She Humiliated the Poor Maid—Until the Millionaire Chose Her Instead

Oluchi where are you you useless girl I am coming ma

Did you iron my white DNG dress yes ma it is in the wardrobe bring it here and be quick about it I do not have all day

There is a crease here I asked you to iron this dress not fold it into a suitcase are you stupid or just lazy I am sorry Ma I will iron it again right away you will iron every single item in that wardrobe every dress every blouse every pair of trousers and you will start with the ones you already ironed because clearly you do not know what an iron is for but ma I ironed everything yesterday they are all clean I asked for your opinion did I you are a housemaid a nobody your job is to do what I say when I say it without question now get out of my sight before I do something I will not regret

Oluchi what is wrong nothing sir i just I made a mistake with the ironing I am going to fix it now Mandy why are you stressing the poor girl out Ken baby I did not hear you come in

How was your meeting answer my question Oluchi was crying in the hallway what did you do to her I did not do anything to her she is incompetent that is all I asked her to iron a dress and she ruined it ruined it this dress looks perfectly fine to me there is a crease Ken you do not understand these things matter I have a lunch meeting with the governor’s wife today I cannot show up looking like I slept in my clothes so you make her rewash clothes that are already clean is she a slave she is a house help she is being paid for this or have you forgotten that you are the one who brought her here I brought her here to give her a chance not to be your punching bag she is lazy slow stupid I have to watch her every move or she will burn the house down Mandy I have watched Oluchi work she is up before dawn and goes to bed after midnight she scrubs floors on her hands and knees she cooks she cleans she does laundry and she never complains if that is what you call lazy then I would hate to see what you consider hardworking you are taking her side I am taking the side of fairness something you seem to have forgotten

No one has ever defended me like that not since my grandmother

Nam my son you have come Mama I am home welcome my child come inside I have made oonu and pounded yam your favorite thank you Mama Mama the new estate in Lekki is almost ready ah that is good news my son but the contractors are delaying and officials want more money patience my son these things take time you are right Mama I will handle it I know you will I am proud of you

Hey watch out oh no stop the rooster I am sorry I am so sorry are you okay did I hurt you I am fine sir no harm done I was not paying attention I should have been more careful please let me make it up to you can I buy you something food a drink that is not necessary sir it was an accident these things happen wait what is your name Oluchi sir Oluchi Nasu Oluchi I am Kenneth Ezechukwu Ken I am from this village my mother is Neca Ezechukwu the Neca Ezechukwu the one whose son built houses in Lagos that would be me look at the smelling girl trying to trap a rich man with her bastard child as if anyone would want a girl who got herself pregnant in the gutter look at her always the same she never learns excuse me I was just saying sir that girl is not decent she got pregnant by some roadside men she is a disgrace to our village and you are a disgrace to basic human decency if I hear you speak about this young woman that way again you will answer to me do you understand

I can not believe this let us go this is ridiculous do not listen to them they are ignorant they are not wrong I am what they say I am you are more than their words never forget that

Mama I have a question what is it my son Mama tell me about Oluchi Nasu the girl who sells pure water in the market poor innocent girl she has a sick mother and a child her mother is bedridden diabetes I think her father is dead she lives with her grandmother in that small house near the stream what about the baby is father no one knows Oluchi has never spoken of it some say she was taken advantage of others say it does not matter what others say what matters is that girl works harder than anyone I know she sells pure water from morning till night she farms she takes care of her mother and her grandmother and she still finds time to go to church every Sunday Mama I want to bring her to Lagos to work as a housemaid in my home you want to help her or you want to marry her Mama I am engaged to Mandy Mandy that Lagos girl who thinks she is too good to visit her future husband is mother she is busy Mama her work her work is more important than meeting the woman who raised you you are a man now Kenneth you make your own decisions but I will tell you this a woman who cannot respect your mother will never respect you as for Oluchi if you want to bring her to Lagos that is your choice she is a good girl she deserves a chance but be careful my son the heart is a tricky thing it does not always follow the plans we make for it thank you Mama

