CHINYERE DID NOT know what to say after what Tina had told her.

She wondered why Amanda was after her family and claimed that it was her father who had killed her mother when Mr. Oko had killed her himself.

Chinyere opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

Just then, Nnena, one of the maids, entered the kitchen.

Nnena greeted them by bowing her head and then she spoke up, "Mr. Oko said that you should start preparing dinner."

"Okay, thank you," Tina said and Nnena walked out of the kitchen.

"Isn't Esther around?" Chinyere asked.

Esther was normally the one who started preparing dinner and Chinyere had realised that Esther had not stepped into the kitchen after breakfast was made.

"I don't know, but when I came this morning she was sick," Tina said. "I know that she's had a week immune system from the time I started living here."

Chinyere nodded, "What are we going to cook?"

"Let's just cook rice," Tina said, "in this house, that's the staple food."

The two laughed before they started preparing the dinner. It was the first time Chinyere had laughed in a while.

     AT THE DINING table, Chinyere had no choice but to sit by Chibinobim's side. She still made sure to put some space between him and herself.

Mr. Oko was seated at the head of the table while Tina and Amadi were seated opposite she and Chibinobim.

"Let's say our grace," Mr. Oko said and they bowed their heads as he prayed. All the while, Chinyere was thinking about how the man could still pray to God even after buying women and raising the monsters that he called his children.

"Amen," they all chorused as he concluded his prayer.

The men talked mainly about the weather and how Solomon was growing up so fast while the women remained silent.

Both women were thinking about their escape plans.

Chinyere didn't know that her name was being called until Tina whisper yelled her name.

Chinyere jerked her head up and looked at Tina. Tina pointed at the men and Chinyere turned to them.

Chibinobim looked furious when she glanced at him.

Anger will be the death of you, Chinyere thought as she said, "I beg your pardon."

Mr. Oko had an amused look on his face but Chinyere didn't understand what was so amusing while Amadi's face was expressionless.

"What are you always thinking about?" Mr. Oko asked. It was a rhetorical question, he wasn't expecting an answer from her.

"We were talking about Solomon," Amadi said.

It was the first time Amadi had said a word to Chinyere. His voice was deep and commanding.

His head was shaved and he always dressed smartly. Anyone who did not live with him would assume that he was a responsible husband and father.

Wolf in sheep's clothing.

Chinyere didn't know what Solomon had to do with her, so she said, "He's a very beautiful baby."

She hadn't even met him yet.

Amadi chuckled, "Thank you. You can praise his mother for his good looks."

Chinyere wondered if this was the same man who Tina spoke so badly about. She glanced at Tina but Tina's eyes were focused on her husband. She had a shocked look on her face.

"We we're wondering," Mr. Oko said as he picked up his glass of water, "when are you and Chibinobim going to give me another grandchild."

Chinyere felt bile rise up in the back of her throat.

A child with Chibinobim? Over her dead body!

"I don't think I'm ready for a child," Chinyere said quickly.

"Well, I am," Chibinobim said.

"It's my body," Chinyere glared at him, her gaze not faltering.

Chibinobim raised his left eyebrow as he looked at her, "A husband is master over his wife's body."

"And a wife is master over her husband's body," Chinyere shot back.

"Egh," Amadi coughed, so as to reduce the tension in the room.

Chinyere and Chibinobim looked at him, expecting him to say something.

"T-the food is delicious," Amadi said.

Chinyere huffed and stood up from her seat, "May I be excused?"

"No, you may not," Chibinobim stood up as well.

What was his problem?

"You're not the boss of m-" a stinging sensation in her left cheek interrupted Chinyere from completing her sentence.

She held her cheek as she felt tears fill her eyes and she looked up at the man who had slapped her. Once again, Chibinobim had slapped her.

"Why don't you listen to your husband?" Mr. Oko stood up and asked her while Amadi continued to eat his food.

Chinyere could not hold the tears in and they just poured out, "All of you are psychopaths! Every single one of you! From you, Mr. Oko, down to your stupid and useless children."

It was then that Amadi stood up, anger dancing in his eyes.

Chinyere ignored him and ran to her room while sobbing.

