Chapter 77


    77 What Happened in Neev


    Luke.


    “Are we family?” was the first question that escaped my lips, and Ummul nodded and looked at her


    daughter. She sighed and seemed reluctant to speak but then decided to do so. Ummul held my hand


    tightly and pleaded with me to sit next to her. Mike brought me a chair, and I sat beside her, still holding


    my hands.


    “My mother is your grandmother’s younger sister. It is your grandfather that is from Eastwood. Your


    grandmother is from Neev. That is where you get your thick dark hair and beard from,” Amirah said, and I


    was surprised at her words


    “If we are rted, why was your mother my mother’s maid?” I asked, and Amirah got angry.


    “That is a big lie. When your mother gave birth to you, we had to go and care for both of you. It is our


    tradition in Neev. If her mother was alive, it would be your grandmother that would go instead. My mother


    isn’t a servant,” Amirah growled, and I was surprised.


    “I can’t believe you are my family,” I said, and she nodded.


    “Then why did you abandon me when my mother died. Did you know the horror I went through in Stacy’s


    hands ?” I asked Ummul, and tears began to fall from her eyes again.


    “It was beyond our capacity to request for you at the time your mother passed away,” Amirah said, and


    Ummul shook her head, and she stopped talking.


    “I am here to know the truth. I want to know what happened to my mother and why you never reached


    out if we are family,” I retorted, and Caleb linked me to calm down.


    Ummul made some signs with her hand, and her lips quivered with anger.


    “Your father is an idiot and a fool for keeping you away from us,” Ummul said andposed herself at


    the foot of the bed.


    “Father loved your mother, Luke, do not trust these peoplepletely. Besides, you do not know. Maybe


    they still have a vendetta against him. You have to be careful,” Caleb linked me, and I told him not to


    worry.


    Ummul nodded to Amirah, and she sighed. “I do not care if you believe what we are about to tell you, but


    that is our truth,” She said, and I was attentive.


    “Chloe and your father met in Neev while on vacation. My aunt, who is your grandmother, did not want


    their union, but your mother was adamant that she loved him. We knew the Moons had fallen on hard


    times financially then, and we suspected Aesop was only after Chloe because she was a Renshaw.


    Renshaws owned the Eastwood pack, and your mother was the next in line for the Alpha position. She


    was a powerful one too. She was smitten by Aesop, and they eloped. The Renshaws were angry but


    soon epted because the Moon bloodline was the most prestigious. Their union made it possible for


    the Moons to take over Eastwood and Aesop to take over Diamond Corp, Luke Renshaw’spany. ”


    she said, and I raised my eyebrow.


    “Yes, you were named after your grandfather. Alpha Luke was sick around that time and your


    grandmother had passed away, so he could not do much about it, but he said he did not doubt


    Aesop’s love for Chloe, and because of that, he let them be. The marriage flourished, but Chloe was


    finding it difficult to conceive, and Aesop began to put her under pressure for a baby,” she said and


    paused.


    “You see, your mother wasn’t a happy woman. Your father loved her but made her life hell when she


    couldn’t give him an heir. He imed he was thest of his bloodline, and the Moon bloodline needed to


    continue. After five years of trying, Chloe gave up and told Aesop to get a surrogate that would carry


    their child because she ovted but never conceived. ording to your mother, he was reluctant but


    soon gave in. They did not want anyone to know what they were doing, so they came to Neev to find


    Dome women willing to do the job. They would have gone to Dome, but it wasn’t a safe ce and did not


    have good hospitals. My mother and I lived in Neev then, and when we found out what they hade to


    do, she kicked against it. Chloe did not want it, but Aesop had mounted so much pressure on her that


    she had no choice but to suggest it. When they arrived, he used that opportunity to cheat and started


    sleeping with loose women. They were supposed to get a surrogate, not a mistress. By then, Aesop had


    lots of women from Dome that he was dating, and hevished them with gifts. My cousin’s money,”


    Amirah snarled. I did not like where the story was going, but I braced myself for it.


    “When Chloe found out, she got angry and threatened to divorce him. He apologised, and they returned


    to the Dome, but their marriage had deteriorated. She was ready to leave him but found out she was


    pregnant. My mother told her to leave the man, but she refused. She did not want her child to grow up in


    a broken home. So she stayed on. When she found out she was having a boy, she changed the name on


    her ount andpany shares to Luke Moon. She said she wanted to name her son after her father


    so her father’s name would not die. She also wrote a will with a strict use that banned your father from


    manipting the shares, either from sales or transfer. If anything happened to her, he was to only take


    care of the assets until you were of age,” she said, and I knew she was telling the truth because that was


    what was stated in my mother’s will and testament.


    “To ensure there was no foul y because she no longer trusted her husband, she made copies and


    gave the will to three trusted people. One of which was my mother,” she said and went to open the


    cupboard. She bought out an old mani envelope and handed it to me. It had my mother’s signature on


    it, and it was sealed.


    “That was my mother’s copy. Her instructions were clear. She said if anything happened to her, we


    should take you from your father and help you manage the asset until youe of age. ” Amirah said,


    and I frowned.