Good morning Mama I am Kenneth Ezechukwu Neca is son the one who builds houses in Lagos yes Mama what brings you to my humble home

Sir what are you doing here I came to see you and your grandmother sit my son Oluchi bring our visitor some water yes Mama that will not be necessary Mama I will not take much of your time Oluchi I want to offer you a job in Lagos as a housemaid in my home the pay is good 50,000 naira a month plus food and accommodation your own room with a bed and proper ventilation 50,000 yes and there is more I will make sure your mother gets proper medical care a doctor in Lagos who can treat her diabetes and your grandmother Mama I will send you money every month for food for medicine for whatever you need

Why because she deserves a chance because I saw how hard she works how people treat her and it is not right because my mother raised me to believe that when God blesses you you bless others what do you think Nen but who will take care of Mama and you Grandma who will help you I will be fine your mother is sister will come she has been offering to help for months I told her no because I had you but Boba Boba will go with you a mother and her child should not be separated of course the baby is welcome there is plenty of space

She will be fine I promise I know I trust you sir call me Ken please sir makes me feel like an old man okay Ken

Mandy this is Oluchi she will be helping around the house a house help with a baby Boba will not be any trouble ma he sleeps most of the day and I can work while he naps do not call me Ma call me Madam or Miss Amanda ma is for my mother not for housemates I am sorry Madam Mandy Oluchi will stay in the main house there is a spare room next to the laundry it has a window and a proper door it will be easier for her to access the kitchen and the living areas the boy is quarters are good enough for a maid the boy is quarters have no ventilation and they are too far from the baby Oluchi stays in the main house that is final of course darling whatever you say

Listen to me carefully I do not want you here I do not like you and I do not trust you but Ken seems to think you are some kind of charity case so I will tolerate you but if you ever and I mean ever try to get close to him I will make your life a living hell do you understand me I understand Madam I would never shut up I did not ask for your opinion now finish those towels and then wash the kitchen floor with a brush on your hands and knees that is how we do things in this house what is that smell it is Boba is food Madam just comp it smells like poverty open the windows I cannot breathe in here the windows are open Madam are you arguing with me are you no Madam I am sorry sorry is not good enough Mandy what is going on your house help is incompetent she cannot even prepare baby food without making a mess is that true no sir I mean Ken I was just feeding my son it does not matter I will clean it up it does matter I want you to stop this right now Oluchi is not your punching bag she is a human being a mother someone who has been through more than you can imagine if you cannot treat her with basic decency then you and I have a serious problem you are choosing her over me I am choosing fairness over cruelty Oluchi what happened did Mandy do something no it is not her my baby called me mama today clear as day mama and I just I started thinking about my own mother lying in that village bed and my grandmother and how I am not there to take care of them and I felt so guilty your mother is being treated by one of the best doctors in the state I sent a nurse to the village last week your mother is blood sugar is under control she is eating well she is taking her medication and your grandmother I sent her a new phone she calls me every day to complain about the network she does that she complains about everything she is happy Oli truly happy because you are happy that is all she ever wanted why are you so kind to me

I am nothing a poor village girl with a bastard child I do not deserve any of this you deserve the world Oluchi and one day I am going to make sure you get it he is hungry I need to feed him of course I will be in my study if you need anything this is Odo and this is Akonri see how beautiful God is work is you are getting good at this I had a good teacher who you sir Ken you should not say things like that people will talk let them talk I do not care what people say hello Grandma it is me Oluchi Nen I have been waiting for your call how are you how is the baby how is Lagos one question at a time Grandma I am fine Boba is fine he is growing so fast you would not recognize him and Lagos Lagos big bigger than I imagined the buildings touch the sky the roads are like rivers of cars and the noise grammerite never stops even at night the city hums like a giant generator and your oga how is he treating you he is kind very kind he bought me clothes he bought Boba toys he He is a good man Grandma and his wife she is not his wife she is his fiancee and she she hates me Grandma from the moment she saw me she hated me she calls me names she makes me redo work I have already done yesterday she made me wash the same set of plates four times because she said they were still dirty but they were clean grammer I know they were clean listen to me my child there are two kinds of people in this world those who lift others up and those who push others down your oga lifts his woman pushes a man who chooses to push alongside the one who pushes is a man who will one day fall but a man who chooses to lift that is a man worth keeping Grandma nothing is happening between us I did not say anything was but I am old Oluchi I have seen many things and I know the sound of a heart that is trying very hard not to feel what it is feeling Grandma call me on Sunday and kiss my great grandson for me I will Grandma I love you I love you more my child stay strong

