Beautiful Mask
Episode 15
Beatrice:
“No, no no!. You better not hang up on me. I have to speak with Kelvin. Damn it!. She hung up again” i pace my living room agitated. I gr-ab the bottle of wine on the table and drink directly from the bottle.
Its been more than two weeks since i lost Benedicta and something has been bothering me ever since. I don’t want to believe this but it becomes glaringly obvious. The restroom didn’t have any other exit except the one i was standing at. Which was precisely the reason why i answered the call there.
When i searched the restroom i didn’t find any other occu-p@n-t but i did find her mask lying beside a lavatory. Which means Benedicta left wearing something else and the only person who left the restroom was Caroline. This is so unlikely but i cant shake the feeling anymore. Caroline might just be my lost sister.
I havnt been able to sleep much since that day and to make matters worse, i have not been able to reach Kelvin. His stupid secretary keep telling me he went on a business trip. I don’t believe that though. I nee-d to know if Caroline is my sister. If she is, then I cant go throu-gh with my plans with Kelvin.
I cant take Simon away from her. I shouldnt have asked Kelvin directly if Caroline is Benedicta. Now he is avoiding me. Well, no more. I think it is time to confront Kelvin. I drop the bottle of wine and stagger to my room.
Maybe i shouldnt go to Kelvin when i am this drun!k. I fall in be-d and curl up in a lonely ball. This has been my life for so long. No family. No friends. Just an enormous inheritance to pl@ywith. I cant leave this life anymore. Maybe marrying Simon would not be able to st©p this feeling of loneliness. I nee-d family. I nee-d my sister. I toss and turn in be-d without sleep claiming me. I sit up frustrated.
“i cant take this anymore. I nee-d answers” i gr-ab my head and stand. I walk to my closet and put on the first cloth i t©uçh. No time to think on fashion. I stagger out of my house and hail a taxi.
In my alcohol induced state, i find myself in Kelvin’s house minutes later. Kelvin wouldn’t be here by now. Its still working hours. Maybe i can find a way in and find something that could tell me about my sister. I stagger around the house without finding any point of entrance. All doors and windows are firmly shut. I just nee-d to find a glas-s entry. If i could just get my drun!kbr@in to think. I have been here before.
“Glas-s entry. Glas-s entry. Where are you? where are you?. The kitchen!” i remember admiring the view from there the last time. I rush to the back of the house and breathe a sigh of relief when i find the glas-s door.
“okay, now i have to break in” Ilook around and find a stone. It should do. I smash the glas-s by the door handle and pas-s my hand throu-gh to open it. Thankfully, the door cli-ck open.
“yes!” its alre-ady getting dark and kelvin may be back soon.
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Kelvin:
“Sir, the alarm in your kitchen just sounded. Do you want us to go check it?” the security personnel in charge of my house asks. It may not be anything big but i have a feeling something isn’t right.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it” Itell him. I gr-ab my car keys and walk out of my office after informing my secretary that i am going home for the day. I sl!pinto the elevator before it closes and roll my eyes when i notice Simon standing in the corner looking forlorn.
Okay, good cousin mode activated.
“Are you okay, man?” i ask and he just nods.
“still trying to reach Caroline?”i ask. Simon has been trying to find Caroline ever since and i am glad that i s£nt her away. The doctor in ibadan is doing a great job stalling her there till after simon’s wedding.
“Still cant reach her. You guys seemed close. Haven’t you seen her?” he asks.
“I don’t know if i should tell you this.” i say and pretend to hesitate. I know i have all his attention now.
“What is it?. Tell me”
“I’d prefer not to tell you. To preserve the good memory you have of Caroline.”
“What are you talking about?. Tell me!” he screams in my face gr-abs my collar.
“Hey calm down!”
“Don’t tel me to calm down! I am losing my mind!” He screams back. His hold on my n£¢k is getting ti-ghter.
“Okay! Okay!. Let go and I’ll tell you” he lets go and i pretend to be out of breathe.
“Caroline was at the mask p@rty Simon. She looked angry when i saw her. I don’t know why though.”
“oh no. Is that why she isn’t picking my call?. Do you know where she is?. I nee-d to explain some certain things to her”
“Listen Simon. After the p@rty, Caroline c@m£ to my house. I was surprised at how she knew my house but before i know it, she was taking her clothes off. I asked her what she wanted and she asked for money. I had to give her the money so she would leave. I don’t know where she is right now though” i say
“you are $h!tting me.” he whispers but i just shrug. “What reason do i have to lie against your secretary?. I suggest you employ someone else. If you doubt me, you can check her account balance. Use your influence” i say and walk out of the elevator which opens at the right time.
If he still loves Caroline after that then he has to have his head checked.
It doesn’t take long before i drive into my garage. I quic-kly get out of the car. Simon has slowed me down. Whoever is inside may no longer be inside anymore. I enter into my sitting room and notice it has been ransacked. Its empty of intruders though. I search all the rooms downstairs but find nowhere. I suddenly hear a crash upstairs and i gr-ab a knife from the kitchen before i head upstairs. The noise seem to have come from my be-droom.
I push the door open and prepare to kill whoever is in there but i am shocked to find Beatrice on my be-d crying. There is a paper in her hands
“What are you doing in here?” I ask and she turns to me
“Kelvin. You bastard. Why didn’t you tell me Caroline was my sister?. I am going to expo-se you if you don’t tell me where she is” she staggers to me and i realise that she is drun!k.
