Hey, guys👋🏽

So in this chapter, maybe we will get to see that John is actually not a bad person. Or maybe not 😆.

I'm sure you guys are going to love this chapter because I enjoyed writing it.

Happy reading!!!

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Chapter Sixty Three

CYNTHIA

"Jane, what are you saying to her?"

John asks his sister sternly and she quickly steps back from me.

"Nothing." She replies innocently to him but winks at me.

I smile and pinch her cheeks, "She's cute." I comment, totally disregarding what she just told me about me being her brother's love.

"And she's a pain to deal with too." John replies with an all too obvious I-hate-her-but-love-her sibling's kind of love.

I wave goodbye at Jane and walk up to meet him, giving him a questioning look. I still don't understand why I am in his living room.

"So, where exactly is the venue for the date?" I ask and Jane suddenly squeals behind me.

"Oh, I know! I know! It's-

"If you utter another word there Jane, I'll make sure you never watch PJ Masks ever again." John warns and she looks pretty scared.

"Alright." She replies with a downcast look and walks slowly to one of the couches.

I smile as I watch her walk away then turn to John with a scowl, "That was too harsh. These things practically means a lot to kids her age. Sam can testify to that."

He chuckles before replying, "I bet he can."

His laugh catches me off guard because we are not supposed to be on laughing terms. He must have sensed it too because he immediately goes sober.

"So, where is the venue for the date?" I ask but instead of responding, he brings out a big handkerchief and folds it into a blindfold.

I stare at it suspiciously then give him a look, "Don't tell me you are going to cover my face with that?"

His face falls a little and he seems unsure all of a sudden, "I just want it to be a surprise. You can trust me."

I raise an eyebrow at his last sentence. He really has audacity, I give him that. Mentioning trust when he lied to me for two years.

He must have seen that I wasn't buying it because the hands that were holding up the blindfolds finally drop to his side.

"Alright, follow me." He announces dejectedly and then walks out another door.

We walk outside into his compound and we soon approach a cute canopy that is dim-lighted with a table and two chairs placed with it.

With the backdrop of their pool and the moon shining on it, it actually looks cute. I would have appreciated it more if it weren't for the situation.

We step under the canopy and that's when he turned around, a proud smile on his face.

"What do you think? I know you love romantic dinners under the stars but because the night was a bit chilly, I had to get a canopy."

When I hear his reason for the setup in their yard, I would be lying if I said I wasn't moved a little. He knows a lot about me, my likes, my dislikes, my ideal date. Things even Michael don't know.

Was that why it was easy for him to lie to me for years??

It really hurts to think about those times when we were still friends. I mean at a point, he was the only guy that mattered to me in school.

So why?? What did he get from lying??

"Cynthia, what's wrong? You don't like it? Should we just go to a restaurant?" He asks, confusion written over his face with my expression.

"Let's just get this over with." I tell him, not bothered about his reaction to my response. But I notice the little flinch he does at my words.

Was that too much?

When he finally turns around, his face is devoid of any emotion.

Maybe that's a good thing. It's not like I am here for something emotional either. We should talk about it and end everything here once and for all.

Just as he begins to approach me, a loud bang travels across the house to the canopy. Almost as if someone slams a door too hard.

I look at John and his hands are clenched at his sides like he's controlling himself from showing any reaction.

"Is there someone else in with Jane?"

"No." He replies almost too quickly. He is obviously lying and at this point, it's just tiring. And it makes me wonder just how many lies he had told me for the past two years.

Do I even know him??

But is it safe to not even check up on Jane after that loud bang? Because I know for sure that she wasn't responsible for that sound.

As if he could read my thoughts, he answers, "Don't worry, it's nothing. She's fine."

Which leads me to even worry some more. Because if John is saying it's nothing, then it's definitely not nothing.

He claps his hands twice all of a sudden, probably noticing that my attention is now divided. A man dressed like a waiter appears out of nowhere, beaming at us.

John finally comes to sit at the table and the 'waiter' smiles at both of us.

"Good evening. What would you like to have?" He asks then he places a menu in front of me and my eyebrows raise at the number of foods on the menu.

Fried rice, jollof rice, ofada rice, assorted porridge and a lot more were written them. There are more than half a dozen different options to choose from.

"Are you impressed?" The smugness in his voice makes me raise my head from the menu to look at him and I find a satisfied smile on him. "I wanted to make it look like we are in a restaurant even with the location, hence, the waiter and the menu."

I glance down again to the menu, before finally speaking.

"What happens to the other foods that don't get eaten tonight?"

He shrugs, "I don't care, that's up to the waiter." John glances at the waiter who is still standing next to the table. "He can do whatever he wants with the food."

