I felt foolish and I felt hurt as each tear ran down my cheeks. Foolish for being oblivious of their schemes for months. Hurt for the reality of their betrayal. All I could think of was 'why'?
"Uncle, Harriet, why?" I asked amidst distress.
They remained silent.
"Tell me, please. Oh please tell me why you both decided to kill me. You owe it to me." It was almost impossible to formulate words in my turmoil.
"It was all for the best Chiké." You know how hilarious it was whenever he pronounced my name in his super weird accent? Well, now hearing him call me, made me feel sick to my stomach. I chose to let him speak instead.
"You and your family took everything from me. My father knew I was more capable of running the business yet he handed it over to my younger brother and left me with peanuts." my Uncle spat out in so much hatred. I had never seen this side of him before.
"And after supporting my brother after dad died, he had the guts to tell me he was going to will the business all to you. He chose you, a nobody he picked up from the streets of Malaysia and adopted as his kid. You, who had no pint sized blood related to the McAdams family. You, an African, a black man, to rule over our business, the one I had sweated and bled over. Impossible!" my uncle was a racist? Who would have thought he hated me for the colour of my skin? For my race?
"So I had to go for plan B since he wouldn't change his mind. I begged Janelle, my sister in law, to persuade him into making me the sole CEO of the business and perhaps, give you the post of a manager or something substantial. It was the most I could do but then she refused. She had stars in her eyes whenever you or her husband were concerned and so she she resisted my plea."
"I opted on plan C which was my only shot at getting what I deserved. Harriet and I have been dating long before she was hired as your nanny." he grabbed her hand and placed a subtle kiss on it. "This woman right here fought so hard with me, she deserves to be by my side forever." he kissed her on her cheek this time, making her swoon over him. Yuck!
If he hated me for my skin colour, how then was he capable of loving a woman who shared the same skin and race as I did? I reasoned, keeping my thoughts to myself.
"Harriet helped with the herbal poison which she gave both my brother and his wife daily for three solid years. It was a slow but highly effective substance that would deteriorate one's system until it permanently destroyed it and the good thing about it was, it was rarely detectable, being able to hide in the blood and veins without a trace. Oh bless you, my sweet Harriet!"
Oh God, No!! He killed my parents! They both did. Swiftly, I ran to him and held him by the throat just so I could strangle him. Oh why had he decided to kill my innocent and compassionate parents? I wanted to choke him until he had nothing left of his miserable life. I had nearly reached my goal of cutting short his life when I felt hands dragging me back.
No, leave me alone so I can kill this bastard!
But they wouldn't listen. The astonishingly strong and brave doctors, successfully pulled me away from Gerald while he coughed, all red and deathly pale. When he recovered, he straightened his tie and grinned wickedly at me. I cursed under my breath and lunged for him again but the doctors restrained me, threatening to inject me with a sedative if I didn't behave.
"Where was I? "the bastard had the courage to speak."Oh I know now! I watched my brother and his wife degenerate until they eventually died and then I thought my time had finally come. However, my evil but extremely smart brother, I'll give him that title, had already written his will long before he passed on. Precisely when he had begun to notice the symptoms of his poor health. My heart shattered when his private Lawyer recited his will, informing us that Gabriel, my brother, had willed all his possessions including the family business to his adopted son. It was the worst day of my life! No heartbreak felt as worse as it did."
"And then you stepped in, acting all high and mighty like you knew the core mission of the business. I decided to train you because I never wanted it all to crash. On many occasions, I rose the suggestion that I should take over so you could invest your time in something else. Perhaps, clubbing and vacations for the rest of your life but you chose to remain in the business as the head of the company worldwide. You dug your own grave!" he chortled cynically.
"Did you expect me to back down when my dad trusted me with spearheading the company? He believed in me! He knew I had the full capacity to run the business and so he entrusted it all to me." I barked at him, feeling a surge of different emotions; Anger, sadness, pain, bitterness.
From my peripheral vision, I saw Alexa recording our conversation at the far back. It was an audio phone recording app. She was a Genius indeed! Now, all I had to do was keep talking, anything to distract him to spill all the beans.
"Did you try to kill me the same way you killed my parents? Did you use the same poison?" I asked in hope that he'd confess more.
He laughed the more. This time, Harriet joined him and they both cackled like hyenas surrounding their prey.
"Of course! We began poisoning you two years ago." Geez! I couldn't believe what I just heard! Their new scheme of which I was the target had commenced two years ago? Holy shit!
"Harriet darling, tell him how smooth our plans had been." he encouraged his partner in crime and she all but jumped into explanation like she had longed for this opportunity all her life.
"My ancestors from my hometown in Senegal were professional herbal doctors who knew every plant by name. I grew up learning from my parents each herb and what it could do. Some were to heal and others were purely deathly substances. When my boyfriend at the time, Gerald, told me about his brother's succession over a company he hard worked so hard for, I felt sympathetic to his plight because I believed he deserved better. Therefore, I utilized one of my step father's native herbs which was one of the most toxic herbs in the whole of my country, Senegal, to kill your parents."
"We had to delay yours so it wouldn't arouse suspicions from the Press and Federal Authorities." she continued. "Each day, I would put a dose of it into whatever drink you had for breakfast lunch and dinner and I watched you drink them all to my satisfaction, waiting until the poison took its effect." she all but winked at me. "At last, the symptoms surfaced and I enjoyed watching you suffer the same way your parents did."
