“Alone?!” I screamed, the rage finally bursting through my shock. “You were not alone! You had our three children! You had the money I sent every single month! Look at this house! Look at the cars outside! Did you build this? Did you earn any of this? I sent you everything, Chidi! I sacrificed my youth so you and our children could live like royalty, and you brought my own sister into my bed?!”
“You chose to stay away!” Cynthia snapped, crossing her arms. “Every time Chidi asked when you were coming home, you always said ‘one more year, just one more year.’ You became obsessed with the money, Amara. You forgot how to be a wife. You left your husband, you left your children, and you left me to take care of them. Who do you think cooked for your kids? Who do you think comforted Chidi when he was lonely? I did! I stepped into the shoes you threw away!”
“I threw them away?!” I lunged at her, but Chidi threw his arms around my waist, holding me back. I fought against him, screaming, crying, striking his chest with my fists. “Release me! Let me go! You monsters! You parasites!”
“Amara, please! Calm down! Think of the neighbors!” Chidi begged, pinning my arms to my sides.
“The neighbors?” I laughed hysterified, tears blinding my vision. “The neighbors already know! That’s why the old woman was crying at the gate! Everyone in this village knew except for me! You made a fool out of me!”
Where Are My Children?
With a sudden burst of strength fueled by pure adrenaline, I pushed Chidi away. I wiped my face with the back of my hand, trying to clear my vision. My heart was pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird.
“Where are my children?” I demanded, looking around the empty living room. “Where are my actual children? Safe, Obi, and Ifeoma? Where are they?”
Chidi and Cynthia exchanged a quick, nervous glance. It was a look that sent a fresh wave of dread chilling through my bones. It wasn’t the look of guilty lovers; it was the look of conspirators who were hiding something even darker.
“They are… they are at boarding school, Amara,” Chidi said, his voice dropping to a low murmur. He wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“Boarding school? In the middle of June? The school term ended weeks ago,” I said, step by step advancing toward him. I had spoken to Ifeoma on the phone just last month, and she had told me she was excited for the holidays. “Where are my children, Chidi? If you lie to me one more time, I swear to God I will burn this house down with both of you inside it!”
“They are not here, Amara,” Cynthia said coldly. “And frankly, they don’t want to see you anyway. You are a stranger to them. To them, I am their mother. I am the one who raised them while you were just a voice on a telephone card.”
Before I could process the cruelty of her words, the front door swung open.
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