That seems like news to the waiter as he was obviously not expecting that but then it's obviously a plus for him.

"May I get your order now?" The waiter asks with a renewed energy to his voice.

"Yeah, the ofada rice." I tell him and he notes it down.

He turns to John, "How about you, sir?"

"The same as hers." He responds and I try not to think too much of the fact that out of everything he could have ordered, he got the same thing that I was getting.

Maybe he is also craving ofada rice. Or maybe he's just being weird.

The more I spend time with him tonight, the more I try to figure out who exactly he is.

Will I finally know before the date is over??

The waiter walks off afterwards, leaving John and I alone.

We don't say a word to each other but I know he is watching everything I am doing.

I finally look at him and he doesn't even bother glancing away, he just keeps looking at me.

"John." I call out, deciding to get straight to business. His stare falters a little. "You know the main reason I am here is not to eat and drink with you. I'm here because you promised to tell me the truth about why you lied to me. And I really want to hear everything from your perspective."

"Why?" He asks, taking me aback. I definitely wasn't expecting that. "I'm sure you have reached a conclusion about me in your mind already. Would my explanation really change anything?"

I blink at him. Is he really trying to make me feel guilty right now?

"Aren't you supposed to try to make me understand? Whatever conclusion I have reached shouldn't really matter, should it? You are supposed to be making me see the truth of the whole thing. Maybe I can finally see where you are coming from."

"If I tell you the truth, would you really understand? When I meant if my explanation would really change anything, I didn't mean the conclusions you have reached in your mind, I meant the whole situation. Would everything go back to the way it was? Would you go back to liking me?"

Is he serious??

I think he's forgetting something very important. And that's the fact that I don't like him any longer. I like Michael now and I am not here because I want to go back to liking him.

"John, I think I should make something very clear to you right now."

The waiter chooses that moment to appear with a wine and two wineglasses in his hands. He places each cup in front of the both of us and then proceeds to open the wine and pour it in the cups. He then caps the wine and places it on the table.

"Your food will be ready soon." The waiter says and then leaves.

I stare at the glass of wine in front of me. Isn't wine supposed to be alcoholic? Is he really expecting me to drink that?

"It's more of a fruit drink." He answers my unasked question for the second time today. He then drinks the whole cup and then pours himself another one. Then he raises his eyebrows at me.

"See? I'm not even tipsy right now."

His words and actions make me realise that I really must be an open book to read. Just how much can he read just by looking at me and how much of that knowledge has he used to his advantage?

I look up at him and of course, he's staring at me. One of his fingers are drumming on the table lightly while the other one is holding the wineglass and twirling the liquid inside of it.

He looks so relaxed and controlled like he's in charge of the whole situation and it's a bit unnerving. This was the same guy who was begging and insisting on this date.

I would have expected him to be trying everything he can to make me believe him but what's he thinking?

But I do know it's going to be very hard to believe whatever he tells me tonight.
Can he still see what I am thinking right now?

I decide to try again.

"So you really won't give me an explanation when that's the only reason I am right here sitting in front of you in the first place? You don't think I deserve one after you stringed me along for two years and told me lies?

Both of his hands stop their actions, the one twirling the wine and the one drumming on the table and then he leans forward.

"I already apologised for lying about what happened to you two years ago in the classroom but I will apologize again if I have to. I'm going to give you the explanation you want to hear so much too since that's the only reason you are here but don't you think I deserve an apology too?"

What?!

"I was also stringed along, don't you think? You made me believe you liked me. That I had a chance of being with you for those two years only for you to start developing feelings for someone else. And you didn't think it was even right to tell me. You made me keep feeling hopeful when in fact, I had no choice."

Haven't we had this conversation before? He told me himself in the empty classroom that he knew he already knows I like Michael. He even said he was willing to let me go. So why is he suddenly asking for an apology?

"We have had this conversation before, haven't we? And I am going to tell you what I told you the last time. You never gave me the chance to tell you. Whenever I tried to tell you, it's like you knew what I was going to say and then you would change the topic. That's what you were doing, weren't you? Since you obviously know that I liked him and no longer liked you. So how is it my fault if you didn't want to hear the truth?"

He smiles sadly and suddenly drinks the whole thing in his wineglass again, "I wish this was alcoholic after all."

The waiter finally appears with a tray of food in his hand but John sends him back, "Not now."

I agree with him for once because a lot needs to be said right now and there shouldn't be any distractions.

