Gina woke up Monday morning feeling lonely for the first time in a while. She knew it was due to the fact there was no Gabriel here to wake her up with kisses or mind-numbing sex like he had done these past weeks. It was clear she missed him, and that had her wondering how she would achieve her goal if her feelings got in the way.

Gabriel had resumed work this morning, and considering the week that they had, Gina was beginning to rethink her decision for agreeing to do this contract. Feelings were not part of the deed, and for some weird reason, Gabriel was working towards igniting that feeling in her.

Getting up, she strolled to the bathroom to freshen up and a weird smile crept up to her face when she saw her belly. The bump had grown these last two weeks, and she caressed the roundness, wondering briefly if it had been this amazing for Amelia. Would she ever know?

Pushing the thought away, she left the room in search of Sisi to get her on board with their new plan. It was time she reassessed her priorities and get her head back in the game.

"Women are dangerous. They are never truly satisfied with one man. So I had to protect myself against them."

She didn't comprehend his words, but she grasped the fact that he regretted his association with women, especially one that mingled with not only him, but the rest of his siblings as well. Her sister, Amelia, she deduced.

After freshening up, she dressed up in a long Maxi gown and sandals and left their room. She walked into the dinning room to find Anthony and Monica already sitting while waiting for breakfast.

Anthony saw her first and smiled. "Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well last night?" He greeted, grinning at her. To her surprise, the narrowing of his eyelids depicted the smile was heartfelt.

One thing she had picked up off him lately, of the brothers if she was being sincere, was the joyful expression and ease around them when there weren't busy at work. First, Gabriel was being all romantic with her about fireflies, and now, Anthony was greeting her with a warm smile.

"It was fine. I had a splendid weekend."

"I'll make you an even awesome week if you hang off my arm during my break." He winked at her suggestively.

Monica rolled her eyes and smacked him on his arm. "Stop hitting on your brother's girlfriend. You know he won't like it."

He shrugged. "What he doesn't know won't affect him." He paused to flash her a swoon-worthy smile, intent on ignoring his sister's chide. "Besides, I told Gabriel I cannot promise to keep my hands to myself whenever she's around me."

Gina smiled at their squabble before taking a seat. Her gaze locked on the carefree-looking sibling, and she tried to gauge if she could play Anthony's friendliness to her advantage. She hadn't really conversed with him since she arrived at this house, and this may be the perfect opportunity.

"You seem cheerful. Your eyes have this twinkle about them," Monica spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts. Contrary to their supposed meaning, Gina could sense the sarcasm lacing her words like acid.

She snapped her head up from ogling the younger sibling only to lock eyes with a suspicious glare.

Subconciously, she nodded, fiddling with her thumb. "I guess it's because I haven't had this much fun with Gabriel in a long while."

"I was referring to the baby. You must have discovered having a baby changes your life and status, didn't you?"

What was she talking about?

Gina felt like she was trapped in some sort of deja vu. Squinting her eyes at the woman who had an unapologetic look on her face, she pursed her lips before replying, "not really. Actually, having a man who showers you with his complete attention is all you need to have your eyes twinkling like mine, Monica."

She scoffed, chuckling dryly. The action had Anthony furrowing his brows in perplexity.

"Did you just insult me? How dare you compare me like that? Just because Gabriel was forced to keep your pathetic self company for two weeks, now you think you have his complete attention. Keep dreaming." She spat out, disgust lacing her voice.

"What is your problem, Monica? Why are you attacking her so openly?" Anthony was belligerent, and the staring contest between the siblings clued her in that something was going on, and she was the main piece of attraction.

"After the stunt she pulled, I'm supposed to be nice to her? You've got to be kidding me!"

"What stunt are you talking about?" Gina felt she was lost. She had been so caught up with Gabriel lately, she had failed to take cognizance of what was going on around her.

"I'm talking about your friend, Lilah. What did you do to her that had her in tears all night? And don't deny it, cause I saw you go into her room Saturday night."

Gina felt all breath knocked out of her at the accusation. Of course, Saturday night incident was going to come back and bite her in the ass.

"I didn't do anything to her," she began slowly, her eyes trained on Anthony who had a skeptical look on his face. "She said she wanted to tell me something and we had a talk. That's all."

"Are you saying you didn't say hurtful things to her while you were there?"

