THE BLACK WIDOW

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Shalom and win always!!! I hope you are all doing good😀. It is another brand new week on this absolutely tragic adventure with Sonia Rogers. Let's dive in to the next phase of this story😁

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The next morning brought the next phase of Sonia's suffering. She was greeted with bad news: her father's supermarket was set ablaze. There were no witnesses and nothing to determine the cause of the fire. The entire shop burned to ashes, and to make matters worse, Mr. Moses suffered a severe heart attack thereafter. As if in a daze, Sonia left the house with the others to check on her father. It was no time to shed tears, but to ensure her father was going to be well. Mrs. Moses was devastated, but after the required surgery was a success and her husband was taken to a private room, she found some relief. Sonia paid for everything and comforted her mother and brother.

The next fear was now how to continue paying for Kunle's school fees, with most of her savings diverted to her father's medical treatment. But her mother's salary will have to come through now that their third source of income being the supermarket has burned to the ground. Sonia sat down at the visitor's waiting area, thinking deeply about why her tears were not drying; why tragedy after tragedy was befalling her. Where would her father start from? That shop was his legacy and hard work.

They were still at the hospital when the Rogers arrived. Mrs. Rogers hugged Sonia warmly.

"I am so sorry my dear. How is your father doing now?"

"He's stable Ma." Kunle replied.

Mrs. Rogers let Sonia go and held Mrs. Moses' hands,

"Let me see you." She said softly. Mrs. Moses got up and they left to talk in private.

"Kunle, why is all this happening to us? Why?" Kunle held his hands and said,

"Don't worry about me. I know you are afraid about my school fees. I will find means of applying for scholarships."

"Scholarship? In this Nigeria? Just like that? No Kunle, I will take over and pray your school fees. After all, I don't have children to cater for. You are our last born and my baby too. My only fear is about Dad. How is he going to heal from this loss of his life's work?"

Before Kunle could give a response, the two women arrived, with Mrs. Moses looking brighter than when she left.

"Sonia, thank your mother – in- law for me. She is a God-sent."

The siblings exchanged a confused look and stood up. Mrs. Moses handed a cheque to them. A cheque of 1 Million Naira.

"Mummy!" Sonia exclaimed. "We can't take this." She handed the cheque back to her mother.

"Yes, you will. It's the least I could do after all you went through. Please accept it as a peace offering."

Sonia sighed and left them.

"Thank you so much Ma." Kunle expressed his gratitude.

"You are welcome my dear."

Not only did Mrs. Rogers give them money, she also paid the rest of Mr. Moses' hospital bills at the hospital. The latter received the best care possible. Sonia had her doubts about these acts of generosity, but she kept them to herself. So, she decided to pay Mrs. Rogers a visit to appreciate her.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. She took my family away from me." But she went ahead.

When she got to the premises, the secretary was not at the Reception. So Sonia walked to her mother in-law's office, but she stopped dead in her tracks.

"A job well done. You guys deserve the fat bonus I'm giving you. But I'm also glad your partner didn't hurt too much from the burns. He will get the best care at that hospital, I promise you."

"Thank you Madam. Do call us again when you have another job for us." A deep male voice said happily.

It suddenly dawned on Sonia that there had been no update recently on the mechanic that "fixed" her car; the car that killed Michael. The mechanic disappeared to date. Sonia's mind was shutting down and she did not know when she walked through the door and entered the office. Seated across Mrs. Rogers were two beefy and tall men. One had his left arm bandaged; fire burn dressing. The two men stood up and took their leave without saying another word. They obviously recognized Sonia as Mrs. Roger's daughter –in- law.

"How could you? What do you want to gain from setting Dad's shop on fire? And now you giving us a lot of money after that, is this all to make yourself look good?" Sonia was stunned.

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Rogers asked innocently.

"You know I would object to that cheque; you wanted my family to hate because of your crazy belief that I took your family away from you. What a fool I am to almost think that this change and kindness was real! You are so evil! I'm all alone..." Her voice trailed off. It all suddenly made sense. Michael's death was not such a tragedy after all to Mrs. Rogers. She had achieved her goal: to eliminate the parasite and make her pay at the same time. Sonia was now alone with no husband or children to call her own. Sonia took one last look at Mrs. Rogers and rushed out of the office.

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A week later, Sonia was informed by some of her colleagues that the company she works for was going to declare bankruptcy. The rumors were confirmed by the CEO in a staff meeting and he added that the company had been bought by another company and will be under new management. The CEO assured them that none of them would lose their jobs and that they should cooperate with the new management for smooth transition.

Later that day, Sonia was working on her PC, in the work space she shares with two others when one of their colleagues from the accounting department rushed in. He was tall, dark and good looking, with a usually calm composure. Rushing in to their office was certainly out of his normal. He looked straight at Sonia and shouted,

"Big news!"

"What news Samuel?" Sonia asked, and added, "And why are you staring at me in that manner?"

"The new company taking over is none other than ROGERS INDUSTRIES!"

Sonia stood up abruptly.

"What? The Rogers?" She asked as if there was another ROGERS INDUSTRIES in Nigeria.

"Yup! Your late husband's family. You are so lucky to have them as in-laws. I bet they saved this sinking ship just for your sake." Samuel added and rushed back out as he rushed in.

Sonia wasn't fooled. It was not for her sake! And now, she cannot leave the company without eyebrows being raised inquisitively. Sonia sat back down with a loud whoosh. It seemed like a war was about to start. Should she let it go or join in?

"I don't know what to do Lord. She is the reason I'm all alone. Mrs. Rogers took everything important away from me. She took her precious time to destroy me. It was all pre-mediated!"