"Cynthia, how do you think it was for me to watch the process of you falling for him? Everytime I saw you look at him dreamily or smile at something he said, you know what comes to my mind each time? What comes to my mind is that, that should be me. She should be looking at me like that. She should be smiling at me like that. She liked me first!"

For some reason, everything he said sounded wrong. It sounded almost possessive. Like I belonged to him and those things should be reserved for only him.

But then, I might be wrong. I've been seeing the negatives a lot in him and not the positives recently. So maybe my mind is interpreting it in the negatives too.

"Don't you think it was all wrong from the beginning?" I ask him and he seems a bit confused. "The only thing that made our paths cross was because of the jacket. The only reason we started to talk was because of the jacket. The reason I started to like you in the first place was because I thought you were the one who saved me and gave me the jacket that night."

He now looks very disoriented and confused, like he never thought of it like that. Like he missed something that he should have known was really important. But still, I continue.

"But guess who was never involved with the jacket in the first place. You. You lied to me. You deceived me. And you still think I don't deserve an explanation? Do you even know how I felt when I first found out the truth? How heartbroken I was? How confused I was?"

"So just tell me why you lied. Tell me why you didn't say no when I approached you and asked if the jacket was yours. I deserve to know."

He slumps on his chair, looking defeated and then he gives in. "I will tell you. And it's going to be the truth this time around. I remember sending you a text that I had a mental condition."

I give him a look of disbelief, "You don't expect me to believe that has anything to do with the lie."

"Maybe. Maybe not." He shrugs. "But I do have a personality disorder and I am not going to tell you which it is."

So he was saying the truth about the mental condition? Why does that make me sad for him? Or is that what he wants? For me to see him as pitiful?

I clear my throat, trying not to let any emotions show since it's now obvious that he can somehow know what I am thinking.

"I really hope you are seeing a psychiatrist for your disorder but you still haven't told me why you lied."

He chuckles a bit, "I was just getting there. What I am about to tell you might sound unbelievable but it's the truth, I swear."

I don't know if that statement is to make me doubt whatever he is about to say or to believe him but then I guess I won't know which of them to do until I hear this explanation of his.

"I was there that night at that party. The one where Michael gave you that jacket."

The first sentence was a very unbelievable one but I never mentioned that it was Michael who gave me the jacket too so how did he know?

He sees the doubt and confusion on my face and smiles, "That night, you looked like a fish out of water. You were clearly in a place that was not your scene and it was so obvious as soon as you stepped in. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off you. I was at the party because a friend of mine had invited me but parties really weren't my thing either."

"Anyways, I saw everything that went down that night. I saw you drink the whole thing in the cup the senior gave to you. I saw you make your way to a seat. I saw you kick the guy in his chin when he tried to assault you. At first, I was just watching you to see what would happen but when you kicked him, I decided that I liked you."

"But then I lost sight of you because my friend who had invited me to the party wanted me to play a game. So I had to go with him. When I could finally set myself free from the game, I couldn't find you in the party anymore. But I could still see your friend, the one you came with so I got worried because that would mean you were still in the party."

"I searched for you everywhere in the house but you weren't there and then I went outside. And that's when I saw Michael wrapping his jacket around you and pulling you away from an unconscious man. At that moment, I didn't know if I was jealous Michael got to you first or relieved that nothing bad happened to you. But then to me it was a lost opportunity because I already knew you as my classmate and it could have been a perfect time to introduce each other. But at that party, you went from just being a classmate to someone I have taken a liking to be that night."

"The days following that party, I could still never get the right time to talk to you. I saw that you were looking for the owner of the jacket too and I kept thinking of whether to approach you about it or not. But then that day, you came to ask me about the jacket yourself and I felt that God was finally giving me a chance to talk to you. I could have easily led you to the owner since I was there that night after all. But apart from the fact that I was already beginning to like you, I didn't want to lead you to Michael because he was a notorious playboy and I could somehow see how it was going to end. With your heart broken."

"I was selfish and I lied to you. Do I regret it? No. Would I do it again? Yes. Because thanks to that, I was able to have you in my life. And Grace too. Even though she obviously doesn't like me anymore. And because I know Michael is going to hurt you in the end. He might seem kind of taken by you right now but it's not going to end well." He finishes.

For the first time, I grab my drink and drink everything in the glass because my throat suddenly feels parched.

This- Everything he just said right now seems like the truth. Only someone who was there at the party can say the details like that. But it is a lot to take in.

"Why didn't you tell me you were at the party?"

"I did tell you about being at the party. You were probably so convinced that everything I had been telling you was a lie that you forgot that part. Being the owner of that jacket might have been a lie but I was really at that party."

This- This is really a lot.

What now? How do I react to this? I was so convinced he is a bad person so what do I do with this new knowledge?

