After her odd conversation with Monica yesterday, Gina had put several metres between her and the woman, literally. She ensured she wasn't left in a room alone with her, didn't have more than few seconds of stares and glares exchanged between them, and most importantly, didn't bring up the issue with Gabriel.

Inasmuch as letting him know about threats to his baby was necessary, she wasn't sure she viewed his sister as one. The darkness that surrounded her being when she spoke was unmissable, the pain underlying her tone was unmasked and the willpower she took to be happy for her brother was as clear as the day. As one of the same species, and having a slight idea how painful loss of a child could be, Gina wanted to be her ally no matter how much she loathed her.

A pinprick on her conscience hammered that curiosity was the only reason she was considering befriending this woman. The reason behind the decision wasn't farfetched either.

Turning off the tap, she watched in amazement as the rushing wave of lukewarm water began to cease from the three heads they exuded from minutes earlier until not a drop leaked. Feeling refreshed, she reached for a white, fluffy towel hanging off the bathroom wall. Wrapping it around her frame, she stepped out of the enclosed bath and made her way to the cabinet attached to the lavish bathroom wall.

Even though the tub had appealed to her, she had matters arising to decide on, and couldn't afford the luxury. Pausing in front of the cabinet, she reached up and pulled away her shower cap, exposing her braided hair, the skull cap weave hanging safely in the closet.

Done with admiring her face that was finally blemish free, after her vigorous honey treatment last month, she strolled into the room to find her assigned maids waiting for her. From what she deduced, they were siblings who took the word 'best friend' to another level. They didn't converse with her unless they absolutely had to, which prompted in Gina dismissing their help once they offered it. Seeing them squirming slightly in her room, she could only reach one conclusion. Gabriel had put the iron fist down with them after chancing upon them gossiping in the room last night.

After her meltdown in the closet last night, the girls had come to investigate. Shocked by her presence, they had made a run for it, only to collide with Gabriel -on his way up after dinner- who took one look at their faces and made his conclusion. Once they were dismissed, he had helped her into bed, massaged her aching bones before climbing into bed with her for a series of mind blowing sex that she blacked out from till this morning. New day meant new plans, and she had a lot in store for a certain duo, starting now.

Smirking devilishly, she moved to the vanity table directly opposite the bed and sat down, completely ignoring their greeting. She was in the mood to exert her power over them, especially with what she had overheard them say about her.

"You can leave. I have no use of your services," she muttered in flippancy, searching the top drawer for her face wipe and after-bath skincare products, courtesy of Gabriel's fat and limitless account.

From the reflection on the mirror, she could make out the younger one shaking her head and murmuring inaudibly. The older sister scrunched up her face and regarded her.

"Miss Gina, don't you need help getting dressed? I could help you brush your wig," Uju offered in a mellow tone, pinching Ebere to act accordingly.

Gina snorted, before pressing the cream into her palms. If she ever got used to this lifestyle, she would choose surrogacy as a career. "Please, no. I meant it when I said I don't need your help. The last time you girls were here, Ebere ruined my wig."

Uju's mouth dropped in shock while her sister shuffled about in anger. To compound their reaction, she added maliciously. "I even forgot to tell Gabriel about the wig, sef. I need money to buy new one and you know that particular one is not cheap. This one he's claiming he does not have money, I wonder how he'll react when I tell him one of the helps ruined it."

"A nwuo mooo!"

Gina smirked at them from the mirror before diverting her attention back to her face. She couldn't help but concur wholeheartedly with the girl who claimed she was 'finished'.

Done with the essentials, she stood from the chair and strolled back to the bedside to pick up her phone before going back to the vanity table, all the way ignoring the crying girl and her scowling sister. They had treated her like a nobody in Gabriels' absence, it was time to pay them back in their own coin. With jara, of course. Like, what kind of seller would that make her if she didn't?

