Femi's POV.

"Guy, wassup na? You've been so scarce lately!" That was Damola, my very good friend. Lately we haven't been talking to each other _ not that we were having issues _ just that he hasn't been in Lagos for a while. Most times he's usually so busy with work and the all.

He took a seat on the visitor's chair while I closed the paperwork before me.

"Damola, so nice to see you. How have you been?" I asked.

"Been good, you?" He asked, leaning on the chair while folding his hands behind his head like he owned the place.

"I dey oh. Longest time sha, how has work been?" I replied

"Stressful and not to mention the fact that it has been so annoying lately" he said, running a hand through his fairly trimmed afro.

"Same here" I replied dryly as I grabbed another document and began flipping through it.

"And that's why I'm here. Your work's about to end in an hour. So we're going out with Kunmi today, I already called her since she has already gotten rid of her casts last week. Then we'll be heading on to have some real fun, and don't dare say no. If you do, I'll kill you. I swear" Damola said, wearing a serious look on his face, and for a second there I actually got scared. Not!

"Fine, I need it too. So yeah, I'll get done with all this work and in an hour we'll be on our way. But, I'll have to head home to shower and change" I said and he quirked a brow at me.

"My friend! You can just pull your yeye tie, fly your stupid shirt, open a few buttons, and then lose that hideous suit jacket. There, you'll look great" he said and I looked at him amusedly.

"Whatever" I muttered and continued with my work.

* * *
Chioma's POV.

In my lifetime, I've never seen my father this angry at me. Never ever! I'm trying to talk some sense into him, but the old man is bent on not listening to me.

"Dad, I was wrong. Just forgive me already" I yelled back, fighting back tears.

"You haven't even apologised properly!" He demanded, his face read rage, his eyes read danger and his tone demanded attention and respect. I was scared, scared of my father for the first time in my entire life. He has never raised his voice at me like this, he always knew what to say to me. Never yelled like he was doing right now, and certainly never glared daggers at me like he was doing right now.

"Chioma, I can't believe I let this happen. You, you're becoming worse everyday. You can't even apologise to your own father. Why is it__"

"I have apologised!" I yelled, cutting him off sharply.

"You haven't! You can't get the words 'I am sorry' out of that mouth of yours" he yelled back at me. "And I forbid you from raising your voice at me, or interrupting me...or there will be consequences" he warned in a very harsh and authoritative manner. It shocked me, so much that I didn't say a thing.

"Now, I have made a decision. One that I was too afraid to make for years now," he said, taking a seat on the plush black couch in the living room where mom, Amara and I were. And something about his tone made me anxious, scared to say the least.

"Chioma, I've had enough of your nonsense, enough of your attitude. It was my mistake to watch you grow like that, to watch you thread the wrong path and not do anything about it. It was wrong of me. And as your father, I make this decision for your own benefit," at this point it was so hard to keep it together, but I still tried hard enough. "And that's why I have decided that you'll be leaving this house until you finally learn to respect people and change for the better" he added, causing a loud gasp to escape my lips. Words couldn't possibly describe my emotions, I was dumbfounded, shocked, angry, hurt, sad, resentful, bitter and yet again, numb. No can ever be able to understand this feeling I had inside. I had everything going great, my life was perfect, I had all I ever wanted...but today, all of those things seem rather lost to me.

"You can't do that! She's your daughter, Obiora!" My mother yelled. And for the first time ever, she referred to my father by his first name. Something she hadn't done in years.

"Look, we are the reason why she's like this. I mean, haven't you seen the way she behaves? No man can live with her if she keeps this up. And believe me when I say this is the hardest decision I've ever had to make. Do you think it's easy to send my own daughter away? It's not easy at all. And it's not like I'm sending her somewhere far away. She'll be here in Lagos, just not under my roof" At this point, dad looked like he was trying to calm down. He was hurting, I could tell by the sound of his voice. But I was hurting even more, I was beyond hurt.

My own father, someone I've come to love so much, is ready to send me away.

"And we are the reason for this" he said to my mother.

"Dad, please. Give her a chance, she'll change. I know she will" Amara begged on my behalf, getting on her knees in tears and pleading. All I could do was stand there and cry. I wanted to say I'm sorry but my pride wouldn't let me. I felt I was right, I felt my actions didn't deserve all these unnecessary drama. I made a mistake, I'm human, we all are. But that doesn't mean that my mistake should amount to me being sent away from my home. The place where I grew up, spent all my childhood and nestled so many memories.

He can't send me away. He just can't!

"Amara, I have made my decision. It's for her own good. One day, she'll thank me for this" he said the last part while glancing at me, unshed tears clouding my eyes and blurring my vision. I stared back at him, trying to make him feel guilty as the tears rolled down my cheeks. But instead, he turned away.

"You can't do this!" Mom screamed. "This is too much now, she's your child! Our child! What she has done can be handled in a very different way, but I won't allow you to send my daughter away. You can't do that!" She yelled again.

"Oma, we won't stress further on this!" He said to my mom in a very authoritative tone. A scary tone that sent shivers down my spine. And to me, he said:

"I'm doing this because I love you, Chioma. Now, I'll only do you a favor by sending two escorts with you. For security reasons" he said. "I have already arranged a house for you on the mainland, and that's where you will live. No maid, no driver, no aids. You'll learn to do things on your own. And you'll also find a job and make your own hard earned money, and not relishing on the privileges you didn't earn at all. You'll finally understand how to treat people better once you've lived in the same environment as them. I was once poor like they are, I struggled for what I've earned now and it's a shame that I had to let my first daughter, my first child, rot this way. And I will have to correct that today. Am I clear?" He said, his voice a bit calmer than before.

