The Daughter Of A Mistress?
Episode 2
On getting to the living room, Mr. Stephen pounced on Cynthia with the belt in his right hand, he never bothered to hear Cynthia’s side of the story, the senseless man concluded that Cynthia was wrong.
When he was done hitting Cynthia with the belt, he warned Cynthia sternly
” you should stop bothering Amber, you are 3 years older than her, still you behave like a child”
When Mr. Stephen left the sitting room, Amber gave out a mocking sound and she was in smiles, it was obvious she enjoyed the show. She was delighted as she glared at Cynthia mockingly.
“That serves you right,” Amber said mockingly.
And Cynthia replied, “Don’t be happy because you succeeded in destroying someone’s life with lies, a time will come for you to cry”.
Cynthia’s mother who had been watching the two girls from a distance, shook her head in pity, at the same time, she was marveled at the wise words that escaped her young daughter’s mouth, The confused woman observed the whole drama from a distance, she saw how Amber mocked her daughter.
“Why would Stephen treat our daughter unfairly, no it’s not right, Cynthia is also her daughter, I have never differentiated between Cynthia and Amber, I considered them both my children, he has spoilt Amber so much, that she has become so troublesome, I know why I’m keeping quiet” Cynthia’s mother, Mrs. Felicia thought sadly.
She decided to speak to her husband about it and make him change his behavior towards Cynthia, their daughter.
Directly she headed straight to her husband’s bedroom to have a word with him. Once she got into her husband’s bedroom,
She tabled her displea-sure and reminded her husband of how he held Cynthia in his arms on the day she was born.
“I won’t forget how you held a little Cynthia in your arms and you promised to protect her with your life and you blessed her in smiles, Cynthia is still that baby you once promised to love and protect” Mrs. Felicia reminded her husband in a low tone
but her husband’s response was disappointing.
“Cynthia is no longer a child, and don’t forget Amber is also my child, Cynthia is the older one, she has to be responsible and well behaved, I don’t know why she keeps bothering poor Amber, what has the motherless child done to Cynthia, warn her, I would deal with her, if she keeps bothering Amber, do you expect me to ignore her when she misbehaves, she deserves the beating she got” Mr. Stephen replied straightforwardly.
He avoided having eye contact with his wife as he knew well enough that his wife was angry with him, Instead of listening to his wife’s complaint, he blamed Cynthia!
And that boiled Cynthia’s mother.
“I don’t like the way you are always siding Amber if my daughter ever feels rejected again, I will have no choice but to set things right, enough is enough,” Mrs. Felicia said with a straight face.
And then walked away.
She went straight to her daughter’s bedroom and was surprised to meet her absence, instead, she saw a note that was written by her daughter, Cynthia had left a note on her dresser. The note reads
“I feel like I’m not needed here, I’m leaving, don’t bother to look for me because you will never find me, I’m going far away”
Cynthia’s mother almost lost her breath but when she comported herself, she stormed her husband’s bedroom with the note on her left hand
“You see, my daughter had left the house all because of you, I warned you, now see, I don’t know that you are a selfish man, I have been patient but not anymore if anything happens to my daughter, I will burn down this house” Mrs. Felicia growled and at the same time she cried
Mr. Stephen was so shocked but he tried his best to console his wife.
“Don’t be scared, nothing will happen to our daughter, she must have moved to my father’s house, you know how close they are, I’m going there right now to bring our daughter home”
And Cynthia’s mother believe her husband cared.
Mr. Stephen reached for his car key and zoomed off to his father’s house.
It has been two years since he visited his father, they share no bond but the only person who constantly visited him was Cynthia, her granddaughter.
Mr. Stephen was positive that he would find her first daughter at his father’s house.
On getting there, his father was shocked to see him.
With a frowned face he asked
“Stephen, why are you here? Did you suddenly remember that you have a father?”
“I’m not a child that will always need his father, after all, I always make sure you have food and money, or do you think you are still a wealthy man” Mr. Stephen responded without showing any emotions.
Ignoring what his son had said, the old man repeated.
“Why are you here, if you are here to lament like a girl on how I ruined your life, then get out of my house, you disrespectful brat” Cynthia’s grandfather entered in a straight face.
“Is… My daughter here… I mean Cynthia… He ran away from home and I know she is here, call her out right now, I will deal with her mercilessly” Mr. Stephen finally revealed.
“Cynthia ran away?! Oh my God, what have you done to my granddaughter, where could she be?” The old man wailed.
he quickly picked up his cellphone and dialed Cynthia’s phone number, Mr. Stephen was shocked when he noticed that his father was calling her missing daughter on the phone.
“Cynthia has a phone? Who bought her a phone?” Mr. Stephen asked but the old man ignored his son as he waited patiently for her granddaughter to pick up his call.
Finally, Cynthia answered her grandfather’s call.
“Hello, where are you, my child?” Grandpa asked in a worried tone
“I’m home” Cynthia lied
“No you are not home my child, your father is here asking about you” Grandpa added
And then it was dawn on Cynthia that she had to say the truth.
“I’m sorry grandpa, I truly left the house, my parents don’t love me, I don’t know why. I have tried my best to endure and that maybe one day they will learn to love me, but today, your son…. beat the hell out of me with his belt. All because of Amber and even worst my mother did nothing to save me from my father. Grandpa, no one loves me in that house…that’s why I left, please forgive me, I promise I will make you proud, I will always adhere to your advice, I won’t mess up myself, I will work ha-rd to succeed” Cynthia said at the other end of the phone, the call was on loudspeaker so Mr. Stephen heard everything her daughter had said.
Before grandpa would say a word, Cynthia hung up.
Grandpa tried to call her granddaughter back to persuade her to return to him but Cynthia had switched off her phone after she hung up.
Grandpa suddenly became worried for her grandchild, and he turned to his son
“what have you done?” Grandpa said almost in tears while Mr. Stephen ignored him and walked away speechlessly.
He knew his wife would be devastated if she finds out that her daughter had left the house only because of him, so he came up with a story.
“I’m just coming back from my father’s house, you won’t believe your daughter ran away with a boy, I knew she was useless and irresponsible, all I was doing was to discipline her but see what happened, even my father confirmed It, my father saw the face of the boy he ran away with, and he had described the boy’s look to the police” Mr. Stephen Lied and Mrs. Felicia had no choice but to believe her husband.
After all, Cynthia was also his daughter.
Mrs. Felicia broke down in tears as Mr. Stephen consoled her. He felt bad for lying against his daughter but he knew his wife would reveal their secret to Amber and that will break Amber’s heart.
Cynthia’s mother was so disappointed in her daughter that she instantly disowned her in her mind and she vowed not to look for her or worry about her.
On the other hand, Cynthia found herself in a strange but busy city called Port Harcourt. It took her almost 10 hours to get to Port Harcourt from Lagos.
She arrived at a Catholic church that someone had directed her to.
On arriving at the church she saw a Reverend sister to whom she explained her ordeal and how she knew no one in the city.
The Reverend Sister took her to the Reverend Father who rebuked her from running away from home but then he took pity on her and then he said
“Well I have seen the birth certificate you showed me, you are not a minor, you can stay at the Reverend sister’s quarters, but you have to behave yourself, I don’t want to hear any bad report about you,” The reverend Father said and Cynthia nodded in acceptance.
TBC