06/11/2023
MY COLD CEO IS HOT
Written by PAUL EVE © Tales by Eve
Episode 21
"No ooooooo" Clara screamed as she fell heavily to the ground, wailing helplessly. She was so afraid, she had no idea what she'd tell Mike's parents caused the deãth of a son that was so healthy yesterday before he left with her.
She was more worried about the fact that her wedding wasn't holding again and people will forever gossip about how her husband had dīed on the very day they could have called their happiest day.
The guests left so hastily that one would doubt the hall had just been bubbling a while ago. No one wanted to be arrested from a wedding ground.
Jes rushed to Clara's sides to support her up and take her away from the venue. They had only taken a few steps when they were rudély stopped in their tracks.
"Where do you think you're going to?" Mike's mother asked harshly. "You're not allowed to move an inch" she declared, hôstility seething through her eyes.
"You have killêd my son and you think you can just run off like that? You must go through the traditional processes to prove your innocence.
"And if you must know, our family spent heavily for the sacrifices required before we were allowed to pay your bride. Because your family wanted to marry you off to my son so bãdly, they were not patient enough to follow the procedure for returning bride price to your former husband before collecting another" the àngry and grieving mother screàmed.
In her heart, she never liked a thing about Clara becoming her son's wife, but had to accept Clara with open arms, because Mike told her how much Clara meant to him
She had tried to convince Mike to choose anyone else,but Mike was adamant, insisting that Clara couldn't really be termed a dīvorcee, since he was the one who asked her out of the marriage
But with son cold deåd on the floor,and the reality of the fact that he was never going to return to her, Mike's mother was ready to treat Clara, just the way she had wanted to, from the fist time she set her eyes on her.
Mike's mother took time to tell her how they had to finance the rituals that needed to be performed to enable them pay her bride price. She didn't fail to tell her the implication of the rituals, she was now her property. Clara knew she was doómed.
After Clara learnt about the rituals and it's implication from her uncle, she had projected that she wouldn't be losing a thing even if Mike decided to leave her at any point of her marriage because she planned to grasp all she can while she had the chance and make a run for it when the occasion demands for it, who could have thought that her husband won't even see their wedding.
Mike's mother ensured that Clara went through all the rigorous rituals. They had her hair shaven and made her sleep in a thatched mud house for seven days before she was taken to the sacred stream for cleansing. She was now declared fit to be transferred to her new husband, Mike's only surviving brother.
Clara got the will power to go through all the rituals from the knowledge that she was going to soon become the wife of Mike's only brother.
She had been told the guy looked even more handsome than Mike, plus, he must have inherited all the riches Mike brought back. How was she to know that Mike had signed away everything when those "hòstile men" held them hostàge.
She looked her best this morning, at least better than what she had looked like since Mike's passing. She was made to wait for quite a while before she was ushered into Ikenna's room.
The sight she met, made her screàm like a kid seeing one.of Harry Potter's series . But her scream was stiffled half way as she felt a burning sensation across her cheek.
Ikenna hít her angrily. This was the major reason his parents never allowed strangers into his room. He always became vïolënt when people reacted to his physical appearance.
Today, he was even more àngry that the widow of the one who was responsible for his predicament had the guts to show her repulsión for his look.
Clara had never been so afraid in her life. She sat at a corner of the room and cried her eyes out. Ikenna still fumed as he told her how Mike had cut his dreams short with his grèed and selfishnèss.
After Mike annihilatèd all his partners that went on the mission with him, the leader of the cartel had traced his hometown and kidnàpped his brother. They were hoping that Mike would appear if he found out about his brother being with them, but they thought wrong.
One day, they were making a video to threaten Mike, and somehow the acíd they had intended to use as a threat mistakenly spilled on pōor Ikenna's face, disfiguring him so bãdly. Even after the video was sent to Mike, there was no response from him and a trigger happy fellow among them decided to keep a message for Mike; he shot Ikenna on his spine.
So, Ikenna was later released half deåd to his parents; his face irredeemably disfigured and legs crippled.
He had lived a bittér man ever since. He loved his brother so much and could not bring himself to hurt Mike for making him suffer this much, but with his widow, someone he knew Mike loved so much, as his wife now, he was so sure nature has given him the chance to take his pound of flesh.
He'll make her see hell, she'll beg to dië and join her husband, but deãth would be so far away. He was very sure his brother Mike will watch from the great beyond helplessly as he watched those men hurt him as much as they did. He smiled again.
Clara could see that dark days awaited her,and she could only blame herself for her situation, telling herself that if she had been more observant, then she would have known when to strike, after he men who killêd Mike, did their bit.
In her heart, Clara still mourned the loss of her super rich husband, Mike, as well as the luxurious life she knew she had ahead of her, with Mike.
