THE SERIAL MASK BY MORUFAT AJANI CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 THE SERIAL MASK BY MORUFAT AJANI

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

A month later

Badru gets home, knowing Leila will never come out and open the gate for him like Hanan used to. It started when Leila no longer tolerates his excesses, she told him plainly that she’s not Hanan, that he should use his own key, and that she’s not his slave. Badru brings out the gate key from his pocket and opens it. Then he walks inside when he's done.

As he’s about to open the entrance door, he hears a loud giggle from inside. Recognizing the laughter belongs to Leila, he frowns. His face hardens into a deep frown.

Who is she talking to and laughing with like that when I’m struggling with my life? How dare she? Badru thinks,

He opens the door slowly, quietly, and peeps into the sitting room. On the couch, Leila is holding her phone in front. She’s on a video call, giggling.

Rage erupts from the pit of Badru’s stomach. Who on earth is this disrespectful wife talking to and laughing with that way? Haven’t I made myself clear that she mustn’t talk to anyone in my house? Does she have a death wish?

Badru storms forward, ready to snatch the phone and smash it on the floor, but stops in his tracks when he hears a man’s voice through the speaker.

“Won’t your husband hear you? The way you’re laughing out loud like this,” the guy says.

Leila’s voice answers, “Ugh. That fool? He’s not at home. You know he doesn’t come home around this time.”

Badru freezes, his mouth falling open. His breath hitches as a strange cold crawls down his spine. His body starts shaking again, worse than it was when Akin beat him.

And Leila is right. Badru doesn't come home during the day. He’s there today because he forgot his wallet at home this morning.

“I keep telling you to let us meet again already. Since we met that first time, you have been postponing meeting me. It's not even because of anything, it's because I want to use my body to reward you for being so good to me. You’ve been so helpful to me this past week. Please let us meet already. Please.” Leila says to the guy on the phone and Badru's head rings a loud bell.

“Or don't you want to meet me? Do you not like me too?” Leila adds, her mouth curves into a slight smile. And the man laughs out,

Omg. What on earth am I hearing like this? Am I dreaming? She's even the one throwing her body at the guy. A married woman for that matter. Oh God. Badru's heart is beating rapidly.

“No, that's not true. Why won't I want to meet you? It's just that I have been so busy these days. Let's see if I can make it this weekend.” Akin says and Leila nods.

“Okay. I shave my pimpim today. Should I show you?” As Akin wants to talk, Leila continues,

“You don't even need to approve or disapprove. You don't have a say here. Whether you tell me no or yes, I will show you.” Leila says smiling.

Badru’s jaw drops. His head pounds with a sharp, splitting ache. His ears are ringing. He can’t believe what his ears are passing into his brain.

Then he sees Leila adjusting the phone, angling the camera downward to her private part.

“See? I shaved it clean,” she says proudly, smiling.

Badru no longer hears the conversation anymore. The pounding on his head has blocked his hearing. His heart is crashing violently against his ribs. He can’t feel his legs anymore, can’t even feel his skin. He stumbles back to the outside, dragging himself like a soldier escaping a battlefield. He collapses on the floor, trembling.

What did I just see? What in God’s name did I just witness? Leila—laughing and showing her body like a slut to a total stranger on the phone. She's se-xting with another man? Oh my God. Oh my goodness. This is unbelievable.

Badru shakes violently. His chest is tight, his eyes wide. His brain replays the scene again and again.

He actually trusted Leila. Even though she always defies him and has been getting worse these days, he never believed she could really cheat on him.

Hot sweat drips from his forehead, mixing with the pounding headache. He’s broken, torn open, everything inside him crushed. He almost starts crying.

