It was undeniably human nature to exchange pleasantries at the break of dawn, and more of Nigerian culture to greet virtually everyone once it was morning. However, the couple sharing the dark-themed massive room seemed to have other ideas concerning this tradition.

Long story short, they hated each other's guts so to speak.

Gabriel, who had awoken earlier and freshened up, was dressed in his characteristic long sleeved shirt and slacks when Gina peered open her eyes to welcome the morning. Her searching eyes swept the room quickly and found him a few metres from the foot of the bed, his concentration locked on buttoning his wrist.

Involuntarily, she stretched her body to awaken her senses; her limbs flying out to disarray the duvet, and a loud yawn left her mouth subconsciously, instantly drawing his attention to her.

"Please, close your mouth before you swallow me," he rebuffed her quickly while working on his leather wristwatch, before adding with a suggestive wink, "although I've been told quite often by the female folk that I'm deliciously edible."

It was supposed to be funny, and if she wasn't already annoyed with him, she'd be outright laughing. Instead, she hissed spitefully before retorting,

"If I'm hungry, trust me, you'd be the last thing I'll eat!"

His lips lifted up into a knowing smirk before chuckling at her outburst.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning."

"You just noticed?" She mocked, hissing at him, "but no thanks to you. I couldn't sleep at all last night with you snoring like a pig."

His brows arched up, his expression depicting disbelief as against shock she was expecting.

"This obvious lie is coming from the one who wouldn't sleep on her own portion of the bed. I lost count of how many times you rolled all over me last night."

At her gaping mouth, he gave her a victorious leer before turning to march back into the closet.

Determined to have the last word, without ample thought she inserted, "The bed was stuffy!"

"That's exactly what the last girlfriend I had said." Came his deep chuckle from the closet.

Somehow, him mentioning his girlfriend with such happy disposition marred her lively spirit slightly. She wanted to hope he didn't have good memories with his last girlfriend so she could happily make them with him but who was she kidding? The man had been keeping his distance from her, so the idea was quite far-fetched at this point.

"Why the long face?" His question pulled her back from her thoughts to find him ready to go. "It's too early for your troubles, Gina. Go freshen up and come downstairs for breakfast. Father demands it."

Annoyed with herself for liking him and with him for being so gorgeous, she kicked away stubbornly at the duvet and the pillows. "I hate you!"

His deep resonating chuckle did nothing but add to her rage.

++++++++++

Gina was having a rough morning, so to speak. Inasmuch as arguing with Gabriel at the brink of dawn was unhealthy and totally uncalled for, the unnecessary addition of exchanging more than pleasantries with his family was downright abhorrent to her. She could not fathom 'playing nice' with those people. Ever.

As soon as Gabriel left the room, she had gone ahead to freshen up and make an appearance for breakfast as was expected of her. She didn't meet anyone on her descend down the stairs, thankfully she had memorised her way to the excessively large dining room by now. The full buzz going on in the room, however, was clear indication that she was late. Again.

Raphael had nodded to her greeting and apology, and while Monica and Anthony acknowledged her with a nice remarks, Malcolm went out of his way to lock her down with suspicious glare and undisguised hate. Suspicious, she understood, hate was a total bewilderment.

Gabriel expressed neither reaction, which prompted her in hissing as she strolled past his chair, and then pinching him hard on his right arm when he didn't bother to be a gentleman by pulling out a chair for her. The action did not go unnoticed by the family who fawned sheepishly over their loving relationship.

The grace was uttered by Anthony whose words went conveniently along the lines of The almighty granting his older brothers everlasting happiness with their chosen ones.

Gabriel had smirked at that, and while Monica tried to stifle her laughter, Malcolm had responded with an obnoxious yawn.

"I don't understand why Anthony is so religious about wishing his siblings equal eternal happiness when it's clearly obvious that someone in this room deserve it more," he began with a boring sigh just as everyone else dug into their breakfast.

Anthony glared at him, clearly perturbed by his brother's reaction. "Prayers are ways of asking for your deepest desires from your maker. I was merely reminding him of a request I made on everyone's behalf years ago."

