Before

Three months ago

“I came here as soon as I could,” I said. “What’s going on, dad? Carrie was involved in an accident and I wanted to go and see her in the hospital, but your assistant was quite insistent. You seem fine, though.”

“Do you have a piece of paper?” he asked.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion before reaching into my pocket and retrieving a piece of paper and pen. Opening the notebook, I handed it to my father. “Close the door and make sure no one is listening to us.”

“What’s going on, dad?”

“Just do as I say,” he said in an irritable voice. I went and looked into the hallway. I saw a cloth disappearing at the end. Sighing, I stepped back in and closed the door.

Father handed me the note.

“We don’t have much time,” the note said. “I know Carrie won’t be in hospital for long. You need to get me out of here for a while, give Glenn the location and tell him to come over with the necessary documents. Nobody should hear you doing that.”

I tilted my head. My father signalled for me to read the other page. I flipped the paper.

“Carrie is not who everyone thinks she is.”

I was not very shocked because Carrie had always been a suspicious character to me. She was too nice it seemed fake. One day, I’d seen her entering a hotel with another man. When I told my father, the man didn’t believe me. Instead, Carrie turned herself into a victim and I got scolded for wanting to break my father’s marriage. I took the piece of paper and placed it in my pocket.

“I’m gonna step out for a while, dad. I need to make a call.”

I closed the door slowly and walked down the hallway. At the foot of the stairs, I found one of the housekeepers who turned and hurried towards the kitchen. I followed her to the kitchen.

“Are you spying on my father and I?” I asked the young woman.

The woman shook her head. “No, of course not. Mr. Donovan always needs someone around. I was going to check on him.”

“Okay,” I said, trying not to sound suspicious. “Don’t worry too much about it. I’m going to make a call and get back.”

I stepped out and called Glenn before arranging a meeting with him in half an hour. When it was done, I returned inside and went straight to my father. I helped my father get on a wheelchair and took him down the stairs.

“Mr. Donovan is not supposed to go outside,” the housekeeper from earlier said. She looked panicked.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Don’t listen to her, son. I’m well.”

“But Mrs. Donovan said…”

“I don’t care what she said. She is not a doctor, is she? I just called dad’s doctor and he said its fine.”

The woman looked defeated as she watched us leave the house. I helped my father into the car and it drove off to my apartment. In my apartment, I pulled out a spare wheel chair since we suspected the one my father was using to be wired. We switched the wheelchair and car, then travelled in another.

A few minutes later, we were at a bare field near one of our properties. The lawyer had already arrived with all the necessary documents. Within an hour, my father had changed the will and the lawyer took it with him.

“Are you sure that was the right decision, dad?”

“Yes, I made a big mistake marrying that woman. She had me fooled for a while but her real personality was bound to show. You can’t hide evil for long.”

“I don’t want to say I told you so but I’m glad you came to your senses.”

“I found out about her when I was diagnosed. When the doctor said I had a few months to live, she couldn’t hide her hate for me anymore. After all, she was the sole beneficiary in the will. That b!tch tells me every day how she can’t wait for me to die.”

“Why was she the sole beneficiary when you have children? Forget that, why didn’t you tell us?”

“Well, you’ve hated me for as long as I know. You only started coming by out of pity now that I’m dying. Besides, she has got everything bugged and I can’t talk on phone without her permission. It was only when the police called and insisted they talk to me that the maid gave me the phone. Immediately after talking to the police, I sent the text while pretending to be texting the police. I deleted it immediately.”

“I can’t believe you’ve been treated like a prisoner in your own house.”

“You were right. I should have never married a twenty-six year old at my age. I was stupid to think she was harmless. However, there’s no point in dwelling on that. Take me back before she regains consciousness. I don’t want her to suspect anything.”

“Okay, I hope we can trust Glenn.”

“We can. I made sure of that by adding him into the will. He won’t want to jeopardize something he will benefit from.”

“Glad you’re still wise, dad.”

“I may be on the verge of death but I haven’t lost my brains yet. That woman is going to go crazy when she realises she’s not getting any of my money.”

I took my father back after retrieving his original wheelchair which probably had a tracker. If it did, Carrie could only track it to my apartment which wouldn’t make her suspect anything.

Two weeks later, my father got worse and he eventually succumbed to his sickness. Carrie was eager to kick me out of my father’s house and companies but received the shock of her life when she found out that he had changed his will two weeks before his death. All she got was a restaurant. She cursed and swore, angry that she had wasted two years of her life sucking up to an arrogant old man who eventually left her with nothing.

Consequently, she had to leave the house. Kicking her out was the hardest thing I had to do but everyone had advised me it was the best course of action. I also fired all the workers who had been in cahoots with Carrie. They say keep your enemy close, but I didn’t want to try it out. Carrie had said it wasn’t over, and I knew she was planning something but I was ready to face her.