"Who wants to play cards?" Amelia asked, walking into the living room with a pack of cards.

Chikaima, Kamsi and Paschal all looked up at her from where they were seated, cross-legged, on the floor. They exchanged glances before shrugging.

Amelia squealed, doing a little dance before she joined them on the floor. She brought the cards out of the pack and began to shuffle them before she paused and looked around.

"Where's Mmachi?" she asked no one in particular.

They all shrugged while Chidiogo just remained watching them all from the corner where she stood.

"Chidiogo?" Amelia called, snapping her attention to her.

"Do you have any idea where Mmachi could be?"

Chidiogo shook her head. She'd been wondering too about Mmachi's sudden disappearance. After she'd welcomed her friends, she suddenly went missing.

Surprising enough, Justin was also nowhere to be found. But Chidiogo was almost certain she'd seen him arrive with the others.

"Let me go find her," Chidiogo said, turning to leave.

"No, don't worry. Why don't you just join us and play one round before you go?" Amelia asked, her words a bit too rushed.

Chidiogo glanced between the pack of cards and Amelia.

"I'll pass," she said, walking out of the place.

She was vaguely aware of Amelia's voice coming after her but she ignored it as she made her way up the stairs. When she was almost on the top floor, she started picking up strange sounds.

The sounds came from Mmachi's room and she decided to check it out. She took slow steps as she approached the room while the sounds increased in magnitude.

Once in front of the door, she placed her hand on the door knob but couldn't get herself to open it. After about a minute, she finally gathered the courage to twist the knob. She cringed at the sound of the door creaking open.

The door cracked open a bit before stilling. She didn't bother pushing the door any further but peered through the little opening the door had left.

She could still hear the sounds but for some reason she couldn't understand what was going on until she caught sight of Mmachi and Justin half dressed.

Her heart dropped at the sight and she didn't bother to know what was going on before turning around and dashing towards the stairs. She made a right turn when she got to the bottom of the stairs and blindly headed towards the other side of the house.

Her eyes were clouded with tears by the time she pushed open the screen door leading outside. She ignored the chills which ran up her feet the moment they met with the granite floor outside and the blast of wind which tousled her braids as she walked further away from the main building.

She stopped in front of the swimming pool and stared at it for a few minutes. Of course she had been stupid enough to not put two and two together the moment she realized that both Justin and Mmachi were missing.

At least the thought of the both of them being together would have been less painful than having to see it herself. Amelia had probably realized what they were up to which was why she tried to stop her from going but she just didn't listen.

As daft as she could be, she should have at least understood what was going on when she started picking up the sounds from the stairs. But her brain just chose to lag at that particular moment.

She closed her eyes, suddenly overcome by the urge to scream. It felt like someone had stabbed her in the chest and the knife only sunk deeper by the second.

But she kept shut, reopening her eyes a minute later. With a sigh, she proceeded to sit on one of the black beach chairs set around the pool.

She glanced around the area like it was new to her. It took extra effort to move her eyes around but she endured it as she admired the sight in front of her. The breeze managed to calm her a bit but she still couldn't get rid of the pain in her chest.

It took a while for her breathing to steady and she had just gotten used to the sound of rustling leaves when a baritone voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Mind if I join you?"

She glanced up to see Paschal staring down at her, his toned brown skin glowing in the mild rays of sunlight. She opened her mouth but then stopped herself from speaking.

Pursing her lips, she looked forward before shaking her head. From her peripheral vision, she saw him plop down on the beach chair next to hers.

She pretended to be fascinated by the pool, watching the blue water ripple. She hoped he didn't notice she was crying and didn't bug her with any useless questions.

"What a pretty house you've got here," Paschal commented, much to her surprise.

She nodded, not bothering to look at him. He either didn't notice the white lines streaking her face or he chose to ignore them. Either way, she was grateful.

She continued watching the pool until she heard his voice again.

"Would you mind if I took a dip?"

She titled her head in his direction to get a full view of him. He only had boxers briefs on and seemed serious about his request to swim. She wondered why she didn't notice that he didn't have any clothes on earlier.

"It's a free world," she said with a shrug, anchoring her eyes back to the pool.

For a moment, she imagined having a lake or a pond instead of it. It seemed like a good thought but either way, it was therapeutic to just sit and watch the water dance to the tune of the wind.

"But it's still your house," his voice came again, breaking her out of her imagination.

"My parents' house," she corrected with a tight smile.

"Whatever belongs to your parents belongs to you."

"Just get into the water already!"

Chidiogo's forehead wrinkled as she spoke and it took everything in her not to scream.

After a few minutes of getting no reply, she let out a sigh.

