The other woman's DAUGHTER

Chapter 9

"Jay, I know you only agreed to see me so you could get rid of me" Junaid stated staring at his ex wife intently, she hadn't aged a bit in his eyes. She looked the same way, those pretty lips and bulgy eyes were still the same. But her gaze wasn't the same. She wasn't looking at him with that love, that admiration, that wanting that had been the reason for their union. Her gazes were blank and it hurt as hell, sitting across her with a cup of coffee.
"Ofcourse, you were becoming a nuisance. The neighbors were asking questions, so excuse me if I needed to get rid of you" she stated coldly, taking a sip of the hot coffee. He swallowed a lump, and shifted uncomfortably. What he had done was unforgivable and he knew it. Had he done that here, he would have probably been incacerated, no one would pardon a child abuser. Both stared at their cups of coffee tiredly with different thoughts running through their mind.

Janan who is Iman's mother had been the happiest woman on the planet, she had a husband who adored her, in-laws who respected her and of course her little bundle of Joy whilst pregnant with her second child Islam. Things took a rocky turn when her father in-law and her father had a major clash. It had to do with a business deal, which went wrong. Billions of naira had been lost and ofcourse Janan's father had accused her father in-law for swindling him.

He was so sure he was swindled, because the lost of money had surprisingly not affected her husband's father, he had changed cars and had paid for a trip to seven countries, weeks after facing a major setback. Janan's father had threatened to get back at him for his unforgivable act, but Junaid's father had already had a plan in motion. Her father's company became bankrupt, coupled with the rumours running around, about the impurity in his soft drink, investors pulled off their money, leaving Janan's father penniless. He hadn't stopped there, he had asked Junaid his first born son to divorce the love of his life or face being penniless, because he was prepared to disown him.

Junaid became stressed, he started having major issues with his wife, she kept accusing his father for fraud. She blamed him for everything that was happening to their family. When Junaid decided to stick by his own family through thick and thin, his father cornered his employer into sacking him. Junaid was in despair, he could not even tell his wife he had lost his job, scared she would loose her mind. So, he gets dressed every morning and left home for a job he did not have any longer. His plan fell through when she found out.

They had cried themselves to sleep that night, there was so much yelling and accusations were thrown. What irritated Janan is the fact that her own father had not involved her family into his own mess, yet Junaid's father was all over the place, behaving as though he wasn't the one at fault.

Iman was still a little kid, so he couldn't really fathom the exclusive drama he had going on in his family, not until he had mistakenly dropped his father's coffee mug, he got slapped really hard. Junaid was perplexed by his own actions, Iman was shocked too, but Junaid had swooped him into his embrace and had apologized. Iman did not cry, neither did he report to his mother because his father had said the magic words "sorry". His mother had specifically told him to forgive anyone who apologizes, besides it was his father. It was a mistake.

A mistake that turned consistent, he would literally strip Iman naked and use a ruler on his bum. Junaid kept dumping his frustration on their child, he had become a stay at home dad while his wife goes to work. Whenever he hit him, he always apologizes. Iman dreaded being left at home with his father, he tried as much as possible to avoid irritating his father, but Junaid had found a hobby and he wasn't letting go even though he knew what he was doing was destroying his family.

He did not have a problem hiding it from his wife, he baths the child and ofcourse he dresses the child. She was never meant to find out. Not until the day she had come back home early, from her anti-natal appointment. He had been so occupied, screaming the whole house down that he hadn't hear the gate open, neither had he heard her open the front door.