Replacement Bride

Chapter 32 - Hamid

These days Amani didn't like giving me the attention I needed, she was always feigning tired and weak.

It's been a week since we returned back from the hospital and most of her drugs had already finished, which means she should be better by now but reverse was the case.

Was she feigning things or what? It used to surprise me how she used to converse with people normally and even laugh out louder while they gist but not with me.

Whenever I tried conversing with her she would start acting somehow, was she punishing me or what? For what reason? Was it because I said I wanted to marry Rahmat? Well, God knows I was already tired of holding myself.

Today after breakfast I left to shop, the one at Garima. Thanks be to Allah, my business was really booming. Most of the boutiques in Minna relied on my importation. They used to buy in bulk from me.

Some used to come from other parts of the North too, and few from the South. I could only say 'Alhamdulillah' because I was really making it financially.

Soon I would be opening my third branch but in another location, preferably Abuja or Lagos. Having a working business in those locations means a lot. They were actually good places for business, one would just have to prepare for competition with other business people or business firms.

When I arrived at shop, I was humbly welcomed and greeted by my salespersons. Yasin was the one in charge of this branch while Rukayya managed the other one.

I made those two my managers because they were the first set of salespersons I had and they really tried for me, hence after opening the second branch I promoted them both.

Each of them now had people working under them, the deliverers, marketers, and cleaners. I was thinking about giving Yazid an offer too but I would wait until I open my third branch.

As for Amani, she would need to learn how to drive. I was the one driving her these days because I couldn't just let Yazid continue with the job, he was now a member of our family. He should have a better job than that.

The boys-quarters he once managed alone was now given to him and Safiya by me, I opened the door of the rest of the rooms there. It wasn't really like any other boys-quarters, it was an apartment on its own with three rooms and toilets. It also had a sitting room.

After spending few hours at Garima, I drove to our second branch before deciding to pay Rahmat a visit. These days we hardly used to communicate, I was busy with my family and she was busy with her own life.

The last time we communicated she told me the manager of the hotel she was lodging had stopped asking her for bills whatsoever hence, I should stop sending money to her. Not even money for food.

She said the manager understood her condition and was willing to help her in any way possible as long as she would work for him. I asked what work he proposed to her and she told me not to worry, that it was a normal work.

As soon as I arrived at the hotel I headed directly to her room. I normally didn't used to knock so I held the knob of the door, thrutched it down and pushed the door opened.

Just then I caught her on bed with someone. "Rahmat?" I blurted out with my jaw dropped in astonishment. "What's this?" I asked glancing at her and the man.

"Who the hell is this?" the man asked glaring at me.

"He's... he's my friend" she replied him as she quickly withdrew from the bed with only a towel wrapped around her body.

"Hey, where are you going to?" the man asked her with his donkey voice.

"Please let me talk to him" she said, more like begging him for permission.

"Fine then, better tell him to leave because I have something important to do after this round" he said, still glaring at me with is tiny eyes. I was even speechless.

"Okay!" she nodded positively at him before walking over to me. "Hamid, come..." she held my arm about walking me out when I aggressively extricated from her grip, almost wounding her. "Look, Hamid..." she huffed and continued, "this man here is not just any man. You need to leave now because he's a politician and can..." she said as I gave her a resounding slap.

The man quickly withdrew from the bed and yelled at me to leave before he call on the hotel manager and have me deposed. "Leave, now!" he added.

Rahmat, however, held her cheek - the same spot I thundered with all my strength. I wanted strangling her to death but somehow, I was able to resist the urge to do so. "I will never forgive you!" I spit at her and left.

Just as I was finally in my car I broke down into tears, hitting the steering wheel like my life depends on that. I was really heartbroken, heartbroken beyond words. After spending - God knows how much - on her, she decided to break my heart!

So that was the work offered to her by the hotel manager, to be sleeping with men? Like seriously? After wasting my time and resources, trying to rebuild her and turn her into a better person? Was that how she would repay me?

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Good morning, my people.

I hope you all had a good sleep?

Ma Shaa Allah, it's another day 💝