Axel walked back down the stairs and met Malia in the living room. She was lying comfortably on the couch. She noticed his presence and she looked up at him with a smile.
“Hey, how… ”
“Get out of my house.” He cut her off and Malia rolled her eyes.
“I am not… ”
“Get the fuck out of my house.” He snapped at her and she flinched, out of fear she stood up and rushed out of the house.
Axel sighed and ran his hands through his hair, he heard footsteps from the stairs and he turned to see Lily with a bag in her hand.
“Where is she?” Lily asked as she looked around the living room. Axel didn’t care about her question, all he was concerned about was the bag in her hand.
“Where are you going?” He asked and walked to her.
“Nora’s.” She replied and was about to walk past him but he stood in her presence.
“Come on Lily. I already explained what happened to you. It was a mistake. I already kicked her out of the house.” He said and Lily’s eyes widened.
“You did what?” Lily asked.
“I kicked her out.”
“Why would you do that? It’s not nice, she is… ”
“I don’t care. Let’s not talk about this anymore.” He cut her off and took the bag from her, he dropped it and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Kicking her out of the house doesn’t mean the problem has been solved.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, I know what to do.” He said and Lily sighed.
“You cried so much already.” He said as he cupped her cheeks. Lily sighed and he pulled her into a hug.
“I’m sorry I kissed Max.” She apologised.
“Don’t worry about that.” He replied. Lily was surprised he was letting it go that easily, maybe because he also did something wrong. Lily was curious but since he was letting it go, she decided not to ask any questions.
*************
AT NIGHT
Axel and Lily were seated in the dining room and they were both having dinner, they were both having dinner in silence with different thoughts going on in their heads.
Lily kept thinking of what would happen because of the situation on ground, and Axel on the other hand kept thinking about Lily. He wasn’t bothered about Malia being pregnant, she was the least of his problems.
His phone rang again and he ignored it, his father had been calling all day and he had been ignoring it.
Lily looked up at him and he gave her a questioning look.
“Won’t you pick up your calls?”
“It’s just my father.” He replied.
“Then pick it up. You don’t know what he has to say.” Lily said and Axel sighed.
His phone rang again and he picked it up.
“Axel.”
“Hey.”
“I have been calling you all day and you have been ignoring my calls.”
“I was… ”
“I got the news about Malia already. She came crying to me and said you chased her out of your house when she came to break the news to you.”
“Yeah, so?” Axel asked.
“So, she is to keep the pregnancy and you are to marry her.”
“What?” Axel asked and Lily watched him. She wondered what they were talking about.
“I am doing that.”
“Of course you will. You know what will happen if this gets out.” His father said and ended the call.
“Is everything okay?” Lily asked.
“Yeah.” Axel replied simply and dropped his phone. He looked up at Lily and watched her as she ate.
He knew he was about to hurt her again but he had no choice. He cherishes his business and reputation and he won’t let anything ruin it.
He knew how bad this could get for him if Malia started running her mouth about the situation.
“Malia will be moving in soon.” He said and Lily looked up at him.
“Wh… what? Why?”
“My father knows about it already.” He replied and Lily nodded which surprised him.
He was expecting her to yell and get mad but she didn’t.
“I will go to bed now.” She said simply and walked out of the dining room. Axel sighed and dropped his fork.
He lost his appetite too.
*********
THE NEXT DAY
MORNING
Lily hummed a song as she applied a little bit of lip gloss on her lips, she walked to her bed and picked up her bag and her phone.
She placed a class across to Nora and walked to her mirror.
“Lily.” Nora called as she picked up the phone.
“Hey, are you downstairs already?” Lily asked as she checked out herself in the mirror.
“Yes, I am.” Nora replied and Lily ended the call.
She took one final look at herself in the mirror and then walked out of her room, she walked down the stairs and paused when she got to the living room and saw Nora and Axel having a conversation.
“Why are you here?” Axel asked Nora.
“I don’t know. I just saw Lily’s text so early this morning. She asked me to come and said I should dress nicely.” Nora replied.
“I heard about what happened with Malia, how is she taking the news?” Nora asked and Axel was about to give her a response when he noticed Lily’s presence.
He ran his eyes on her outfit and Lily ignored him as she walked to Nora.
“Why are you dressed like that?” Axel asked.
“I am going out with Nora.” She replied simply and turned to Nora. She was dressed in a short gown with knee high boots.
“Are you ready?” She asked Nora.
“Of course.” Nora replied and Lily walked out ahead of her.
“She is handling this well.” Nora said with a smile and Axel rolled his eyes.
“Just keep an eye on her.”
“Sure.” Nora replied and walked out, she got into her car and Lily was already seated.
“So, what are we doing?” Nora asked as she drove out.
“Wasting Axel’s money.” She replied with a smile and waved Axel’s card in the air.
“What? That is his personal credit card. Where did you get that?”
“His study.” She replied.
“I love this idea so much.” Nora chuckled and Lily also did.
Axel was seated in his office as he went through the files in his presence, he had double loads of work to do since Max wasn’t around.
As he went through the files, his phone suddenly beeped and he picked it up. It was a debit alert of over three hundred thousand dollars.
He furrowed his brows to see if he was seeing right. He noticed the debit was from a fashion store.
He decided to ignore it and drop his phone, he was about to get back to work when another one came in. And another, and another.
They were all debits from different places and stores.
The amounts were surprising. Five hundred thousand dollars, three thousand thousand dollars, and many more. Over two million dollars has been debited from his account and it kept on going.
Suddenly, a text came in and he tapped on it, it was from Nora.
“I don’t think Lily is handling the news so well. She is determined to drain your account.” He read out loud and chuckled. It was funny to him.
That was a weird way to let out frustration or anger.
Suddenly, a call came in and he picked it up.
“Hello.” He called.
“Good afternoon sir. This is from the Merchant Bank. We notice a constant debit in your account which is unusual, is… ”
“It’s fine. It’s nothing, it’s just my wife messing around.” He replied and ended the call.
Another debit alert came in again and Axel shook his head.
His wife never ceases to amaze him.
Another text came in and it was from Nora.
“Should I stop her? She keeps purchasing the same thing repeatedly.” He read.
“Let her be.” He texted back and dropped his phone.
He wanted her to do anything she wanted, he was fine with anything she did, as long as it pleased her.
******
“Lily, I think that is enough.” Nora said as she was about to pay for another set of clothes.
“No, it’s not.” She replied and smiled at the lady behind the counter. She swiped Axel’s card repeatedly, she was so mad she badly wanted to drain him.
“Oh my God, Lily.” Nora called and jerked the card from her. She was breathing heavily and Nora pulled her out of the store.
“That is enough.” She said as they got outside.
“Let me have the card.”
“No. You have punished him enough. You have spent over a million already, the car is filled with different dresses, I am also tired of shopping. I understand you are so mad at him but the best thing to do is talk to him.” Nora said and Lily sighed.
Tears welled up in her eyes and she started to cry.
“Malia is moving into our house.” She cried and Nora pulled her into a hug.
“I know.” She replied and creased her hair as she cried.
“She is pregnant, Nora. And she is keeping it.” Lily cried.
Only if Nora could understand the reason why is so heartbroken and sad. She was once pregnant with Axel’s child and he made her abort it.
Out of the blue, her step sister shows up with his child and he is letting her keep it. The worst part of it all, she is moving into their house.
Why does life always have to be so unfair to her?