Hazel looked up immediately she said that, to see the shock that had crossed the face of the two women in the living room with her. Surprisingly, Shikera was quick to regain her composure.

"Seems like you didn’t know before, but my mother is dead," she stated.

Hazel shook her head vigorously, showing Shikera how certain she was with what she said. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I am really not lying. She looks just like you and her words! Her words were...kind of relatable to you so I surely believe she is your mother. I can tell you everything she said if you want."

"Hold on, I have to call Ethan. He needs to know about this," Ruthlyn stopped her.

"It’s alright, Ruth. It just this cliche family problems that will end up with her asking me to forgive her for one f**king reason so why stress Ethan? The least I can do is create an accidental encounter between us both, and then ask my father what happened between them," Shikera dissuaded her from calling Ethan.

"You think it’s that simple?" Ruthlyn asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"I know it is," Shikera replied with a reassuring smile, before turning to Hazel."How did she meet you and what did she say to you? And uhm... did you mistakenly reveal yourself as a worker at the DeLoach’s family mansion?"

"It’s normal that they would know that I work at DeLoach’s mansion since I have been shopping there since I was a teenager, with the head cook there. And about how the woman met me, I was picking out some veggies for you and then I turned and saw her. I screamed in shock and she asked me to join her for coffee, as apology for scaring me. I agreed out of curiosity and joined her," Hazel explained.

Ruthlyn’s eyes were on her phone which was currently recording everything Hazel was saying, and the other two were unaware of that.

"And what did she say to you?" Shikera asked again. At this moment, she could no longer hide her curiosity.

"She mentioned the veggies at first, saying her daughter eats that too and that she can only get fresh ones from that supermarket. She smiled and because she looked so much like you then, I complimented her that her smile was so beautiful," she paused for a second to catch her breath, and Shikera handed her the glass of water she had taken from the kitchen earlier.

Hazel continued,"Her smile turned sad then and she said the wide smile was just a facade. She told me she has daughter suffering from SCD and is so weak but there’s nothing she can do for that girl to take the pain away. She also said her relationship with her daughter’s father is strained but she will try to mend it soon, for her daughter’s sake. She said so many other things but those are the most meaningful ones that I understood." She concluded her narration with a relieved look.

"Thanks for this," Shikera said."See what I said, Ruth? She surely means no harm so there’s no need involving Ethan in this."

"That’s true. I won’t bother telling him," Ruthlyn agreed, even though she had plans to do the exact opposite of what she was telling Shikera.

"Cool, I will be upstairs in my room then. Ethan said we will have a visitor this evening so I want to take a nap before then," Shikera rose from the couch, giving Ruth a small wave before walking away from the living room.

On getting to her bedroom, she threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes, before opening them back in the next minute.

"It’s all set, Kera. Even God seems to be helping you," she murmured under her breath.

’You just have a few shows left before helping your mother come clean to the public, and it turns out she’s not dead yet. I can pay my debt back to her when she is still alive, and die with her love at the same time. I can get pregnant within a few months and transfer my shares to Ethan and then, everything will be settled!"

She settled everything in her head and smiled in satisfaction at the perfected plan, before closing her eyes to sleep.

Five hours passed and when Shikera opened her eyes, she felt like she had only slept for a second. She struggled to get out of bed, and walked into her closet to change her clothes. She needed slightly provocative dresses to seduce Ethan and put her pregnancy plan in motion.

When she was satisfied with her look, she went down to the living room with the intention of waiting for Ethan as it was still a few hours before he was expected to be back. In the meantime, she would just play with Esther.

But she was surprised when she saw Ethan and Esther sitting in the living room with their head huddled over a book, probably Esther’s assignment. Ethan was still wearing his shirt and trousers while his jacket rested on the arms of the couch, so Shikera could tell he only just arrived not long ago. She crept up behind them and stuck her head in between them, pouting.

"Are you two trying to make me jealous?" she asked them jokingly.

Esther was quick to answer, as she did not get the joke in Shikera’s words.

"No! I told daddy that I prefer you helping me but he refused and insists on helping me himself. I don’t understand him at all so I will prefer if you help me, Miss...Mum!"

Shikera could not help but shake her head at the little girl’s blatant lie. Anyone who knew Esther would be able to tell that the girl was a smart girl, and her father would be able to handle her perfectly too.

"It’s alright, Esther. You just made your daddy jealous instead," she laughed. Leaning in towards Esther, she whispered in her ears, "It’s not good to lie though."

Esther nodded with a smile and then stood up from the couch, excusing herself.

"I’m done with the assignment now so I’ll just go upstairs," she informed them.

Shikera watched Esther’s back until it dissapeared completely before she went to sit beside Ethan.

"You are back early," she whispered.

"Yeah, I told you we will be having a visitor." He didn’t tell her about his second reason for coming home early, which was the recording Ruthlyn sent to him. From it, he could deduce from the recording that the woman who looked a lot like Shikera had approached the stupid and senseless Hazel intentionally. But still, he couldn’t get that uncomfortable feeling out of his mind.

"I just didn’t think you would be home this early," Shikera’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he took a good look at her. She seemed different that day, her face and her body.

It was not make up, but her eyes which seemed to be purposefully holding his gaze in a challenging way. And for her body, one particular part of them seemed to be greeting him.

His peaches...