Gina felt her anger spike up with the cross examination going on. Despite their talk Saturday night, she still wouldn't go near Lilah without a long pole. Besides, she thought her accusations were farfetched. Gabriel would not go to great lengths to get rid of someone for her sake when she was merely an instrument in his hand, an instrument he was playing expertly.

"I don't know why she was crying, or that she was for that matter. I don't play mind games with people, I prefer to use my fists. Besides, after what she did with my boyfriend, she needs to shed a few more tears before I can forgive her."

Aghast, Monica spared a glance at her brother, who successfully held her arm mid-air before she could reach over to slap her. The action had Gina recoiling back in her chair in surprise.

"Monica, stop with this childish behaviour already. You heard her, she did nothing to that girl."

Gritting her teeth, she snatched her hand out of his grip, and instead focused it on adjusting her gown, her eyes full of hate.

"Good morning everyone. I trust you all slept well," Lilah spoke up, dragging all attention to her as she sauntered into the room to go take a seat next to Monica.

Gina cast a surreptitious glance in her direction, hoping to see telltale signs that she had been wailing and wallowing in pain, but other than the unusual dullness to her countenance, she seemed cheery.

"Good morning, Lilah. I hope you slept well. Are you still hurt over what Gina said to you?"

Lilah shook her head slightly, giving Monica a tight-lipped smile that was supposed to be a reassuring sign. Gina could not pinpoint what exactly, but she could sense Lilah was acting weird, weirder than usual.

"I'm glad you forgave her callousness. Please, let's have some breakfast," Monica remarked tersely.

"Let's all have some breakfast," Anthony interjected quickly, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere, before the maids filtered into the room with breakfast and began setting it up.

Ignoring the two peas in the pod, Gina requested for more bread slices after demolishing the mountain load on her plate. She looked up from chewing a bite when Anthony cleared his throat noisily. Everyone looked on in shock at her table manners.

"Will you slow down? The food will not run away, you know," he commented, laughing.

"Have you never had food in your life? You are eating like a refugee," Lilah said pointedly, turning up her nose at her.

Gina paused in her chewing to glare at her. She just had to say it with a condescending tone, she thought angrily, but it was Anthony who came to her defence, stopping her from giving the girl a thorough tongue lashing.

"She's pregnant with a baby, so it is expected she would be eating for two."

"That excuse doesn't give her the right to eat like a pig. There are other people at this table too, you know?" Monica's chilling glare told her something was amiss.

What did Lilah tell her that had her on a hate mode?

Anthony slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the dishes, before standing to his feet, a disgusted look marring his features. "I cannot enjoy breakfast in the midst of bitter women. Come enjoy a stroll with me, Gina, I'll be needing the company."

She did not need to be asked twice. Dashing out of the dining room, she fell into step beside him and allowed him to lead the way. Besides, he was making her job easier for her by doing this.

"You are really serious about me hanging off your arm all week, aren't you?" She started, trying to make light conversation once they were outside, and far away from those two witches.

They were strolling side by side, making their way to the patio where Anthony had promised to make her day memorable. He had offered to take her out to a nice place, but she had declined, feeling like going outside would be too distracting to get her jaw sunk in him.

"Please, indulge me." He gave her a wry smile, looking classic in his white shorts and blue denim jacket. He was just like Gabriel, she mused, only a tad leaner and more approachable.

"Alright, Mister. You give me no choice. Besides, I'd love some company since I'm always by myself in this house."

"But I thought Gabriel gave you permission to leave the house?"

It was the way he scrunched up his face when he asked that question that gave her the first clue. Somehow, she could bet he knew about the contract as well.

"Not exactly. He worries about his child, and I know better than to stress myself unnecessarily," she explained with a wave of the hand, settling into a deck chair, while he sat opposite her.

When he looked lost on what to do for fun, she suggested a board game, not forgetting to add for her benefit, "I get special consideration for being pregnant. Gabriel is very understanding with me," while arranging the pieces of their Ludo game.

"Well, I'm not Gabriel," he pointed out with a smirk, setting his game pieces. "Besides, you're not carrying my child, so I can't be that understanding."

She giggled at that, forcing him into chuckling at her antics. "Well, no one can compare to him in that. He cares so much about me that sometimes I feel guilty for not reciprocating the feeling with the same fervour."