"Well, you didn't have to," he retorted sharply, digging into his toast. "What you should have done instead was teach us how to pray. I think it's about time we all learnt to pray for our individual happiness, more so for our oldest sibling. Strickly speaking, Gabriel needs that prayer more than I do, most especially now that he's getting into another relationship."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed into slits at his words. "And why is that?"

"How can you ask me that as if you don't know?" Faking a gasp, his eyes grew wide like saucers and his mouth gaped all in order to accentuate the reaction of disbelief he was aiming for.

"You are too angry, too volatile and too toxic for another human being to deal with. Forget prayers, you need divine intervention to survive in any relationship that is expected to yield happiness as a fruit, my dear brother." He finished with a wave of his hand.

Completely piqued by the grotesque rendition Malcolm made of him, he retorted sharply. "Did you have to be so caustic about this issue? You made it sound like 'happiness' is an elusive concept to me!"

"Well, I apologise if you felt that way," his devilish grin was in direct contrast to his words, "I was only trying to save Gina from suffering terribly at your hands."

"It would have been appreciated, honestly, if you didn't have to ridicule me in front of everyone while doing so." He rained his steel cold eyes on the offending party.

Holding his piercing gaze unflinchingly, the younger Asika reiterated, "I am being caring by besieging Anthony and everyone else to pray for your happiness and you're getting angry? What did I do wrong?" The innocent demeanour he gave off was almost believable.

"Despite what it looks like, I want you and her to be happy for the short while this charade will continue, cause we all know it would not last eventually. It never does."

Gina gasped, stunned by the grave words emanating from his lips. She knew tidbits about Gabriels' love life but to be accosted in public with such ill perceived notion concerning the matter had her reeling in shock.

Annoyed at him for the lack of tact, she snorted, but unfortunately, he caught unto her gimmick quickly.

Clearly determined on being an agent of chaos, Malcolm granted her a sly smirk, "Do you have anything to contribute to this matter? Or are my words too 'scathing' for your innocent ears?"

Gina gripped the hem of her gown and squeezed the life out of it to dissuade her lips from telling the arrogant toad off. She didn't want a face off with him in a battle of wits. Yet.

He, unfortunately, took her silence as prompt to continue his jeering. "I should be the one to let you know since my other siblings wouldn't bother and my father is so concerned about the welfare of his grandchild to bother jeopardising it.

"Gabriel is putting on a charade. He's devising something and he's using you as the bait. Don't believe any romantic crap he tells you cause they are all fallacy. Once he achieves his aim, he will toss you away like a used dish rag. It's his trademark. I should know, I'm his closest sibling."

Gabriel ignored him as he took a generous bite out of his jam spread toast in silence.

By now, it was obvious that everyone was eating breakfast on egg shells, wondering and waiting for the outcome of this rant battle. The non-responsive vibe the family gave off worried Gina slightly. Even if they were used to these two fighting with words, did it warrant standing by the side and doing nothing?

Definitely on a roll to ruffle feathers this morning, Malcolm let out a low piercing sound from his lips to commandeer attention to himself before continuing,

"While everyone in this room may have been fooled by your theatricals yesterday, I, for one, was hardly moved by it. How, a curious mind would wonder, did I reach such conclusions?" He paused for dramatic effect, loving the feel that his words were meant to sizzle and burn once they were uttered.

"Simply put, Gabriel is incapable of love. A heart as cold as his cannot love."

If Gina hadn't been watching stealthily to see what his reaction would be, she would have surely missed it in a twinkle of an eye.

His cutlery stilled on the toast, his fingers going rigid almost simultaneously. Stealing a second to resume his halted breathing, his head rose to meet the smirking face of his brother, and his features blanked immediately.

"What nonsense are you ranting about now?"

Even though she hadn't known him for long, Gina could decipher that his question was a ploy to divert interest away from his brother's remark.

Taking a refreshing gulp of his chocolate tea, Malcolm shrugged nonchalantly. "You call it 'nonsense' because you know I am speaking the truth. Stop beating around the bush and tell Gina you're only playing her for a fool. I mean, she wouldn't be the first to receive such treatment from you."

Gabriel took a gulp too, evidence that he was working on his anger by stalling for time.

"And if I don't?"

Stunned, Malcolm nearly choked on his meal, his expression a mirror of confusion. "Are you so callous that you'll use her like that?"

