TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 19
After several conversations and convincing, she went back to Biodun. Her grandfather went to work to gather evidence. He se-nt people to take pictures of the girl and her children. The person was able to get pictures of Biodun with them. Also, they were able to get the property docu-mments and receipts of sale to Biodun. There were also pictures of the house.
The second week, police stormed their resident very early in the morning. They had a warrant of arrest for Biodun. He was accused of Fraud. PB asked what he did severally but they asked her to meet them at the police station. The police seized his phone and laptop.
That morning, PB called Biodun’s father. She told him what happened.
“Why are you calling me? Why didn’t you involve your grandfather to bail him out?”
“Baba, I don’t un-derstand. What does my grandfather have to do with the accusation of fraud Biodun is facing? Why should I go to him and leave his family who is responsible for him? Baba please, I have told you what has happened and the police station he is in. I wanted to know from you if you would be coming and what to do. I have a court case this morning and I can’t be at the police station for a long time. If he doesn’t have a lawyer, I can recommend one to him”
“Precious, we are talking about Biodun. Do you want to leave your husband in police custody and go to court? What are you trying to tell us? Your grandfather can squash this immediately, but you will not call him?”
“There are reasons why I can’t call my grandfather. I also have prior engagements before this happened. I will be at the station until 8:30 am then I have to leave for Lagos Island. There is nothing I can do about it”
PB was upset with their entitlement mentality. She realized she pla-yed into their hands by allowing them access to her grandfather. It had come to an end. She wanted him to admit to having a wife and two children so she could go ahead and divorce him.
This wasn’t the life she had planned for herself. She had everything all mapped out. She would marry a loving husband who was also responsible. They would have had two children by now and they would have lived in their house. She had it all planned out in her head. She didn’t want to live off her family’s wealth and be regarded as a leech. She wanted to build wealth the way her grandfather and uncles did using the right connections.
Biodun was the wrong choice. From the planning of the wedding, she saw the signs but turned a blind eye to it. Now it seemed her grandmother’s prophesy was coming to past. She deserved better than she had received from him from the onset. She should have known he was unserious when he couldn’t get the qualification he nee-ded to start his firm. She was lucky she was stubborn, if not, he would have taken money from her grandfather continuously which would have been an embarr@$$ment to her.
She cried as she got ready for the police station. Her world was crumbling and what was she to do? She knew she couldn’t take Biodun back. All she nee-ded from him was a divorce. She noted he had to be given a quit notice, although they just renewed the rent. She couldn’t live in there anymore with all the memories. She knew with him losing his job, he couldn’t afford to maintain the apa-rtment.
She wore a black three quarter length dress with long sleeves. She swung her cloak across her arm as she made her way to the car carrying her grey shoes in her hand. She was still de-ep in thoughts as she deposited the contents of her hand on the chair of the car. She got in and drove to the police station.
On her way, she received a call from one of the police officers. Biodun had been transferred to Special Fraud Unit (SFU) Milverton Ikoyi. She se-nt a message to Biodun’s family informing them of the change of location. She changed her direction to head towards the third mainland bridge.
At SFU, she was not allowed to come in with her phone. She walked inside and found the police officers who picked Biodun up that morning. The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) on the case, Inspector James, welcomed PB to his office.
“I would like you to be here when the evidence is produced and confessions made. You should witness it yourself so you will not be told”
“I have a court case for 10 am. I can come back after the court case to hear everything firsthand. Please, all the evidence should be with you before the proper interrogation starts. Can I see the petition?”
PB received the petition and read it. Then she requested to see Biodun. He was in the cell. She asked him if there was anything she nee-ded to know about the petition against him. He told her they were all fabricated; he didn’t commit any fraud.
“I hope so. If it is proven to me today that you did, then the marriage is over. It is best you tell me the truth now than for me to find out later”
“I have nothing to hide. They have no evidence against me. I have done nothing wrong. When is Chief coming?”
“Coming where? To do what?’
“You should have asked Chief to come so I can be released quickly”
“I asked your family to come. Chief is not available to be of any help right now. Do you think you might nee-d a lawyer? I can recommend one to you”
‘I don’t nee-d a lawyer. All we nee-d right now is Chief. Chief will handle this easily”
“Well, try and get Chief yourself. I have a case at the high court today. I will advise you to try and remember what happened in your office and why they would write such a petition against you. It is too damning. They claim they have sufficient evidence to substantiate their claim”
“I am waiting for their evidence”
“Good”
PB left him to attend her court sitting. She was angry with him and his expectations. He expected to get out of this mess using her grandfather? Well, he will be in for a surprise. Her mind was made up at this time. She had made a very big mistake and wouldn’t want a repeat of it.
Some many thoughts were going throu-ghher mind when her phone rang. It was her father-in-law.
