The Billionaire's Dirty Secret - S01 E03

Story 2 weeks ago

The Billionaire's Dirty Secret - S01 E03

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 3

Episode 3: The Billionaire's Dirty Secret

The next morning came very early for Tunde. The sun was just beginning to peek through the tall, blue silk curtains. The light was soft and golden. It danced on the gold clocks that were still ticking on the walls. Tunde lay in the huge, soft bed for a long time. He did not want to get up. He felt like a small mouse hiding in a very big house. He knew that today would be even harder than yesterday. Yesterday, he only had to talk to the men in the black suits. Today, he had to meet the family of the real Chief Williams. His heart started to beat very fast again. He was very afraid. He was afraid that the family would look at his face and know he was not the real Chief. He was afraid they would see the poor man from the dusty road.

Soon, the bedroom door opened. The man with the small scar near his eye walked in. He was carrying a very expensive suit. This suit was dark gray and felt like smooth water. The man told Tunde to wash his face and put on the suit. He told Tunde to look strong. He told Tunde to keep his mouth shut as much as possible. Tunde did what he was told. He washed his face in a bathroom that was bigger than his old hut. He put on the dark gray suit. He looked in the big mirror. He looked like a billionaire, but he felt like a prisoner. He followed the man with the scar out of the room. They walked down a very long hallway with many pictures on the walls. Finally, they reached a very big door. The man with the scar opened it and signaled for Tunde to enter.

Tunde walked into the dining room. It was the most beautiful room he had ever seen. There was a very long table made of dark, shining wood. On the table, there were many plates of food. There was fresh fruit, hot bread, eggs, and juice. But Tunde was not looking at the food. He was looking at the people sitting around the table. There were three women sitting there. The man with the scar whispered in his ear. He told Tunde that these were the three wives of Chief Williams. Tunde felt his knees shaking. He sat down at the head of the long table. He tried to keep his hands still, but it was very hard.

The first wife was sitting to his right. She was a very tall woman. She wore a dress that was the color of a dark forest. She had many gold necklaces around her neck. Her face was very long and very serious. Tunde looked at her, but she did not smile. She never smiled. Her eyes were very cold. They looked like two cold stones at the bottom of a river. She looked at Tunde with a look that was very sharp. It felt like she was trying to cut through his skin to see his secrets. She did not say "Good morning, my love." She just watched him. She watched how he moved his fork. She watched how he breathed. Tunde felt like he was being hunted by a big bird of prey.

The second wife was sitting to his left. She was very different from the first wife. She was wearing a bright pink dress. She had big diamonds on her fingers and big diamonds in her ears. She was not quiet. She talked very fast and very loud. She did not talk about how much she missed the Chief. She only talked about the things she wanted to buy. She talked about a new pair of shoes from a city called Paris. She talked about a big diamond ring she saw in a magazine. She looked at Tunde and asked for more money. She said her bank account was getting low. She said a billionaire’s wife should not have to wear the same shoes twice. She did not care about Tunde. She only cared about the gold on his fingers and the money in his vault.

The third wife was sitting at the far end of the table. Her name was Amina. She was the youngest wife. She was very, very beautiful. She had a face that was as soft as a flower. She wore a simple white dress. She had a kind face, but she looked very sad. Her eyes were full of tears that did not fall. She did not look at the diamonds of the second wife. She did not look at the cold face of the first wife. She looked at Tunde with a look that was very gentle. But she did not speak. She just sat there and picked at her food. She looked like her heart was broken into a million pieces. Tunde felt sorry for her. He wondered if she was the only one who actually missed the real Chief.

As Tunde sat there, trying to eat a piece of bread, the room became very loud. The wives began to argue. They were not arguing about who would go to look for the missing Chief. They were arguing about who would get the Chief’s money. The first wife said she should have the most money because she was the eldest. She said she owned the big houses and the land. The second wife started to scream. She said she needed the money more because she had a high lifestyle to maintain. She said she wanted the Chief to sign a paper to give her more millions of naira. They were shouting and pointing their fingers at each other. It was a very ugly sight.

Suddenly, the door opened again. A group of children ran into the room. They were the children of Chief Williams. But they were not crying for their father. They were not asking where he had gone. They were shouting just like their mothers. One of the sons, who looked about twenty years old, walked up to the table. He hit the table with his hand. He told Tunde that he wanted his inheritance right now. He said he wanted a new sports car and a house in London. The other children started to shout too. They all wanted money. They all wanted things. The dining room was full of noise and anger.

Tunde sat there in silence. He felt a very heavy weight in his chest. He looked at the rich food on the table. He looked at the gold on the walls. He looked at the expensive clothes the family was wearing. Then he thought about the real Chief Williams. The real Chief was a very powerful man. He was a billionaire. He had everything that money could buy. But as Tunde watched the family fight, he realized a very sad truth. Nobody in this big, beautiful mansion actually loved the real Chief Williams. His wives did not love him. His children did not love him. They only loved his bank account. They were like hungry animals waiting for a piece of meat. To them, the Chief was just a pile of money. If he was dead or alive, they did not care, as long as the money kept coming.

Tunde felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He was a poor man from the dusty road. He had no money. He had no gold. He had no big house. But he remembered his friends on the street. He remembered how they would share a small piece of bread with him. He remembered how they would talk and laugh even when they were hungry. They loved each other because they were human beings. But here, in this house of gold, there was no love. There was only greed. The air in the room felt very thick and hard to breathe. Tunde felt like he was suffocating. He wanted to get away from the shouting. He wanted to go back to a place where people were kind.

He pushed his chair back from the table. The sound of the chair on the floor was very loud, but the family was shouting so much they did not even notice. Tunde stood up slowly. He wanted to leave the room. He wanted to find a quiet place to think. He felt like his head was going to explode from the noise. He started to walk toward the door. He tried to move quietly so the wives would not see him. He was almost at the door. He could feel the cool air from the hallway. He thought he was going to make it.

But just as he reached for the door handle, a hand grabbed his arm. It was a very strong grip. The fingers were long and thin, like the claws of a bird. Tunde stopped. He felt a chill go down his back. He turned his head very slowly. It was the first wife. She had moved very fast. She was standing right behind him. She was much taller than him when she stood up. She did not look angry like the second wife. She looked very calm, which was even scarier. She leaned in close to his face. Her eyes were still like cold stones. Tunde could smell her expensive perfume, but it did not smell sweet to him. It smelled like danger.

The first wife leaned down and whispered into his ear. Her voice was very low and very sharp. It sounded like the hiss of a snake in the grass. She said, "You are acting very strange today, husband."

Tunde’s heart stopped for a second. He could not breathe. He looked into her cold eyes and saw that she was watching him very closely. She did not let go of his arm. Her grip became even tighter. The room suddenly became very quiet. The other wives and the children stopped shouting. They all turned their heads to look at Tunde and the first wife. The silence was even worse than the noise. Tunde felt like the whole world was looking at him. He felt like the mask was falling off his face. Did she know? Did she see that he was not the Chief? Tunde stood there, frozen, with the first wife’s hand tight on his arm, wondering if this was the moment his secret would be found out.

Do you think the first wife already knows that Tunde is not the real Chief Williams?

Why do you think Amina, the youngest wife, looks so sad compared to the others?

If you found out that your family only loved you for your money, what would you do?

What do you think Tunde should say to the first wife to make her believe he is really her husband?