Uju continued to whimper, biting her nails in between her hysterics. Ebere kept giving her the stink eye, probably wishing her a thousand deaths. She hissed at the pair and continued pampering her skin, the need to rub her power in their face raising her shoulders, propelling her into stringing up her vocal chords:

"Some people jealous me,
Some people jealous me,
Some people jealous me,
Because of my baby."

A cross between a hiss and an incoherent mumbling forced a ridiculous amount of laughter to erupt from her lips, which soon gave way to sarcastic chuckles that was more than enough clues for the two girls. Within a blink of an eye, they quickly shuffled out of the room without hesitation.

Once the door was shut behind their departing frame, she hissed loudly, muttered some unsavoury words about 'evil wenches' before reverting her attention back to her phone on the vanity table.

This was just the beginning, she decided, plotting on how to deal with them later.

+++++++

Late afternoon found Gina on the balcony again, but this time, she was releasing hot bursts of flames from imaginary horns.

After a series of long calls to her sister about her job, another to her brothers about their family -carefully avoiding to talk about herself-, and the last to Gabriel to seek his permission to leave the house after she was denied access, she had settled in the balcony of their room awaiting his arrival.

The distraction method he applied yesterday had been effective -more than effective, she admitted shamefacedly- but she was determined to not let him get that amount of power over her again. It was time he started putting her feelings into consideration. She needed real friends, not his loathsome family, for crying out loud!

She paused in the middle of her silent debate when a scuffle sounded in the room, briefly wondering which 'pest' had breezed past the door without knocking. Curiousity had her strolling back into the room only to pause when her eyes caught sight of a pair of long, chocolaty legs that strode into the room before pausing a few metres from the bed.

Confused, her eyes trailed from the skinny limbs to characteristic blue jean shorts and black off-shoulder crop top before landing on her heavily made-up face. Gina marvelled at her ability to always look primed even when doing manual household chores. She sure took 'celebrity lifestyle' to another level.

Gina had overheard that Sisi was a twenty year old college girl who prepared the glamorous lifestyle of popular divas to cramming old, dusty textbooks. She had a diamond-shaped face with almond-shaped wide set eyes, full bottom lips and a cute button nose. Her melanin rich skin and curly hair were absolute trends, and with her big butt planted on a lean figure, it was little wonder why she turned head wherever she went. However, Gina refused to admit the girl could pull of the 'I'm sexy and I know it' look, her Ankara Kimono paired with black pants and singlet pale in comparison.

Pushing the insignificant thought aside, she faced her unwanted guest squarely.

"What are you doing here, Sisi?" She spat out, suddenly belligerent at the woman's obvious lack of respect. "What gave you the impetus to enter this room without knocking?"

The girl rolled her eyes at her, before placing her hands akimbo. Letting out a deep sigh, she regarded her severely.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I know it was you on Monday. I know you overhead my conversation with Anthony and I hope you know to keep your mouth shut in this house."

The nerve of this ill-mannered girl, Gina thought, a resonating chuckle erupting from her lips as a result until it had blown out into full chortle. Sisi stared at her, her initial smirk slowly dissolving into one of confusion. She didn't understand the humour in her words.

"Let me get this straight," Gina started with hand remonstrations when her laughter had died down, "you had a misunderstanding with someone and you guys couldn't keep your voices down when I was passing by jejely, which now led to me overhearing a lot of things, and now, because of that fortunate incident, I have to be the one to keep my mouth shut? You must be high on Osogbo weed if you think I'll do as you say."

Biting her lips to force down the rage bubbling inside her, she stomped her feet. "You're impossible!"

"You're foolish O." Came the infuriated rejoinder. "Look at this small girl having the audacity to come and tell me nonsense as if I'm her junior. I don't blame you, it's not your fault," she paused in her banter to shower her with a full eye roll, "it's Gabriel's fault for leaving me in this house with you people."

Annoyed, she eyed the girl from head the toe and hissed before turning around to march out back to the balcony.

