THE CONTRACT MARRIAGE

7-FAILED PLAN

OMNISCIENT

That evening, Sumaira and her mother were busy campaigning for the Social Party before the election started. Well, Sumaira was silently watching while her mother did the job. She hardly even logs into social media, Google Chrome is her favourite app, that's because she gets to do research and provide herself with more information. They were enjoying their time together, both of them not daring to bring up the bitter topic that transpired four days ago, none of them wanted to believe it wasn't a dream.

"I haven't been able to reach Big Hero on the phone, what about you Mom?" She asked Dalila who responded with the same answer.

"Yes, for three days now. I've even asked Henry to check up on him but he said everything is fine from his side," Dalila added.

"Our last call was on Monday which means he would've called either you or me. If we aren't able to reach him, there must be a problem somewhere. And Uncle Henry said he's alright, that means--" She was cut off by an unwelcomed presence that barged inside the room.

"I blocked all your means of communicating with him because he did something unforgivable," The engineer landed in Nigeria about an hour ago and headed straight back home to finish off the last part of his task.

"Why would you do that? After making our lives a living hell, what is my innocent son's fault in this? He doesn't even know anything about this--" He cut in before Dalila could continue.

"Your son was the reason I left for Italy for business. Tell him to give back all that he has taken from me now! I want full information about who he is working with and how he made all of your daughter's wedding items disappear without a trace!" He thundered, allowing the mother and daughter to digest the information.

"Cats got your tongue now?" Muhammad Babangida let out an empty chuckle. From the way he looked out of place and all worked up, they could roughly guess that he lost billions.

"So you expect me to do everything you said? If my daughter's so-called wedding items had arrived safely, I wouldn't have even heard about it. All of a sudden, you want me to call my son because you suspect him, what do you take me for?" Dalila shot back.

"You..." He pointed his finger at her but soon put it down when he sighted Sumaira. This time around, she might break his phalanges for real.

"And you, come and read out the contract. As I said, the Gremas will be here tomorrow, make sure nothing goes wrong," He then brought out a file from his office bag and tossed it to Sumaira whose heart was too choked up with emotions. They all tried in vain, she's very sure he heard about her contesting for president, even though she did that to delay the marriage talk, he still turned a blind eye to that.

"She'll not read anything. The Gremas are nice people, don't drag any of them into your mess," Dalila protested, shielding her daughter from the man.

"And how does that concern you?" He agitatedly stated.

"This is about innocent people and the pain my daughter will have to go through because of you. Don't expect me to sit back and watch everything from afar," She was close to exploding, like a ticking bomb waiting for the perfect time.

"Remember that your mother is in my hands, and if I point this at you--" He skillfully drew her by the neck and placed the tip of the gun on her forehead. Dalila became speechless, her chest was heaving violently.

"I swear to God if you make another sound before I leave this place, I'll kill you and also kill your mother," He menacingly uttered, his voice cold and low. Yes, her mother, Sumaira's grandmother, is also being held captive by him, nobody knows where he kept her. That is the main reason why Dalila lets him have his way, also the same for Sumaira who doesn't use her martial arts technique to attack him.