Chapter 85 - Unedited The Devil In The Background

Chapter 85: The devil in the background

Mckenna got down from the Jet clutching the reason she flew to Malawi in a bag. She saw the car waiting for her at the private airfield to take her back home. 

Her decision to travel to Malawi was purely an emotional one. She wanted to do a grand gesture for someone she loved and she needed an item from Malawi to do it.

When she got to the car, she opened the door and entered only to find her mother in law inside.

"Mom! You startled me?!" Mckenna touched her chest.

"I see you had an errand to run in Malawi" Elixir told her without taking her eyes off of the magazine she was reading.

"I am sorry, I took the jet without asking" Mckenna apologized to her.

"I am not here because you took the famy jet, Mckenna. I am here because you've been avoiding me since you yelled at me in the hospital waiting room that I wasn't your mother" Elixir said and dropped the magazine she was holding and watched her daughter in law.

"I am not avoiding you... okay, maybe I am but it's not because I don't want to see you. I just don't know how to act around you. I am sorry for what…"

Mckenna was interrupted by Elixir.

"I am sorry, Mckenna. I shouldn't have called you Donna. I just hated that you went to him for help, not me" Elixir told her truthfully.

"How did you know I went to Jackson?" 

"Because there is only one other person apart from myself with the ability to get hold of the amount of money Kane was asking at a moment's notice. And it's instinct to run to a parent for help" Elixir said with a smile.

"Jackson Donna is not my parent" Mckenna said with wide eyes.

"Then I am guessing you are not going to take the news very well darling" Elixir told her.

"What News are you talking about?" Mckenna asked her.

As an answer, Elixir opened her bag and took out her laptop, she showed a clip to Mckenna.

(Breaking news: Mckenna Ekoh-Yagazie, wife of the richest under 40 CEO Jason Yagazie is the biological daughter of family rival, Jackson Donna…)

Mckenna snapped the laptop shut.

"Oh, fuck me!" She said in resignation and horror.

****

Kara was sitting outside her classroom waiting for Mckenna to pick her up. She couldn't help but notice the stares coming from the teachers and older students. She simply ignored it.

She has been getting stares ever since a teacher showed the entire school that her Umma was Donna's daughter. One even went ahead to ask her questions about it.

"How does it feel to know that you are related to two most powerful families in the continent, Kara?" Ms Michaels asked her.

"I feel like you should be minding your business instead of asking me that question" Kara had answered rudely to her. She spent the rest of the school day ignoring questions and stares.

Now, she was standing in the parking lot waiting for her mother to pick her up.

When Mckenna got home, she found five gossip blog reporters waiting for her. Elixir told her to ignore them.

"How did they find my home address?" Mckenna cried out loud.

"I don't know but you all are spending the night at the mansion. Grab an overnight bag, Mckenna" Elixir told her when they drove in.

Mckenna packed a bag for Kara, Jason and herself. When she got back inside the car she was fuming with anger.

"I swear to God, if Jackson did this to me, I will murder him" Mckenna said out loud.

"Elixir opened her bag and took out a notebook and gave it to Mckenna.

"What is this?" 

"After you called me that The IRS was after Jackson, I stopped the search but not before I got my hands on the evidence. If you want to destroy Jackson, this is the way to do it" Elixir pointed to the notebook.

"You've always wanted Jackson gone, why are you giving it to me instead of using it for yourself, mom?" Mckenna was surprised.

"Because you are my kid now and hurting Jackson would mean hurting you and I don't think you leaked the fact that you are his daughter to the press. His family has as much to lose as mine" Elixir answered.

Mckenna took the book and ran her finger on it.

"When I went to him for help he told me no? He refused to give me the money? He deserved to suffer" Mckenna told her mother in law.

"If Jackson didn't give you the money then who did?" Elixir was confused.

"His wife, Joan did...when she saw me crying my eyes out in the parking lot" 

Elixir smiled. 

"I see that he is a human being after all, that snake!" She said she was impressed.

"Why are you smiling?" Mckenna asked her.

"Because I think in his own demonic way that Jackson helped you. Honey, there was no way you got that money from his wife with his say so"

Mckenna was lost in thought for a moment.

"I have to pick up my daughter from school Mom" Mckenna said instead.

When they got to the school gate like expected, there were reporters everywhere. Mckenna showed her ID card and drove inside. 

Kara was there waiting for her when she got there.

Mckenna got down from the car and waved her over.

"Umma!" Kara was only too glad to race to her.

"Come on, we are going to the Mansion" Mckenna opened the door and she entered.

"Hey grandma"

"Hey, baby. How was school?"

"Everybody keep asking me questions about your father" Kara answered and looked at Mckenna.

"I am sorry. Nobody is supposed to know that" Mckenna told her.

"A teacher told me that I am lucky to have your father as a grandpa" Kara told her.

"I am sorry that our lives are going to get a little bit more complicated, Kara. I will find the person who leaked the information and make their lives a living hell!" Mckenna said angrily.

Mckenna remembered that her daughter was in the car but before she could say anything to that effect, her phone started ringing.

It was Jackson Donna. She picked it up and it was on speaker.

"Is this your way of getting back at me? Is telling everyone that we are related really necessary?" Jackson roared over the phone.

"My daughter is in the car with me and so I am going to go ahead and not say anything to you, D-i-p-s-h-i-t" Mckenna told him over the phone.

"I am seven. I can spell!" Kara reminded everyone.

"No, you can't" Elixir said and covered her ears with a headset with loud music.

"Do you think I want the whole world to know that I am your daughter? I would rather swallow a cyanide, Jackson but I guess you didn't either" Mckenna didn't know why she was a little bit disappointed that Jackson didn't openly acknowledge her as his daughter.

"If you didn't set out to destroy my life then who did?" Jackson asked her.

"I don't know, Mr. Donna. All I know is that my house is filled with reporters and I had to pull my kid out of school because of it" Mckenna told him.

"If you need extra protection, I can send some security to your house, Mckenna" Jackson said, surprising her.

"What?" Mckenna whispered.

"Thanks but I can take care of my family, Jackson Donna. Concentrate on taking care of yours" Elixir answered in a calm voice.

"Elixir!"

"Jackson!"

"We need to talk and find a way forward because this will not only affect me but your business also. And let's not forget that you are running for office, Elixir" Jackson tried to reason with her.

"Well, you can come to my mansion by 6pm today. We can talk about it then" 

Elixir knew that her house would be surrounded by reporters and Jackson Donna running to her house the eve after the news was leaked would be bad for his image.

"We can meet at a neutral ground. I am not coming to you, honey" Jackson said to her. The honey was meant as an insult.

"No, I changed my mind. I have no zeal to talk to you" Elixir answered.

"Why are you sounding like you are not scared, Elixir? It's your image too" Jackson reminded him.

He knew that appearance was everything to Elixir just as it was to him. Their impeccable reputation was one thing they had in common. They fought tooth and nail to be who they were. Jackson knew she would listen to reason but he was about to be surprised.

"Oh I like our image the way it is now. I am the woman that allowed her son to marry her rival's daughter for the sake of true love. I am a saint. I am superwoman. But you, Jackson Donna...you are the asshole who abandoned his infant daughter with an abusive grandmother. You, my darling is the devil and the media will eat you alive. Bye, Jackson"

Elixir hung up.