Her words were meant to raise his eyebrows, and when it did, she knew she was on the right track. "I'm not sure I understand what you're saying."

"What I'm saying is that as much as I'm happy carrying his child, I'm thinking I shouldn't," she began slowly, trying to use the words to her favour. "Don't get me wrong. I wanted a child with Gabriel when I realised I loved him. I naively thought it would bring us together, but lately, with everything that is happening, I'm beginning to doubt my love for him."

"I don't know what to tell you, except to discuss this with him. That's what people do in relationships. Communication is key," he remarked with a shrug, obviously trying not to get involved.

"Well, I tried that principle, but with someone else. I have this friend I chat with, a guy, and he's been so understanding. He doesn't even mind raising someone's child with me as long as I'll be with him."

"Gina?" He gave her a warning glare that made her shiver slightly in her seat. "I think you should stop talking to this guy."

"I know it's wrong, but, I have valid reason for my actions. Just recently, I overheard the maids talking about a servant girl that got pregnant for Gabriel, and how they ended things badly because of some misunderstandings. I don't want to lose my child if things between us end horribly. The very thought scares me to my pinky toes."

He reached out to cup her eyes, forcing her eyes to behold his as a comforting gesture. "Hey, don't panic. Gabriel really cares a lot about despite what you think, so he won't do that to you. His association with the servant girl was unfortunate and ill-fated. He never even liked her and then, boom, she's claiming he's responsible for her pregnancy." He paused when he saw the interest shimmering in her eyes. Releasing her, he leaned back on his chair. "You know what? Forget the story, you are better than her."

Gina would rather starve.

"Tell me about her, please. My mind won't be at rest until I know my case is different." She pleaded, her eyes glossy, and lips raised up into a pout.

She watched him battle internally with his conscience, before he finally gave in, letting out a defeated sigh. "Fine, I'll tell you, just so you can put your mind at rest. Her name was Amelia, and she worked for my mother back when everyone in this house was happy."

++++++++

Gabriel peered open his eye and groaned. The blinding scorch ahead of him was consuming, and he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the intensity. Once his senses got accustomed to the light, he decided to take a cursory look around. One thing was certain though, he was no longer in the bed he fell asleep on just minutes ago. Right now, he was standing.

His eyes caught his palms and he paused, taking his ensemble as quickly as he could. He was garbed in a suit with the jacket feeling a little bit loose on his shoulders. For a moment, he wanted to chuckle at his attempt of a fashion faux pas, only to catch sight of the car key he held in his palms.

He didn't need an expert to tell him it was for a Mercedes E-class, a car that was in vogue seven years ago. What was he doing here? he wondered, the decor of the house beginning to make sense now. It might have looked different, but he practically grew up here to understand he was standing in the foyer of his family house.

The loud shriek from ahead snapped him out of his trance, and before he could comprehend it, he was already making his way to the direction of the sound.

The scene he met at the entrance of the kitchen had him pausing. For some reason, he remembered this scene as if in a deja vu. Pots and pans were carelessly lying on the floor, making a halo round his mother and a girl on her knees. The servants crowded round the kitchen, looking on with distraught, while Malcolm, Anthony and Monica stood close to each other near the door looking scared. Pushing away from their company, he stepped further into the kitchen, past the mess, until he was standing at a vantage point. For a second, he wasn't surprised when he saw who the girl was.

"Tell me who is responsible?" His mother, Grace, barked at the girl balling her eyes out, kneeling metres apart from the woman who had her fingers imprisoned on the counter top by a sharp knife that looked eager to go-a-chopping.

"I asked you a question this stupid girl!" This was followed by a loud slap that had Gabriel visibly recoiling. He had never seen his mother this angry, but then again, he had never seen her converse with the helps this intimately. She never cared about how the house was run, as long as it was run smoothly, which kind of put Amelia in charge.

"I don't know," Amelia cried some more, cupping her flaming cheek where the imprint of the slap was beginning to show on her fair, creamy skin.

"What is going on here?" He didn't know what possessed him to ask that question, but he had a feeling he was an active participant in his own nightmare.

Ignoring him, Grace moved the knife edge closer to the thumb, scratching the surface a bit. Amelia's helpless shriek tugged at his heart, and he thought about how to diffuse the situation to suit both women.

