Money, Fame and Love VII

The story so far – Yaw Mensah is a ruthless and wealthy businessman who has done more than a few crazy things in the past. His daughter Angie falls in love with a young lawyer, Derek Orleans. Derek is the son of the late Judge Orleans, who died a few years ago under mysterious circumstances.

Yaw’s woes were nowhere near over. Not when Miss. Abena Brew, his secretary was prowling around and diligently searching for anyone closely related to the late Judge Orleans. Then one day the newspapers made her work so easy. Splashed on the front cover of the Accra City Gossip was a life-size portrait of a young handsome man and Angie. The picture of the couple was so captivating that she couldn’t help but read the little article that followed on who the gentleman was.

She gasped in wonder when she realized that the prince charming on the cover was none other than Derek Orleans, the only son of the late Judge Orleans. At this revelation she could feel her heart skip a beat. She wasn’t out for vindication but justice. For four years she had worked under a merciless, unscrupulous tyrant who in spite of his immense wealth evaded tax and did not even have the right documents to certify some of his possessions. He had basically been running an underhanded network, which the government had condoned because it was   heavily linked to it.

She called Angie on her mobile phone and managed to wheedle out of her the directions to Derek’s house. This was not a meeting that could be conducted over the phone. There was no time to waste. She picked up her bag and made for his house.

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Derek had just returned from playing tennis when she got to his house. He was attired in a white vest that showed off his masculine physique and a pair of white shorts. A white towel was draped round his neck. Under normal circumstances Abena would have been attracted but not today.

‘Hi’ she said stretching out her hand to him. They shook hands warmly like old friends.

`You look quite familiar’ he said trying to remember where they had met before.

It was at Mr. Mensah’s last birthday party’ Abena said helping him out.

‘0h yes, I do remember now’ he said.

`I wonder what brings you here’.

Abena drew out the letter from her purse. I have a letter here you may be interested in she said to him and handed the letter over to him. Derek stared at her quizzically and opened the letter. He was so stunned by the first few lines of the story that Abena could see the colour drain from his cheek. As he read it the second time his hands were shaking so much that the letter fell to the floor and he even felt too faint to pick it up. The letter he had just read had informed him that the father of his girlfriend was the one responsible for the death of his father. What a shock!

I think I would like to leave’ Abena said and headed for the door. Derek was still reeling from the discovery such that he couldn’t respond to her. She left as suddenly as she had entered leaving a very shocked, confused and sad man behind. He knew he had to verify the contents of the letter first before taking any decisions concerning it.

He raced outside, jumped into his car and floored the accelerator so that his car almost flew down the road. He wished he could act in a more controlled way but the adrenaline that had seeped into his veins now controlled him and restricted his brain to the periphery. All the same, he got to Angie’s nieghbourhood in one piece. He parked his car two houses away, got down and walked to Yaw’s villa. He pressed the doorbell and tapped his foot lightly on the pavement. Angie came out to open the door and threw her arms around him.

The story has gotten to a climax. What do you think would happen next? Would love prevail in the relationship between Derek and Angie? Make a date with the creative corner next week to discover what happens next.