She slammed the door shut and locked it behind her. She leaned against the door and slowly sat down.

She hated the entire Oko family.

"All of you are mad!" Chinyere yelled, even though none of them were around.

The room was dark and Chinyere had not bothered to turn on the light.

Chinyere jumped up when she heard soft knocks on the door.

She knew that it was none of the Oko men because they would have banged on the door.

She turned on the light and unlocked the door.

She slightly opened the door to confirm her suspicion and she was right. It was Tina and she was carrying a baby, probably Solomon, in one hand and a bottle of frozen water in the other.

Chinyere quickly ushered Tina in and locked the door once again.

Tina walked over to the bed and laid baby Solomon gently on it. She then turned to Chinyere, "Are you fine?"

Chinyere nodded but she could still feel the stinging sensation in her cheek as she moved her head.

"Your lip is bleeding," Tina pointed out.

"I also feel like one of my molars is about to fall out, but I'm fine," Chinyere said with a forced smile that looked more like a grimace.

"I brought frozen water," Tina handed the bottle to Chinyere and she gladly accepted it. "It's for your cheek. That's the only frozen thing they had in the fridge."

Chinyere nodded and placed the bottle on her cheek. It was painful, but nothing that she couldn't handle.

She then sat on the bed and looked at the baby who was moving his hands around in the air. "Is this your son?"

Tina smiled as she looked at her baby, "Yes."

The baby was light in complexion and he was so tiny. Chinyere wanted to wrap her arms around his small frame.

He reminded her of Destiny, her youngest brother, when he was a baby. She really missed him.

"I would love to talk about my son more but we have to plan our escape," Tina said.

"How are we going to escape?" Chinyere asked.

"We just have to study them."

"How do you mean?" Chinyere asked and hissed as painful throbbing of her cheek increased.

Tina shivered as she saw the pain in Chinyere's eyes. Her husband was abusive, she knew that, but he at least pretended to be a loving husband and father whenever he was in front of his father or the public.

She was now used to it but she couldn't imagine the pain that Chinyere was going through.

"Amadi and I are staying here for two weeks and today is Monday," Tina said, "I planned for us to escape in the second week. We should use this week to study how things are done at night. For example, when they locked the doors and what time the gateman, maids and servants go to sleep."

Chinyere nodded her head in understanding. They couldn't leave during the daytime for obvious reasons and if they were to leave at night, it would have to be when everyone else was asleep.

"But where are we going to go?" Chinyere asked.

"There is a hotel just twenty minutes away from here," Tina whispered softly, "we can stay there for the night and early in the morning, we can wake up to leave."

"How did you know that there's a motel around here?" Chinyere asked, "I thought they wouldn't have allowed you to even leave the house."

"Amadi and I stayed here for three months after our wedding," Tina explained, "I was already pregnant within that time frame, so when I went for my first checkup at the hospital, I took note of my surroundings. The hospital is five minutes after the hotel."

Chinyere nodded.

"Do you need help cleaning the blood off your lip?" Tina asked.

"No," Chinyere answered with a smile, "it's not the first time."

"Oh," Tina said. She didn't know what to say. "I guess I'll take my leave now."

Tina gently lifted Solomon off the bed and into her arms. Tina was about to walk out of the room when Chinyere stopped her.

"Wait," Chinyere said, "you were telling me about Mr. Oko's wife. Can you tell me the entire story?"

"Maybe some day or the other," Tina said, "I have to feed Solomon and then put him to sleep."

"Can't you just stay here with me?" Chinyere asked with tears forming in her eyes. "What if Chibinobim comes back?"

"He stormed out of the house after you left and by the looks of it, I doubt he'll be back tonight."

Chinyere nodded and stood up from the bed. She watched as Tina unlocked the door and opened it.

"Goodnight," Tina whispered.

"Goodnight," Chinyere responded and walked to the door after Tina left.

She locked it and turned off the light before running back to the bed with the bottle Tina had given her in her hand.

She laid on the bed on her right and placed the bottle on her left cheek. She didn't bother to wash the blood off her lip.

She said a prayer before falling into deep slumber.