Thankyou for 15k reads!!!!
I listened to Candle Light by Zhavia as I wrote this chapter soo..

~IVANDOR~

I saw a part of Giwa that night that I had never seen before.

When I looked deep into her eyes, I wasn't seeing that fire anymore. That fire that made people shiver in fear and steer clear of her.

All I saw was a scared girl. Soft. Vulnerable. Almost weak, to say.

It melted my heart.

As I watched her still, I saw love in her eyes. Love so pure, yet aggressive. Just like the love I had for her.

I loved this girl. I loved her to a fault. Her flaws and imperfections, I loved them all.

I loved how truly innocent she was inside. I loved how beautiful she was outside.

She really was beautiful.

And as I looked at her, I couldn't ask for more. I wanted only her. Only Giwa.

And when we kissed, It felt electricity. It was nothing like I ever felt before. I couldn't have enough of her. I just couldn't.

That was when my mum called. With the tone of her voice, I knew that instant that something was terribly wrong.

My guess was right.

When I got home that night from the Christmas Party, roughly around 8pm, my heaven quickly turned to hell.

I came home to the police searching the ins' and outs of my father's house, raiding the entire place in search of something.

My dad was already in cuffs and my mum looked like she was about to have a heart attack, crying and pulling out her hair.

"Why are they here?" I asked Krisdana, who stayed with me at the corridor that night to avoid being in there with my parents. She had been at home all day and purposely didn't show up for the Christmas party. Unlike me. So she should have known.

"They think your dad is involved in some illegal business." she had told me in a silent tone.

The lump in my throat hardened. After I had summoned up the courage in me, I had to ask;
"What illegal business?"

She didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then finally her mouth opened and her answer came in a faint whisper. "Drugs."

My heart dropped to my stomach and my body went numb. Neither me or Krisdana said another word to each other. The shock was too much.

Even on my little sister, Sharon.

She eventually came out of her room and with all the commotion in the house, I felt she already understood that something was wrong.

"Are they taking Daddy away?" She asked me and Krisdana.

We turned to see her at the door of her room, standing there with sober eyes and a wary expression on her face.

"No, Sharon. Nothing is happening. Go back to your room." I had told her.

"They're taking him away, aren't they?" Sharon said.

"Sharon, calm down. Nothing will happen to him, okay?" I tried to tell her.

Sharon wouldn't listen. Ofcourse, she wasn't stupid. Even if she was barely 12, she definitely understood that nothing was right. She couldn't handle it. The pressure. The anxiety. The fear.

Sharon had an asthmatic attack.

"Let's take her to the hospital!! Is she still breathing!?" My mother had screamed when we brought Sharon to her.

My mum's screams and wails keep replaying in my head. My dad in handcuffs. The police in our house. My unconscious sister. Everything keeps replaying. Over and over, the scenes keep replaying in my head.

They all keep replaying.

Over.

And over.

And over.

And over.

And_

My eyes shot open immediately at the sound of my phone ringing. I was lying on my bed and the early morning sun from outside my room window was hitting my face.

I sighed as I got up. God! When would I stop having all these nightmares!

As I grabbed my phone from my side, I looked to the screen to see the caller ID.

It was Giwa.

But before I could answer, the call cut adruptly.

I squinted and strained my eyes to see the notification on the screen; 4 missed calls - all of them from Giwa.

I decided to call back, but got distracted with the text message that popped in immediately.

You barely even pick your calls sha.
Anyways, just wanted to say Happy New year❤️

Giwa

I held my hands to my face and rubbed on my eyes for a few seconds to fully adjust to my wake.

And damn, it was already 1st January, and I wasn't even keeping track of the date to know when we even entered a new year.

With everything that had been happening in this house, It was hard to focus on any other thing really.

That night of the Christmas party, my dad almost got arrested. The police didn't eventually find anything on him, but judging with the rate at which I see lawyers in my house everyday, it was clear and quite easy to tell that it wasn't the end of the matter yet.

And Sharon..Well, she was still in the hospital.
That asthma attack she had that same night had it's worst effect on her. She was really sick at the moment and I've been worried as hell.

Ever since that night, all my dreams have been the same. They all start with my moments with Giwa at the Christmas party that night. Then, it hits me back with the reality of how messed up things are at the moment.

And poor Giwa..I just hoped she wouldn't get tired of my onn-and-off ass soon. Since everything went down, it's been hard to keep up with Social Media. It had been hard to get in touch with her in general.

