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 related, 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 and composed herself at

the foot of the bed.

“Father loved your mother, Luke, do not trust these people completely. 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 accepted 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’s company. ”

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 claimed he was the last 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 ovulated but never conceived. According 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 place and did not

have good hospitals. My mother and I lived in Neev then, and when we found out what they had come 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 he lavished 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 account and company 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 clause that banned your father from

manipulating 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 play 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 manilla 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 you come 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 she later 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. Aesop launched 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

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

like us. He claimed my mother had come to wreck his marriage. He accused 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 were coming to convince her to leave him.

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

you. When you were two years old, Life in Woodclaw 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 people come to if

they want to escape the stress of a megacity but still have the comfort that comes 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 months later, 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 too late. The cook that prepared the food and the staff that served it were found dead.

They were slaughtered 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 place from existence, he was aggrieved. Neev and

Woodclaw 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.

“How come 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 to come 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 you come 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 a later 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

Woodclaw.

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

“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 to come clean, but this wasn’t the

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