Gabriel shrugged, seemingly done with receiving sarcastic bites from him. "She's my girlfriend, the one I'm having a relationship with. After spilling everything with all your mighty confessions, I don't see what else to hide from her. How I handle my relationships is no concern of yours. Yes, the other ones might have been a total fail but it doesn't mean this one will be. This one is different."

This one is different because it was a contract agreement, not some emotional attachment, Gina opted to add but knew 'disclosure' was the key word of their arrangement. Gabriel would sooner see her dead than watch her spill the beans.

Holding his gaze, her mouth moved faster than her brain could comprehend. "He's not using me," she began, feeling like she was rehearsing her lines for a movie scene, "we love each other and that his past relationships were fails doesn't mean that this one will."

Hook, line and sinker, Malcolm thought, clearly pleased that he got a reaction out of her. "You two deserve each other. The lies spilling from your very lips tell me all I need to know. You are worse than my brother, that's why you stand by his side in complete solidarity."

Her eyes narrowed immediately she perceived where he was going with this.

"Only someone as callous as he is can possibly bear to stay with him. You are a slow poison. An unscrupulous money vacuum that will stay with any man even if he's incapable of love.

"You, my dear, are a confirmed gold digger."

+++++++++++

After excusing herself from the dining room, Gina half expected Gabriel to follow suit, at least to convince her he didn't believe his brother's words, but when she reached the room completely unaccompanied, a part of her spirit was dampened instantly.

Of course, she had made peace with being a stripper, and even though Gabriel, for whatever reason he had, chose to keep that part of her secret, she had hoped he made peace with it too. She wanted him to not care about her occupation, for it to not be a stumbling block if they were to ever have a romantic fling, but to be called out in front of everyone and her 'fake boyfriend' couldn't even defend her, made her question why she was dancing to his tunes more than was agreed on.

Contract wise, she should not be here pretending to be a girlfriend, who is a 'good girl' and a hardworking baker. One day, her secret would fish her out and today's episode was clear indication that Gabriel would abandon her too when that day came. That thought made her heart hurt terribly.

Sniffing, she strolled to the glass panelled door. Pulling it open, she stepped into the wide balcony and the view she met left her breathless. The edge of the balcony was barricaded with glass frames and metal rails. The tiled wall, however, had pots of various flowers adorning it at the bottom edges. There were three mahogany brown cane chairs with yellow square cushions placed strategically round a hexagonal shaped straw table. This arrangement coupled with the hanging lantern gave the setting a relaxed vibe.

Looking past the rails, she could make out the crystal blue swimming pool, and the forest green lawn with mahogany brown deck chairs scattered randomly around. It was obvious the rich lived luxuriously.

Cursing herself for not admiring the aesthetics yesterday because she was following Gabriel around like a lost puppy, she inhaled the lovely fragrance emanating from the brightly coloured flowers before moving to go plop down heavily on a chair.

Propping her feet up on the table, she wondered if requesting for room service at this point would be asking for trouble. Considering how breakfast went down, she decided minding her business was wise.

A knock at the door had her eyes fluttering open, and was quite surprised to realise she had drifted off to sleep in a matter of minutes. Before she could get her bearings, the impatient tap sounded again. She would have ignored whoever was at the door, seeing that they were being rude with the inquiry, but when the door opened and footsteps sounded in the room, she was forced to stand up and go face the intruders.

Standing in the middle of the large room, dressed in a flowing white bedazzled gown that blended nicely with her supple skin, and dark hair puffed up in an afro, she gave off an ethereal glow that made Gina slightly jealous.

"Yes?"

Gina raised a brow in question wondering what brought the woman here. She had kept mute throughout breakfast as if it was being operated for her amusement, and she couldn't help detesting the woman a little bit.

"I came to see you, Gina. There are matters that we need to discuss."

Her brusque tone made Gina clench her fist slowly by her side. She could perceive that despite her demeanour, she was quite like her brother in thinking, and she wasn't referring to the eldest brother.

"What about?"

"Apology, first of all. Mine and yours."

At Gina's confused stare, she sighed audibly with an eye roll before explaining. "I came here to apologise for my brother's insensitive behaviour at breakfast today. He is usually not like this."

