Chapter 49

***Kenya.***

The determination that I felt, was raw. Bleeding inside me and I couldn't wait for it to be unleashed.

I was unstoppable now. A different Kenya, born out of sorrow. Born out of the need to become a strong woman. I am certain Claudine saw this change in me, that is the reason she stared at me, astonished. I was equally astonished at myself.

This was a different side to me. Bold, calculative, strong willed. And I found myself yielding to this new me, along with my drive. Because I wanted to see myself pull this plan through to the end. To turn it into a perfect finish. An indestructible legacy. I didn't know what to expect after this was accomplished. I didn't even have any ideas how deep Claudine had gone with her defrauding the insurance company and her husband. I hadn't seen the papers. But I was certain it must have been bad for Claudine to wear this expression that gazed back at me. However I needed to achieve this. It was a necessity to take back the controls of my life. End Levi's hold on me and my loved ones.

Perhaps it was a means to prove to me that I was capable of fighting for my rights. Perhaps it was something else. But I knew that I needed this opportunity to grow. To become a better woman. To build a new life for myself. A life where Levi wouldn't hurt me any longer. Where I would equally cause him such misery as he caused me.

Yet, in the midst of all this, I couldn't deny a clear truth, the pull that existed between Levi and I. Volatile. Uncontrollable. Unhinged and ready to consume us both. We were a cataclysmic pair that resonated an indescribable passion so strong, it always got me breathless. And I wondered what would become of that connection we felt once this new side to me is unleashed.

"I don't know why Levi did this? I don't know his reasons for manipulating you this way? But there is something which I see, when he is with you. Love, sincere love. Something that I once shared with my first true love." Claudine's words stilled my thoughts. I stared at her, shocked.

Rising from the couch and coming to join me at the window. "He loves you, Kenya. He truly cares for you."

Horror etched on my face. *What*?

"It reminds me of what I had with Jean, my first loveYou see I loved jean, when I was a young girl, growing on a farm in Brittany, France. My parents wanted more from me. They had debts they couldn't manage. But I was smitten with Jean. We eventually went to ballet school in Paris together. A scholarship. And our love was so young and charged with so much life.

"That was when I met Jimmy. He was a tourist in Paris and had been looking for directions to Versailles the day we met. We got talking and became close. And he even visited my parents' farm, investing in their small farm, when they cried about their debts. They had seen him as a God sent. I equally had.

"A few days later, I found out that my parents wanted me to marry him. The rich American man that had helped them from penury. I cried so much, but they hadn't listened. They had forced my hand, or I faced both my parents committing suicide. I agreed and married Jimmy and never saw Jean again. Jimmy was nice, caring. But there was no love for him."

I considered Claudine's words, the story almost mirroring my situation. A situation carved from coercion.

"So why did you do what you did to Jimmy, if he had been nice?" I asked.

"I wanted to punish Jimmy for stealing my life from me. I wanted him to pay." Claudine had such contempt in her voice.

I saw the fury that still burned in Claudine's expression, even after all these years. And I wondered if I equally held such disdain for Levi. The only difference, I've started caring for Levi, while Claudine never cared for Jimmy.

"*J'aime*? Does It mean what I think?" I asked, unable to hide my curiousity.

Nodding her head, a sweet smile lurking in the corner of her lips, Claudine replied. "J'aime Jean." Claudine muttered.

Those simple words, carrying an undercurrent of a love once reveled.

"I wouldn't be changing the name. Everything would remain as it is." I assured Claudine, my eyes holding hers. An appreciative smile touched Claudine's face, accepting the words. Then she pulled me into an affectionate hug. Both of us sobbing for sorrows that tore through us.

After a while, Claudine pulled back and held my face in her palms.

"What would you do with this twister you have planned for your husband, when you fall in love with him?" Claudine asked. Her question, astonishing me.

"What makes you think I would fall in love with him, Claudine?" I asked, bewildered.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Kenya." Claudine grinned, slyly. Then adding naughtily, she said. "I wonder what Tad would think of moving with me to Switzerland?"

***Levi.***

***Meanwhile...***

"This is outrageous!" I roared, as I perused the documents in my hands.

My hands shook with rage as I read through sheets of documents that reported the investigation carried out by Blake.

"In those papers, Sir, it shows that RINA Mines has a hand in the conflicts that have ravaged those African countries for years. In there are list of registered businesses under RINA Mines, formerly RFO Mines. All of which we took account of, except one, CARSON Mines, which had no feasible profits or records on paper. Hence we had over looked it. Somehow we were able to uncover that CARSON Mines was a cover up diamond mining business owned by your father and his associates, which he had used to illegally plough these nations and communities, without following procedure."