"What is the meaning of this?"

Rafael held on to the pictures as hard as he could, lifting them up in the air so Sommadinah could see it. He was glaring and scowling at her so hard that the wrinkles on his fore head were begging to show. He noticed the way she was suddenly shaking all over, shaking like she was scared.

"Rafael-" She exhaled, taking a step towards him.

Rafael scoffed and then turned back to the pictures so he could take a last look at them. He had to be sure he wasn't seeing things. He had to be sure he had all his theories and thoughts right.
"It's her, isn't it?" His eyes still glued to Olivia's family's picture. "Father's mistress from all those years. The woman that had stopped by at the house to talk all those years ago. She's Olivia's mother. D-did you know about this?"
He returned his gaze to his frightened mother. Of course she did. Of course she knew about it. The expression on her face was giving her away.

"How long have you known?"

He was asking so many questions at once. He was so confused. He needed a solid base to understand everything he had come to see that day. He needed answers.

"Why do you have these pictures? Why did you have Olivia's DNA tested? What exactly is the truth? Why have you been trying to keep us apart for so long? Why have you hated her for so long?"

"Rafael, my son," she took a step to him, she was going red already from all the shock and fear she was feeling well up in her. Tears were lingering in her eyes already. "I can explain everything."

"Did you kill her?" He asked her, glaring into her eyes. Sommadinah stopped walking, drawing a deep breath as she glared at him. Her hands and lips were shaking.

"There were rumors during my childhood. Rumors about how you killed dad's other mistresses. How they suddenly disappeared after a while. Rumors that you ended their lives out of jealousy. I never for once dared to believe those rumors. I believed they were fake, I believed since you were my mother, you wouldn't do something so cruel. I lived with people in school cussing me out because of those rumors but I chose not to believe them because I thought they were just lies, started by people who really didn't like our family but this- " Rafael paused. "Why do you have pictures from the day Olivia's parents were killed in that accident? Why did they suddenly die after this woman paid us a visit at our house? What on earth is going on?"

"Rafael," Sommadinah started again. Her hands were trembling as the tears in her eyes already began to fall. She was so scared. So scared and ashamed. Rafael could see it, he could see how she she shook all over as she tried to find her way towards him. "Listen to me," She continued. "Listen to me and I promise I'd explain everything-"

"Did you kill her?"

"Rafael-"

"I asked you a damn question!" Rafael yelled at the top of his lungs, as hard as he could, making Sommadinah refrain from taking another step, letting out a loud sob as she placed her hands over her mouth, not daring to say anything. She couldn't. Not with the way she was crying already.

Rafael glared at her for a while, studying her. It was becoming clear now. Everything was becoming clear to him. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes again, falling the moment he made a loud scoff sound, dropping the pictures on the ground just so he could rub his hand over his face for a while, to stop himself from crying so hard. Rafael settled his hands on his hips, sniffing, burying his gaze on the ground, trying to calm himself. Trying to control himself.

"Rafael, my son-"

"Just what did you do?" He said, finally raising  his head to meet hers. Sommadinah could see it. She could see the tears in his eyes. The look in his eyes. A look she had never seen before. Rafael was breathing fast. He couldn't stop himself. He couldn't control his anger or stop the tears that were falling from his eyes now.  "What did you do to us!" Rafael yelled again. He was slowly loosing it. He could feel how heavy his heart had become all of a sudden, how terrified he was. He could barely breathe. It was like the walls were closing in on him.

"I didn't kill her." Sommadinah blurted out, not daring to take her eyes away from him. Rafael looked at her. She was starting to talk. Starting to explain herself. Rafael snorted out. Did she really expect him to believe that?

"I know you don't believe me but it's the truth. I didn't kill that family. They knew a lot Rafael." She continued. "They knew so much about our family. About our secrets. About what your father did. About the ALCS case and he feared they were going to tell everyone."

Rafael narrowed his gaze to her now. So it was true? It was true his father was responsible for what happened in Apapa all those years ago.

"So he stopped them. He made that accident happen."

Rafael could feel his legs trembling, he grabbed on tight to the dressing table, stopping himself from falling halfway to the ground.

"I wanted to save them. But I was too late. I did not kill those people Rafael, you have to believe me."

"Ahhh." Rafael yelled as hard as he could, pushing everything on the table to the ground with one swipe of his hands. All the perfumes and everything else fell to the ground with a loud sound, breaking . Sommadinah stood still, shutting her eyes for a second, hearing him yell, groan hard. He couldn't take it. He couldn't take what he had just heard. It was almost like he could feel the air in his lungs disappear. It was too much for him, too much for him to bear.

Was it really through? All his fears were finally coming to reality. His family was really responsible for the death of all those people years ago and what was worse, the death of Olivia's parents. He couldn't stop crying. He couldn't.

"Rafael." Sommadinah took a step towards him finally. She had never seen him in that state before. He was falling apart. She could see the blood on his knuckles from all hitting all those bottles. "Son please."

