CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE.
Shannelle’s phone kept buzzing on the table during breakfast but she did not answer the call because it was her mother on the line. She had been calling none-stop and scolding Shannelle for not leaving the mansion to go and live with them in the new house their father had bought.
Shannelle did not want to leave the mansion. Despite the fact that she did have the best relationship with her brother, she loved him and she loved being by his side. Also, the weekly allowance he gave her was something she did not want to miss. He had already made it clear to her that if she left the house, he would no longer be responsible for her, hence no hundreds of thousands of dollars every week for her. She couldn’t afford to lose all of that.
“And why aren’t you answering your phone?” Jamal asked when the phone rang for too long.
“Because it’s mum, she keeps forcing me to go live with her and father which I don’t want to!” She cried.
“So why don’t you want to? Aren’t they your parents?”
“And you are my brother so I choose to live with you!” She Said firmly and Jamal laughed because he knew exactly why she was insisting on living under his roof.
“Then you pick up the call and tell her that.”
“But Jamal…”
“If you don’t I’ll personally drive you over to their house!” He threatened and Shannelle quickly answered the call.
“Hello mum!” She greeted with a frown the moment she pressed the phone against her ear.
“Shannelle !” Aliya scolded over the phone causing Shannelle to shriek and pull the phone away from her ear. “How many times have I asked you to leave your brother’s house and come live with us?” Aliya asked in fury.
“Mother, how many times have I refused and told youI want to live here instead.”
“What do you mean by: “you want to live there with him”?”
“What do you not understand about that statement mother?” Shannelle asked, almost raising her voice and everyone at the table(Jamal, Adel and Grandma Devon) stopped eating and focused their gazes on her.
“Shannele I can’t believe you are betraying me!” Aliya cried over the phone and Shannelle rolled her eyes hard at mother’s attempt to emotionally black mail her. “I can’t believe you are doing this to us, your parents. So, you have joined your brother in rebelling against us, haven’t you? You are now on Adele’s side, huh?”
“Mum, please quit the emotional blackmail already. It’s not going to work on me. I have my reasons for staying here with Jamal and it really has nothing to do with his marriage. Jeez!”
“I will not accept this! I will come over to the house and bring you myself. Just you wait for me.”
“Mum don’t come over here! I’m warning you mother, don’t show up here to take me because I won’t go with you and you’ll only look more pathetic.”
“You won’t tell me what to do, Shannelle. Wait for me, I’m coming for you.” Aliya threatened and ended the call.
Shannelle dropped her phone on the table and let out a tired sigh.
Everyone was silent.
There was a party going on in Jamal’s heart. He was happy that Shannelle was beginning to see how bothersome their mother could be.
“I’ll take my leave now.” Shannelle announced as she carried her bag and left the dining room.
“That one has got her mother’s temper.” Grandma commented the moment she was out of sight. All Jamal did was chuckle.
“What’s funny?” Adele asked and he shook his head.
“Nothing.” He denied and she gave him a suspicious look.
“Honestly, I had thought she was going to leave as well the moment her parents moved out. I’m actually surprised she’s still here. She hates me with every fibre in her. I wonder what she’s still doing here.” Adele told Grandma.
“You will be shocked at the things money can do.” That was Jamal. Both Grandma Devon and Adele averted their gazes to him.
“What do you mean by that?” Adele asked and Jamal looked up at her.
“The thing is, just like I give you both weekly allowances, I give Shannelle, same with mum and dad. So, a few days ago, Shannelle came to my office and asked if she would still receive her weekly allowance if she left the mansion and I told her no. I even frightened her by lying that I was just about to send her allowance and that if she had made up her mind to leave, she should tell me so I wouldn’t send it and that shook her. She quickly told me she wasn’t going to leave. So, she’s so adamant to go live with our parents because of that allowance.”
“You are indeed the son of the devil! Jamal.” Said grams in fits of laughter. Adele just shook her head and chuckled because she knew if she were in Shannelle’s shoes, she would do the same.
The weekly allowance Jamal gave her was huge! She hardly knew what to do with all the money. No one would love to be stripped of such benefits.
“I feel like you are bribing her to stay.” Adele told him after much reasoning.
“I’m actually bribing her to stay here.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, she’s my only sister and I need to protect her. If she goes to leave with our parents, she’ll start doing things she’s not supposed to do, so I can only prevent her from doing those things by keeping her close to me and making her understand that I am watching her every move!”
“That’s cute.” Adele smiled. “But, you are not watching her every move, are you?”
“There are men on standby waiting for her to drive out of this compound and they will follow her everywhere she goes. They have been that since she was in highschool.”
Adele was so shocked that she had nothing to say. She just pursed her lips together and continued to eat her food.
“She cannot know about this.” Jamal warned. Adele used her thumb and index finger to demonstrate a zipping act over her lips to show that her lips were sealed on the matter.
As they ate on, she could only imagine how terrified Shannelle would be if she ever found out that there were people following everywhere she went.
The world of the rich was indeed, very complicated.