12

—

Imani heart almost dropped seeing Jaden standing by the door with his pyjamas on, “Ja—“

Jaden just stood there, probably his sleep getting beast of him but as soon as he spot Killan in the room, he rub off the sleep from his eyes, “Daddy?” He jumped in excitement.

Jaden giggled and his seemed like it’s about to pop out of excitement, . “Mom! Is Daddy finally living with us now?" he asked, grinning mischievously.

Imani's face turned bright red. Killan's eyes widened, but he quickly recovered, a smirk creeping onto his lips. "Uh, no, buddy, I was just...helping your mom get ready for work" Killan had answered before thinking.

‘Does that even make any sense? Help? Tsk’ he thought.

Jaden wasn't buying it but he simply played along. "Cool! You should have breakfast with us!” He asked, his toes standing on tip.

Imani was dumbfounded..the least person she expect to find her in this kind of awkward situation is her son. Tsk!

Killan is obviously reading the room, “Jaden, I have work to do..”

“Didn’t you say you were helping mummy just now? What other work are you talking about?” Jaden chipped in putting him on the spot.

Killan smiled awkwardly…he put himself in this situation anyways.

“Mom…he can stay for breakfast right? Killan can stay, right?” Jaden insisted, his eyes doing the most to work.

Imani threw her hand in the air, obviously giving in to her son’s requests, “Okay..fine. He will stay. Just go and wash up, alright?” Imani told her son.

Jaden jumped in victory, “Yay! I will go and wash up right away,” with that he hurried back to his room.

Killan fixed his gaze back to Imani, “I can just leave…I don’t have-”

“Just stay. Jaden won’t let me breathe if you leave. It’s just a breakfast,” Imani told him and was getting down from her bed while Killan stood there.

Imani crossed her arms over her chest, “Are you going to stand here and watch me undress, take my bath and dress up?” Imani announced making Killan realize.

“I wasn’t..I-”

“Go to the next room after this one, there’s a bathroom there..you can wash up there,” Imani simply told him, Killan nod and left.

Imani breathed out. “What an headache!”

Memory from last night has refused to come to her but she didn’t bulge.. “I made no mistake, right?” She told herself waving the thought off with a shrug.

Few minutes later, Imani came down. Killan was already at the dinning table and Jaden was already bombarding him with questions.

"Do you like eggs? Do you like Spider-Man? Do you have a favorite superhero? Can you play Fortnite with me?" these were the questions Jaden threw at Killan, and he answered one after the other.

“Let’s just eat in peace…Jaden, you’ve been asking him lots of questions since morning,” Imani cautioned him. Jaden composed and they began eating.

But that only lasted for few minutes when Jaden suddenly said, “You know how to make pancakes don’t you?” He asked and Killan raised an eyebrow.

He wondered why he’s asking him that now. “Yes. Why did you ask?”

“Because it’s mommy favorite! If you want to win her heart, a pancake is ok,” He blurted out anyways.

Imani almost choked on the water she was taking, she widened her eyes “Eat your food, Jaden. Don’t forget the table manners,” Imani said through gritted teeth then slightly covered with a weird smile, giving Jaden a warning too.

Killan laughed under his breathe while he eats his food in silence.

…..

Sarah stormed back into the house, if only her anger could boil a rice, it would.

Elizabeth ran over to her, “I saw you and Luke went out earlier, you went to help the family, didn’t you?” Elizabeth whispered.

Sarah breathed out, letting go of her anger a little bit, “ Yeah but no one is willing to help us,” Sarah said while Elizabeth face dropped.

“Only Imani can be of help to us,” Elizabeth said and the anger that Sarah had let go suddenly came in a rush.

‘Why do everyone keep mentioning her?’ she thought. ‘I need to help Luke. Imani can’t have her way…never!’

Sarah returned into her room, paced to and fro thinking of how she’d help Luke. She picked up her phone. “This is Sarah—“ She hasn’t finished her introduction when the line dropped.

Her phone glued to her ear as she frantically dialed the next number on her list. "Come on, Tom, please just help me out here," she begged, pacing at front of her dressing table

But Tom, owner of a large hardware store, wasn't having it. "Sorry, Sarah. I can't afford to get involved in your mess with Imani," he said, his voice firm but polite.

Sarah's face twisted in frustration. “Imani again?!”

She called the next person, and the next, and the next. Every single one of them turned her down.

"What is wrong with you people?! Luke helped everyone of you when you needed it but now that he’s in shambles you’re ditching him for a low-life like Imani?! What does she have on y’all!" she shouted into the phone, before throwing the phone across the room and it broke into pieces.

Her chest heaving, she collapsed on her knees, “Damn you Imani!” She screamed then her gaze went to Imani’s billboard on the TV screen.

A surge of irritation rushed in just by watching Imani’s smile. . "This is all your fault, Imani," she muttered, her anger simmering. "You think you're so smart, don't you? Think you can just wone and take everything from me and Luke?"

“I’m going to ruin you,” Sarah muttered then picked her bag and rushed out of the house again.

She stomped back to her car, determination etched on her face. "I'm going to ruin you, Imani. You think you're untouchable, but I'm going to take you down."