A/N: Hey guys, happy new year. It's been so long since I last updated and I sincerely apologize for the gruesome negligence. I had actually lost the urge to write for some reason and no matter how hard I tried words just weren't flowing.

I know I should've have been up front with you guys but I didn't want to come out and promise you a date that I wasn't sure I'd be able to meet up to.

Now that it feels like I'm out of that space, I hope to be consistent from now on. Anyways, I wish you all a prosperous and blessed year ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Noah's POV)

Weeks had gone past and we still haven't gotten a lead on the private investigation which was very frustrating. Our first move was to track the accounts of both Kunle and his mother for any transactions made the day before the verdict was given or even after but we turned up with nothing. The PI also inspected that of the judge but there was nothing implicative. If there was to be any bribing involved, they must have been very discrete and careful with it.

While the investigations were going on, Aunt Chisom was also busy with whole court of appeal task. After a letter of appeal was sent out, it took a week and a half before we received a response from them. They agreed to look into our case and had a court date set up but the only issue was that the date was set two months from our current date.

Aunt Chisom informed us that this was the earliest we could be given because the court had so many cases pending. She also told us that one of the officials offered to move the date closer but an amount of money would be deposited. They basically asked for a bribe. Aunt Chisom declined the offer because she wanted to keep our slate clean and didn't want anything to be brought up in court that would paint us in a bad light.

Back at home, Ijeoma and I were working on a visitation schedule which was taking a toll on her. We were going to have a mediator present when we eventually meet with Kunle, to help us find a middle ground. Ijeoma spent most of her time in Zozo's room either working on the schedule or sleeping, she no longer stayed in her room.

I was actually worried about her. She spent whatever extra time she had looking out of Zozo's window, deep in thought. She hardly spoke unless she was spoken to, hardly ate anything and fluctuated between being bearably sad and deeply depressed.

I tried to get her to talk about how she was feeling and be there for her but she kept insisting she was fine and had nothing to say even though it was evident that she wasn't fine. I had caught her silently crying numerous times and it hurt me that she didn't want to confide in me.

I walked over to the electric cooker, a steaming pot of already made fried rice settled on it. I had decided to make something different for dinner, also the chopping of the vegetables and the whole cooking process took my mind off our current situation.

I reduced the heat of the cooker, it wouldn't take too long for the food to be done. As I moved away from the cooker, I saw a figure move from the corner of my eyes. I poked my head out of the kitchen to see Ijeoma heading for the stairs.

"Hey" I called out. "Good thing you came down. You're just in time for dinner"

She halted for a couple of seconds before speaking.

"I'm good. Thank you" she moved to climb the stairs.

"Hold on" I walked over to her and took her hands in mine.

"I know you barely had anything to eat today and that's not good for you. So please, come and have dinner with me"

She made to speak and instantly, I knew she was about to make some excuse so I added a drawn out 'please'.

"Okay" she agreed reluctantly

"Great" I clapped in finality

I pulled her along with me into the kitchen and she situated herself on one of the high stools. I moved over to the cooker, turned it off and then got plates to dish.

In less than five minutes, we had two plates of steaming hot fried rice, chicken and two long glasses, half full of orange juice. A large juice box rested on the counter in between our plates for refills.

I watched Ijeoma stare at the food unenthusiastically.

"Do you want me to help you?" I asked

"No, thank you. I'm fine" She picked up her fork and pushed her food around her plate before finally lifting a small amount to her lips.

I picked up my own fork and began to eat after seeing her take the first bite. Two more forks later, she gently pushed the plate away from her.

"Thank you for the food" she said preparing to get down from the stool.

"Wait..." I held up my hand and gestured to her plate. "You didn't even go half way. That hardly counts as eating"

"But I'm filled up" she replied

"Come on, you can't keep doing this. I know you're hurt right now but starving yourself is not going to change things, if anything, it would only make things worse." I said softly. "If we want to win this fight, we both need to be in the right frame of mind and equally healthy"

"Noah, believe me... I'm okay. I don't want anymore" she said, her eyes not meeting mine

"We both know that's a lie. Can you just have a few more" I tried persuading her.

She shook her head. "I'm okay"

"Please" I pulled the plate closer to her and picked up her fork. "Just two more"

I could see her inwardly debating on it so I filled the fork with a sizeable amount of rice and lifted it up to her lips.

"Come on" I urged

She released a small sigh before opening up her mouth for the food. As she chewed on the food, I took the liberty of filling the fork with another sizeable amount of rice.

"Uh uhh" she shook her head with her mouth still full.

"No, no. That's the best I can do" She rushed out as she swallowed the food.

I tried to persuade her for the second time but I guess, she was already pushed too far because one minute the plate was right in front of us and the next, it was on the floor.

"For chrissake, I don't want to eat anymore" she cried out as she got down from the stool and stormed out.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement, I didn't foresee her to shove the plate with so much force. I stepped down from my stool and walked around the counter to see how much damage was done.

The plate was shattered into five large pieces with tiny fragments all mixed up with the rice. Some of the rice grains were scattered a little bit farther from the majority.

"Shit" I muttered under my breath

I moved to the storeroom where the cleaning equipment were kept but my ringtone stopped me in my tracks. It was Adaobi.