Did you hear the smelling girl has gone to Lagos she is working for some big company big company please we all know what that means she is sleeping with her boss that is how girls like her get jobs in the city I hear she took the baby with her probably using the child to trap the man you know these village girls no shame you girls have nothing better to do than spread lies about my granddaughter they are not lies Mama everyone knows what Oluchi is do they do they know that she wakes up at 4 in the morning to sell pure water so her sick mother can eat do they know that she has never asked anyone for a cobo do they know that she is in Lagos right now working honestly sending money home every week let me tell you something the same mouth that is gossiping today will be begging tomorrow mark my words my granddaughter is going places and when she does none of you will be invited

Chinke look at you you are glowing and this house is this where you live I work here come inside let me get you something to drink Oluchi is it true what people are saying that you and the oga no Niki how can you ask me that he is my employer he is engaged nothing is happening between us okay if you say so but I have known you since we were five Oli I can see it in your eyes you are in love with him kchi and he is in love with you too any man who looks at a woman the way he looks at you that is not pity my friend that is something else entirely it does not matter he is engaged to Mandy they are getting married next year I am just a maid a poor girl with a baby you have a place wherever you choose to have a place do not let anyone tell you otherwise not even yourself mind if I join you of course not sir I mean Ken can I ask you something yes Ken what happened to you before you came here I mean Boba is father your parents everything I do not want to pry but I care about you I want to understand you really want to know only if you want to tell me I will never force you I was 17 in my final year of secondary school I was a good student one of the best in my class my teacher said I could get a scholarship to the university my parents were so proud one day my father was supposed to pick me up from school he never came I waited for 2 hours eventually I started walking home it was getting dark the road was empty i found them when I got home my parents they were on the floor in the living room someone had broken into the house they had unalived them oh my god I ran I ran out of the house screaming I did not know where I was going I just ran and then men found me on the road three of them they were armed they said they had been watching our house they said they were going to finish the job I screamed I begged no one came when they were done they left me there broken

My grandmother found me on the road the next morning she took me home she cleaned me she held me while I screamed and then then I found out I was pregnant I wanted to abort him I went to Mama Eku the village midwife I begged her to give me something anything she refused she said the child was innocent that God had a purpose and your grandmother my grandmother told me something I will never forget forgive the men who hurt you not for their sake but for yours because if you do not forgive them you will hate your child and your child is not their sin your child is your miracle so I forgave them I do not know how I do not know if I truly have but I chose to love my son and he saved me Ken he saved my life when I looked into his eyes for the first time I knew I had something worth living for you are the strongest person I have ever met you are not what happened to you Oli you are stronger than all of it you are a miracle why are you crying because I love you I have loved you since the moment I saw you in that market and I am sorry it took me this long to say it you cannot love me you are engaged you are rich you are you and I am you are everything you are everything I did not know I was looking for your strength your kindness the way you love your son the way you forgive people who do not deserve forgiveness you make me want to be a better man Oluchi not a richer man a better one I know this is complicated I know I have obligations but I need you to know how I feel because I cannot keep pretending anymore I love you too I have loved you since you defended me from those village girls since you brought me to this city since you learned to change Boba is diapers like it was the most natural thing in the world but Ken what about Mandy Mandy and I we have been drifting apart for a long time before I even met you she is cruel Oli not just to you to everyone she believes the world owes her something simply because she is beautiful and I am tired of being the one who pays the debt she is your fiancee she is a mistake and I am going to fix it but not tonight tonight I just want to sit here with you and Boba and pretend the rest of the world does not exist tonight the world does not exist okay tonight the world does not exist

