Too Precious Episode 20
TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 20
As PB entered the court, her phone rang. It was PY.
“Hi babes, what’s up?”
“My dad just had a stroke”
“A stroke? How come?”
“The details aren’t clear yet but that was what I was told. He can’t walk or talk”
“That’s so sad. Where is he?”
“He is in the hospital in Lagos”
“How is your mum coping?”
“That’s the funny part, she seemed not to be perturbed by the situation. I find that interesting. She asked Allen to take care of his father, she has unfinished business to attend to”
“So sad, are you coming to Lagos to see him?”
“I don’t have a choice although Allen said it isn’t necessary. I might come over the weekend”
“You are pregnant and have to be careful with your condition. Take your time and allow your mother who is a medical doctor and your brother to handle the situation and feed you with a progress report”
“You are right. I will do just that. Will you also help me go over there to find out what exactly is happening?”
“I wouldn’t go today but before the week runs out. Don’t worry, I will follow up later today. I’m in court now”
“Ok. Thank you.”
PB was amazed. She could the fear in PY voice. So, with everything her father did to her, she was still very worried about him. She couldn’t believe it PY would be so concerned about a father who wanted to marry her out to a man who physically assaulted her. A man who refused to accept the man she loved and instead made her husband estranged from his father. She realized it wasn’t easy to give up on someone you love. PY had always been a daddy’s girl.
But she, PB, had given up on Biodun so easily. Did it mean she didn’t love him? She knew she couldn’t be persuaded to forgive him and accept him back. The betrayal was too much for her to bear. She felt played and deceived. She felt like a moron; she should have seen this coming.
She was naturally an observant person and she had said in passing, Biodun’s frequent visit to his father’s house was suspicious and he just shoved it aside. Was she so that careless or trusting that she didn’t investigate further? She didn’t have the gut feeling something was wrong that was why she moved on. Or was she more interested in building herself to be successful that she turned a blind eye?
PB went back to the station after she finished her cases and was certain the petitioner and his lawyers were at the station.
When she joined them, Biodun had been brought out for interrogation. He sat down very confident with his position. He didn’t know what was about to hit him.
As we all sat there, she saw that Biodun was quite confident which worried her a little. What did he have under his sleeves? Why were they still waiting?
As her thoughts were all over the place, the door opened and her grandfather walked in. He took a sit as he was welcomed. PB was perplexed; that wasn’t their agreement. He wasn’t supposed to show his face at all. Why was he here?
Chief Adeoye started with, “I had to leave my sickbed to be here when I received persistent calls from my son-in-law, his family, and my long time friend. My granddaughter was aware I was under the weather and didn’t want to disturb me. We had agreed I would see her this evening. For me to leave my sick bed against the doctor’s advice, I have asked Biodun severally if he had something to hide. He has told me what he was involved in and I think it is something we can easily resolve. But my long time friend has told me I would be in for a shocker. Dipo doesn’t talk anyhow. He takes his time to gather evidence against whoever he challenges. He always wins challenges because he is meticulous. I had to ask Biodun again if there was more than what he has told me and he swore there wasn’t. His father has said I should never forgive him and allow full arm of the law to deal with him if he is indeed guilty. That’s why I am here today. CP (Commissioner of Police) please go ahead”
PB understood what they were playing at. She decided to play along. She listened as the petitioner explained the petition to them. He stated clearly that Biodun had stolen from clients to the tune of N100million promising to privately trade for them and eventually some of them didn’t get their capital back not to mention an increase in investment.
Biodun denied this outrightly. Then the IPO presented Biodun’s statement of account with a bank PB wasn’t aware of. She remembered it was the same account he sent to her when he needed her help to retain his job before she bought her car.
Biodun couldn’t believe they had access to this particular account as it was a secret account. How did they find the account? He wondered as he swallowed hærd. Each of the people who deposited money in his account had made their statement. They transferred money to his personal account for trading with the company which he never did. This was exactly what he wanted to do to PB.
Biodun had also embezzled the firm’s funds. He had been paying back as best as he could when the accountant showed him the discrepancy. That amount wasn’t much as he had made good on most of the missing monies from his personal account he asked unsuspecting clients to pay into.
Biodun couldn’t believe he had been discovered. None of the clients had mentioned to him anything about being interrogated by the police. He had spoken to them before he was arrested and they had confidence in him. The evidence was glaring and damning.
Biodun began to shiver. Chief asked him if it was his account and if the clients that deposited into that account were clients of the firm he worked with.
“They are. But they wanted me to handle their investments. I did it privately for them as agreed. Why is this an issue?”
“Where is the investment you made? We will like to see what was traded and the current value”
Biodun swallowed hærd again. He was speechless. The money trail showed how the monies were utilized. He was done for. How did his boss discover his secret? He knew whatever he said now would further implicate him so he kept mute.
PB couldn’t believe her ears. How did Biodun squander such an amount without her knowing? She didn’t believe it and asked the question. “There is no way Biodun would have stolen N100m and I wouldn’t have known. Please, how did he do it? Are you sure it wasn’t trading that went bad? How is it possible?”
Uncle Dipo, the Managing Direct of the stockbroking firm Biodun worked with replied to her. “I was also naïve to Biodun’s antics. He didn’t change his lifestyle at all. When we discovered it, we had to investigate him thoroughly. It took us almost two months to gather our evidence. Biodun has a block of four flats at Sango. He is building a shopping mall too. I don’t know what his plan was but I suspect he wanted to sell the shops and return the money he collected from investors”
“This is a wise investment. If you had this idea, we would have sourced the money to do it instead of diverting customers’ monies for personal investment. I would have raised the money. How come you never mentioned the four flats you were building and the mall?”
Biodun didn’t respond to me. I looked at his parents, they knew about the four flats but not about the mall. Her question lingered until uncle Dipo decided to answer her.
“Precious, your husband has a family. He has a wife and two children. They have been living with his parents until some months back when he moved them to one of the flats downstairs so he could have private time with them. The girl is pregnant with the third child”
PB couldn’t believe her ears. She asked, “What did you say?”
“Your husband has another wife and two children with one on the way” He handed her an envelope and in the envelope, she saw pictures of the four flats and shopping mall. Then she saw pictures of Biodun with two children and a lady who wouldn’t be more than twenty-two. The next picture showed the lady pregnant.
PB broke down. “Biodun, is this true? This can’t be true; Biodun cannot be this evil. You embezzled money to build a life with another woman and children. I can’t believe this” It was obvious PB world was shattered. Biodun didn’t make any attempt to explain to her or try to console her.
Chief Adeoye finally spoke. “Precious, dry your tears. This revelation is weighty and comes with undeniable evidence. Biodun has made a mockery of you and me. He did this with the aid of his parents. Dipo, as you can see, Precious knew nothing about this. This guy is a smooth criminal. I will advise he be arraigned within forty-eight hours. Precious, you will leave the house for Biodun before he goes to jail. I will move you to a new and better place. If I find out that you as much as said hello to Biodun or his family members, I will disown you. A moving vehicle will be at your house tomorrow to move you out”
“Chief, this is not how issues are resolved. Biodun is as much your son as Precious is your daughter. If Precious had made this mistake, would you have abandoned her here to rot as you intend doing now? He has messed up, please forgive him. You can resolve this issue easily if you want to”
“Comparing my granddaughter to your thieving son is a big slap you have landed on my face. Are we talking about the theft or are we talking about the betrayal? He betrayed my granddaughter and me; he made a fool out of both of us. You, his parents, also joined in betraying my trust. Well, we are no longer interested in the marriage since he has another family”
Biodun’s father replied, “Chief, he got this girl in question pregnant when she was just sixteen years old. She was chased out of her house and we took her in. She isn’t his wife, he hasn’t done anything on her…”
“But she has given birth to one more child while under your roof in the course of his marriage to Precious and even has one on the way. Meanwhile, he refused to go with Precious for a medical checkup because he had always intended not to have children with her. True or false? When we file for a divorce, then we can talk”
Chief stood up and led his granddaughter out of the office. Biodun called out to PB. PB didn’t give him a glance. She just walked right ahead ignoring anyone who attempted to talk to her.
When she got to her vehicle, she collapsed in tears. She couldn’t believe all she heard in there. It was obvious. Biodun was trying to secure a future for himself and his baby mama. He didn’t love her at all; he thought he could get money from her for the same purpose and when it was not forthcoming, he decided to get it from work. How did he think it would play out in the end? He was given that sensitive position because he was married to PB. Why betray her grandfather’s trust?
Tbc