"Hello"

"Hey, what's up? Been quite some time since I last called" she replied

I looked at the mess on the floor that was waiting to be cleaned up. "Uhh... nothing much"

"Did I call at a wrong time? You sound distracted" she pointed out

"No, no. you didn't" I walked away from the counter.

"Oh okay"

"What's going on? Are you okay?" I asked

She chuckled. "I'm supposed to be asking you that and not the other way around"

"It's my job to worry about you" I replied

"Well, it's my turn to reciprocate. How are things going? How's Ijeoma holding up?" she inquired

I was going to reply with 'She's okay' or 'everything's fine' because I didn't really want to divulge our business with everyone but I decided against it. I really needed someone to talk to and well, Adaobi has always been the closest to me out of all my siblings.

I let out a deep sigh. "To be honest, I don't know"

"She has been really distant lately... not eating properly, secluding herself to Zozo's room. She hardly speaks to me or anyone at all. Her parents have to call me to know how she's holding up cause she won't talk to them" I said.

"I don't know what to do anymore, or how to be help her. Medically, I would've suggested therapy but she doesn't even admit that there's a problem to begin with." I poured out

I ran a hand across my face. "I feel so powerless... I promised her that it wouldn't get to this point, that we would win the case and that she was just being paranoid but I was so wrong..." I trailed off

"Noah, look you're doing the best you can to be there for her and I'm sure she knows this. You put your job on a hold just to be there with her every step of the way, you got our aunt to represent her in court, and you also have a PI looking into the case for anything fishy."

I released a sigh.

"Don't beat up yourself because there's no way you could've known that the whole thing would turn out this way. As for Ijeoma, I feel like you need to give her some time to come to you—"

"That's what I've been doing" I butted in

"Well, some people don't really like breaking down in front of their loved ones and you should understand this more than anyone else because that's your strategy" she stated. "Let her come to you on her own time. Just keep doing your possible best to show her that you're there and let her have her space."

I released a frustrated sigh. "It kills me to see her this way"

"I understand" she consoled. "This is going to pass, I believe it and you should too"

"I wish I could be there with you guys... you know to support you, however I can"

"It's okay" I said then switched the subject. "How's your secret project going?"

"It's going well. I don't want to disclose too much because... well, it's a surprise but it's going smoothly"

The slight change in tone of showed how excited she was about the project, even though she tried to mask it, not to seem insensitive.

I heard the sound of a deep voice in the background, probably that of a man. I thought of asking her about it but decided against it. She was a grown adult, I didn't to be prying in her business.

"Uhh... I have to go now. I'll check up on you tomorrow" She said

"kay, talk to you later" I replied

"Bye"

At the sound of the beep, I placed my phone on the counter and rolled up my sleeves. I made to move to the storeroom when I noticed a movement at the corner of my eyes. Ijeoma slowly walked into the kitchen. She had her arms wrapped around her torso, like she was cradling herself. A culpable expression was smeared across her face and her head slightly drooped. She looked like a child caught in a bad act.

"I was—"I started to say

"I'm sorry" she interjected quickly. "I'm sorry for acting the way that I did, and for also making a mess of things. You were just trying to look out for me and I overreacted... I'm so sorry"

I opened my mouth to reply but she started to speak again so I remained quiet.

"Every time I try to eat, my mind wanders off to Zozo. Is she okay? Is she being taken care of properly? Is she comfortable? Has she eaten? The thing is I can't answer these questions because I don't know, I literally have no idea on what's happening with her and that just takes away my appetite. I can't manage to get food down my throat when I don't know if she being treated right or not" she explained

"I know you're trying your best to be there for me and I appreciate that. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that... I'm sorry" she said with her head bent low.

"I didn't know you felt that way" I said.

She simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Zozo should be fine. They would be stupid to mistreat her, you would soon be able to visit her and if they did harm her in anyway, the court would have to retract their previous verdict. The best interest of the child is their main objective... or at least, it should be" I said

"I hope so" she let out tiredly

"Can I hug you?" I really wanted to have her in my arms

"You don't have to ask" she said, a weak smile appeared on her face

She outstretched her arms and I walked into them, engulfing her in a tight hug. I deeply inhaled her scent, it felt so good to have her this close to me. The air was clear now and I finally had an inkling as to what was going on in her head. It felt like the old her was finally back.

"You don't need to bottle up your feelings. These past few days have been horrible, I was literally walking on shells around you"

"I'm sorry" she said

"Its fine" I placed a kiss at the side of her temple

"Would you like to have another go at the food?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah"

I exhaled excitedly. "Good"

I pulled away to make her another plate. I also picked my plate up from the counter in the process, it had long gotten cold. I placed it in the microwave to reheat before pulling out another clean plate.

"I'll just take care of this mess" Ijeoma announced, more to herself than me.

"Don't worry about it, I'll handle it" I said

"I made the mess, I'll take care of it" she insisted and moved to the storeroom.

She immerged with a broom and dustpan. I saw her slightly wince when she glanced at the broken pieces of plate. By the time she was done cleaning up the soiled up spot, a fresh plate of food was set on the counter waiting for her.

"Come on. Let's eat" I said as I tapped the stool next to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE.