Chapter 2 IRONY OF LIFE

ONYINYE

With every single pair of eyes in the yard locked onto my daughter and me, my body acted on pure survival instinct. Carefully adjusting Somma securely against my left hip with one arm, I brought my free hand against her back in a slow, hollow gesture of applause, trying to break the suffocating silence. I forced a practiced smile onto my face just so everyone would look away and stop pitying us.

"Don't be too comfortable in the arms of a man who openly disgraced his wife!" Agatha barked furiously from beside me, her voice cutting through the heavy air, loud enough for Ogbonna and his teenage lover to hear clearly.

Ogbonna’s jaw tightened. He didn't even hesitate before spitting his response back across the yard.

"She was the first to disgrace me by giving birth to a sick and ugly child," Ogbonna said, his voice cold, harsh, and loud enough to ring through the entire compound.

Of all the cruel things he had done to me, the cold shoulders, moving into the visitor's room, the blatant affair, this was the part that cut the deepest. To call his own daughter sick and ugly tore through me like jagged glass.

"Don't cry, Onyinye. Let us get out of his life right now," Agatha pleaded, grabbing my arm.

I gave her a look that told her without words that I could never just walk away and forfeit my late parents' estate.

Holding Somma close, I turned away from the crowd, pressed my forehead against the cool brick wall of the house, and let tears stream down my face. When I pulled myself together, I slipped indoors and carried Somma upstairs to her bedroom.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, I gently rested my fragile five-year-old on my lap, holding her close against my chest as I rocked her back and forth to soothe her from the party noise outside. Somma rested her forehead against my neck, her tiny hands clutching my fingers.

"Mummy..." she murmured in her raspy voice.

"Mummy is right here, baby," I whispered, holding back my fresh tears. "I will always protect you."

Late that night, long after I had tucked Somma under her blanket and the party downstairs had died down, my bedroom door opened. Ogbonna walked in with cold detachment.

"You don't have to leave the house," he said casually. "Starting today, you can do whatever you want. Be with anyone you want. It is called an open marriage."

He smirked, leaning against the doorframe. "About Nnenna, I will not marry her for reasons you are already aware of, but we are engaged and she will give me a sane, healthy child."

I totally ignored him. There was nothing left to say to a man like Ogbonna. There were no words. But there were a lot of things left to do.

The next morning, I called Agatha to come over early to sit with Somma in her room, she agreed, “that’s alright, today is my free day,” she said and that gave me the window I needed to seek employment anything that brings in money while i wait to complete the fifteen years..

I set out to job hunt. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, regret washed over me. I had depended so much on my family's wealth, but with my inheritance locked away and Ogbonna cutting off extra funds, I needed immediate money to take care of my daughter.

"We do not need you," the HR manager at the first company said flatly, sliding my application back across the desk.

"Oh, we just gave out our last vacancy ten minutes ago," another receptionist told me with a dismissive wave.

The last place I checked was Cedar, the biggest and most prestigious corporation in the city. I sat in the plush office across from a fat, bald manager who skimmed my file with a sneer.

"With a special needs child, you will become a burden to us," he said, shaking his head. "You'll be asking for emergency leaves every week."

Something snapped inside me. The humiliation of yesterday, Ogbonna's harsh words, and now this man bringing up my innocent child triggered a sudden, blinding rage. Before I could stop myself, I leaned across the desk, grabbed him tightly by his silk tie, and pulled him close.

"Next time, just say 'no vacancy' instead of insulting my child!" I yelled right in his face.

Puffed up with anger, he shoved me back so hard I stumbled against the wall. Raising his heavy hand, he swung it back, about to slap me across the face—when a tall, handsome man stepped into the office and grabbed his wrist mid-air with a grip like iron.

The fat manager froze, bowing his head in terror. "Mr. Silas,She attacked me because I told her there was no vacancy!" he lied instantly.

"He's a liar! He insulted my child!" I shouted, defending myself.

The young, powerful-looking man released the manager's arm and turned his sharp, dark eyes on me. He opened his mouth, about to speak, but I was done taking orders from powerful men.

"Oh, don't even think of asking me anything!" I snapped, adjusting my jacket. "Because at this point, I do not need your job!"

With that, I turned on my heel and stormed out of Cedar, my heels clicking loudly against the marble floor.

Driven by desperation, I walked into the neon-lit interior of an upscale club. My mind went back to those secret stripper classes from my high school days. I knew I had the exact skill, posture, and technique to command a stage.

I sat in the manager's dimly lit office. The man behind the desk, Ikem, blew out a puff of smoke. "Ten thousand dollars a night as a base salary," he said coldly. "You have to dance on the pole. All money made on stage belongs to the house, and you cannot stop anyone from touching your body."

At least he didn't insult my child. "I will take it," I said without flinching.

Ikem reached into his desk drawer and placed a cool $10,000 cash advance into my hands. "Consider this an advance. Learn as you go."

I stared at the thick stack of bills. It meant I wouldn't have to beg Ogbonna for a single penny for Somma's medical bills.

Two hours later, I was up on stage under the flashing lights, wearing a delicate mask.

Years of private training kicked in effortlessly, my body swung, arched, and gripped the chrome pole with dangerous, mesmerising precision. The irony of life, those trainings which my parents detested now my life saver,

Men leaned over the velvet ropes, waving money, but I shut my heart into stone.

Then, my eyes drifted toward the dark VIP section on the second floor. Standing by the tinted glass balcony, looking down at me, was that same boss from Cedar—the one I had yelled at before walking out. His intense eyes were fixed completely on my moving body.

Before I could process the shock, Ikem hurried toward the edge of the stage, leaned in close to my ear.

"Mr. Silas wants to be with you tonight."