This story has 54 chapters. Get the ebook to beat the suspense and enjoy it at one go..😊

He clenches his fists so hard that pain shoots through his knuckles. His whole body trembles with rage. Suddenly, he starts punching the floor. One blow, two, three. By the third punch, the pain is unbearable so he stops, breathing heavily, his knuckles throbbing so badly. He drags himself up from the ground, contemplating whether he should storm inside now and beat Leila to death, or postpone the evil day? The thought tears at him, burning in his chest. Finally, he settles for the former, walking out instead. He leaves the house, fury still boiling in his veins, and heads straight to the club. There, he drowns himself in alcohol, drinking until he loses all control.

***

Badru returns home at midnight, staggering to work. At that time, Leila is sleeping. Badru tiptoes inside and stands at the bedside. He looks at her for a moment, sets his hand to strangle Leila. He is so about to do it, he is shaking so profusely to the point that he’s breathing heavily but as his hand is about to reach Leila's neck, he stops himself and shakes his head,

No. Calm down, Badru. Try to calm down.

Then he reaches for her phone and takes it carefully.

He sits at the edge of the bed, trying to unlock it. His hands are sweating. The phone screen lights up, asking for a passcode. He types in the password he knew before but it's wrong now. He tries again, still nothing. Which simply means Leila has changed her password. He types all the possible passwords he can think of but none of them works.

A deep anger rises in his chest.

When on earth did he start cheating on me? Before she moved in here or after? Was I even the owner of that rubbish pregnancy that she miscarried that time? His mind is in disarray.

He is this angry and sad this way, not because he cares for Leila or anything but because he feels belittled and small. He sees Leila cheating on him as disrespectful and he is feeling like his skin is ripping apart. He sits down at the edge of the bed and lean his head on the wall.

The next morning, at 7 am, Badru is already dressed. He slept a little bit because he was drunk and woke up by 6 a.m., showered quietly, and dressed up. When he's done, he takes Leila’s phone, steps out of the house and heads straight to Computer Village. He is going to give the phone expert Leila's phone to unlock it for him.

He could have just woken Leila up and tell him to unlock the phone and cause chaos but he decided not to.

Leila is still sleeping sound and didn't hear Badru movement in the house because she slept late because she was watching film till midnight last night and also Badru is practically tiptoeing around the house.

At the computer village, Badru offers the repairman a huge amount of money if he can unlock the phone.

The man nods and gets to work immediately, trying different tools, connecting the phone to a system, typing fast.

Badru is pacing back and forth. His fists clenching and unclenching, his heart racing and his head pounding aggressively. He wipes his sweaty palms on his trousers and keeps glancing at the phone, then at the man, then back at the phone.

Minutes feel like hours.

Then the man looks up and says, “It’s unlocked.”

Badru rushes forward and grabs the phone. His hands are trembling. His chest is rising and falling fast. He taps on WhatsApp and goes straight to the call log. He scrolls to the exact time he caught her making the video call.

The number Leila was video calling was saved as Therapist Akinola Bello.

Seeing that, Badru's head rings a bell loudly as she widens his eyes.

“This guy again? Why on earth does he continue messing with me? When will he stop meddling in my business? Until one of us dies? Why is he doing this to me? Why? Why!!!?

Badru screams inwardly, feeling scared and angry at the same time.

Badru drops a bail of 1000 naira note on the table for the repair man and storms out of the phone repairer shop with fire in his chest. Leila's phone is gripped tight in his hand. He enters his car in a rush and drives off.

The drive to his shop feels longer than usual. His mind is screaming, pulling him in a hundred directions.

Not that he is feeling heartbroken or something, what he is feeling right now is far from that. He is feeling sad because he's being taken for granted yet again. By Leila and Akin. With all the effort he puts on Leila to tame her and make her become submissive to him and be enduring whatever his torture to him, nothing works. Instead, she went astray and went as far as cheating on him. He feels so small as always. He is feeling like he will never be able to overthrow or dominate anyone. His blood is boiling with anger.

As for Akin, he is feeling so pressured by him. The fact that he knows he wasn't dating Leila genuinely but just to mess with him makes him feel so furious and choked by him. He is thinking far and wide on what to do to him, how to handle him brutally.