“Precious, where are you? We are at SFU now”
“I have left for court as I told you earlier. I will be back after the court case”
“What do you mean by that? Your husband has been detained and you went for another case? What kind of irresponsible behaviour is that?”
“I can turn back if you want as long as you are willing to pay all the expenses to be incurred on your son’s case. This client has paid me to appear and if I don’t, I have to refund the money. That would mean we have to depend on what you have”
“Not everything is about money. How can you leave your husband and go to court?”
“I left because the case will not be discussed until afternoon. You can keep him company while he waits. I nee-d to make money for the case. Please don’t call me again because I am driving and once I am in court, I will not respond to your calls. Bye.”
PB was more upset than ever before. She couldn’t wait for their betrayal to be exp-osed and she would never have anything to do with them again.
TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 20
As PB entered the court, her phone rang. It was PY.
“Hi babes, what’s up?”
“My dad just had a stro-ke”
“A stro-ke? How come?”
“The details aren’t clear yet but that was what I was told. He can’t walk or talk”
“That’s so sad. Where is he?”
“He is in the hospital in Lagos”
“How is your mum coping?”
“That’s the funny pa-rt, she seemed not to be perturbe-d by the situation. I find that interesting. She asked Allen to take care of his father, she has unfinished business to attend to”
“So sad, are you coming to Lagos to see him?”
“I don’t have a choice although Allen said it isn’t necessary. I might come over the weekend”
“You are pregnant and have to be careful with your condition. Take your time and allow your mother who is a medical doctor and your brother to handle the situation and feed you with a progress report”
“You are right. I will do just that. Will you also help me go over there to find out what exactly is happening?”
“I wouldn’t go today but before the week runs out. Don’t worry, I will follow up later today. I’m in court now”
“Ok. Thank you.”
PB was amazed. She could the fear in PY voice. So, with everything her father did to her, she was still very worried about him. She couldn’t believe it PY would be so concerned about a father who wanted to marry her out to a man who physically @$$aulted her. A man who refused to accept the man she loved and instead made her husband estranged from his father. She realized it wasn’t easy to give up on someone you love. PY had always been a daddy’s girl.
But she, PB, had given up on Biodun so easily. Did it mean she didn’t love him? She knew she couldn’t be persuaded to forgive him and accept him back. The betrayal was too much for her to bear. She felt pla-yed and deceived. She felt like a moron; she should have seen this coming.
She was naturally an observant person and she had said in p@$$ing, Biodun’s frequent visit to his father’s house was suspicious and he just shoved it aside. Was she so that careless or trusting that she didn’t investigate further? She didn’t have the gut feeling something was wrong that was why she moved on. Or was she more interested in building herself to be successful that she turned a blind eye?
PB went back to the station after she finished her cases and was certain the petitioner and his lawyers were at the station.
When she joined them, Biodun had been brou-ght out for interrogation. He sat down very confident with his position. He didn’t know what was about to hit him.
As we all sat there, she saw that Biodun was quite confident which worried her a little. What did he have un-der his sleeves? Why were they still waiting?
As her thoughts were all over the place, the door opened and her grandfather walked in. He took a sit as he was welcomed. PB was perplexed; that wasn’t their agreement. He wasn’t supposed to show his face at all. Why was he here?
Chief Adeoye started with, “I had to leave my sickbe-d to be here when I received persistent calls from my son-in-law, his family, and my long time friend. My granddaughter was aware I was un-der the weather and didn’t want to disturb me. We had agreed I would see her this evening. For me to leave my sick be-d against the doctor’s advice, I have asked Biodun severally if he had something to hide. He has told me what he was involved in and I think it is something we can easily resolve. But my long time friend has told me I would be in for a shocker. di-po doesn’t talk anyhow. He takes his time to gather evidence against whoever he challenges. He always wins challenges because he is meticulous. I had to ask Biodun again if there was more than what he has told me and he swore there wasn’t. His father has said I should never forgive him and allow full arm of the law to deal with him if he is indeed guilty. That’s why I am here today. CP (Commissioner of Police) please go ahead”
PB un-derstood what they were pla-ying at. She decided to pla-y along. She listened as the petitioner explained the petition to them. He stated clearly that Biodun had stolen from clients to the tune of N100million promising to privately trade for them and eventually some of them didn’t get their capital back not to mention an increase in investment.
Biodun denied this outrightly. Then the IPO prese-nted Biodun’s statement of account with a bank PB wasn’t aware of. She remembered it was the same account he se-nt to her when he nee-ded her help to retain his job before she bought her car.
Biodun couldn’t believe they had access to this pa-rticular account as it was a secret account. How did they find the account? He wondered as he swallowed ha-rd. Each of the people who deposited money in his account had made their statement. They transferred money to his personal account for trading with the company which he never did. This was exactly what he wanted to do to PB.
