CHAPTER THREE
"Kayla told me you are a smart girl" Adele told the intern once she parked in the restaurant's parking lot.
The young intern who was about nineteen years-old blushed hard as she fiddled with her fingers. A gesture which Adele found to be very cute.
When she worked as an intern back at a publishing company in her home city in England, her superior had been a complete jerk to her and she hated the woman to the core. She only hoped that her colleague, Ciara, was not like that.
"Miss Kayla is too kind" Ciara replied with a bright smile.
"Ciara I'm going to trust you with a very important task right now. I know this is wrong, but my hands are tied. I really have to do this."
"What do you want me to do?" Ciara asked looking at her.
Adele took out a pice of paper on which she had written the questions that were to be asked to the Manager and handed over to Ciara.
"That is a list of the questions that I intended to ask, I want you to do the interview for me. I really have to be somewhere right now. Can you do that for me?" She asked and immediately, the girl beamed at her while vigorously nodding her head.
"Yes! I will."
"Alright then" Adele took off her ID on her neck and wore around the girl's neck. "You will not address yourself as an intern, but as a worker by name Adele Mackenzie. Ciara my entire life depends on this. Please don't fail me" She pleaded.
"I won't fail you. I promise."
"Thank you. When you are done with the interview, send me a text and I will meet you here. And please, this should be our little secret, no one at the company can know about this, especially Mr. Franck"
"My twin brother and I keep each other's secrets all the time, you can count on me to keep this one"
"Thank you, thank you so much"
"You are welcome. So, can I go now?" She asks boldly and Adele quickly nodded her head.
She watched in fascination as the girl got out of the car and walked over to the door of the restaurant. When she saw how confidently she spoke with the guard, she knew everything was going to be alright.
"Shit!" She cursed as she looked at the time on her phone. It read One thirty pm.
She was thirty minutes late and she was terrified of what Jamal would do to her once she arrived.
She stepped on the gas and drove over to "Wangis restaurant" which was situated at the next building.
When she got to the parking lot, she quickly parked the car and rushed into the building. The restaurant was located on the sixth floor, so she took the elevator and while in it, she could not help but fidget with her clothes.
She wasn't flamboyantly dressed. She simply had on a pair of long jean trousers and a thick white sweater over it. On her feet were a pair of white converse which complemented her sweater.
She had the habit of completing her shoes with her sweaters as she always had on one because of her cold intolerance.
She didn't want anyone to suspect that she was someone Jamal knew personally.
Once the elevator dinged, she patiently waited for it to open and when it did, she stepped out of it and into the restaurant. She held her crossed bag closed to her chest and pushed a few strands of loose hair behind her ear as she tried to spot Jamal.
The place was occupied by humans, but the only sounds she could hear were the the sounds of cutleries clattering as the people ate. That was very unusual of Wangis restaurant.
Soon, she spotted Jamal sitting elegantly by the window, not minding at all, all the attention that surrounded him. All the customers inside the restaurant were staring at him like he was a some god, some silently took pictures of him, but no one dared to approach him any further.
He just simply sat there calmly in his black Armani suit, reading the restaurant's menu.
Adele walked over to his table and she could feel the eyes that were on her. Once she stood before him, she cleared her throat to get his attention and she succeeded.
"You are late, Adele" He stated as he glanced up at her with a graceful look.
"I apologise. I … had some things to take care of." she explained smoothly as moved the chair before him and sat down. She was feeling nervous about the whole situation.
"Like the young girl you had to send to interview the restaurant manager for you?" He asked with a raised brow and Adele's eyes and mouth opened wide in shock.
How did he know that?
"How did you… how did you know that?" She asked, stunned.
"Does it matter?" He asked quietly as he sipped some water from his glass.
"I…" she opened her mouth to speak but she decided against it and stayed quiet. She had no idea how he knew about her plan, but then, on a second thought, he was Jamal King Dominick.
He knew everything!
Jamal suddenly held his phone and called someone and the call was immediately picked up.
"Clear this place" He ordered the moment the person on the line called his name and then hung up.
The words he just spoke had not reached Adele's comprehension when men in black attires barged into the restaurant and made everyone leave.
People who were in the middle of having their meals were kicked out. The waiters and waitresses were escorted out too and in the end, just the two of them were left in the restaurant.
Adele watched all of that unfold with terror in her eyes.
That was the first display of power she witnessed him doing and she was truly intrigued. She began to wonder if he would later on pay the people he just dismissed or…
"I believe you have your own objections to this marriage" He stated curtly, snapping Adele out of her thoughts.
