Her Baby’s Secret

Arike’s POV

My eyes pleaded with Dayo as I held on to his his hands, assuring him that everything would be fine.

“Dayo, I need you to trust me and the lawyers with the truth. We can’t do anything if you choose to remain silent.” I said.

He gave me a doubtful look, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy getting him to spill the truth but we needed whatever truth he knows to get him out of police custody.

“If you truly didn’t commit these crimes then let us prove it to them. And I will do everything I can to get out of here.” I mustered in my most sincere tone.

Adedayo’s face crinkled with hope as he placed his other hand on mine. “Arike..” he pursed his lips.

Tears welled up in my eyes again. “Please.. talk to me Dayo.. please…” my voice trailed off.

I fought the urge to spill it that his child was patiently waiting to see him. He must get out of here to meet our daughter who has longed to meet him. I wish I could tell him about Iteoluwa but this wasn’t the right time to talk about it even though I was desperate to make things up with my child.

Dayo gleamed with sorrow in his eyes. “The truth is that I didn’t do these things on the news. It was Shalewa who tried to hurt herself.” He said in a low tone.

I sniffed, a bit relieved that he was starting to open up. “Why did she try to hurt herself?” I asked.

He lowered his head and sniffled loudly. “Arike…” he paused.

“Yes.. Dayo.. I am listening.” I rubbed his hands gently.

“Shalewa didn’t change even after I saw her cheating on me right before we got married.” He stopped talking again.

I locked our hands, urging him to continue.

“Few months ago, a scandal broke out on the news that she was having an affair with an upcoming actor she was paired with in a movie.”

“Yes.. Dele Balogun, I saw it in one of the articles I read online.” I nodded.

Adedayo shook his head. “Arike, to be honest.. I knew of other men she was meeting but the scandal with Dele Balogun.. I couldn’t take it anymore.” Tears streamed down his face. “Then.. I decided to ask for a divorce.”

I leaned forward. “So everything started because of the divorce?” I asked.

He sniffed. “No.. it wasn’t only the divorce that stirred up all these problems.” He answered.

“What happened?” I asked.

Our gaze met. “I have a son, Jamal and he is just two years old.” Dayo stared intently at me.

I shook my head. “Yes I saw it in the news.” I said, looking away and my gaze drifted to our locked hands.

“But you know what?” Dayo rubbed my hands, causing me to look up at him.

“What?” I muttered.

“I received a message which stated that…” he paused and I watched him take in deep breathe. “Jamal is not my son.” He blurted out.

I lifted up my eyebrows. “What?!” My jaw went slack almost immediately.

He shook his head. “Jamal is not my son.” He repeated.

“But.. how come?” I asked in a surprised tone.

“Well.. I should have known…” his voice trailed off.

The fact that Shalewa was so used to sleeping around, there should be doubt that Jamal was Adedayo’s son. One of the men shalewa has slept with must be the father of Jamal. And it wasn’t hard to figure that the man who messaged Adedayo must be Jamal’s father. How could she do such a thing?!

“I ran a DNA test without Shalewa knowing and the result showed that Jamal is not my child.” He said.

“So who is the father?” I asked, despite knowing that the sender of the message was definitely the father but I wanted to know his identity.

“Do you remember the actor I saw with Shalewa five years ago?” He asked.

“I am not sure…” I muttered.

“That night I came to your apartment, remember I said that Shalewa was seeing the actor she was paired with at that time. You even watched the trailer of the movie.” He said.

I tried to remember and after some seconds it clicked in my head. “Charles Adams?!” I gasped out.

“Yes Charles Adams is the father of my supposed child.” He confirmed.

I closed my eyes, anger stirring within me. I felt Dayo rubbing my hands to calm me from clenching my fists.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“I confronted Shalewa about it but she denied it. So I had to show her the message Charles sent to me and the DNA result.” He said in a low tone.

My face crinkled in bewilderment. “Dayo… if Shalewa only met up with Charles Adams five years ago, how come he is Jamal’s father? I mean Jamal is only two years old.” I said.

“I had the same thought too, but Charles Adams cleared my doubts. He made it known that he and Shalewa didn’t stop seeing each other. He admitted that they have been together for so long whereas Shalewa told me that she doesn’t have anything to do with him anymore.” He had a painful expression on his face.

“This is unbelievable!” I let go of Dayo’s hands. “How could she hide such a big secret from you?!” My raised tone expressed disgust.

“She was trying to bury up the scandal with Dele Balogun when I told her everything I found and asked for a divorce. Shalewa refused and threatened to kill herself if I ever tell anyone that Jamal wasn’t my child.” He explained.

“I can’t believe it that she fooled you to believe that Jamal was your child.” I spat, annoyance clear in my tone.

“When she was pregnant.. she changed a lot. She took a break from acting and only stayed at home. She fooled me to think that she had changed but I should have known Jamal wasn’t my child being that I knew she had other men in her life. But she kept telling me that those scandals are not real, she would always have something to say, a reason for meeting at hotels…. she was just a perfect actress.” Dayo gave a grimaced of pain and disappointment.

Yes! Shalewa did a great job at fooling Adedayo.