"Tell me who you claimed was the father of your child? You are not ashamed of yourself saying my sons touched you. As if." She scoffed, feeling insulted at the likelihood of the situation.

Gabriel wanted to point out that her sons were fairly capable in their own rights to 'touch' a woman, and then impregnate her, himself included. He was twenty-two; Malcolm, two years younger than him, and Anthony just turned eighteen. And although Joseph was barely old enough, biology was pretty sure a sixteen year-old boy can make a baby successfully.

But the technicalities of the situation was unimportant. The issue at hand was that one of them was going to be a father, and Gabriel could imagine the hail and brimstone that would descend on Amelia if she let her emotions guide her.

When he had offered her a chance out of her predicament two weeks earlier, she had told him to shove his abortion offer down his throat. It was cruel, but it was effective. The Asikas' would not fold their hands and watch a nobody have their first grandchild, not if something drastic can be done about it.

"If you lie to me one more time, I'll chop off your fingers and feed them to you. You're a lying snake, Amelia. You've been getting too close to my sons, to my husband, trying to replace me in my own house but that will only happen over my dead body," she swore, her words heavyweight.

Gabriel snapped his gaze away from his mother only to lock eyes with a desperate girl. Her eyes were red from crying, snot was running down her nose, and her fair skin was looking red from probably all the kicks and slaps, and general crying.

Gabriel felt her plea overwhelm him from that one look she gave him since he walked into this room. She was begging him to save her, and even though he told her two weeks ago that he'd wash his hands off her matter, he knew he couldn't abandon her now. Not when she and the baby needed him most. What kind of man would that make him if he did?

"Mother?" He called out, his mind whirling with all the possible lies he could draft up within seconds.

"Tell me who the father of your child is, Amelia!" She bellowed, the knife pressing down on the thumb, causing her to scream out.

As if he was in an astral projection, Gabriel reached out to tug the knife out his mother's hand, at the same time a sentence had him freezing on the spot.

"It's Gabriel's!"

What?

Stunned beyond belief, his eyes landed on hers, wondering what was going on, since he suddenly felt winded.

"What did you just say?"

Grace's question seemed to shock everyone out of their state of disbelief, and Gabriel held on to the slim chance that he had heard wrong.

"The baby is Gabriel's. He is responsible for my pregnancy. Gabriel Asika is the father of my child." She wailed painfully.

The conviction in her tone was enough to dismiss the assembly and everyone trained their gaze on him now that the mystery had been cleared. Apparently, one of Grace's immaculate son was a sinner.

Gabriel didn't have words to say. He didn't have any action to exhibit that would define his state of rage accurately, so he settled for darting fireballs from his eyes at her.

The loud shrill from a near distance was more than enough force to propel him from the kitchen scene into complete darkness. Peering open his eyes, he came face to face with the silhouette of the chandelier hanging above his room. The sound came again, and he turned his head to the side to glare at his vibrating phone, before sitting up to switch it off.

Feeling tired, he slumped back tiredly on the bed, panting. This dream again, he wondered, feeling like history was about to repeat itself. Gina had inadvertently dug up buried memories when she asked about Amelia Sunday night. And even though he wanted to bare her out exactly as she was, the skepticism in Gina's eyes was enough for him to reconsider. Dreaming about her two days after was more than expected.

He could still remember the aftermath of that kitchen scene clearly. He recalled marching out of the kitchen enraged, and then minutes later, his father came to talk to him about the importance of owning up to your mistake. He recounted the worried looks his siblings had shared with him, and he remembered clearly the hate and disgust in his mother's eyes. Most importantly, he still remembered how he had taken the fall like a gallant knight afterwards.

Two hours later after the showdown in the kitchen, and they were locked safely inside the confines of his room, he had accosted her with the brunt of her betrayal with as much venom as he could muster.

Eyes puffy, nose blocked, she had wrapped her arms around her frame tightly before replying,

"I had no choice."

That was the beginning of her manipulation over him.

~~~~~~~~~

I hope you guys understood the dream part. I didn't want to do the normal putting the dream part in italics as I felt it takes away the fun of the reading adventure. I wanted you guys to be a part of the dream together with Gabriel.

Whew! I think we're beginning to head somewhere with this Amelia's case. More to come, so stay tuned.

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