Michelle.

"It's OK to lean on your siblings in times of need, they have both the strongest and the softest shoulders to cry on."
-Love to know.

Maverick.

"Do you feel better now?" Was the first question Lara asked when he stepped into the office that morning.

Maverick gave her a small smile, nodding his head in affirmative.

"Naah, you're not yet okay. But I'm glad you're pulling yourself together," Lara replied, patting his broad shoulders.

"So... Any updates?" He asked as he settled on the recliner, hoping there was any news.

"Nothing at all. Anyways, Michelle asked that you come to get her from the airport."

"Tell her to call her driver, she has one." He removed his suit jacket and spread it on the arm of the chair.

"You know your sister. Tell her yourself," Lara replied.

Of course, he knew how his sister was. Michelle was one huge spoilt brat, whom he would never trade for the world.

He loved his sister, even though she could be extremely annoying. But they were always there for each other.

He was protective of his sister and vice verse.

Another thought hit Maverick. If his sister finds out about what Leticia did, would she believe as he did or will she choose to not to like their mother?

Michelle and Leticia, we're good friends, that was one major reason for their marriage.

From the way his sister liked Leticia, it was going to take a toll on her when she found out her best friend's betrayal.

"What are you thinking about?" Lara asked, nudging his arm.

"How to break the news to my sister," he replied.

Lara nodded, "you should."

"I think you should go to your office. Work has started." He uncuffed his sleeves, drawing them to his elbows.

Lara rolled her eyes, dropping a stainless food flask on the table. "Before you go all boss mode, here, I got you breakfast. Don't bother thanking me, I know you can't cook."

Maverick grabbed the food flask, smiling as the aroma of the spaghetti filled his nostrils. "I could give you a big hug right now," he said.

"No thank you, I'll pass. As you said earlier, I should go to my office now. See ya."

He took the fork from the side of the flask, then dug into the food and Lara sauntered towards the door.

As he was about taking another fork full of the pasta, he recalled what she said about his sister earlier.

"Lara."

She halted her movement, turning back to face him.

"Do I really have to go get Tomi?"

Lara nodded and he sighed.

"By what time?"

"Two p.m. And no, I'm not accompanying you because I have work to do."

"Please, abeg." He clasped his hands together but Lara vehemently shook her head.

"Nope, I'm not going. I have work to do. No no no. And please stop spoiling pidgin for us." She winked and blew him a kiss before stepping out of the office.

"Whatever," he huffed and resumed devouring the food.

******

Maverick checked the time on his wristwatch, letting out a string of curse words as he realised the time was already past two.

He was very late already, as the drive to the airport would take over an hour. Michelle will have his head.

Gathering his things, he beeped Lara, asking her to represent him in his other meetings.

He tapped his feet on the ground, wishing the elevator could move faster than it was moving.

The elevator finally reached the ground floor. Maverick rushed out of the office, leaving some of the staff surprised that their ever indifferent boss was running. That was a first.

Maverick slid into the vehicle that his driver parked in front.

"International Airport. Drive fast we don't have time," he said and his driver nodded.

True to his calculation, they didn't get to the airport until exactly an hour and twenty-eight minutes later.

He declined all of Michelle's calls, so he knew he was in for it.

As soon as Abu reached the front of the airport, Maverick alighted from the car, not waiting for him to park first.

He rushed into the arrivals section, swivelling his gaze around for his sister.

"Ricky!" He froze on the spot as he heard his name.

The tall, slim girl with fair skin and coloured irises similar to his stopped in his front with her lips pulled into a sneer and frown lines on her forehead.

"I told you to come to get me by two p.m. Just check the time, you're two hours late!" Her face was flushed and she stomped her feet.

Maverick shut his eyes tight, rubbing his palm on his head.

His sister continued to rant.

Not knowing what to do as they were already getting attention, he hugged her to calm her down. Hugs we're his sister's weak point.

Michelle took a deep breath and hugged her brother back.

"Forgive me, I was very busy. Work today was hectic."

Michelle huffed, pulling out of the hug.

"Always busy, you never have time for anybody. Every time office this, office that, if I were your wife I would have divorced you since. You're very lucky to have Leticia. She's just too calm and patient, even I don't understand her-"

He was reminded of his wife's felony as his sister made the statement.

"Let's not talk about all that now. You should rest, you've been on set for over a week. How was your trip?"

"Strenuous. Frustrating. I'm never trying Rave air again, their services are inadequate, I should inform Fati about that."

Fatima had been Michelle's manager since she started her acting career at seventeen. Maverick always wondered how Fatima was able to cope with a complex being for such a long time without quitting. The woman was strong.

He grabbed his sister's luggage- only Michelle would carry two big boxes for a week's trip.

He continued to listen to his sister's complaints without a word, just smiling, shaking his head and nodding when necessary.