I wanted to tell her everything that was happening, but why bother her with my life story anyway.

I only just hoped she didn't get the wrong message. Guess I'll just have to call her and wish her a happy new year too.

I got my phone up to call Giwa. That moment I was about to tap on the call icon, I quickly noticed a figure at the door of my room through the corner of my eyes.

My heart knotted initially in shock and fear, before I turned sharply to the door to see that the figure was just Krisdana. She was standing there at the door of my room like a statue.

"What the f_, Kris, you scared me!" I exclaimed, a sigh of relief leaving me and a hand on my chest to ease my pounding heart that was still trying to settle.

She didn't move. She just looked at me for while, until I was completely calm. Then, she slowly started walking into my room.

I watched her. Her pace was slow and co-ordinated like she was counting her steps. Her face was just so neutral.

"I was waiting for you to wake up." She told me as she sat down by the desk seat of my reading table - where she usually set everytime she came to my room.

"Have you been standing there?" I asked her, shocked.

After adjusting fully on her seat, she answered. "Yes."

My shocked look remained on her and it only took a short time for her to decode it.

"I'm not crazy, Ivandor." She said plainly.

"I didn't say that..," I replied. "It's not.. it's-it's just somehow for you to just..,"

"I just came to check up on you." She cut in immediately. She almost sounded defensive.

"So?" She raised a brow. "How are you?"

She didn't come here just to check up on me. That one was clear enough.

I sighed. "I'm okay. I'm just..worried about Sharon. I really hope she'll be okay."

Her facial expression sobered slightly, in contrast with the neutral expression it formerly had.

"Can I go with you and your mum to see her too?" She asked me.

"Ofcourse," I answered. "Why not? You can come. We should be going by 12, so just freshen up and get ready."

"Okay." She answered, standing up from the seat. She started to make her way out of the room and I only watched behind her.

"Why else did you come here?"

That was me, asking behind her as soon as she got to the door.

She turned around, almost immediately.

"W-what?" Came her reply.

"Why else did you come?" I repeated my question. "It's obvious you're trying to tell me something."

She looked at me for a while. A long while. Then she looked to the ground.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." She let out softly. Her voice sounded like it was about to break. And I wondered, did she look away from me because she wanted to ..cry?

"Kris, are you okay?" I asked in concern.

Her face lifted up to me and her eyes were red and filled with tears. The pain in her face was evident as her eyebrows furrowed and the corner of her eyes crinkled. Her lips squeezed into a thin, tight line and it looked like she was about to legit cry out loud.

"No, I'm not!" Her reply came, like a little child wailing in pain and she burst into full blown tears afterward.

Woah!

I literally jumped up from my bed and rushed over to her immediately, trying to calm her down as she nearly convulsed in her tears.

"Kris, please. Calm down and tell me what's wrong!" I pleaded.

She was crying so much. I hadn't seen her cry like this in a very long time. What on earth was wrong?

"Kris, talk to me!" I said, as I finally got her to sit down on my bed.

It took some time to fully calm down. Even when I thought she was calm, she was still taking in sharp breaths and swallowing. Her whole face was red by now and it only got redder as she rubbed on it to wipe her tears and control herself.

"What happened?" I asked her softly.

She took in a deep breath to steady herself, before she finally answered. "Yure is cheating on me."

That was like a bullet to my head. A strong bullet - straight into my brain.

The anger moved like an electric current, from my spine and travelled up, until it seemed like it got to my head.

My head was hot.

"What?" My voice even sounded choked. I literally breathed the word out in anger. I was surprised Krisdana even heard it. She just nodded slowly.

That bastard!

So that was why he was acting wierd all along!

So that was what all of that was about!

That fucking bastard!!

I want to kill that guy right now!

The adrenaline in me made me feel like there was a vibration in my cells. My hands were vibrating. Without warning, I let out a groan and my fist suddenly slammed hard against the wall. That made Krisdana shudder, but keep her composure back almost immediately.

I didn't even know when I got on my feet to even punch the wall like that.

I have never been this angry before.

I wanted to kill Yure! Like, I just wanted to drive to his house, drag him out of there and joll him. I don't even want to know who is watching. On God!

"Ivandor, chill!" Krisdana's voice came immediately. She sounded like she was about to start crying again.

"I'm not sure! I think he is cheating, but I'm not sure!" She said, and my eyes diverted to her.