    “Why did she say that? Was she anticipating that something would happen to her?” I asked her, and she


    nodded. “Your mother was receiving death threats from a man she did not know. There was a man that


    called her often to threaten her. If she ever saw the man in person, I am sure she could easily kill him,


    but he was in the shadows. He called her and left warning notes. She first thought Aesop had hired


    someone to kill her, but sheter found out he had nothing to do with it. When she confronted him about


    the women he was screwing, he promised her he had ended it before they left Neev. Aesopunched an


    investigation to find the culprits, but it yielded nothing. By then, Chloe had separated the wealth and


    Aesop was only entitled to allowances for the work he did for Diamond corp. She said he wouldn’t use


    her money to cheat on her. Aesop was okay with her decision and never protested. He maintained that


    he wasn’t seeing anyone, but the trust had been broken. Then she gave birth to you. A strong baby with


    a Key mark, and all was forgiven. Aesop doted on her, and she was his world. My mother went to


    Woodw city to care for you and Chloe. I went with her, and we were treated well, but Aesop did not


    like us. He imed my mother hade to wreck his marriage. He used my mother of convincing


    Chloe to leave him.” she said and sighed.


    “Your father was crazy about your mother. He was obsessed with her. Why he cheated, we would never


    know, but he regretted it, and he was always afraid that we wereing to convince her to leave him.


    That was far from it, of course. My mother was d they had moved on, and she only came to care for


    you. When you were two years old, Life in Woodw City became tedious for your mother, and she sank


    into depression. Aesop did all he could to bring her out of it, but nothing worked. My mother and Aesop


    decided to bring her to Neev


    y life so she could rest and reconnect with her family. You see, Neev is where most peoplee to if


    they want to escape the stress of a megacity but still have thefort thates with development.


    They came here, and your father bought my mother this


    thank her for caring for you for two years. She remained with them in their holiday home while I returned


    to the cottage. That was what saved my life. Your m receive threats from the man again, and she did not


    know why this man hated her so much. She had to go about with protection, and Aesop was confused


    about what to do. He wasn’t seeing anyone and was a good husband by then, so we could not trace the


    threats to anyone We did not understand it. Three monthster, your mother and my mother were served


    food, and they ate. Little did they know it had been poisoned. By the time they found out they had been


    poisoned, it was toote. The cook that prepared the food and the staff that served it were found dead.


    They were ughtered by an intruder or the people they connived with. They rushed our mothers to the


    hospital to save their lives, but Chloe ingested more than my mother. She arrived at the hospital dead.


    My mother survived it, but it damaged nerves, parts of her spine and part of her brain. Which is why she


    can’t speak or walk. Aesop went mad. He believed the Alpha of Neev was behind his predicament, so he


    launched an attack. Aesop almost erased this ce from existence, he was aggrieved. Neev and


    Woodw fought for two years before Aesop decided to move on. We would have taken you from your


    father, but I was young, and my mother was disabled. We did not have the capacity to care for yo leave


    you with your father,” she said, and I knew there was no way they made that story up. Ummul was


    crying, and she made some hand signs at Amirah. Amirah went into the cupboard and bought out a


    photo album. They were not lying. My mother was her niece; I saw Ummul and her sister, my


    grandmother. I saw my mother and Amirah, and I was in shock.


    “Howe my grandmother did not have a Neevian name?” I asked, and Amirah smiled.


    “She did, her name was Rakiyyah, but your grandfather thought it was a handful and changed it to


    Rakelle,” Amirah said, and I shook my head, surprised.


    “Your father has been caring for us since. He begged us toe and live with him in the Moon mansion,


    but he had married that bitch by then. We decided to maintain our distance. The woman wasn’t nice, and


    we knew she would make our lives miserable in the Moon mansion, so we stayed away. Three years


    later Aesop met with us and told us he did not want you to know how your mother died. He made us


    promise never to seek you out and tell you. He promised he would tell you when youe of age and


    introduce us to you. When you turned twenty-one, we were eager, but he never kept that promise. We


    later found out why. We suspected he wanted to hand Eastwood and Diamond corp over to his bitch’s


    son, so I wrote him ater a year ago reminding him of Chloe’s will. I did not care about the Alpha


    position of the Moon family, but I warned him that if he handed Eastwood over to his son and not Luke


    Renshaw’s grandson, the world would know what happened. I also threatened to sue him in court over


    Diamond corp. He did not respond, of course, but I see that he did the needful,” She


    said and turned to Caleb.


    “No offence, Beta Caleb. We know you are innocent in all of this, but this is our truth,” Amirah said, and


    Caleb told her he wasn’t offended. Neither of us was offended. I was shocked. This was a lot of baggage


    to bury. There was no way I was going to Dome to pick up Stacy’s folks. They can find their transport to


    Woodw.


    I looked at my grand aunty, and I felt like a fool.


    Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    “I will like you to be in my life now. My wife is pregnant, and you are my family,” I said, and Ummul


    motioned me to hug her. I leaned close to the old woman and hugged her gently.


    “I promise I will protect you. I promise you.” I said with a shaky voice. I was trying not to cry. I had lived a


    lie most of my life. I knew if they came with me, my father would have toe clean, but this wasn’t the


    time. We had a n, and we had to follow it. I would have to confront my father after the handover.