Chapter 2 Life As Mrs. Balogun

The morning sun was on the cusp of rising, promising a beautiful day. Only Susanne competed with its beauty. She arrived at the serene mansion on the outskirts of her matrimonial home at Maitama, Abuja. Susanne zoomed through the white automatic gates and parked her black Highlander in the parking lot.

With a sense of anticipation, she unbuckled her seatbelts. Suzanne stepped out of her car with a rich leathery purse at hand, allowing the chilly morning air to embrace her. A diamond pin-earrings on her gave her a glimmer of royalty. The security officer bowed as she walked into the Balogun's mansion. The palatial interior was equally breathtaking, with white-tiled walls, glass ceilings, and glass floors.

The moment Suzanne furthered into the building, she was welcomed by Musimbi, an elderly maid who struggled her way from Kenya to Nigeria at a very young age. She worked with the Balogun Family for forty years and had been good at her cleaning and caregiving job. Musimbi collected Suzanne's handbag with a bow and hurried upstairs into her boss's room.

Scurrying into the first living room, a girl broke the silence in a crop top and ragged-jean bum shorts. Susanne's eyes caught Crystabelle Balogun, the twenty-year-old sister of her husband, Micheal Balogun. Her legs crossed on the glass stool with designed golden stands. Her gaze focused on the fancy palm top in her hands as she played a candy-crush game.

"Cryst!" Susanne called on her pet name, but she turned a deaf ear because of the game she was playing.

Susanne walked up to her, a little pestered. "Can't you stop parking your car at my spot? Can't you be more understanding?"

"You'll agree that this is my house too, sister-in-law. My father built this house and gifted it to my brother... So, you're privileged to live with us, wifey!" Crystabelle replied to her in a flat tone, still focused on the game.

"Miss Cryst!" Musimbi, the maid who was in her mid-fifties, intervened. "That's no way to talk to your brother's wife." She corrected. Because of her closeness to family, Musimbi treated Crystabelle as a daughter instead of her boss's daughter. But she felt guilt anytime she came up with a suggestion or advice.

"Why do you like interrupting my conversations?" Crystabelle rolled her eyes and hissed at the maid in disgust. "Perhaps I wasn't talking to you. Can you get something done? Please!" she threw her head back and looked up towards the ceiling.

In disappointment, Musimbi held onto her chest and walked to the kitchen, leaving Susanne and Cryst alone.

Once she left, Cryst dropped her palm top on the white leather sofa and walked up to her sister-in-law, who was in a navy blue jumpsuit. "You must be trying so hard to woo my brother. I see you're coming from the gym." she blushed in mockery.

"Am I not allowed to woo my husband?"

"Sure, you are. Why not?" Cryst chortled and leaned into Susanne with her arms on her shoulder. "You see... Once you left, my brother picked up some clothes and took them off with his travelling bag. He told me that he won't be back till the weekend."

"What?" A small gasp escaped Susanne's lips. The hope in her eyes begged Cryst for an urgent reply. "Where did he go again? Did Micheal travel without telling me?"

"No, not outside the country, though. He went to see Camilla Adeleke."

Rage burned in Susanne's chest as she heard the name Camilla. Her stomach suddenly dropped at a feeling of nausea. A stab of hatred for Micheal struck through Susanne. 'How long would I keep being the understanding wife? Just how long? Shouldn't he get over with his ex? For goodness' sake, I am Micheal's wife!'

She swallowed the lump of fear down her throat and shut her eyes for a moment. Tears collected from her eyelashes once she let open her gaze. The fear of murdering one of them haunted her mind but, she abandoned the thought. Susanne almost stumbled as her vision blurred, but Cryst held her firm enough not to fall.

"You try to be the perfect wife for Micheal, yet, he doesn't even see you. No... Not that. He doesn't know that you exist. You know, when you guys first married, I thought your love was pure, real, and non-fictitious. It made me hopeful, but now I wonder why you guys even got married. I mean, you married into our family for our name and fame. And my brother on the other can't, lives in mystery with you by his side. You guys literally can't breathe the same air. As for Camilla, I think she's the real deal." Susanne flinched at Cryst's grip at once.

"How... How long? How long had he left?"

"You should have gotten used to this by now. Micheal never stays home." Cryst nodded at Susanne in self-pity. "If your beauty has faded in Micheal's eyes by now, and he's flirting with his ex... I wonder how he'll treat you when you get pregnant and fat. I mean, there's no love in this marriage, but you're still forcing it and you both promised to stay forever? Oh, jeez!" She tapped her forehead as if pained. "What a life?"

