Thirty

CHAPTER THIRTY.
The rest of the week went by with Adele not seeing Jamal like she had requested. She stayed in the hospital to be monitored, while Jamal continued with his work. He only came to see her when she was fast asleep so she wouldn’t see him and get upset.
One day, when he had gone to see her, the doctor called into his office and told him about Adele’s situation. He had said that Adele had injured her uterus as a result of the miscarriage and it was almost impossible for her to conceive again. When Jamal got home that night, he didn’t sleep. He kept thinking about Adele and how much she would hate him even more when she heard the news herself.
He felt guilty for the things he had done to her and he wanted to take responsibility by making things right between them, but he knew Adele also needed time to heal from what she was going through, so he was going to give her time.
He told his parents and sister about the miscarriage. His father expressed his sympathy and even visited Adele in the hospital, but Shannelle and his mother did not bother. They were actually very happy that she had lost the baby and they were hoping that Adele would file for a divorce so that they would be separated and then Jamal can marry Danielle.
Adele was finally discharged from the hospital and brought to the house and Jamal hired private nurses and many other servants to take good care of her. Adele, who didn’t like all that, didn’t even have the strength to protest, so she let him do whatever it is he wanted.
What Jamal didn’t know was that she was planning an escape. He had already made it clear that he was never going to divorce her, so what she needed to do was get away from him and she was planning to do just that.
“Hello Linda.” She greeted the moment the person she was calling answered her call.
“Adele!” Linda, one of her closest colleagues at her former workplace squealed over the phone with her sharp voice almost deafening Adele. “Adele, long time. Oh my God you just left the office all of a sudden. Are you alright?” Linda was concerned and that brought tears to Adele’s eyes, but she blinked hard to prevent them from spilling down and she cleared her throat before talking again.
“I’m doing alright, Linda. I’m sorry I had to leave unexpectedly.”
“Mr. Frank said you had to return to the UK, are you back?” She asked in excitement.
Adele had never known how Jamal closed the matter of her employment at that publishing agency, so she just had to go with the flow.
“No, I’m not back. I’ve been very busy lately, that’s why I couldn’t call. I’m sorry.”
“Oh dear, it’s fine. I completely understand. I’m happy you called.”
“Me too.” A moment of silence. “Linda, I seriously need your help with something.”
“And what’s that?”
“If you are not too occupied, can you help me find an apartment in the city and I’ll send you the money to pay the rent for one year. I have a relative who is leaving England for the country for some work and she needs a place to stay.” Adele begged, hoping she would say yes.
“Of course. That’s an easy thing to do. I know a good number of real estate agents. I’m gonna talk with them and see what I come up with.”
“I would be very grateful. Please any moderate apartment will do. All I need is the total rent for the entire year so I can send it to you to pay.”
“No problem girl. I’m happy to assist you on this.”
“Thank you very much, Linda. Good bless you.”
“Bless you too. I will get back to you by tomorrow morning to show you what I’ve found. Hope that’s okay.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Good. I have to go now before Mr. Frank rips my head up. Take care of yourself.” Then the line went dead.
Adele let out a chuckle, expressing the relief in her heart as she stepped down from the bed.
When she finally gets the house, the only thing she would need to do is plan on how to escape from Jamal and his numerous guards. It’s a good thing she had saved enough money which could help her start over anywhere she went.
Her stomach grumbled, reminding her of the fact that she had not eaten all day. She put on her slippers and left the bedroom, heading downstairs to the kitchen to get some food for herself despite the fact that she had maids to serve her.
When she got into the kitchen, she met Shannelle frying pancakes. She wanted to turn around and leave, but the hunger she was feeling gave her the courage to go in and face her bitter sister-in-law.
“Look who we have here.” Shannelle remarked the moment she saw Adele.
“Good day Shannelle.” Adele greeted and Shannelle laughed like Adele’s greeting was a joke.
“You look miserable.” She remarked sarcastically.
“You don’t expect me to glow after losing a seven-month old pregnancy.” Adele responded.
“About that… I think you losing that pregnancy was for the better. I think God is trying to say something. You are not the one for my brother, why don’t you just just leave this house and his life for good? Your miscarriage is a sign that you should stop forcing yourself on him.” Shannelle blurted out carelessly and Adele clenched her fists by her side as anger boiled in her veins.
She wanted to shut Shannelle up by giving her a heavy blow on the mouth, but she thought against that action and calmed herself down.
It was not worth getting into a fight with Shannelle. It was only going to get her into trouble.
“Shannelle, that’s not how to talk to someone who just lost her baby.” Adele cautioned and Shannelle put down the knife in her hand and walked closer to her.
“You have no right to tell me how to talk to you. I will say what I want to you and there’s nothing you can do to make me stop. You have no idea how hard I prayed for that thing you were carrying in your stomach to die. I have always wanted you to have a miscarriage. When mum told me it had finally happened, we rejoiced and wished you died as well. That is how much we hate in this family, so if I were you, I would pack my bags and leave, because even if you get pregnant again, I will be the one to make you lose the bastard.” Shannelle sneered and Adele couldn’t take it anymore. She turned on her heels and left the kitchen, gasping for breath and weeping like a child who had been mercilessly flogged.
She ran all the way to her bedroom where she fell on the bed and cried for the rest of the day.
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“How’s my wife doing?” Jamal asked one of the nurses. He had just returned home from work and as always, he asked about Adele’s health.
“She’s doing just fine, health wise, but one of the servants notified me that she has had nothing to eat all day and she didn’t let anyone into the bedroom.” The nurses reported and Jamal sighed heavily. Adele’s recent actions were getting him on the edge.
“Tell the chef to serve dinner in my bedroom in two hours.” He instructed and left the living room for his bedroom.
When he got there, his heart began palpating when he saw Adele lying on the bed with her phone in hand. He gently closed the door behind him and walked over to the bed to meet her.
“Adele.” He called Adele silently looked up at him.
“Welcome home, Jamal.” She said in a quiet voice.
“Thank you. I was told you’ve had nothing to eat all day. Why’s that?”
“I’m not hungry and I lost my appetite.” She lied smoothly. She was famished and she had a lot of appetite, but Shannelle’s painful words kept ringing in her mind and she didn’t have the mind to eat.
“I have instructed the chef to prepare dinner, you are going to eat with me.”
“Cool.” She responded and returned to looking at her phone. She was watching a movie on Netflix. A Korean drama to be precise.
“Are you alright? Are you in pain?” He asked, concerned.
“No.” Adele replied curtly.
“Do you need anything?”
“Yes” she replied, sitting upright on the bed.
“What’s that?”
“I need to stop asking questions like you care about me. It’s sickening. Just go take a shower or something, I don’t wanna keep seeing your face.” She spat out bitterly and Jamal opened his mouth to talk, but words failed him. His mind was suddenly blank and he had nothing to say.
He swallowed dryly and calmly walked away like Adele had instructed.
Ever since she returned from the hospital, he had been spending the night on the couch because he noticed that his presence made her uneasy.
He was ready to do anything to give her the space she needed to heal, but he was never going to let go of her, because he loved her and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.