Fading Star

22

we arrived at the hospital and I had my doctor check me. He treated the bruises and prescribed some drugs for the pain. Richard arrived a short while later. He was so sad and worried and angry at the same time. He vowed that she would pay for her actions because he would take the case to court. I managed to persuade him not to do so. "It's not worth it" I told him. We left the hospital in the evening.
When we reached home, Richard fired the security man at the gate. He warned the second guard not to allow any stranger into the house without asking first. I thought he was overreacting.
Richie was in the living room watching TV when I entered the house. When he saw me his mouth went wide open in surprise.
"What happened to you? Were you involved in an accident?" he asked. I quickly answered. "Yes" I didn't want him to know his mother was here.
He was very sympathetic. He told me how his day was at school. He said he really loved his new school.
That week went by peacefully and I got better. The bruises were healing gradually. Delilah came to check on me often. Everything was normal for a while, no news of Blessing but I kept having nightmares. When I got better I decided to go and see the psychiatrist.
I booked a session with her a week after the incident with Blessing. I told her everything that has happened to me so far. She listened attentively then she recommended that I should stop Overthinking things and I should do a lot more exercise. Talking to her actually made me feel better. The nightmares were less frequent and less gruesome.
A week later, a publication came out in the newspaper that shocked Richard and I. Delilah was the first to tell me about it. She called me that morning and asked me to check out today's paper. I laughed.
"You know I don't read newspapers. What's in it?" I asked her.
"Just check" she told me and hung up. I quickly picked up my ipad and logged into the news app. The first headline read: "THE TRUTH UNCOVERED: Richard Davies' illegitimate son". Richard was so angry when he read it. It pissed me off too. The article was a mixture of truth and lies. I was sure Blessing was behind it.
The story of Richard's background was explicitly written in full details. He was even accused of raping Blessing. In my part of the story, I was portrayed as a fruitless woman, and opportunist who wanted to take away Blessing's son forcefully because I was jealous that I could not have my own. It was all an intricate Web of lies. I was sure the public would believe it.Anywhere we went, people were talking about it. Even at the office they gossipped about it in hushed tones.
months passed and the rumour subsided. I stopped having nightmares and Richie was doing excellent in school. He had just concluded ss2. I had his room set up upstairs and the other room was transformed into his game room. Richard once suggested that I was over pampering him but I didn't care. He was a good boy and he deserved all the care in this world. He had made friends already. The best among them were 2, a girl named Nana whom he told me was fortunate to be in their school on scholarship and the other was Roy, the only son of senator Abraham. I met them a couple of times. Nana was a beautiful smart girl. She was decent and respectful. I was happy Richie had her as a friend and from all indication he was having a crush on her. Roy on the other hand was spoilt and dull in school, I feared he might be a bad influence on Richie but I still let them hang out hoping that Richie's good traits would influence Roy instead.
It was 10th December, a week to Richie's birthday when we heard from Blessing again, through a lawyer. Prior to that, Richie had stopped asking about her and he didn't try to establish contact, not that I knew of. I was planning the biggest, most amazing birthday party a teenage boy would ever want. I wanted to make Richie happy.
The lawyer came to the office and served Richard and I a subpoena requiring our presence in court. The proceeding was to hold on 13th December. I was afraid it'll affect Richie's party. I contacted Tony, much to Richard's discontent and decided to hire him as our lawyer. The custody battle began on the 13th.