Getting to the parking lots opposite his shop, Badru steps down and walks to his shop. He looks around and when he sees the goods arrangements that he doesn't like, he slaps one of his apprentices so hard to the point that he falls to the ground.

“Get it done now. And this time, do it properly. Otherwise!” He yells, breathing unevenly and dashes to his inner office. He shuts the door, and locks it behind him. Then he sits down slowly, drops his phone on the table, and brings out Leila’s phone from his pocket.

His heart is pounding as he is tapping the phone to start checking it. Every second feels like it’s dragging knives across his skin. He opens her WhatsApp and goes straight to the call logs.

Seeing the name Therapist Akinola Bello again, Badru stares at the name for a long time with his heart burning.

What on earth will I do to this guy? Why is he like a bone in my throat? Why?

He taps the chat and scrolls down to check their chats so far.

The screen is flooded with long messages, voice notes, photos and videos.

The most recent one says:

Leila: “I couldn’t sleep after our call. Your voice kept ringing in my head and I am so horny. I just can't wait to have something with you.”

Then a photo of her face on a pillow, bare, with a forced smile and tired eyes.

Badru continues scrolling. His whole body is shaking as he reads.

Akinola: “That man doesn’t deserve you.You need to leave that man and make sure you travel out of this country. I can sponsor the traveling.”

Leila: “You keep saying this. Why?.”

Akinola: “Hmmm. Nothing, I just feel he doesn't deserve such beauty like you?”

Leila: “I will leave him and travel only if you will be there with me. Can't you just let us go together?”

Akinola: I will think about it.”

And then Leila sent a voice note: Well, I will go as you want but definitely not now. Badru did me dirty. He took away the most Joyable thing in my life so I won't just leave him like that. I will take revenge on him. That aside, even if you sponsor me abroad, will you continue to pay my bill over there? I guess not. Which is why I am going to get the money from him. I will suck him dry before I leave him. I have been with him since I realized he was a monster because of his money and so will use him more to my advantage.” Akin didn't listen to the voice and hasn't replied.

Badru’s vision blurs with tears and his hands are tightly clenched to the point that he is shaking and feeling pain there. He’s not blinking. His eyes are fixed on the words like they’re burning into his soul. His heart is slamming so loud against his chest it feels like it’s cracking.

She's using me? So I am not the one using her but the other way round? So he doesn't want me either. Just like how Hanan didn't blink when I told her to leave my house. I thought she actually cared about me but she isn't. She isn't staying with me because he can't live without me but because she's using me? She now wants to use me more. Me? How dare you, Leila? How dare you???

He aggressively cleans his tears and continues scrolling the chats up.

Then he sees voice notes, more pictures and erotic messages.

Leila sends the video of her boobs to him. Her picture in the bathroom in a bathrobe, pictures of her pussy and many more.

Her saying: “You make me feel alive,Akin. Badru makes me feel like a log of wood🤣🤣🤣.”

Therapist Akinola Bello now send a laugh emoji: “🤣”.

The worst part is Leila told this guy everything about Badru. Infact, the majority of their chats roam around Badru.

Leila told him about Badru's schedule, the number of electronic shops he has, his weaknesses, the way he snores while sleeping like he's dead, his ex-wife and how they divorce and many more.

From the chat, Badru sees that they have been chatting for a month now.

Badru swallows hard because his chest feels tight. He leans back in the chair and presses both hands to his head. His whole body is trembling like it’s about to collapse. Sweat is pouring down his back, soaking his shirt. His head is thumping like someone is hammering from inside. Thump. Thump. Thump. He closes his eyes deeply and tears roll down his face.

All these displays are not for betrayal nor the sadness is for heartbreak. It's for being belittling and inability to achieve his aim. And above all, Leila mention she was using him. No, he believes he is the one who's supposed to be using people and not the other way round. That's the extent he wants to go for dominating people around him and seeing them suffer. But when things don't go the way he wants, he feels so cornered, sad and above all, angry.