Chapter 14: Iren’s expectations

On entering the living room, she found Neil who was comfortably seated and god knows who he had been waiting for. Aunt Iren deposited the bag she had on the floor, all furious she asked to know what he wanted from them. "You got the guts to show yourself Neil after all what you did to my little princess, what do you want this time?" She asked nervously. Immediately, he saw her entering, he got up from the chair in which he was seated and folded his arms together, he knew Iren wasn't someone to play with, he even had no idea that she was still in the city. She had a store running, so she wouldn't stay out for more than 3 days. "I mean no harm, I only brought the divorce papers so Mariah could liberate me." He said politely.

"Oh really? You mean no harm is that? You've created more harm already. Watching you speak makes me realize you never even deserve my little princess, she deserves more, I don't even know why she still has your name unto hers." Iren said.

"I'll appreciate it if you help me beg her to sign the papers, I know she is inside and doesn't want to show up."

"That's what you think. My little girl left this morning for work."

"Work?" He asked surprisingly. Mariah wasn't the working type, she had always been comfortable being a housewife.

"Yes. Now liberate this house, you aren't welcome here." She yelled. Neil left the house immediately, something Caitlyn was unable to do in one hour. Aunt Iren succeeded in doing that in some minutes. She turned and asked Caitlyn to go back to her bed. She knew Neil was the reason why she was stuck in the living room. "I know I'm not feeling fine, let me at least assist you in the kitchen before going to bed." She said.

"No, you shouldn't worry about that, you are sick and need adequate rest, I know that son of a bitch deprived you of that. Go to your room, I'll take care of the food." Iren said bitterly.

"Aunt I know you are still angry after Neil because of what he did to Mariah, but you shouldn't use harsh words on him, remember they are still legally married." Caitlyn said.

"And I don't get it. I don't know why Mariah has refused to accord him a divorce after all that he did, to me she would have been the first person to demand for a divorce. Firstly, he threw her out of the house without giving her a penny, secondly, he humiliated her by getting her half-sister pregnant, she deserves more than him."

"I know all this aunt, but we have no choice other than respecting her décisions. If she says she isn't according him a divorce , we should respect that. I think she is still angry at him, that's the reason she's acting this way. Once she's over it I'm sure she will accord him the divorce he has been praying for." Caitlyn said.

"You have a point. Now I will be in the kitchen, see you soon." Aunt Iren said as she took the bag which was on the floor for the kitchen.

It was noon and Lana had not received a message from Khloe, neither did she, they had an appointment to meet at Comry's house. Khloe asked to know where Neil's lawyer lived and Lana knew where he was located, and Khloe had promised to call her so they could meet and get to his house, but what she did not know was why Khloe wanted to pay him a visit, she promised to tell her when they met. After waiting for an hour, she still did not receive Khloe's call. "What's going on? Has she forgotten we had an appointment today, I hope not. I think I should call and remind her about our appointment." She took her phone and scrolled over it searching for Khloe's number. Immediately she found it, she called, it rang for some seconds before Khloe answered the call. "Hello Khloe, how are you? Have been waiting for your call."

"Yes Lana, sorry for being late. I'm actually taking my bath, I had plans of calling you after that, glad you did. See you soon." Khloe mentioned

"Alright." Lana knew Khloe was now the new wife to Neil, as that, she could easily be manipulated, something which couldn't be done with Mariah, who was a smart lady.

Khloe finished taking her bath and got dressed. Jane was in the living room, and she knew she was going to refuse her going out, she had to think of what to tell her when she was going to ask her where she was heading to. While leaving the house she wasn't wrong at all, Jane asked to know where she was going to. She had it in her head already. "Mom, I'm not feeling fine, so I'm on my way to the hospital, hopefully I can see a doctor."

"Oh sorry, do you want me to give you leave?" Jane asked.

"No mom. You don't have to worry about that, I will ask the driver to give me a leave."

"Okay please if you need help don't hesitate to call me okay." She said calmly.

"Okay mom."

Khloe was glad she had succeeded in escaping her mother-in-law, she could now freely leave. She was outside searching for her driver, she had lied inside. Consequently, she could not drive by herself, while he was having something to eat, she asked him to stop and drive her. "Madam can I please finish my food before we go out?" Her driver asked.