And she resènted the circumstances that have brought her into this twisted dynamic with his younger brother.
Ikenna's disfigurement served as a constant reminder of the tragedy that struck their family because of Mike's actions, and his mother never stopped blaming Clara, who she said was the reason for Mike's willingness to make money by all means.
It was a daily struggle for Clara to find the strength to persevere, as every encounter with Ikenna was laced with a cruèl sense of domination.
She becomes a prisoner in her supposed home, stripped of her dignity, unable to escape the clutches of this reséntful and tôrmented man.
As time goes on, Clara's self-esteem diminishes, and her spirit falters. She believes that somehow, she deserves this mistreatment. In her darkest moments, she questions whether she could have prevented Mike's demise or if she unknowingly contributed to the brewing ànimosity between the brothers.
While Clara was being handed over to her new husband, Jes was getting wedded to her heartrob. And though, Ade insisted on being allowed to plan the wedding according to his capacity, Josh and Loveth managed to turn the wedding to a carnival.
Plus they secretly made plans for the couple to spend their honeymoon in a choice hotel in Dubai.
A presidential suite awaited them at the hotel they were booked for. Loveth ordered the hotel management to ensure the newly wedded couple were pampered beyond their imagination. She paid them heavily for this assignment; an assignment they carried out to the last letter.
Jes kept wondering what she must have done in her past life to deserve a cousin as sweet as Loveth. She never forgot the fact that her father had been a headache to Loveth when her parents passed, even though she didn't support her father, she never knew her cousin who was more or less her closest confidant would still cherish their friendship.
Tears of joy swelled in her eyes as she thought of how fate had made her unconsciously responsible for Loveth's happiness.
Before they left for the honeymoon, Josh had jokingly told Ade to ensure Jes returned with a mini Ade. Turns out Ade was not taking the advise for a joke.
The lovebirds were in the middle of their love game when Clara's call came in. She had called Jes some days before to tell her of her new husband's refusal to allow her attend the wedding. She bemoaned how she was the architect of her own pain and cried so bitterly. Today, she was calling to ask if her friend could at least visit her.
Mike's mother had laid down dozens of instructions for her, one of which was the prohibition of going out. She was only allowed to warm her husband's bed and eat whatever she was allowed to eat for the day.
Jes could only express her sympathy for the dilemma she created for herself and told her how far away she was on her honeymoon. If regret was a human, it certainly won't be any other than Clara!
Clara tried to convince herself that her sole purpose now was to endure and make amends for the sins she perceived herself to have committed, because far from the vibrant woman she once was, Clara now existed in a constant state of feàr and subservience, praying for forgiveness for imagined transgressions and clinging to dwindling shreds of hope that one day, an opportunity for escape will present itself.
Ikenna could get àngry for any reason and at any time. He could hit her for not môaning while he made her ride him, and still hit her for môaning too loudly, some moments later.
He found it very exciting, when Clara looked worn out and tired, yet she was compelled to straddle him and ride him for as long as he wanted.
Clara was surely making up for Ikenna's years of celibacy, but she wished he didn't have to be so cruèl to her, while she tried to satisfy his insatiable desire for her body.
There were days Ikenna would keep her switching between classic cówgirl, reversed missionary, a lap dance on his wheelchair and even make her go for the reverse cówgirl position, not caring how her bones complained about the twists and strains.
One night, Ikenna got Clara to switch between all the styles he could conjure, and she obediently did as instructed, for feàr of being hit, until he decided to make her do the Acrobat.
Their bedroom activities has always been with her on top, but with acrobatic position, she was required to bend her legs at her knees and lie all the way back to rest her upper body on his, with her back laying on him.
She tried to tell him how bãdly that position had affected her, the first day he made her do it, but a cruèl släp hit her mouth, connecting instantly with her teeth and giving her lip a cut.
Clara knew that Ikenna was certainly going to pick up his whip the next minute,so she quickly complied to his request,even with the pains in her body.
She turned around and straddled him in the reverse cówgirl position, and slowly began to descend, until her back was touching his chest.
Ikenna's hands flew instinctively to her succulènt sisters, and he began to massage roughly, and she forced herself to move to the fastest rhythm she could create
By the time ikenna let her get off him, it was close to dawn, and Clara was afraid of closing her eyes, because she knew what her mother inlaw would do, if she as much as over slept, when they had things to do in the house
"For how long am I going to stay here? How long does it take deãth to take someone who's not willing to live again, away? Will I truly be able to escape this alive?
"I have to find a way to see Josh, I know he loves me so much and can't resist me. I'll cry and make him see how sorry I am. He'll surely take me back" she soliloquized. She picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number.
*To be continued
