Gold and Tunde decide to meet Rita and start heading downstairs when Aisha calls Gold for a task. So Tunde said to her, “You go ahead. I’ll wait for you by the car.” Gold nods in agreement and walks away.

As Tunde reaches the hall, his eyes fall on Mr. Chibunna entering through the door. Seeing him reminds Tunde of the day when Mr. Chibunna insulted Olamide. Tunde has no intention of talking to him and tries to ignore him. However, Mr. Chibunna approaches him and asks about Olamide.

“How are you, Tunde? Can you please tell me where is Olamide?”

Hearing Olamide’s name from Mr. Chibunna surprises Tunde, but soon anger takes over. “Why do you want to meet him now? Is there anything left to humiliate him about?”

“No, I’m not here to humiliate anyone. I just need to meet Olamide and talk to him.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I want to apologize to Olamide.”

Tunde is shocked to hear this sudden change in tone from Mr. Chibunna. Just then, Gold arrives but decides to stay silent upon seeing them in conversation.

Mr. Chibunna continues, “I made a huge mistake. I couldn’t understand my own daughter and ended up taking away all her happiness. I can’t bear her pain anymore. Please let me meet Olamide.”

“Olamide isn’t here. He went back to Lagos,” Tunde replied.

“What? No… I need to talk to him.” Mr. Chibunna was panicked now.

“Uncle, please calm down and tell us everything that happened.” Gold came forward and tried to handle him.

By now, the other family members have also gathered, looking at each other in confusion, wondering what is going on.

Mr. Chibunna started telling, “Last night when Rita came home, she looked very upset. She didn’t speak to anyone and went straight to her room. When we followed her, we saw her crying and throwing things around. We rushed to her and asked what happened but she said nothing and just hugged me, crying uncontrollably. She kept saying, ‘He left me again, Dad. He left me forever. I’ve lost him forever. How will I live now?’ When we asked her for the full story, she told us everything that happened last night. She also mentioned that Olamide is getting married next month.”

Kunle and Aisha shocked together, “What? Marriage?”

Mother also interrupted, “And that too next month? Amazing! No one even told us anything about it.”

Kunle explained, “Mother, we knew nothing about this. Olamide never spoke to us about it.”

Tunde explained to them, “That’s because he made this decision just last night.”

“But why so suddenly? And what is all this talk about Rita? Can someone explain what’s going on between Olamide and Rita?” Aisha asked.

Mr. Chibunna calms everyone down and narrates the entire story about Olamide and Rita’s love, including the harsh words he had said to Olamide, which drove him away from Rita.

Hearing the whole story, Kunle and Aisha are shocked to learn about everything Olamide had been through without their knowledge.

Aisha angrily turns to Tunde, “You knew about all this?”

When Tunde nods, Aisha’s anger flares, “Then why didn’t you tell any of us? How could you both hide something so serious?”

“What else could I do, Mom? Olamide made me swear not to tell anyone in the family. He didn’t want any strain on your friendship and relationships because of him,” Tunde replied.

Kunle steps toward Mr. Chibunna and says, “Sorry Mr. Chibunna, but what you did to our children wasn’t right. How could you assume Olamide has no family or identity of his own? He is not an orphan—he is my son, Olamide Kunle Adeyemi. I have never differentiated between Olamide and Tunde.”

Aisha also supported him, “That’s absolutely right. Olamide is our child, connected to our family by heart, if not by blood. But you pushed him away from us with your harsh words, making him feel like an outsider.”

Turning to Tunde, Aisha asks, “Where is he now? I need to talk to him. What kind of son hides such a big issue from his mother? Call him right now—I’ll give him a piece of my mind! My child was suffering, and I had no clue.”

Mr. Chibunna folds his hands and pleads with Kunle and Aisha, “I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, but please forgive me. I made a terrible mistake. I wanted my daughter to marry into a big family and live like a queen. But in my greed for false happiness, I broke my daughter’s heart. I failed to understand her love. Now, I just want to meet Olamide and place my daughter’s hand in his.”

“We understand your intention was to secure a good life for your daughter. Every father wants that for his child, so we aren’t upset with you. But why did you think Rita wouldn’t be happy in our home? Didn’t you trust us?” Kunle said.

“No, no, it wasn’t like that… I just became blinded by my love for my daughter,” Mr. Chibunna said.

Tunde interjects, “You may not know this, but I love my brother deeply. Whatever property we have, Olamide has just as much right to it as I do. Rita could never be unhappy here.”

“Tunde is absolutely right. We never considered Olamide an outsider. If you marry Rita to Olamide, she will be the daughter-in-law of the Adeyemi family and will have the same rights as Gold,” Kunle also said.

Aisha interrupted, “But where is Olamide? I haven’t seen him since morning.”

“He’s gone to Lagos, Mom,” Tunde replied.

Hearing this, everyone grows worried.

Tunde then turns to Mr. Chibunna, “You never liked Olamide before. What changed now that you’ve come to apologize?”

“The realization of my mistake… When Olamide met Rita four years ago and then left her forever that day…”

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