Good morning good morning

Oluchi about last night you do not have to say anything I know you were emotional it was the moment people say things in the dark that they do not mean in the light look at me I meant every word every single word I love you Oluchi I know it is complicated I know I have obligations but I need you to know that what I said last night was not a mistake it was the truest thing I have ever said look at me I meant every word every single word I love you Oluchi I know it is complicated I know I have obligations but I need you to know that what I said last night was not a mistake it was the truest thing I have ever said but what about Mandy I will handle Mandy in my own time in my own way but I will not lie to you I will not pretend I feel nothing Ken if we do this if we let ourselves feel this there will be consequences people will talk your business could suffer your family my family will understand because my mother raised me to value character over status and you Oluchi Nasu have more character in your little finger than most people have in their entire bodies

Let us take it one day at a time no pressure no expectations just truth can we do that

Yes one day at a time then today I would like my egg scrambled with extra pepper and maybe some of that magic you put in the yam porridge you are impossible but I am your impossible and I intend to stay that way

So he is buying her gifts now expensive clothes oh my god a golden chain a baby is footprint this is unbelievable

What is this you tell me is this not the same girl you saw at the market the one you followed like a lost puppy and forgot I existed Mandy do not Mandy me I went through her things Ken I found everything the clothes the bracelet the notes you are buying her gifts you are treating her like she is your wife she is not my wife she is a young woman who has been through hell and I am trying to help her that is all that is all you think I am stupid I have seen the way you look at her the way you defend her the way you hold that bastard child like he is yours do not call him that why not that is what he is a bastard product of a village whore who spread her legs for road workers do not ever speak about Oluchi or her son that way again do you understand me you are hurting me I am sorry but you need to understand something Oluchi is under my protection she is a guest in my home and if you cannot treat her with respect then you and I have a serious problem this is not over i will find proof i will catch you both and when I do you will wish you had never brought that smelling girl into this house

That smells incredible thank you Boba helped he tasted the pepper and cried for 10 minutes but he helped

Where is he now sleeping finally he fought his nap like a warrior today Oluchi yes I have been thinking about us about so it is true Mandy do not Mandy me I have been watching you I have cameras in this house Ken did you think I was stupid I saw everything the way you look at her the way you touch her there are no cameras Mandy and even if there were you would see nothing except common decency decency you call this decency you want to sleep with my fiancee you smelling girl you think because he pies you he loves you Madam please nothing is happening I swear liar I will finish you that is enough

Mandy stop let me go let me go you traitor how dare you choose her over me I am Amanda Okonquo I am the woman you are going to marry no what no bride price was paid on your head no marital rights were performed we are not married Mandy we are not even traditionally engaged my mother has never met you your parents have never met me we are two people who dated and decided to get married because it seemed like the right thing to do but it is not right it has never been right you are breaking up with me for her for a housemaid I am breaking up with you because of who you are not because of who she is you are cruel Mandy you are entitled you treat people like dirt because you think money makes you better than them but it does not it just makes you rich and I would rather be poor and kind than rich and cruel you will regret this i will destroy you i will tell everyone you are sleeping with your maid i will ruin your reputation everything do what you must but get out of my house this is my house too i decorated it i chose the furniture i it is my name on the deed now pack your things and leave or I will call security you will pay for this both of you

Ken are you okay I am now I am sorry you had to see that it is not your fault

She was She was never going to let go peacefully no she was not he has perfect timing

Cousin what happened to you you look like you fought a bus he threw me out Kenneth threw me out of my own house for that village girl that smelling pure water cellar Kenneth Ezechukwu chose the maid over you Mandy that is that is actually embarrassing shut up I need your help Chi I need to destroy him destroy them both destroy Kenneth Ezechukwu the man who built Ezechukwu Towers the man who sponsors the governor is charity ball Mandy that is not easy I do not care I know things about him things that could damage his reputation I know about the contracts he won through connections I know about the tax arrangements and I know about her and what do you want from me your contacts the bloggers the gossip columnists the people who owe you favors I want the story everywhere by morning Kenneth Ezechukwu sleeping with his housemaid the poor orphan who seduced her boss I want them trending on Twitter I want their names dragged through the mud now that I can do but it will cost you name your price the Rolex Kenneth bought you last Christmas and the diamond earrings from your birthday