She looked up into his menacing gaze and swallowed dryly as she prepared to say what she had on her mind.
"I do. You too, I guess?"
"Indeed. Marrying right now is not convenient for me" He further stated and Adele's hope twinkled. She grinned wildly as she leaned towards him.
"I'm not planning to marry anytime soon either. Since we both agree on this, why don't you try talking to grandma again. I'm sure she will listen to you. I tried to talk to her but she brushed me off" She suggested and the man looked at her pensively for a long time.
"I'm afraid it is impossible to stop the marriage from my end" He calmly stated and that made Adele loose her cool.
"Jamal since you knew this was impossible, why then did you agree to meet me here? I thought you understood we were to meet and put a stop to this marriage?" She asked furiously and Jamal on the other hand calmly observed her little rage episode.
Usually, when she threw a fit and her opponent kept calm, she felt all the more insane about it, but somehow, that man's attitude only sent peace and steadiness in her.
So she simply relaxed and kept staring at him , wondering what it is he was thinking about behind those quiet lips of his.
Speaking of lips, she was shamelessly staring at his lips. There was really nothing special about the anatomy of human lips, his included, but she just stared at them like they were a piece of art.
She only stopped looking at his lips when he began to talk.
"I am sure when we spoke on the phone, this purpose wasn't suggested. You did not say you wanted to meet me to end the marriage, therefore I did not say I will be here to help in doing that"
"Then why did you come?" She asked calmly.
"What reason should a man have to see his fiancé, Adele? I am here to see you… to get to know you more."
His answer was rather silly and unexpected for Adele and what baffled her the most was his ability to maintain a blank countenance the entire time.
He neither frowned nor smiled.
The only part on his face which moved were his eyebrows and lips.
She was truly taken aback by his response and didn't know what to say or do next.
"Since we are both obliged to do this, why don't we just do it sincerely and wholeheartedly? I'm not the kind of person who engages in matters reluctantly. I have given this matter great thinking and I have no problem with it. If we get married, I will be your husband for a lifetime and I will protect you. Like I said, it is impossible to end things from my end, but if you think you can… then good luck trying. However, if you change your mind and decide to get on with it, then I expect you to be a sincere wife. " He spoke calmly but firmly and strangely, Adele felt comfortable hearing his words.
She even felt more comfortable the way he was looking at her.
She leaned back on her seat and looked at him long and hard.
"Can I pass my order now?" She asked out of nowhere.
"By all means." He said as he handed over the restaurant menu. "I'll eat whatever you order." He added and Adele caught something like a smile at the side of his lips.
It was hardly noticeable, but she considered it a smile because she knew that was the highest he could do.
The rest of the time they spent together passed in total tranquillity and Adele thanked her stars because she had nothing else to say to him.
Her husband to be.
CHAPTER FOUR"No Ma! This cannot be happening, my Jamal cannot be getting married!" Cried Danielle. Aliya and Shannelle had just told her about the arrangement and she was not taking the news lightly. Aliya and Danielle's mother were very good friends and since the day Aliya was born, they had decided that their two children would get married when they grow up.When Danielle hit puberty, the two mother's told her about the arrangement and she was very happy. However, Jamal never knew about this engagement and even though he was friends with Danielle, he had never thought of marrying her.Danielle and Jamal grew up together and Danielle loved him with everything that had life in her. She had done all she could to get close to Jamal in every way, but Jamal had done nothing but shut her out. She had hoped that one day, Jamal would open up to her and ask her to marry him since according to her, she was the only female he ever looked at and spoke to."Ma! Please tell me it's not true!" D
CHAPTER FIVE"I need you to make sure My mother, Shannelle and Danielle have no contact with Adele for this entire day. Keep a close on them until the wedding is over. Am I understood?" Jamal asked the four guards standing before him in his bedroom.That day was his wedding day with Adele and he didn't want anything to go wrong or happen to her. His mother and sister have been bitter towards Adele the entire week and he was scared that they would do something to her, so the only way he could think of, was to keep them supervised.The only person he trusted with Adele at that moment was his grandmother, so he told her to stay with Adele until everything was over."Yes, Sir!""I swear if anything goes wrong, I will make your lives miserable. So if you know what is good for you, you will go out there and do your job like you are supposed to." He warned in a deadly tone and the four men looked at each other nervously because they knew he wasn't bluffing.Jamal Dominick was not the type t
CHAPTER SIXThe sound of Adele's alarm rudely woke her up from her sleep. With her eyes still closed, she stretched her right hand to her nightstand and blindly searched for her phone. When she found it, she quickly picked it up and sat up alright to turn off the alarm.On days like that, she wanted to shoot the phone at the wall, but she could not because it had been a gift from sone unknown person a few months ago.The phone arrived at her work place in a parcel with no name or address on it. There was just a simple note on it which had read:"If you break the screen, I will be disappointed"She was terrified for two reasons.First, the phone was her dream phone, Samsung Galaxy S 22 ultra. It was the latest phone in town and she was saving up to buy it. It terrified her that person chose to buy her dream phone. She wondered how he or she knew that.Second, she had the habit of breaking the screens of her phones. She also wondered how come the person knew that was a habit of hers.