"Why would you come up with that kind of conclusion if you're not sure then?" I almost snapped. Now, I was even getting angry with her for giving me such a heart attack!

"Too many things point to it!" She told me. Her eyes moved around the air aimlessly as she added,"Way too many things."

I looked at Krisdana. How she sat on my bed like she was on edge. How she took in deep breaths to calm herself down. How she looked utterly broken, anxious, and wary about something she wasn't even sure of.

She was going through a lot, I could tell. I couldn't blame her for being this anxious.

"Krisdana." I said, as I joined her on the bed. She needed a sane person right now to talk to - not someone who would just be agitated and distressed like her. That's not what she needed right now.

"Kris. If you think Yure is cheating, why don't you just confront him?" I asked her.

"I'm scared of finding out it's true! I'm scared of confirming it..I..I don't know if I'll be able to handle it." She admitted.

I feared it may be true too.

With the way he acted. Like he did something he shouldn't have done.

What if he was really cheating on her as she so suspects?

What next? I know Krisdana. She wouldn't handle that well. And if anything should happen to my cousin, Yure is so dead to me.

"Miranda said it first. Then, I saw was him with her, they were fighting about something and it seemed so serious and then he started acting so weird and..,"

"Him, with who?" I cut in immediately, and she stayed quiet.

"With who, Kris?" I asked again.

She stayed quiet for a long time. A very long time. Her eyes stayed fixed on the tiled floor of my room now.

"I'm really scared of confronting him." Krisdana said after the long silence, completely averting my question.

"I'm so scared. So scared of confronting him and..and having him tell me it's.. it's true. I..I honestly don't know what I'll do to myself if he is really cheating on me. I don't know what I'll do to myself!" Krisdana broke down painfully in front of me.

"Don't say that. You won't do anything to yourself." I said.

She only shook her head, tears dripping down her red face. "I don't know."

Krisdana did not say much after. She just resumed her pause and I did not push her.

Even if Yure was cheating, she didn't need to confirm that now. She was ready to sink that blow in.

She was so hurt. The thought of it was killing her.
Something similar broke her family apart. Destroyed her family even. Same reason she stayed with us most times and her parents were almost never around. Same reason she got down with PTSD.

But that's another story.

I just sincerely hoped Yure wasn't cheating.

But if truly,
he was, I was certain of one thing;

I was going to get to the bottom of it. I would find out everything. Who he was cheating with, and every detail of it.

That afternoon, some minutes after twelve, I had already long freshened up and was dressing up to go and see Sharon in the hospital with my mum and Krisdana. From there, we were going out.

I was in the living room, while my mum and Krisdana were still trying to get ready. I held the car keys tightly as I waited on the large sofa. They usually took so long to get dressed. Having my mum was an ex-models and Krisdana was well your usual teenage girl, that didn't come as a surprise.

Suddenly, I heard a phone ring.

My phone was by my side, and it wasn't ringing. However, when I looked to the charging spot in the living room, just by the decoder, I saw my mum's phone ringing.

I ignored it at first. Then, the ringing came again. Ignored it a second time. It came about three times more and I was just forced to get up and attend to it.

When I got the phone and unplugged it from the charger, the call hung up.

I furrowed my brows as I saw the text message that popped in.

I really enjoyed last night, baby. You're like a tiger!!

What the fuck is this?

My mum? A tiger? You're shitting me.

This message was from some dude she saved as Mr. Tobi.

Another message from the same Mr. Tobi popped up again.

Call me when you're free, Barni. Let's discuss our next meeting 😉

What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?
Is this a wrong number?

But it clearly says her name; Barni.

The hell?

My head started to do the mental calculatons.
Is my mum sleeping with other men?

"Ivan?"

I turned back to see my mum, already dressed up and standing at the stairs.

The Tiger.

"I ..heard my phone ringing..," she said.

The way she said it, it almost seemed like she could detect something was wrong with the way I looked at her. A mixture of confusion and shock remained prominent on my face.

"Mr. Tobi called." I said slowly, still trying to absorb what I just read. Her text messages, I mean.

Her brown eyes sort of widened, like she was silently exclaiming.

"Yeah..he was saying you're a tiger." I deadpanned, with a perfectly raised brow.

My mum blinked twice with the speed of light and her mouth dropped.

"I..I can explain that." She assured me.