Done

By noon tomorrow everyone in Lagos will know their names to justice to revenge

I am just a poor girl with a baby I do not belong in his world what scandal would do to Ken it would all be my fault

I am sorry Ken I love you too much to stay

Where too ouga the boss park trouble at home something like that do not worry sister god day everything will be fine protect us on this journey guide us through the night keep my Boba safe as we enter the unknown

Oluchi Oluchi Oluchi

Who the cry of the forgotten dear Ken I am sorry I cannot stay Mandy was right I bring trouble wherever I go you have been so kind to me and this is how I repay you by leaving before I destroy everything you have built please do not look for me I will be fine Boba and I have survived worse thank you for everything I will love you forever Oli no no no no no

Have you seen this woman no I haven’t excuse me please I please pick up the person you are calling is not available Mama please is she with you she is not here I have not seen her Kenneth what happened where is my granddaughter I will find her Mama I swear to God I will find her the road was dust

Kenneth come home Mama I cannot I have to find her you will not find her by driving around Lagos like a madman come to the village clear your head think she is a good girl my son she would not just disappear she has gone somewhere that matters to her think Kenneth where would she go thank you Mama I know where she is

The child nobody wanted to see selling pure water beneath the burning sun while tears deeper than the river your heart kept singing I do not want trouble sir I am nothing I have nothing you are everything you are everything to me Oluchi I broke up with Mandy because of her wickedness toward you because I realized that I could not spend my life with a woman who hates the person I love most in this world

But your reputation I do not care about my reputation I care about you I care about Boba I care about the family we can build together please Oluchi come home not as a maid as the woman I love as the mother of my heart you are a fool I am your fool forever dada what did he say

Nothing he is just babbling he said dada he called me dada he has been saying it for a week every time he sees your picture on my phone I did not tell you because because what because I was afraid afraid that you would not want to be his dada afraid that I was imagining something that could never be I want to be his dad and I want to be your husband if you will have me

Yes I will have you and I you forever

Kenneth is back and he has brought a woman Kenneth is back he brought a woman

The smelling girl

So this is the one Mama this is Oluchi Nasu and this is her son Boba the people I love

You are the pure water seller yes Mama my son tells me you work harder than anyone he has ever met that you never complain that you love your son more than life itself I try Mama you have beautiful eyes sad eyes but beautiful welcome to my family my daughter thank you Mama every scar become a crown nobody can hold you down every prayer never waste every blessing coming in when the road was cold and dry still you kept your dreams alive oh every heartbeat tell a story grace go carry you to glory no fear I was so worried when you did not call when Kenneth came looking for you I thought I had lost you

You will never lose me Grandma I am sorry I scared you Mama D I brought some things a new phone so you can call us anytime medicine for Mama rice gari palm oil and this is for you for whatever you need thank you my son Kenneth this is too much it is not enough for what you have done for raising this extraordinary woman for keeping her alive when the world tried to break her I can never repay you Mama but I will spend my life trying

You are a godsend my son a godsend

Mama I want to marry her I know properly traditionally with the wine carrying and the kolanuts and everything I want to do it right and Mandy gone for good she is a good girl she has suffered but she has not let suffering make her bitter that is rare my son that is a gift from God I know I am going to spend my life making sure she never suffers again then you have my blessing and your father is blessing wherever he is

I am his father in every way that matters

Oluchi there is something I have been wanting to ask you what is it I know we already decided to get married the traditional rights the introductions everything but I want to do this too the western way just you and me Oluchi Nasu will you marry me not because I rescued you not because you need me but because I need you because you make me whole because without you I am just a man with money with you I am a man with a life yes yes I will marry you open every door love around your soul

Now you are finally home dance now dance now lift your hands right now sing loud sing loud let yours be