"I honestly don't even understand how you still want to be around us after everything that happened," she said out of the blue.

She hadn't seen much of him since the filing room incident and it seemed as if he was avoiding her and Mmachi for a while so it came as a surprise to her when he showed up with the others.

She stared at him, awaiting a reply. He held her gaze for a moment too long before he spoke.

"You're not the one who got me into the trouble. Mmachi was the one at fault."

"But still! It's like trouble just follows me around wherever I go and being around me will only make you a victim."

Chidiogo looked away for a moment before redirecting her eyes to him. Her eyes remained on him but he refused to meet her gaze. He directed his eyes to the pool instead and kept staring at it.

"I wish my heart could listen to reason," he said under his breath.

Chidiogo heard it but pretended not to. Her heart did something funny when she heard the words but she tried not to overthink it. Instead, she took one more glance at the pool before springing up from her chair.

"You still want to swim?" She glanced down at Paschal, anticipating a reply.

Paschal glanced up at her. His mouth hung open for a while but he didn't speak.

"Race you there," she said and begin to run for the pool before he could even process what she said.

She had a crop top and shorts on so she didn't think twice before tossing herself inside the water. A big splash erupted, following her jump.

She stayed in the water for a few seconds before pushing herself up. She ran her palm down her face to get rid of the water blocking her vision. She started giggling afterwards as she watched Paschal running for the pool.

He did a canon bolt, causing a large splash which almost emptied the pool. Chidiogo covered her face as a reflex to prevent the water splattering on her face but she didn't stop giggling.

"I WON!" she shouted, waving her hands in the air.

She couldn't comprehend the sudden change in her mood but she was quick to wave it aside.

"You cheated," Paschal said when he had pushed himself out of the water.

"You're just a sore loser," Chidiogo said, doubling over in laughter.

"No, I'm no—"

Paschal's words were cut midway by a gasp resulting from Chidiogo splashing water on him.

"You were saying?"

Chidiogo cupped her ear with one hand, positioning it in his direction. When he recovered from the splash, he made his way towards her.

"I'll make you pay for that," he said, swimming towards her.

She squealed and turned around to run. The water restricted her legs from proper motion and in less than a second he caught up to her.

In an attempt to save herself, she began splashing about madly but he got a hold of her hands, caging them behind her before she could continue.

Her chest heaved as she stared at him. Their bodies were so close, they practically pressed against each other. She tried to take a step backwards but Paschal's hands caged her and made any form of movement impossible.

Before she could ask him to let go, he lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers.

A/N: GUESS WHO'S ACTUALLY KEEPING A STREAK? THIS GIRLLLLLLLLL!!!! SO THIS DAILY UPDATE THING MIGHT JUST WORK OUT. LET'S KEEP HOPING AND PRAYING THAT I'M ABLE TO PLAN MY DAY PROPERLY.

NOW ON TO THE MAIN QUESTION, WHO SAW THIS COMING?😂 HONESTLY IF YOU DIDN'T, THEN YOU DESERVE CANNING. I DIDN'T ACTUALLY KNOW THIS WOULD HAPPEN, AT ANY POINT, LET ALONE THIS CHAPTER. SO YEAH, I DESERVE CANNING TOO😂. BOYA, I SHOULD TRY OUTLINING IN MY NEXT BOOK😂.

BUT HEY, IT'S NO BIGGIE. ONE MORE SHIP WOULDN'T HURT, WOULD IT? BUT THEN SINCE I'M NOT REALLY A FAN OF SHIPS, WOULD THIS ONE REALLY GO ANYWHERE?🤔 LET'S KEEP WATCHING SHA.

AND WELL, MY CHARACTERS STILL GET A CHANCE TO BREATHE. NOT THAT I'M IN A HURRY TO START SUFFOCATING THEM AGAIN BUT THEN I THINK THEY'VE HAD ENOUGH FRESH AIR, RIGHT?😂

IF YOU'D ACTUALLY LIKE THIS THING BETWEEN PASCHAL AND CHIDIOGO TO BE MORE THAN JUST A FLING, DROP A RED HEART EMOJI. IF YOU'RE NOT A FAN OF THE SHIP, THEN DROP A BLACK HEART😗. LET ME KNOW IF I'M THE ONLY WICKED ONE IN THE HOUSE😂.

AND AGAIN, I NEED YOUR PRAYERS AND YOUR VOTES TOO. THE VOTES ACTUALLY ENCOURAGE ME TO KEEP GOING. SO IF YOU WANT TO KEEP SEEING STEADY UPDATES, YOU WOULDN'T MIND TURNING THAT STAR ORANGE NOW, WOULD YOU?

SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER AND A LOVELY NIGHT TO YOU ALL❤️😗.