"Explain?" Believe me, that was an exclamation. Please, what was she explaining!?

"Ivandor, give me my phone!" She said, with a form of authority in her voice.

"No." I told her, shaking my head and holding her phone even tighter.

"Give it to me, now!" She almost screamed.

"You're sleeping with other men, Mum?" I asked her.

"Ivandor. That's none of your business. I need you to give me my phone back, now!" She ordered instead.

"How could you?" I wasn't even shouting. I was shocked to my bones.

"Leave it, son!"

That wasn't my mum that spoke. I turned back to see my dad, coming out from the dining room.

Wait. So, he was here all along?

"It's not a big deal, Ivandor. Leave it and give your mother back her phone." My dad said to me.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

Was this a joke?

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped at him.

"I already knew about Mr. Tobi and the others." My dad said plainly.

The others?

"I consented to it." Dad told me.

My head went blank for a second.

Did I just hear him correctly?

My voice came in a faint, throaty whisper. "You what?"

"Ivandor." My mum's desperate voice came. "We had no choice. We've been going through so much in this family and you know it. Those men, Mr. Tobi and the others, have a lot of money and you know what your dad has been going through to pay off all the debts and..,"

Whatever she said after that, I completely tuned her out.

So this was what this was all about? The debts my father incurred - so instead of taking responsibility, he turned my mum into his money making hoe?

"Stop talking, please." I said to my mum, when I realised her voice was still on volume, explaining her actions with rapid fire.

I needed her to stop talking. The hairs on my body were starting to stand. This disgust I felt was unexplainable.

I couldn't even look at both of them right now. I was so disgusted. I literally wanted to throw up right now. I wanted to vomit.

I first turned to look at my mum, who looked very distressed. My index finger slowly went up to her as I fixed a death glare on her face. The disgust I felt made my finger to vibrate. I was not even in control of my body anymore.

When I opened my mouth to speak, I realised that she wasn't the one I was feeling that disgust for. It was the monster that stood by her side - My father.

My shakey finger and icey look diverted to him thereon.

"You!" I breathed.

He looked at me. He had absolutely no shame. Not even a trace of it. He wasn't wavering like my mum. He stood firm. The beast that looked juat like me. He stood firm.

"Are you proud of yourself as a man?" I asked him, with so much bitterness behind my words.

He said nothing. Just stood there and looked at me.

"You let your wife sleep with other men to cater for your family?" I said to him, hinting on that word 'your'.

"You let your wife sleep with other men to pay off the debts that you acquired because of your extravagant life?" I hinted on those words 'you' and 'your' clearly and slowly.

"You let your wife sleep with other men to fix your own mistakes!?" From that hinted word 'your', my voice went high and angry.

I just couldn't believe this guy!

"If you wanted money so much, why couldn't you sell some of the thousand cars you have!?? Oh, you can't do that one. But it's to turn your wife into your source of income in the most disgusting way possible!! And you think it's normal!? You're sick in the head!!" I shouted at my father.

"Ivandor!!" My mum screamed.

"Mum, I am so disapointed in you for even considering this!" I shouted at her too.

"If that man could even think on something so messed up like this, I thought you'd be the sensible one, but I was wrong! How could you ever keep up with this!?" I shouted at her.

"We had no choice!!" Mum screamed at me.

"Both of you are just sick!!" I screamed back at her.

"That's enough, Ivandor!" That sick man who calls himself my father had the guts to even speak.

I could spit on this guy right now.

"You..you..," the shock in all this didn't even let me make out a complete sentence.

I decided it wasn't worth it.

I walked to the sofa and grabbed my car keys and started heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" My mum asked as I stormed off.

"To see the only family member I have who's in the hospital." I answered her straight up, before walking out on them.

My parents stood there, watching me and neither of them said a single word. Neither followed me either.

As soon as I got to the door and opened it, I was greeted by two giant men in uniforms right at the doorstep.

"Good afternoon." The first one said.

When I only looked at them without answering, the other one said. "We have an arrest warrant for Mr. Edward Fejaun, under the allegations of Drug trafficking."

You guys, I laughed a lot writing this chapter 🤣🤣❤️❤️ Ivandor has had it rough today chai. Ezigbo Tiger 🤣🤣. Poor guy!! Sorry, this chapter was a bit long😂💔

What are your thoughts though?? What do you think about the Krisdana and Yure issue??

What do you think about Ivandor's dad issue??

Thoughts???