Maria stormed into the base like a thunderbolt. Her fists clenched, her eyes blazing. She flung open the door. Joan sat calmly on her prayer mat, Bible open on her lap.
In a flash, Maria yanked the Bible from her hands and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall with a loud thud.
Joan flinched. "Maria?"
"Look at me!" Maria snarled. "I will kill your family, one by one, right before your eyes if I have to!"
Joan's voice trembled. "What...what happened?"
"That witch of a mother-in-law of yours has pushed me too far!" Maria spat. "I've had it. I won't let her humiliate me any longer. I raised Mandume like my own. I taught him how to love, how to respect. I kept this family together! I fought tooth and nail to preserve the company and this damn house. And how am I repaid? With scorn. With betrayal!"
Her voice cracked with fury. "I will destroy you, Joan. I will leave you in this basement to rot with nothing but your God to keep you company!"
Joan backed away slowly, her lips quivering.
"I don't give up, Joan. Not for anyone. Not even Christine scares me. All I need are those documents signed. Once they're done, I will reign, and you—" she pointed a trembling finger, "—you will lick the dirt off my boots and drink mud for lunch."
Joan swallowed hard, her voice small. "Maria… please. I'm sorry. I know my mom would understand if you talked to her. Maybe she'll even agree to make you David's wife officially. Just—please—don't hurt anyone."
Maria shrieked with rage. "I don't change my mind!"
She stormed toward the exit. "Stay here. Wait for my update."
She slammed the door behind her.
Joan stood frozen, heart pounding, eyes wide. Then slowly, she knelt down, picked up her Bible, and set it gently on the table. Her hands folded. Her voice cracked with a quiet prayer.
"God… you are my strength. For 20 years she's never been this dangerous. I see Your hand, Father… and I'll wait on You."
By the Riverbed…
Mandume and Star strolled toward the thick, sluggish stream. The stench was sharp and rotten.
Mandume grimaced, took off his jacket, and gently draped it over Star's face.
"Hey! Are you trying to smother me?" Star squealed.
"It stinks here, Star! Like poop and death. I didn't want you throwing up or passing out."
"Oh, please…" she said, rolling her eyes. "What about you?"
"You're pregnant, Star! That makes you a delicate national treasure!"
Star smirked. "I'm fine. I like the smell."
Mandume stared at her like she'd grown two heads. "You… what?!"
"I lived in Goreangab my whole life, remember? This is nothing. Just a riverbed. You think it's supposed to smell like pizza and lavender spray?"
"Eww!" he gagged.
Star laughed. "If you think this is stinky, then I guess I am too."
"You are not stinky," he said, pulling down the jacket from his face and forcing a brave inhale.
They reached a clearing that looked oddly familiar—like a piece of Star's past had been dropped in front of her.
"I know this place," Star whispered. "I miss home…"
Mandume glanced around. "Why'd we come here again?"
"I needed to clear my head…" she murmured. Her eyes landed on a butterfly. "Wow. That's beautiful. I wish I had a camera. I'd keep that image forever."
"You're into photography?"
"Not really. I just… love beautiful things. Pictures capture something no one else sees."
Mandume tilted his head. "You're so weird."
She grinned. "Why?"
"Every time I think I've figured you out, you open a new chapter of mystery. Now it's deep poetic picture stuff? Who even talks like that?"
"There's treasure in pictures," she said softly. "But only one person ever sees it."
"There you go again! Riddles. Proverbs. You're gonna corrupt the logical part of my brain, you know that?" Mandume said, groaning.
Star giggled.
He looked at her seriously. "You said you came to think. Are you worried about something?"
Star froze. Her mind raced with Maria's threats, Christine's warnings, the danger tightening around them like a noose.
"I'm just… trying to think. And you're not helping," she said.
"What?" he said, confused.
"Cover your face again."
"Why?"
"Because that face is too cute. It's distracting me."
Mandume laughed. "Aww! 2nd April 2022, 16:27pm—at Gamams Water Reserve Riverbed—my fiancée called me cute for the first time."
Star tried to keep a straight face.
"I meant ugly," she said.
"Ah, and ugly too. Noted."
She tried to sit down, but Mandume stopped her.
"Nope. You're not sitting on riverbed bacteria."
"I'm tired."
"Then let's go home."
"No, not yet. Let's walk a little more."
They walked further along the water's edge, the silence now holding weight.
"Mendu… can I ask you something?" Star said.
"Yeah?"
"Do you trust me?"
He blinked. "What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer me."
"Of course I do."
"What if you found out I was… betraying you?"
He stopped cold. "What?!"
Star turned to face him. "I mean… if you discovered I was hiding something. Something big."
Mandume's eyes narrowed. "Are you hiding something from me, Star?"
"Yes… your mom is—"
Suddenly Mandume shoved her behind him.
Two rough-looking men had emerged from the shadows.