"Of course no, can't you see that I'm in a hearse? Leave that and drive me out of here, and I mean now." She said. The driver left his plate of food and drove her out of there. She first asked him to drop at Lana's place so they could pick her up, before they arrived at her place, she called Lana to let her know she was already on her way. Lana préparer herself and once Khloe's car arrived they left for Comry's place. In the car, she asked not to know why she needed to see Comry urgently. When they arrived Comry's place, his door was closed and he sounded not to be inside. "It seems like he is home." Lana said after knocking on the door on several occasions.

"He's not home? You mean we came here for nothing, that's not fair now." She said nervously

"Why the urgent need to see this guy, he is your husband's lawyer and not yours, do you have any business with him?" Lana asked as she was lost.

"I need him to set Neil free, he is still married to Mariah meaning I'm just a side chick, do you get it."

"But you won, you are the one in his life presently okay, and besides you are pregnant for his child, something Mariah could not realize in five years of marriage so calm down okay."

"But I'm not secured, he might as well decide to return with her, what if he happens have you ever thought of that? I will lose everything." Khloe said.

"That's true, but you have to calm down cause now you are behaving like someone who is hiding something." Lana said politely.

Khloe was afraid, when she heard Lana say she was behaving like someone who was hiding something, she did not want anyone to be aware of what she had been hiding. Though Lana was her friend, she could not totally trust her because she had once been friends with Mariah. What if she betrayed her just as she did with Mariah? She knew she had to be very careful, Lana was equally a very intelligent girl, she could discover her secret if proper care was not taken. "I'm not hiding anything, I just want to assure that I'm married to Neil before he regrets getting along with me. That's all, you know he loved his wife so much, do you think his love for her suddenly died?" She asked.

"You are right."

"Please let's leave. I don't want anyone to be aware of the visit, I'll be on my way to the hospital, I told Jane I was leaving for the hospital."

After they realized he was not home, they waited for some minutes but he still did not return, so they decided to leave. Khloe's driver deposited Lana and continued to the hospital. Luckily enough her doctor was around, he examined her and found out there was nothing wrong with her, he simply wrote in her book to exercise more. She had gotten what she wanted, a proof that she had visited the hospital. "Hum, this is good, I have the doctors signature on my hospital booklet, in case Jane tries to find out I was really at the hospital I got some proof." She said while smiling. The driver drove her home, on their way, she asked the driver not to tell anyone they visited Comry. He agreed not to tell anyone. "You better keep your mouth shut, cause if someone finds out about this you will lose your job." She said.

It was a stressful day at the restaurant, they received lots of clients and it was unusual, Mariah's technique seemed to be working. After 8:00 PM, they were still at the restaurant serving lots of clients. Caitlyn and Aunt Iren were worried, they thought something happened to them on their way, so Caitlyn called to know if they were fine. Mariah was the one who responded, she told them they were fine, just tight up with work. "Okay, I thought you girls had issues, see you soon." Caitlyn said. They continued to serve till 9:45 PM, it was getting late and they needed to get home before 10 PM, they did not want to indulge themselves in anything that was going to cause them trouble. They quickly changed their serving clothes, they left for the house, luckily for them Bobby was on his way home, he requested to drop them at the next junction. They gladly entered his car and waited to be dropped. At the junction they found a cab going in their area, it was beneficial for them, as they did not stand for long in the street.

Home, they knocked on the door, it was opened by Aunt Iren who was in the living room, she hugged them and told them how worried she was. "Why were you worried? Caitlyn called and we told her we were stuck with work." Mariah mentioned.

"Oh okay, I'm glad you girls were in good hands, I'm sure you girls are tired and famished, while you take your baths I'll quickly warm up food so you can have a bite."

"Sure, we are so tired and famished." Naja said.

Naja and Mariah went upstairs while Iren reported to the kitchen to go heat up the food available, done, she served it on the table while waiting for them. They were done and soon joined her in the living room, they were surprised to see their food served. "Wow, aunt Iren you served us. Thanks a lot" they mentioned.

While they were eating, Aunt Iren told them Neil came around, she had no intentions of telling her but she just felt she needed to know. Mariah stopped eating when she heard that, she did not expect him to come by himself, she thought he was still going to send his lawyer. "You aren't saying anything, I just said Neil came earlier and he brought the divorce papers along with him."

"And I heard you, what else do you want me to say? And please don't go there because you already know how I feel about this." Mariah mentioned.

"I just thought you should know about his visit. As for that, I no longer give a damn. It's all your choice okay, I hope you realize yourself." Aunt Iren said.

"Thanks for this, by the way I love the food it's so delicious." Mariah mentioned. She wanted to change the topic of conversation.