𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 (𝐀 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧-𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥) ✔

- 42 -

            - Hope's POV -

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I hope I did not delay too much with this update 💜
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I sat still in the living room as my mind wondered about everything Henry had said to me. He didn't want me to worry, but I did worry. How could I not? My father was never meant for my mum. Which child would be happy to hear that? Did mum take someone else's, lover? I just couldn't let that slide. It wasn't like I was planning to blame it on my parents, I wasn't. But I needed them to do at least one thing...

Apologize.

"Why don't you go to sleep?" Henry approached from behind as he reached for the chair I was sitting on. I stared at the TV and noticed how I wasn't concentrating on the content being shown.

"Henry," I looked to my side, meeting his gaze. "I was thinking,"

"What is it?" Henry found his way and sat beside me.

I rested my palm on his hand and decided to look him in the eye for this. "I need to speak to my parents about this. They need to know about this. They need to be aware that I'm in the know. If they're really at fault, then I need them to apologize to your mother so she'd take this curse away from my head, my family's head. My parents, siblings, and I have suffered a lot. I don't want this child my mother is about to bring to this world, to have the same fate."

"I'll talk to mother," Henry whispered with a small frown. "When are you leaving for the village?"

I never mentioned that but Henry could see through me. He could see through my unspoken words.

"I plan on going tomorrow," on a normal day, it would sound so sudden but this was anything but a normal day. For this situation, if it was possible, I could have entered the road this very minute but I knew Henry wouldn't like that.

Henry let out a small nod, knowing fully well that he couldn't stop me. "I'll get you a driver that will take you to the village with one of the cars and first thing tomorrow morning, I'll wire some money into your account."

"But I have enough already," And I wasn't lying. Henry usually places money into my account every two weeks so I wouldn't lack a thing. Now I had more than enough.

"This particular one is for your parents and siblings. Use it to get them gifts." I leaned closer and kissed him deeply on his lips as silent tears fell from my eyes.

"Thank you," I whispered, pulling away from him a little. "For everything."

That night, Henry made it unforgettable and the next morning before journeying to the village, I decided to get lots of foodstuffs, provisions, deodorant, new clothes, and shoes, for my family.

I hugged Henry so tightly that I was scared to let go, before finally getting to the back seat of the car Henry had provided for me.

I made friends with the driver during the journey. His name turned out to be Abu. He happened to be a graduate of Ambrose Alli University with a degree in Mathematics. He just happened to be one of those that couldn't find a decent job after graduating. We talked about a lot of things, especially things in the educational aspect. Then after that, we decided to talk about music and other underrated series. We sometimes pull over at eatries whenever we were starving. I made sure he was very comfortable with me.

It was already nighttime when we finally got to Akwa Ibom. It was always a one-day journey, the reason why I loved traveling at night. It didn't take long to get to my village and then finally my compound. The lights coming from the headlight, reminded me how I wanted to get my family out of this excuse of a compound.