“Beatrice honey, you are drun!k. You don’t know what you are saying.” I walk towards her slowly.
“No! Dont come any closer or I would put Simon on the phone right now. Or maybe the police” she says and stands up. She starts walking to the side slowly as I stalk towards her.
“St©p moving and let me explain” I try to make a gr-ab for her but she manages to sl!pthrou-gh. She stands running away and I chase her. I would have just sh0t her and get it over with but I still nee-d her.
She runs towards to step and I know in have to st©p her before she leaves the house.
“If you call the police or simon, Caroline dies”. I grind out and she st©ps at the edge of the stairs.
“Give that DNA test results to me” I say. She look at me then down the stairs.
“Come on Beatrice. You don’t want your sister dead right?” she starts sobbing but she stretches her hand to give me the papers. I move towards her to gr-ab the papers. This seems to scare her as she j£rks and trip on her heels.
I watch in horror as she falls down the stairs. Hitting the tiled floor over and over again.
Beautiful Mask
By Ameh Juliet
Episode 16
Kelvin:
“No!” i scream as Beatrice hit the bo-ttomstep head first. I run down the stairs and see blood. A Lot of blood. Okay, this has gone from bad to worse. What do i do now?. The hospital. I nee-d to take her to the hospital. I quic-kly pick her up and rush outside to hail a taxi. I don’t want blood on my new SUV.
I find a taxi pretty fast and in ten minutes, we arrive at the closest hospital to my house. I have some influence here so Beatrice is taken into the operating room as soon as i get there.
I don’t know how long i wait outside the operating room but its enough time to think of how to continue my plans without Beatrice if she ends up dying. Nothing comes to mind though. There is no way i can complete my plans if she dies without ma-king me become the bad guy.
This has complicated everything. I really hope she survives this. A doctor comes out after long hours of waiting and i rush to him without delay.
“How is she doing doctor?” i ask. The doctor shake his head soberly. That’s when i know something is wrong.
“plea-se tell me she isn’t dead” I whisper.
“no, she is not dead. We were able to st©p the bleeding and stitch her up but at the end of the surgery, she went into coma. The impact of the fall on her br@in was too much”
“what?!. Would she come out of it?”
“she would. But we don’t know when. It depends on the parent’s will to live. It could take days or weeks or months or even years” i re-lease a distressed sound and the doctor pat my shoulder.
“Am so sorry. Your love and care may help her. This is probably yours. I suggest you keep it for now” he hands me Beatrice engagement ring. He probably thinks i am sad because i love her.
If he only knew. I collect the ring and the doctor leaves. Beatrice is taken to a pri-vate room minutes later and she is hooked to several machines. Her head has a hvge bandage around it with a n£¢k support. Her face is bruised and she looks terrible. Well, this was her fault. She shouldnt have gone against me.
I go back to my house after settling the bills which is enormous by the way. I wonder why i am spending this much money on the useless woman. She may not live. I nee-d to find an alternative plan. Its almost dawn and i haven’t sle-pt a wi-nk. I go to the kitchen and gr-ab the coffee machine.
The smell of coffee fills the room and it calms me somewhat. Wild thoughts by rihana starts pla-ying and i crease my head in confusion. It sounds like its coming from my sitting room. I gr-ab my cu-p of coffee and move to the living room.
I follow the sound and i find out its coming from a woman’s bag which is placed on my sofa. I drop the coffee and pick the bag up. I retrieve the ringing phone and see Simon’s name on the phone. This is Beatrice’s phone.
The phone st©ps ringing. About a minute later, a text comes in and i cli-ck on it.
Simon- Beatrice, why haven’t you been picking your calls. Just wanted to tell you that my mom heard about our engagement and she wants to meet you. We nee-d to set a d@t£. Get back to me as soon As you get this. I want us to get married before the end of next month.
Simon seems to be more enthusiastic about the wedding now. Must be because he believed what i told him about Caroline. He must have checked caroline’s account and saw the 1million i s£nt to her.
Caroline had called me about the money and i gave her the excuse that my account manager must have included too many zeros and that it would be taken care of by the bank.
This was what i wanted. For Simon to want this marriage but right now, with Beatrice in a coma, i don’t want this.
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it’s been three days and Beatrice isn’t improving. The doctor thinks with the way she’s going, she would not be okay before next month.
Simon has texted twice and the last one said his mom left for dubai and would like to meet Beatrice when she gets back two weeks from now.
This is clearly impossible. If only i have a Beatrice look-alike. Wait! I do. Caroline!. If i could convince her to take her sister’s place, it would make things get back on track.
Wow! I really am a evil genius. I just nee-d to find a way to convince her. I don’t think offering her money would convince her. I would just make her hate Simon so much she would want revenge. I detect a plan forming in this ingenious head of mine. This would be awesome.
Simon is going to be betrayed by the love of his life without his knowledge. Simon wouldn’t know what hit him. Time to get the new plan un-derway.I just nee-d a few items. I take my phone out of my pocket and text bullet.
Kelvin- hey, I nee-d Simon’s car and his phone ASAP. Make it look like a robbery.
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Tbc