She heard hurried footsteps follow her, raising up the hairs on her neck. Quickly, her eyes scanned the balcony for formidable weapons that would guarantee instant immobility to any form of attack on her. She had sworn to never let her guard down near this woman.

"What do you want so you'll keep your mouth shut?"

Gina scoffed, her eyes settling on the flower pots lining the walls. They weren't much help but she had seen lots of movies to know they left a considerable impact when used appropriately. "I don't want anything. At least not from you."

Turning back to face her opponent, as this way, she could monitor the strike, she lifted her lips in derision before remarking, "besides if I were to agree to keeping my mouth shut, what could you possibly give me? Definitely not money."

Of course, money would be a nice compensation for her silence, since she had no idea the value of her knowledge but the girl wasn't a heiress, and she wasn't a philanthropist at heart.

Sisi swayed slightly, obviously standing with the balls of her feet, which forced Gina to inch backwards from her, in case someone went 'toppling over'.

"I don't have money to give you, sef. Gabriel stopped being generous with his money after our fight. He only allows me to access my allowance for school if my mother approves it."

Gina watched her fiddle with her fingers, trying to come up with possible, mouth watering offers to buy out her silence. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her as she stared at the girl battling with her limited choices.

"Who's the father?"

Her head snapped up to her eye level so fast Gina expected her neck to break. She opened her mouth to speak, only to clamp it shut. Looking away slightly, she mumbled incoherent words.

"I don't think keeping quiet about this would help you very much." She offered, trying to bait her. "It's better you confide in someone, and who better than me. I know Gabriel might cease to sponsor you once he learns of this pregnancy, but I'm expecting Gabriel's child which puts me in the best position to convince him to support you and the baby."

"Or convince him to kick me out even if he didn't have such thoughts before."

Gina shrugged nonchalantly, mischief alight in her eyes. "You can't blame me for wanting small revenge after how you treated me."

She watched intently as the girl sighed, before dropping her hands to her side in defeat. Shaking her head slightly, she chuckled humourlessly. "I guess I deserve that, but now, I'm at your mercy, so, can we put grudges aside for now? I didn't even know you were important to Gabriel when you first arrived. I mean, he never talked about you or anything."

It was Gina's turn to sigh audibly. "Well, our relationship did not start off happily. And you're right, I will postpone disgracing you for the mean time only if you tell me what I need to know."

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I just don't want any of the Asika's to know. I'll figure out what to do to the pregnancy on my own, and how to convince Anthony that I got rid of it."

"Well, suit yourself. You and I aren't friends so I won't give you a pep talk to reconsider your decision." She shrugged dismissively, turning up her nose at the girl who mocked her in return.

"Now that we've agreed I'll be keeping my mouth shut, you haven't told me what I'll get in return."

Letting out a deep whoosh of air, Sisi's lips curved up slightly, her eyes alight with intended gossip.

"Every single detail about Amelia."

The flippant response from the girl's lips took Gina by surprise and her mouth dropped open in shock. "What did you just say?"

"I said I'll tell you all you need to know about Amelia," she repeated without much thought. "I suppose you would be interested in having that piece of valuable knowledge."

Her brows creased just as her eyes narrowed into slits. "Why do you think I would be interested?"

"Because my sources confirmed you had overheard them talking about her. Hearing about the horrible way that servant girl was treated must have shocked you but don't worry, it wasn't all bad news for her. I know this for a fact because I have been privy to a lot of stories about her, much more than you might have heard. Amelia was involved in a lot of secrets, -damaging secrets- involving this family, and getting a hold of those secrets would put us in a position of power over these people."

The offer was mouthwatering but she was not about to accept any deal her enemy offered just to quench her investigative instinct. "I'm not interested in having any power over anybody."

"I knew you'd say that." Sisi smiled forcibly, trying to tone down the frustration caused by the stubborn woman. "But, would it interest you to know Gabriel is at the epicentre of all things secret concerning this family? Imagine what would happen if we were to unravel some of those secrets?"