I didn't say anything. I was too hurt to say a word cause I knew I'd cry some more if I did. He sighed and walked up to me and then hugged me. I wanted to push him away, to yell at him to hate him right now but I just couldn't. I couldn't do anything at the moment, all I could feel was hurt.

"Go pack your things. You're leaving today" he said as he pulled away and went upstairs.

Amara yelled and so did my mother but I couldn't really process their words, I was fading slowly as everything that just happened sank into my head and dug into my brain. Until it dug into my soul and tore it apart.

"He's bluffing! He can't be serious, you're not leaving, okay?!" Amara cried as she hugged me. Mom did same too but I didn't feel any better. The truth stung, it hurt so so terribly much.

"I'll talk to your father, you know how he can be. But don't worry, he's only angry at you. Inugo? " Mom said while hugging me with tears in her eyes. I could tell she was hurt but she definitely wasn't a bit as hurt as I was.

I slowly pulled away from them and went upstairs to pack.

"Dad, can't do this! Mommy do something, he can't send Chioma away!" Amara screamed as she hugged mom and they both wailed.

Why are they even crying? They aren't meant to waste their tears on me! I earned what I got.

* * *
Femi's POV.

I drove the car slowly as we headed to the mall to catch up a bit. Kunmi sat next to me on the passengers' seat while Damola sat at the back, at Kunmi's request since she wanted to seat in front with me cause of her legs.

"So, you guys should gist me. I'm really in the mood for gist right now" Damola said and Kunmi chuckled.

"Damola, I didn't know we had two girls in this car. I thought I was the only one" I laughed at her statement while I saw Damola glare at us both through the rearview mirror.

"Very funny" he replied sarcastically.

"I know, right?" Kunmi added and we both burst into fits of laughter.

"You guys are ganging up against me, abi?" He said and I shrugged, still trying to keep my eyes on the road.

"Maybe" Kunmi answered on our behalf as she stared out the window and I grinned.

"That's__"

"Stop the car!" Kunmi shrieked, cutting Damola off. I almost bashed my car in the process but was able to park the car at a corner with a loud screech.

"You could have just gotten us killed right now!" Damola exclaimed. " What was the need to scream?! And you, Femi, you would have parked the car with sense now. What if we had an accident, unlike you two, I still love my life oh. Just so you know and__"

"Will you both just shut up?!" Kunmi roared, about to get out of the car.

"Kunms, wetin na?" Damola said, also getting out of the car.

"Kunmi, where the hell are you going?!" I couldn't help but scream as I watched her grab her crutches and get down from the car.

"Look" she said, pointing to a direction at other end of the road. The bridge and next to it's railing, stood... Chioma?

"What the...?" I muttered. "What the hell is she doing there?" I asked no one in particular.

"Same thing I'm wondering" Kunmi said with Damola standing beside her, trying to help her steady her movements since the doctor advised that she continues using her crutches for a while _ just so she doesn't stress her healing bones.

"I'm not crippled, jeez! I can walk, at least with my crutches. Now go before that girl jumps off!" She yelled at me for trying to help her into the car once more. Damola gave me a reassuring nod, assuring me that he'd take care of her. And with that, I immediately ran over to meet Chioma who seemed to be considering whether to jump off or not.

"What do you think you're doing?!" I yelled, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her away from the bridge's railings while turning her around to meet my burning gaze. To look me in the eye and tell me why exactly she was about taking such a drastic step.

"Let go of me! It's your fault I'm in this mess! I just hate you! Leave me alone!" She yelled as she tried to pry my hand off her waist, but I refused to let that happen, in fear that she might go ahead and jump off.

"What do you mean it's my fault?!" I yelled back, pissed at her attitude. I'm here trying to save her and here she is acting so stuck-up once again.

"It's all your fault!" She struggled once more to pull away from me but I refused once more, holding onto her tiny waist firmly.

"Behave! I'm trying to help you here" now, Kunmi and Damola were standing right next to me while I tried so hard to tame this tigress.

"It's all your fault I'm in this mess!" Her eyes turned glassy with unshed tears clouding her eyes, tears she held back with great difficulty. "If you hadn't gotten on my nerves. I wouldn't be here in the first place. So yes, it's your fault. It's all your stupid fault!" She yelled, it's the first time I'd heard her yell so loudly (I mean she has yelled at me times without number but this was the loudest of them all). And that meant she was hella pissed right now. Like"I could kill you if you try me" pissed.

What the heck did I even do to her to begin with?!

"Just let go of me! Just leave me alone!" She yelled as she pounded her fists on my chest. Trying to calm her down proved to be useless but I still tried anyway.

"Chioma, I__" and before I could even complete my statement, Kunmi grabbed her by her arm, glaring daggers at her and prying my firm hands off her waist. She made sure Chioma was looking her in the face and her next action shocked us all. I totally didn't expect what happened next, it was so unexpected and it left Damola, Chioma and I gasping in shock.

________________________
Hey y'all!
Thank you guys so much for all the love so far on this book. Like jeez! You guys are truly amazing!! Thanks a gazillion times and over💜💜💜

Means a lot to me and I will forever remain grateful to you guys.

Thanks for reading this chapter and I'd really like to read your thoughts on this chapter. Go mad, be vicious. Stress me with the comments jare, I'm not complaining (don't worry, I have paracetamol)😂

Also, I'd like to know what you thought about Femi and Chioma in this chapter.
I actually shipped them and I came up with FOMA. But go ahead and come up with ship names too, I'd like to read them. Thanks once again for sticking with me ❤️❤️❤️

Till my next update,
Bye guys...