"Cynthia, I like you. A lot. I still do and I meant it when I said I am willing to let you go but Michael is not a good person. He is still going to hurt you. And I am very sure about that. So when he does hurt you, I will be waiting. I will be here for you to come back to me."

Why is he still saying stuffs like this? It's getting really hard to hate him as it is. But why is he insisting that Michael is a bad person?

He continues, "And I am really sorry for lying to you for those years. I was going to tell you the truth after we had started to date but we never did and it's really not an excuse but I am sorry."

I mean if he says it like this, do I really have to keep being annoyed?

"It's- it's okay. I mean, I can understand you a little right now." I finally say in respond to all his words. But there's a part that keeps bothering me.

"You said Michael's going to hurt me and you seem pretty sure about it too. Why?"

He smiles, "I was thinking you wouldn't ask. Now, that's because-

"Where is that bastard?!"

The sudden intrusion startles me so bad, I almost fall from the chair. The sound is from afar but I could hear the anger even from where I am seated. The voice belongs to a male and it definitely sounds familiar but my brain chooses not to remember ths owner at the moment.

"Where is that bastard?!" He shouts again, his voice getting louder as he gets nearer. There is something about his voice that scares me, he sounds really angry.

I look at John and his face which was smiling a moment ago is now void of any emotion. He looks like he is mentally preparing for whoever is coming.

I cover my mouth as Wole comes into view. He looks nothing like the Wole who I saw yesterday helping Grace with Femi. I begin to wonder just what might have happened to him over the period of twenty four hours.

He looks haggard and very dangerous. His eyes are bloodshot as if he is drunk and he looks like he is ready to kill someone.

The look in his eyes becomes even more deadly as they lay on John and the first thing he does when he gets to him is to throw a punch.

I scream in shock as John stumbles into our table, crashing it to the ground. I quickly stand as the wine glasses shatters on the floor. Then I watch in horror as Wole grabs him by the collar and pulls him up again.

"You killed her, you bastard!" He shouts into his face and throws him another punch. "You fucking killed her!" He screams.

I stare at John on the floor, worried that he's going to get injured by the glasses on the floor. Various thoughts going through my mind as I watch him spit out blood but I quickly try to pick the big shards of glass before they can do any damage and then drop it far away from where they are. I pick the wine bottle which has thankfully not broken but just as I am about to set it aside too, I see Wole grab John by the collar again.

"Wole! You are going to kill him!" I rush to them so I can release his hold from John's collar and maybe control the whole situation a bit but Wole only gives me one glance and my hands fall to my side.

He looks lost, like someone who is desperately looking for an anchor. Something or someone to grab on to.

"Wole, what happened to you?" I ask worriedly and he shoves John back to the ground. I glance at John who is making no effort to defend himself and look back at Wole.

"Cynthia." He cries, his eyes now brimming with tears. He then points at John, "He killed Tiwa. Tiwa killed herself because of him."

I pull him into a hug to console him because he really looks like he needs it and at the same time, I try to understand what he just said.

I release him from the hug and look at him, "Tiwa? Your ex-girlfriend?"

"Yes!" He shouts and glance down at John with so much hatred. I'm convinced I have seen it before.

Then I remember it's the same look that John had given Wole in the stadium. I was so convinced that there's something between them and it seems I was correct. Looks like I might get to know what they have against each other too.

"Tiwa wouldn't be dead if this bastard hadn't hated me so much."

He moves towards him to grab him and I try to stop him but he shrugs me off. He raises him from the floor and stares right into his eyes, "Why? Why did you kill her? You said you were in love with her, so why?! Why did you do that to her?!"

My eyes widen at Wole's utterance as everything begins to click into place. The memory of when we were playing truth or dare in class flashes in front of me and I just realize that this is going to be far more twisted than I thought.

"I had another friend then or so I thought he was until I discovered he was also in love with her. She caused a rift between us and maybe helped me in discovering who he truly was. He never accepted our relationship even when she agreed to date me and then one day, he was suddenly cool with it. I should have thought it was strange but I just concluded that he had finally accepted the fact that we are together and there was nothing he could do about it."

For some reason, Wole's words in the classroom come to my mind. So the guy he was talking about was... John?!

"Wole, the guy you told us about then in the classroom was John?" I ask to make sure I wasn't just jumping to conclusions again.

"Yes. He is." He replies and I glance at John for confirmation. He can't seem to look at me which might just be all the confirmation I need.

"John, is that true? You killed her?" I ask with uncertainty and he is quick to look at me this time.

"Of course not. She committed suicide." He replies and Wole punches him in the face again.

