from how I'd treat my own child," I yelled.

"Stop acting like a saint, Cas, it's not like you'd give him to his grandparents now that you know the entire truth so stop making me feel like I committed the worst crime on earth," Amsey yelled back at me as he stood up, probably tired of kneeling.

"I'd never be like you. I promise to tell Victoria's parents that they have a grandchild and I'd beg them to let me have him," I said, rising from the chair.

"Victoria didn't want that..."

"You only have the doctor's word for that," I interposed.

"Then I'll take my son from you, I won't let him suffer from bad parenting like Victoria," Amsey said.

I snickered, "You weren't around for the last six years, you have no claim over my son. I will do what I want and I will only keep Cameron if his grandparents want that," I said.

"You can't do that," Amsey said.

"I can and I will. I don't want to be like you, I condemn betrayers and liars and I won't be one because of sentiment. You should be thankful I'm not going to press charges against you for what you did to me but stay far away from me, Amsterdam, and this time around, I mean it," I said as I made my way out of the laboratory.

I could hear the reporters discussing loudly and I heard Pastor James' stern warning to Amsey, preventing him from coming with me.

I had asked God to not make any of the three men Cameron's father and he had done that but also in a way that he wasn't my child either.

Cameron was never my son.

His father is Amsterdam.

His mother was Late Victoria.

But even though I knew the whole truth, I couldn't let my Cameron go. He was my son and I'd never let him leave, I will never even let him go to his grandparents; I'd plead with them and give them all I have just so he could be with me.

Amsey had said he wasn't my son but I couldn't feel my motherly love fade away.

Cameron will always be my son.