Gina gave her a knowing look that betrayed her composure and she sighed again.

"You have to understand, Malcolm is jealous, that's all. Don't pay mind to his words. He has always had this zeal to best Gabriel in every single thing. Work, education, car, women, father's approval, true love, you name it. Fortunately, before now, they always had a tie, but with you in the mix, it creates an imbalance and Malcolm will do anything to up that scale as usual."

"By insulting me at my first official breakfast with the family?"

"I've told you the reason why. Let it go already."

"I will let it go after he apologises to me. Who does he think he is to call me a gold digger? Have I ever stolen his gold? He doesn't even look like someone that has gold. That ingrate!"

Wincing slightly, Monica eyed the girl with a disapproving sneer. "You have no right to talk about my brother like that. Who do you think you are?"

"Excuse me?!" Shock was a gross understatement at this moment in time.

"You heard me right. Just because you think you're dating Gabriel now doesn't actually mean that you are. Get this right, that you're pregnant means absolutely nothing to this family. We can toss you out anytime we feel like it and not even Gabriel can do anything about it."

Despite knowing how caustic her words were, she forged on. She has a mission to accomplish, after all.

"How am I sure that you're pregnant? You don't even look it. Sisi told me all about how you came to stay at Gabriel's house as if you owned the place when in actual fact, you're a nobody. I can bet you are one of those money hungry slay queens looking for a rich guy like my brother to trap, if not into marriage, then into paternity claims!"

Shaking her head slightly, Gina burst out laughing at the absurdity of her conclusion. If only she knew.

"Let us get this straight. I am not a gold digger. I may like sex a lot, I may even sleep around a lot but trust me when I say this, trapping a man into anything is below my standards, and I don't even have standards!"

"You're a liar. Shut your trap, you money thief."

"Read my lips, your brother came after me. He blackmailed me into being with him, not the other way round." And sensing the uncertainty in Monica's eyes, she added for good measure, "If you doubt me, go ahead and ask him. I have no reason to lie."

Truthfully, if she was here for impartial judgement, she would have strolled out of her room to go seek out Gabriel, but being egged on by a malicious Sisi with pure intent to see Ginas' fall and disgrace, Monica decided to take matters into her own hands. She knew women's thought processes, she was a woman as well, and she had to extricate her brother from such a vile, manipulative girl despite how happy he claimed he was with her.

"Stop lying, you stupid girl!" Suddenly, Monica flew out her palm and landed it powerfully on her cheek with a sting.

Smack.

Her eyes saw red. Dazed for a few seconds, her palm flew to the flaming skin in a bid to massage the swollen flesh. Her brain was still in the process of sending multiple neurons to analyze the action. She watched inaudibly as Monica kept shouting and huffing and puffing like a wolf ready for an attack.

Annoyed at herself for the delayed response, her fight impulse took over and she launched for the light skinned woman in a heartbeat.

She didn't know who pulled on whos hair first, it hardly mattered, the crux of the tale was that in a matter of minutes, she had Monica on the floor screaming bloody murder and was trying to extricate herself from the woman's vile clutches. She was sensible enough to know fighting with a member of the family would get her kicked out despite her affiliations with Gabriel, but she was not about to get ridiculed and beaten up in the process.

Suddenly, an unsuspecting blow met her ribcage, which winded her instantly, tampering with her focus. Shakily, she detached herself from the banshee beneath her and staggered to her feet feeling dizzy.

Barely mangaing to sit on the bed, she briefly registered Sisi running into the room looking frantic, and of Monica screaming and pointing at her dress as she scrambled to her feet.

"Why is there blood on my gown? Gina, are you having your period? Where is the blood coming from?!"

For all she was screeching, she may have been talking to herself, since Ginas' brain was already on a forced shutdown mode.

The increasing cacophony started to mellow down into whooshing sound that combined delicately with the stillness of darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~

Whew! Finally, I was able to get this chapter out. Well, how was it?

Don't you think Malcolm is a fool and Monica a greater fool?

What about Gabriel? I swear, he's frustrating. Poor Gina.

And she fainted! Wow, and what was that blood that Monica was shouting about?

Vote, comment and share.

Thank you 😄😃