"She committed suicide because of you, you bastard!" Wole screams.

My head is beginning to spin from everything that is happening. I look from John to Wole and to John who is now looking at me, his eyes pleading with me to believe him.

I look away from him and stare at the ground next to him. Trying to think.

I find it hard to believe what Wole is saying but the way he is saying it with so much conviction is making me doubt.

"How did you know?" I ask, then look up at Wole. "How did you know he led her to committing suicide?"

"Because I followed your instructions." He replies but he must have seen my confused look because he proceeds to explain, "You told me back in the classroom to stop being affected by my dead girlfriend and that going through her phone might help me find out what led to her suicide." He continues, adding the last word bitterly.

"And I did. I've been going through it since Michael's party and my heart has been breaking ever since."

Was that why he was drinking yesterday at the party? Michael said he did that every time because of his girlfriend. Was that when he got the idea to look through her phone?

"She was going through a lot and I didn't know. Someone had been sending her pictures of me with girls in bed. Different girls that I've never even met in my life." He says, trembling with fury and yet his voice sounds sad like he is forcing those words out of his throat. Like thinking about it is making him sadder.

"The person sent the pictures with a demeaning message.

'You think he can love a church rat like you?'
'Your lowly self can never compare to the girls that he is with'
'Why are you still even trying? You should no longer be on the face of the earth'."

What the hell? Why would anyone send messages like that to a fellow human?

I don't think I can understand what he must be going through as he recounts what he read on her phone. His voice gets quieter as he mentions those words and his hands shake as his fingers deep into his palm..

"Wole-

"And then I tried to remember how I might have ended up with any of the girls in the pictures but no matter how hard I think, I always come up blank." He continues like I hadn't called his name. "I suddenly became curious. Didn't she and John ever talk? So I searched through her phone for anything related to John but I couldn't find any."

"Then why are you accusing me of killing her?" John questions from where he is now sitting on the floor.

Wole looks down at him with an expression I can't decipher.

'''I liked you first but you ended up choosing that idiot over me. We both know you don't belong with that idiot so get ready for whatever is coming next because you are either mine or nobody's.' Does that sound familiar to you?" He asks him.

"John sent that?" I look at Wole in surprise and glance at John who now has a defiant look on his face.

"Why would I send such a childish message? And you don't even have proof that I sent it." John argues and Wole nods, suddenly looking drained and exhausted.

"Yes, I don't but you're the only one who was after her that I knew of. You were also the one who liked her first. You guys were friends before I ever came into the picture."

"That doesn't necessarily mean I was the one who sent the message. How about the person who sent the pictures? You could have traced her!" John shouts and Wole smiles at his sentence.

"I never said it was a her but you're right." Wole agrees and John's face falls, realising he just made a mistake.

"A girl you hired sent the pictures and messages to her. You pretended you were my friend, took me to clubs, drugged me and made girls pose with me all so you can send pictures to Tiwa. So you can make her feel bad about her existence."

"You just said you didn't remember how you ended up with the girls in the picture. Why are you suddenly making up lies?" John asks, looking offended.

"I'm making up lies?!" Wole repeats like it is the most incredulous thing ever and laughs. "Lies?! So you never took me clubbing? You never took me home because I got so drunk that I passed out? You think I'm so dumb to not put two and two together, is that it?" Wole adds with a smile then turns to me.

"Cynthia, this guy is a psycho. He didn't just get me drunk so he can get me to snap pictures half-naked with girls, he did that so he could know the kind of house I live in because apparently, he knew something I didn't know then." He says with a smirk and glance down at John.

At this point, my head is swimming with all this information and my mind is trying to process them all at once.

"Why would he want to know the kind of house you live in? You make it sound like he was collecting information about you." I tell him and Wole bursts out laughing.

"I knew you were smart, Cynthia. And yes, he was collecting information about me. You won't ask why?" Wole asks with an amused smile but the situation is far from amusing. I look at John and he is now refusing to look me in the eye once again.

And that tells me that what Wole is about to say is also the truth.

"Why?" I ask Wole but with my eyes still on John.

"John and I share the same father."

I raise my head so fast, I almost have a whiplash.

Oh- My- God!!!

Did I just hear correctly?

I glance at John then back at Wole, pointing at John, "You- you mean-

"Yes." He replies, like he already knows my question. "John is my half-brother."

***

*Drumroll*

And... the night is far from over yet.

Did anyone ever think John and Wole might be related? If you did, let me know why.

Also, what do you guys think about John's explanation in the beginning? Lies or he's telling the truth?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Don't forget to leave a vote.

See you when next we see 🤍.