Biodun had also embezzled the firm’s funds. He had been paying back as best as he could when the accountant showed him the discrepancy. That amount wasn’t much as he had made good on most of the missing monies from his personal account he asked unsuspecting clients to pay into.
Biodun couldn’t believe he had been discovered. None of the clients had mentioned to him anything about being interrogated by the police. He had spoken to them before he was arrested and they had confidence in him. The evidence was glaring and damning.
Biodun began to shiver. Chief asked him if it was his account and if the clients that deposited into that account were clients of the firm he worked with.
“They are. But they wanted me to handle their investments. I did it privately for them as agreed. Why is this an issue?”
“Where is the investment you made? We will like to see what was traded and the current value”
Biodun swallowed ha-rd again. He was speechless. The money trail showed how the monies were utilized. He was done for. How did his boss discover his secret? He knew whatever he said now would further implicate him so he kept mute.
PB couldn’t believe her ears. How did Biodun squander such an amount without her knowing? She didn’t believe it and asked the question. “There is no way Biodun would have stolen N100m and I wouldn’t have known. Please, how did he do it? Are you sure it wasn’t trading that went bad? How is it possible?”
Uncle di-po, the Managing Direct of the stockbroking firm Biodun worked with replied to her. “I was also naïve to Biodun’s antics. He didn’t change his lifestyle at all. When we discovered it, we had to investigate him thorou-ghly. It took us almost two months to gather our evidence. Biodun has a block of four flats at Sango. He is building a shopping mall too. I don’t know what his plan was but I suspect he wanted to sell the shops and return the money he collected from investors”
“This is a wise investment. If you had this idea, we would have sourced the money to do it instead of diverting customers’ monies for personal investment. I would have raised the money. How come you never mentioned the four flats you were building and the mall?”
Biodun didn’t respond to me. I looked at his parents, they knew about the four flats but not about the mall. Her question lingered until uncle di-po decided to answer her.
“Precious, your husband has a family. He has a wife and two children. They have been living with his parents until some months back when he moved them to one of the flats downstairs so he could have private time with them. The girl is pregnant with the third child”
PB couldn’t believe her ears. She asked, “What did you say?”
“Your husband has another wife and two children with one on the way” He handed her an envelope and in the envelope, she saw pictures of the four flats and shopping mall. Then she saw pictures of Biodun with two children and a lady who wouldn’t be more than twenty-two. The next picture showed the lady pregnant.
PB broke down. “Biodun, is this true? This can’t be true; Biodun cannot be this evil. You embezzled money to build a life with another woman and children. I can’t believe this” It was obvious PB world was shattered. Biodun didn’t make any attempt to explain to her or try to console her.
Chief Adeoye finally spoke. “Precious, dry your tears. This revelation is weighty and comes with undeniable evidence. Biodun has made a mockery of you and me. He did this with the aid of his parents. di-po, as you can see, Precious knew nothing about this. This guy is a smooth criminal. I will advise he be arraigned within forty-eight hours. Precious, you will leave the house for Biodun before he goes to jail. I will move you to a new and better place. If I find out that you as much as said hello to Biodun or his family members, I will disown you. A moving vehicle will be at your house tomorrow to move you out”
“Chief, this is not how issues are resolved. Biodun is as much your son as Precious is your daughter. If Precious had made this mistake, would you have abandoned her here to rot as you intend doing now? He has messed up, please forgive him. You can resolve this issue easily if you want to”
“Comparing my granddaughter to your thieving son is a big slap you have landed on my face. Are we talking about the theft or are we talking about the betrayal? He betrayed my granddaughter and me; he made a fool out of both of us. You, his parents, also joined in betraying my trust. Well, we are no longer interested in the marriage since he has another family”
Biodun’s father replied, “Chief, he got this girl in question pregnant when she was just sixteen years old. She was chased out of her house and we took her in. She isn’t his wife, he hasn’t done anything on her…”
“But she has given birth to one more child while un-der your roof in the course of his marriage to Precious and even has one on the way. Meanwhile, he refused to go with Precious for a medical checkup because he had always intended not to have children with her. True or false? When we file for a divorce, then we can talk”
Chief stood up and led his granddaughter out of the office. Biodun called out to PB. PB didn’t give him a glance. She just walked right ahead ignoring anyone who attem-pted to talk to her.
When she got to her vehicle, she collap-sed in tears. She couldn’t believe all she heard in there. It was obvious. Biodun was trying to secure a future for himself and his baby mama. He didn’t love her at all; he thought he could get money from her for the same purpose and when it was not forthcoming, he decided to get it from work. How did he think it would pla-y out in the end? He was given that se-nsitive position because he was married to PB. Why betray her grandfather’s trust?
Tbc