"Oh yes! You ignored the symptoms until you had emaciated and became a poor replica of your old self. It was after that, you decided to visit the hospital to get tested. Gerald had to accompany you to do the needful, just in case the doctors detected anything. Unfortunately they did, but we were ten times faster! Gerald swapped your test results with someone else's, the poor fellow! We were quite content seeing you treat yourself of the wrong ailment but we had to continue with our objective and so we both kept poisoning you until now." she ended her confession and was rewarded with a sound kiss from her devil of a partner and lover.
Shit! They had truly wrecked the lives of my parents and mine. Nevertheless, it all felt so surreal, so unbelievable that these two were capable of doing this. It hurt badly, however, I was certain we had enough evidence to ruin the rest of their lives.
"You may think you're smart but we're still a step ahead of you!" I challenged them, nodding at Alexa who was still recording it all.
My Uncle paced egotistically, with such superiority like he was a god.
"Are you sure you do? Because I can smell the tremor of your hearts." he pointed his finger at all of us and did the unthinkable.
Like the wind, he bustled down to Alexa's position, grabbed her phone which she has been using to record, ran to the window and flung it out to crash at about fifty feet to the ground outside the hospital. I wasn't even sure what floor of the hospital we were in, seeing as I had woken up and found myself here.
Alexa and Samira both screamed in terror while I fell to the ground over the fact that I had lost my shot of evidence. How would I testify against them without solid evidence? Our reactions fueled his excitement. He gave a malicious laugh and gazed at all of us.
"Look here boy, I will always be ten steps ahead of you! Did you think that I wouldn't know your dumb Assistant had been busy recording everything?" he spat. "You have no evidence against us! Now, my fiancée and I will be leaving you all for now." he grabbed Harriet's hand and turned to leave.
"I already discussed with the board of directors and shareholders. I have mentioned your case of cancer to them and how unstable my dear nephew is." He laughed while they both walked to the door. "They've all agreed to sell their shares to me and make me the sole head and forerunner of McAdams International. My dream has finally come true! You see Chiké, I truly have laughed last and I have laughed best!"
He paused and threatened us all, "If any of my words leave this room, I swear I'll kill each and everyone of you and your families, including you, doctors! I mean what I'm saying. I will destroy anyone who comes in my way!"
He twisted the door knob, opened the door to exit but three figures in uniform stood as a blockage to hinder his mission of leaving.
The police!
"Surprise!" the middle man chanted with a sarcastic wave of his hand. Both traitors stopped short and looked back at me.
"Oh officers, you're her? Oh nice! We were just about leaving to see to getting the necessary drugs for my boss that the hardworking doctors have prescribed!" Harriet announced, lying through gritted teeth like a pro that she was! Gerald—I couldn't even call him my uncle anymore. He never deserved the title—nodded, an innocent smile implanted on his face.
"Not so fast!" the officer by the right said, the same time the other two brought out handcuffs from behind them.
"Both of you are under arrest! I admonish that you remain silent as anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law!" the officer by the left commanded.
Shock registered on Harriet and Gerald's faces, however, they recovered quickly, feigning innocence.
"You must be mistaken! I am the Uncle of the patient and this is his Chef who's more like a mother to him." he tried to use our family relationship as a bait to escape.
I wanted to speak up but then there was no evidence to back me up and the rest of the persons in the room were innocent. Understanding how malevolent my uncle was, I couldn't put their lives at risk.
"Say no more Mr McAdams." the calmer doctor snapped at my Uncle. "You aren't so smart after all. We've been filming every scene unfold using the undetectable camera the FBI gave us," he motioned to a corner and our eyes followed him. Indeed the camera was unnoticeable. "and these cool earpieces connected to our ears, they also gave so they could listen to every word spoken." They brought out tiny gadgets from their ears, in awe of the technology.
Turning to me, the middle policeman said, "Sir, the FBI and CIA have surrounded the hospital, and are aware of all incidents that transpired in this room since you were placed in after your surgery. We have enough evidence to lock them both in jail, for life." I didn't know I was holding my breath until I released a deep, ragged sigh.
"Thank you so much officers. Please take them away!" I instructed and they handcuffed Gerald and Harriet who were still suffering from the aftershock of being out smarted.
They dragged both out, shutting the door behind them. Samira ran over to hug me in my kneeling position, crying and telling me it was over. I held onto her as I stood to my feet. She was still in my arms as Alexa came over, hands quivering from the aftereffects of fright. I pulled her in for a quick hug which she accepted, still surprised.
"You did a great job today, Alexa! I'm so proud to have you as My PA. In fact, I'm considering making you a shareholder of five percent of McAdams International. What do you say?" I enquired with a bright smile, the first since the ordeal commenced.
"Oh my God! That is so amazing sir! However, right now, I'm focused on seeing you recover mentally and physically. That's all that matters right now, Sir." She replied wisely.
"Well said! Thank you once again." she nodded and moved aside as both doctors marched up to me.
"We're still sorry over everything sir! If there's any way the hospital can render assistance to you, please let us know." The other doctor expressed, stretching forth his hands to shake mine. I reciprocated.
The calmer doctor, shook me as well, stating, "It's over, Sir! They'll never be able to hurt you again!" I nodded in agreement.
Indeed, it was all over!