The Billionaire's Dirty Secret - S01 E06

Story 2 weeks ago

The Billionaire's Dirty Secret - S01 E06

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 6

Episode 6: The Billionaire's Dirty Secret

Tunde felt the cold air of the basement biting at his skin. It was the coldest place he had ever been in his whole life. Behind him, the glass box held the frozen body of the real Chief Williams. In front of him, the heavy iron door was moving. It was making a very loud noise. It sounded like a giant monster was hungry. The door was closing very fast. Tunde knew that if the door shut all the way, he would never get out. He would be stuck in the dark with the dead man forever. He would turn into a block of ice just like the real Chief. Fear gave him a lot of strength. He did not think about his tired legs anymore. He did not think about the freezing air. He just ran. He ran as fast as a deer running from a lion.

The gap in the door was getting smaller and smaller. It was now only as wide as a small book. Tunde did not stop. He threw his body forward. He tucked his shoulders in and squeezed through the tiny opening. His suit jacket caught on the metal, but he pulled hard and broke free. He landed on the stone floor of the stairs just as the door went bang. The sound was so loud it made his ears ring. He lay there for a minute, breathing very hard. His chest was moving up and down. He could see his breath in the air, but the air out here was getting warmer. He was safe. He was out of the frozen room. But he was not safe from the secret.

Tunde climbed the stairs back to the swimming pool. He moved like a ghost. He made sure the secret door under the deck was closed tight. He looked around to see if anyone was watching. The garden was quiet. The moon was still high and bright. Tunde walked back into the big house. He went to his room and took out the blood-stained shirt he had hidden under his clothes. He looked at it for a long time. He knew he could not keep it. He found a very small space under a loose floorboard in the corner of the room. He pushed the shirt inside and covered it up. He lay down on the bed, but he did not close his eyes. He knew he was in great danger. He knew the people who killed the Chief were very close to him. But he also knew something else. He was the Chief now. For as long as he had this face, he had power. He decided that he would use this power to do some good while he was still alive.

The next morning, Tunde did not wake up feeling like a beggar. He woke up feeling like a man with a plan. He walked down the stairs with a strong step. He did not hide from the servants. Instead, he looked at them. He saw a young maid scrubbing the floor. Her back was bent, and she looked very tired. She had been working since the sun came up. Tunde stopped and told her to stand up. The girl was very afraid. She thought she was in trouble. Tunde smiled a kind smile. He told her that she worked very hard. He told her that she and all the other servants should take a full day off. He told them to go home and rest with their families. The servants could not believe it. They looked at each other with wide eyes. The real Chief Williams never gave anyone a day off. The real Chief only shouted and told them to work harder. They began to whisper. They said that the Chief had finally found a heart.

Tunde did not stop there. He went outside to the front gate. The sun was very hot. It felt like a fire in the sky. The gatekeepers were standing there in the heat. They had been standing there for many hours. Tunde looked at their feet. Their boots were old and had many holes. Their toes were touching the hot ground. Tunde felt very sad for them. He remembered when he had no shoes at all. He called his driver and gave him a lot of money. He told the driver to go to the best shop in the city. He told him to buy high-quality boots for every gatekeeper and every guard. He wanted the boots to be strong and soft inside. When the driver came back with the boots, the gatekeepers were so happy. They put on the new boots and danced a little bit. They felt like kings. They thanked Tunde over and over again. Tunde felt happy too. It was the first time he felt good in this big house.

Later that afternoon, Tunde went into the garden. He saw the youngest wife, Amina. She was sitting by the fountain. She was looking at the water, and she still looked very sad. Her face was like a beautiful painting of a lonely person. Tunde wanted to see her smile. He looked around and saw a very beautiful red flower. It was bright and smelled like sweet honey. He picked the flower carefully. He walked over to Amina and held it out to her. He did not say anything fancy. He just said that the flower was as beautiful as she was. Amina looked up. She was surprised. She took the flower with a shaking hand. She looked at the red petals and then she looked at Tunde. For the first time in many years, a small smile grew on her face. It was like the sun coming out from behind a dark cloud. She looked very pretty when she smiled. Tunde felt a warm feeling in his chest. He knew he was making a difference.

The servants and the guards were all talking now. They were telling stories about the new Chief. They said he was kind. They said he was generous. They said he was not like the man he used to be. They liked this version of the Chief much better. But not everyone in the house was happy. While Tunde was being kind, someone was watching him. The first wife was standing on the high balcony. She was the tall woman who never smiled. She wore a dress as black as the night. She stood very still, like a statue made of dark wood. She watched Tunde from the balcony as he walked through the garden. Her eyes were very small and very sharp. She was narrowing her eyes with much suspicion.

The first wife remembered the real Chief Williams very well. She had been married to him for a long time. She knew him better than anyone. She knew that the real Chief was a very mean man. He was a man who loved his money more than people. He never gave anything away for free. He never gave the servants a day off. He never bought boots for the guards. He certainly never gave flowers to his wives. To the real Chief, a flower was a waste of time. The real Chief only cared about power and gold. The man down in the garden was acting like a different person. He was acting like a man with a kind soul. And the first wife knew that a kind soul did not belong in the body of Chief Williams.

She felt a cold feeling in her heart. She was not happy about the boots or the day off. She was angry. She felt like someone was playing a trick on her. She turned away from the balcony and walked back into the house. Her long dress made a hissing sound on the floor. She saw her eldest son sitting in the living room. He was a tall man who looked just like the real Chief. He was busy looking at his phone, thinking about how to spend more money. The first wife walked up to him. She leaned down and grabbed his shoulder. Her fingers felt like cold claws.

The son looked up. He was surprised to see his mother looking so serious. He asked her what was wrong. The first wife did not look away. She kept her eyes on the door where Tunde would soon enter. She leaned close to her son's ear. She spoke in a very low voice. It was a voice that was full of danger. She whispered to her eldest son, "That man is not your father." The son froze. He looked at his mother with big eyes. The air in the room suddenly felt very heavy and very scary. The first wife knew the truth, and now the secret was beginning to spread like a fire in a dry field.

Tunde was still in the garden. He was enjoying the smell of the flowers and the sound of the birds. He did not know that his cover was blown. He did not know that the woman with the cold eyes was planning to destroy him. He felt like he had done a good thing, but in this house, a good thing could be a very dangerous thing. The sun was starting to set, and the shadows were getting long again. The mansion was full of eyes, and all of them were starting to see the truth. The poor man from the dusty road was standing in the middle of a war, and he did not even know it yet. The real secret was not just about the dead man in the basement. The secret was that Tunde was no longer alone in his lie.

The first wife watched her son. She wanted to see if he understood. She wanted to know if he was ready to do what was necessary. The son looked toward the garden where Tunde was. He looked back at his mother. The silence between them was very long. It was the kind of silence that happens before a big storm. Tunde had tried to change the rules, but he forgot that some people like the old rules. Some people like being mean. Some people like the power that comes from fear. And the first wife was the queen of those people. She was ready to fight for her house, and she did not care who she had to hurt to do it. The game was changing, and Tunde was about to find out that being a king is much harder than being a beggar.

Do you think the eldest son will believe his mother, or will he side with the "new" kind father?

What will the first wife do next to prove that Tunde is an impostor?

Now that Tunde has made the servants happy, will they help him when he is in trouble?

Should Tunde have stayed mean to keep his secret safe, or was he right to be kind?