Susanne left the living room abruptly, got into her Highlander, and left the house. At once, her shivering hands turned on her GPS and opened the geolocation app on her phone. It tracked where Micheal was with Camilla. They were having fun on a ship at Jabi Lake.

Pulling over by the gates, Susanne rushed with her sneakers, hitting the tiled road as fast as she could. Thinking about Micheal spending time with his Ex-girlfriend was unbearable. She needed to catch him red-handed. If that happens, she'd take photographs and send them to the media house for publication. There would be a valid reason and evidence for their divorce, and who knows, it might come with compensation for the five years of physical and emotional pains he had put her through.

She kicked a gate open and searched for his ship. Micheal had a special ship at Jabi Lake. He usually uses it for personal use. Three other white yachts stood by his ship at the bank of the late. Some passengers sat in each of them, and Susanne didn't notice. All on her mind was to confront Micheal and his whore.

"Micheal! Where are you?" She screamed out his name, at the top of her lungs. "Micheal!"

Camilla, who was having a nap in the inner room, gazed upwards. She wondered who it was. The area was silent and well-reserved.

"Where the hell are you, cheater? Micheal!" Susanne cried out his name once more.

Micheal stepped up from the inner room only to meet his frustrated wife on his ship.

"Wifey, why are you here?"

"You think I won't find you? You can't hide your ship from me?"

"What are you saying, Susanne?" he frowned at her words.

Her eyes swiftly lifted, and she spun around. "Where is she?"

"Who? Who are you talking about?"

"The bitch you're flirting with on your ship! I know you're in there, so come out!" Susanne demanded.

Camilla, who just woke from the inner room, stepped out. She had a white knee-length dress on. Her makeup was light on her radiant, caramel skin. Her slow steps annoyed Susanne even more. She looked like a mermaid, revealing her pairs of legs for the first time. For goodness' sake, this wasn't a beauty pageant.

In shock, Camilla's blooming lips parted as she walked up to the couple. On her was a pair of creamy pearls of jewellery Susanne instantly envied. They brought out Camilla's magnificence. Susanne bet it would be worth a fortune, but she stuck to her plan of exposing the both of them.

"Who are you?" Camilla asked with raised brows. Micheal never introduced them.

"I'm Mrs. Susanne Balogun, Micheal's beloved wife. And you?" Susanne emphasized, still boiling inside.

"Uh!" Camilla sighed and turned to Micheal with an awkward smile. Micheal gasped and ran his right hand over his head, hazily. He couldn't help but imagine what was playing in his wife's mind.

Camilla briefly shut her eyes and nibbled on her lower lip. Then she turned to Micheal once more.

"Mike, I can't do this right now. Take your wife home, okay? We would meet some other time."

"Whore! Do you still want to meet my husband at my back? Don't you have any shame?"

"Thwack!" She whacked a hot slap across her face.

"Susanne! What was the need for that?" Micheal interjected.

"You're simply crazy, and you need help!" Camilla cursed with hate in her eyes and voice. "I don't want to lay curses on an ignorant woman like you because of the love I have for Micheal!"

"I'm sorry, dear. She's just so-" Micheal pleaded to her as if they were married, and she was the other woman.

"Keep quiet, Mike!" Camilla abruptly cut in. "Let me talk some sense into her a little. Maybe she will break free from this inferiority complex that eating her up!" She spat at Micheal and he held her arm with imploring eyes.

"Despite my suggestion to go to the hotel, you were adamant about meeting here, Mike! You see what you've caused?" Her eyes misted over with pain in her voice. "I've wasted so much time here. Let's meet for business after you've settled all of your family problems, okay?"

About to leave, Susanne grabbed Camilla by her hair to know if was a wig she had on.

"Husband snatcher, where do you think you're going?" It surprised Susanne when it didn't come off initially, so she tightened her grip with her strong fingers.

"Take your hands off her right now!" Micheal demanded, pulling her away from Camilla. "You've done your worst, now go home!"

A door behind them suddenly opened. It was Kanye, Micheal's manager who is also a close friend of his. "What's going on here?"

"You're so vexatious!" Micheal blurted to his wife.

Camilla picked up her diamond-laced purse on a marble table and walked out of the ship.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving for A