Flashback: Four Years Ago

Mr. and Mrs. Chibunna (Daniel and Chinyere) were sitting in the hall, engaged in their respective work when Rita entered crying and ran straight to her room. Seeing her in such a state, both became very worried and quickly followed her.

When they reached Rita’s room, she was sitting on the floor, crying uncontrollably. Chinyere rushed to her, lifted her and made her sit on the bed. Rita hugged her tightly, still sobbing and narrated everything Olamide had said to her today.

As Chinyere listened, she turned towards Daniel, her eyes clearly expressing that all this was happening because of him. But Daniel remained at the door, quietly listening to Rita’s words. Rita continued crying like a heartbroken child.

After a while, Daniel came closer, calmly held her hand and said, “I can’t believe my daughter is so weak, shedding precious tears for a boy who didn’t think about her even once.”

Hearing this, Chinyere interrupted, “What are you saying? You…”

“One minute, Chinyere. I’m talking to my daughter.”

Chinyere fell silent and Daniel continued, “Now stop this crying and pull yourself together. This is the age for you to focus on your studies and career. Life is long; there will be plenty of boys.”

“But I love him a lot, Dad… I’ve loved him since childhood. I can’t live without him,” Rita said, still sobbing.

“If he loved you, he wouldn’t have left you like this. It’s better for you to forget him and think about your future. You’re our only daughter. If not for yourself, then for our sake… but in the end, it’s your decision.”

After saying this, Daniel left. Listening to her father’s words, Rita became quiet. Chinyere sat with her for a while and once Rita calmed down, she put her to sleep and went to her room.

There, Daniel was reading a book. Chinyere approached him and shouted, “What kind of father are you? Can’t you see your daughter’s pain? I’ve never seen Rita cry like this before. Why don’t you understand? She loves him!!”

“So what should I do? Should I marry her off to an orphan boy who has no identity? She’s still a child, she doesn’t understand the ways of the world yet. This infatuation will fade and she’ll understand on her own.”

“Love can happen at any age. And Olamide is not an orphan; he’s like our child, he grew up under our eyes. How can you think like this about him? Mr. Adeyemi treats him like his own son…”

“Staying in someone’s house doesn’t make one part of the family. Mr. Adeyemi already has two children. If Rita had insisted on marrying their son Tunde, I would have happily agreed, but Olamide…”

“You’re ignoring everything deliberately, but the day you understand your daughter’s pain, you’ll regret this decision deeply,” Chinyere was tired now.

“And that day will never come,” Daniel said confidently.

Rita remained withdrawn and gloomy for several days, spending all her time in her room, even skipping meals. A month later, she expressed her wish to go to London for further studies and we agreed.

Flashback Ends

Tears welled up in Daniel’s eyes as he folded his hands and said, “Chinyere was absolutely right back then. I was so wrong and my daughter is suffering because of my mistake. When she spoke about studying abroad, I was happy, thinking she’d focus on her career and move on. But I was wrong. Yesterday, when I saw her crying, I was reminded of the day I first saw her in tears for Olamide. Even after four years, her pain is the same; she hasn’t been able to forget Olamide.”

“Olamide suffers equally staying away from Rita, even more than her. You managed to separate them physically but never from each other’s hearts. From the outside, he looks normal but only I know the pain he lives with inside,” Tunde replied to him.

“It’s all my fault… it’s because of me that they’re in this situation and Olamide is away from Rita,” Mr. Chibunna accepted.

“What mistake are you talking about?”

Everyone turned towards the voice and seeing the person standing at the door, they were shocked. It was Rita!!

To be continued…