Physically, they looked a lot alike, except that Michelle had an oval-shaped face like their mom. If Michelle was male, they could be mistaken for identical twins.

Character-wise, they were opposites. While Maverick had a naturally quiet and aloof disposition, Michelle was noisy, short-tempered and could be very immature.

He loved her regardless.

Abu stepped out of the car and opened the four for Michelle to enter.

She settled in the red coloured Mercedes Benz c300 and her brother followed.

"So, how are you doing? You have bags under your eyes- you've been overworking yourself. I keep telling you to rest, rest oh Mide. You'll never listen."

Again with her nagging. Maverick sighed.

"Tomi, breathe. Your talk is tiring, hm?"

Michelle huffed, flipping her faux locks that hung down the side of her face.

"How's my sister in law? Hope you've been treating her well? Abi you're still being so cold?" She questioned, turning to face him again.

"Can we talk when we get home? I'm kinda tired." Maverick was not mentally ready to recount the recent happenings to his sister yet.

"Okay."

"Where is Fati by the way? And your driver?"

"I allowed Fati to go on a holiday, then Micheal had a family emergency."

"Oh. That's a first though, you never let them off the hook like that," Maverick said, nudging her.

"Wo, leave me joh, I'm tired."

Maverick chuckled, patting her head.

"Leticia! Letttyyyy," Michelle sang at the top of her voice as they stepped into the apartment.

Maverick groaned, plopping on the three-seater couch. He would let her waste her energy for a while.

"Ricky, where's your wife? I can't find her anywhere and that's weird." Maverick, who was already dozing off, opened one eye and met the questioning stare of his sister.

"Michelle I'll answer your questions tomorrow when you've settled. For now, go and shower, then let's go out and eat."

"No, why should we go out to eat when Leticia is around? Abeg tell me where she is, I've missed her cooking in this past week."

"Michelle, Michelle. Chill. Go ahead and shower first, eat, and rest then we'll talk." He tried to convince his sister.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on here. Where on earth is your wife? You keep changing the topic, why?"

Michelle was getting riled up already. He hated how short-tempered she could be.

"Answer me now, Ricky. Did you do something rash? You sent her packing?"

"For God's sake Michelle! I said chill! You want to know right? Okay. Your friend is missing."

She gasped, her hand flew to cover her mouth. "What do you mean by that?"

"What does it mean for someone to be missing?" He retorted.

"Oh my God, oh God." Michelle dropped on the chair beside him, burying her head in her hands as she continued to lament.

"So what are you doing to find her? How did she go missing?"

"The police are still searching for her. I'm not ready to start explaining that story right now. I'm tired."

"Please Ricky, tell me. I want to know everything." Her tone was softer than before.

"I can't. You won't be able to take it all in. It's for your own good, I'll tell you later."

"I said I want to know now." Her voice rose an octave again.

"You asked for it. Leticia has been stealing the company's money, through a shell company and a swiss account." He paused to see her reaction.

Michelle's head whipped up as she heard the statement.

"What?!" She asked with wide eyes. "That's outrageous!"

"Which unfortunately isn't."

"Ricky what are you saying?! How can you believe such a thing?"

"It's not a matter of belief. It's a matter of stating the obvious. I'll show you the files in my room."

He rose from the chair and Michelle mimicked his movement.

"Here." He handed her the file that contained all the records of the events. "Go through it."

Michelle snatched the file from his hands and tore it open. Her hands shook as she read through the pages.

"This...this can't be true. It can't! Leticia can't do this!" She threw the file away, grabbing Maverick's bicep.

"Ricky I hope you didn't believe this trash. Leticia can't do this."

Maverick scoffed. "Wait till I show you the next."

After showing Michelle all the proofs and videos they had, she said she had lost her appetite and left his room on the instance.

So much for all the noise of wanting to know.

He shook his head and stripped off his clothes to enter into the shower.

Shortly after he was done bathing, he heard the ringing of his phone. The number was an unknown number.

Weird. But he picked it up anyway.

"Good evening, Maverick Wagner on the line."

"Good evening Maverick. This is Mrs. Adama." The woman's voice was quivering.

Mrs Adama?

*Translation*
[Abeg: please]

That should be all.

Hey fam! Happy new month! And new week🙃
How was your day?

I had to give y'all this update, even though I had to sacrifice watching my kdrama: Tempted. Mehn, y'all need to watch that movie, it's mad interesting.

And I've decided to put translations at the end of the chapters instead of putting it in brackets. What do you think? Please let me know your opinion.

I'm leaving you for now with the new month update, I hope it's okay. I'll update when I can next, and I'll try to create a schedule too.

That's all for now so bye for now guys, see ya next time😋

Your girl, Chubiley😊

Just a little reminder; don't forget to vote and share😉