When Gina looked unappealed with the notion, she waved a merger. "And I was thinking, since you're his girlfriend, and future baby mama, you can seduce him into confiding in you some of them. It would make our plan relatively faster and so much easier."

"Why would I need to stress myself unnecessarily like that when I have a hold over you?" She raised up a brow, a superior smirk plastered on her lips. "I believe that puts you at my beck and call."

Sisi smiled tersely at her before rolling her eyes. "I know it does, but I was only offering a suggestion."

"Better keep that suggestion to yourself. I still don't like you."

Shocked at the jaded insult, Sisi huffed. "Yeah? Well, the feeling is mutual."

Laughing at the ridiculous response from her unwanted guest, Gina scoffed before moving to go ease into the bed, since her legs were beginning to ache her for standing up for too long.

"Why do I need info on a dead servant girl anyways? I mean, I think monetary compensation would have been a better deal," she remarked nonchalantly, clearly dismissing the idea and its perpetrator.

Exaspareted, Sisi rolled her eyes and stomped her feet. "Because, that is where the whole deal with this family is. Every single thing they are not willing to share is wrapped up in that girl's scandal. If we know what she knew, we'd be richer than them!" Her loud outburst took Gina by surprise, and she quickly made a sign of the cross over her head to ward off evil souls.

Seeing that Gina gave her a skeptical look, she harrumped loudly and composed herself before continuing, "From what I heard, she knew all their secrets and hid it away in a book or something. Even her pregnancy was a mystery. They say anyone of them could have been responsible for it since they all slept with her."

Na wah. Amelia must be a celebrity with all these stories coming up about her.

Back ramrod straight, she eyed her warily. "How do you know this? How true is it?"

Sisi shrugged non-committally. "I can't say exactly, but I know of one secret that we can unlock if we work together. The secret behind Mr Raphael's support for Malcolm instead of his rightful heir, Gabriel."

"Will you stop calling it a secret? It's beginning to sound annoying." And childish, she opted to add with an eye roll to drive home her point. She was more annoyed with herself for even considering agreeing to this deal.

Sisi nodded eagerly, more concerned with forming an ally than trading contexts with her. To get her point across to the intended party, she slipped into bed and sat cross-legged on it, facing her squarely.

"Fine. But it's still a secret since no one knows about it. Even my knowledge of it came by surprisingly."

"You don't say?"

"I do say, and if we're going to be working together, we need to get our hands on that sensitive material fast."

Appalled at the suggestion, she inched away from her on the bed.

"I'm not stealing from them. And who says we're going to be working together?"

Sisi rolled her eyes at her righteous act before inching closer, looking determined to drive home her point. "It's not stealing. It's called tapping. We are only helping the owner use the item faster and wiser. Now, concentrate, so 'we' can plan how to go about this better since I'm not doing it all by myself.

"The other day, I saw Raphael hiding some very important documents in a drawer in his office. I received that document when it arrived and the young lawyer that brought it was expressively chatty. He was eager to tell me things."

"After seeing your boobs, no doubt?" Gina's lips were curved up in amusement, humoring her.

"At least, they are bigger than yours."

Dragging her crop top up to cover her exposed cleavage, she picked up from where she left off, "according to him, someone was challenging Mr. Raphael's wealth and whoever that is, has a hold over him. A secret he hinted might be related to genetics, something about inheritance. A secret so deep Mr. Raphael wants it to remain hidden even from his own family."

While Gina mulled over the possibility of the story being true, she couldn't help but consider if Sisi was leading her into a trap. She and her hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot, but she hoped the pregnancy scare was enough foothold.

Before doubts would creep in and cause 'second guessing', Sisi seized the opportunity to chip in ever so slowly.

"Now, tell me, after hearing all this, don't you want to know if Gabriel is the rightful heir to the Asika family fortune or not?"

~~~~~~~~

Who saw this alliance coming? Definitely not me.

And now we know more about that document. What do you think Gina would do with this information, and the merger?

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Thank you.