CHAPTER SEVENJamal did not come back home for the rest of the week and he did not call again. For the first three days, Adel stayed up late, hoping that he would return, but he did not. She later gave up waiting for him and decided to stop over thinking about him or the fact that they were married.There were times when she stared at her phone and contemplated where to call him, but she decided against her better judgement not to do so. She didn't even have the audacity to ring his phone.Grandma, whose presence made her feel better was not around. She had to travel to England for an urgent matter.Adele did her best to avoid Aliya and Shannelle because she new they would only makes matters worse for her with her words. That was a house she was supposed to be able to call home, but she could not.When she was adopted, she was brought to that house and lived in it for five years before relocating to England. Even now that she was married, she was living in that house, but surprising
CHAPTER EIGHT."Come to my office after dinner, I need to speak with you." Jamal’s words echoed in Adele’s mind as she made her way to his office.She could not help but wonder why he wanted to see her all of a sudden. There was this tingly feeling in her heart that she could not understand. For some odd reason, she thought he summoned her to actually appreciate her for the delicious meal she cooked.When she got to the door, she knocked on it and almost immediately, Jamal’s voice came through, signalling her to open the door. She opened the door, hoping to see Jamal smiling at her, but she was surprised to meet a very angry looking version of Jamal.Terror overcame her as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.He was leaning on his desk with his arms crossed and as she approached him, he looked up at her with blood red eyes."Sit down, Adele."He ordered and Adele immediately complied. As she did that, he extended his arm towards her with his ipad in it."Tell
CHAPTER NINE.Jamal and Adele went to bed without settling the dispute. Adele made sure to spend a lot of time in the closet and when Jamal got tired of waiting for her to come out, he went to bed.He did not apologise.When she woke up the next morning, he was long gone and she was even more frustrated than when she went to bed. He had wronged her and she knew she had all right to be mad at him, but she felt like she was being dramatic."Maybe I should just let it go." She thought as she stepped down from the bed and walked into the bathroom so she could prepare for work.When she was done preparing, she went downstairs to leave for work but to her greatest dismay, she met both her mother and sister-in-law in the living room.She wondered if they had nothing doing, especially, Shannelle. She was always at home doing nothing and waited for the the slightest opportunity to pick fight with her."Petty!" She whispered to herself as she descended the staircase. "Good morning to you" She
CHAPTER TEN"Good morning Mr. Franck '' Adele greeted as she walked into her superior's office. She wanted to ask him about the article to be sure that it had truly been canceled."Good morning Adele. I hope I'm safe" He inquired, looking up at Adele and that made her laugh."Why do you say that?""Because you never come into my office or anyone else's office in the morning. You always just crawl into that hole of yours called your office and shut everyone out for the entire day " Mr. Franck explained and the accuracy of his words made Adele feel very guilty.That was what she did everyday of her life.She only got out of her office when she wanted to get something from a colleague, when she was going out for lunch or when she was going for an outdoor work."Well Mr. Franck, I promise everything is alright. I just came to get some clarifications about something, if that…is okay with you" She explained and her voice died down towards the end of her statement."Of course Adele, go ah
CHAPTER ELEVEN.When Adele opened the door to their bedroom, she was beyond relieved to see Jamal seated on the bed, making a phone call. Probably a business phone call. She let out a quiet sigh as she stepped into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.He was just the person she wanted to see.Before they got married, he had told her to keep her identity as his wife a secret from outsiders, but he never gave her an explanation. At first, she did not think about it because she had no idea how difficult keeping that kind of information would be.That morning, her boss had asked about her identity and she had managed to brush it up, but she knew she would not be able to do so when her other colleagues would begin to wonder aloud.Grandma Devon had also asked her not to tell anyone she was related to that family as well, but she never gave her any explanation. She wanted to know why."Good evening Jamal" She greeted calmly and walked further into the bedroom. Jamal, who had ended t