She stretched a hand to him to stop him. To help him. She was crying so hard too already. Rafael quickly turned and then slapped her hand away as hard as he could causing her to fall to the ground. He rose her head to glare at him. He was looking right at her and it was almost as if she could read him, like she knew what he was thinking, what he was about to do next. He shifted his gaze to the door. He wasn't sniffing or crying anymore.

"Rafael, Rafael no."

She begged him, hurriedly reaching for his legs. She held on tight to him. Rafael pushed her away, back to the ground, clenching his fist and then stormed to the door. Sommadinah got up too as fast as she could. She knew she had to go after him. She knew there was no way he was going to live after what he wanted to do. She ran after him.

Sommadinah ran out of the house the moment she saw him walk out too. She knew she had to stop him. She had to try. She increased her speed just so she could get in front of him.

"You can't confront him yet." She told him. "He's going to kill you if you go against him. Rafael please."

Rafael was barely even listening to her. He kept his eyes focused on the golf course where his father was busy playing golf so concentratedly.

"Nwam biko, please." Sommadinah grabbed his arm in attempt to pull him back. Rafael pushed her away, not taking his attention away from what was in front of him.

"Sir Rafael," he heard one of his father's bodyguards call his name cluelessly as he walked into the course, watching his father slowly raise his head to him, holding on hard to his silver club. A tiny frown covered his face the moment he saw the huge frown on Rafael's face. He slowly turned to Sommadinah. He could see the way she tried to run after Rafael as he was getting closer to them now.

Rafael could see one of the body guards run to him to stop him, he pushed him away, and then pushed another one too. There was no one that was going to stop him from doing what ha wanted to. Absolutely no one.

"Chukwudalu," his father said glaring at him, "What is the meaning of this-"

Rafael punched him hard on his face, causing Randy to almost fall to the ground right before his bodyguards hurried to catch him.

Rafael shook his hand. It was hurting. He took a deep breath, and then let out a loud exhale as Randy's bodyguards brought him back up his feet.

"Rafael!" Sommadinah hurried to grab his arm to refrain him from doing any other insane thing.

"It was you." Rafael glared at Randy as he slowly turned his head to meet Rafael's. "You did it. You killed all those people all those years ago and buried all the evidence."

"How dare you?"

"You made a man spend twenty three years in jail for a crime he did not commit, twenty three years!" Rafael yelled at the top of his lungs. "Twenty three years of his life! You killed families, tore them apart. What kind of a person are you? What kind of a monster?"

Rafael was still yelling. He couldn't even control himself, no matter how much Sommadinah tried to stop him.

"What?" Randy glared at him.

"I know." Rafael continued. "I know everything. I know what you did. I know about all the evidence you buried about that ALCS case. I know you killed Olivia's parents, I know all of it!"

"And so what?" Randy asked him. "So what if I did?"

"What?" Rafael snorted.

"You must have a death wish coming to my house to raise your voice at me. Have you lost your senses Rafael?" He drew a deep breath, shaking his head. "Fine. If you have come to die then I'd just help you grant your wish." He turned to his bodyguards. "Teach him a lesson." He ordered.

Rafael took a step towards him as he saw the bodyguards slowly walk towards him. Sommadinah hurried to stop him, standing right in front of him. She opened her hands to stop him from taking any other step, slowly turning to Randy.

"Chief," her voice was shaking. "Chief be merciful please." She begged him rubbing her hands together, not daring to look at him. "He's still just a child. He's letting his emotions get the best of him. He didn't mean it, he didn't mean what he said."

Randy glared at her. He was so furious.

"He's still your son. He's your son." Sommadinah was crying already. "Don't hurt him please."

"Didn't you hear me?" Randy yelled at the men. "I asked you to teach him a lesson!"

Sommadinah shook just as the men drew closer to them. One of them held on to her arm.

"Forgive us chairwoman." He pushed her out of the way, their eyes glaring at Rafael who quickly reached for a golf club. He was ready. He wasn't going to run. He wasn't going to go down without a fight either. The men came at him one after the other and he kicked the first man to the ground as hard as he could and then hit the second man with the club, bringing him to the ground too. And then the third and the fourth, Rafael kept fighting his way through them, punching as hard as he could. He was winning. He almost did before he felt a large bump on his head as one of the men hit him with a club behind him, causing Rafael to fall to the ground, bleeding.

The men rushed to him.

"Beat him!" Randy ordered as he watched them kick Rafael continuously, as hard as they could. "Beat him up! Teach him a lesson!"

Rafael tried to get up, he tried to protect his face but they kept hitting and hitting him all over. Stepping on him. All seven men at once.

Sommadinah's heart was racing. She couldn't stand the horror she was witnessing. She couldn't believe it. She rushed to them to stop them but they pushed her away. They didn't let her go through to Rafael.

She could hear Rafael's loud groan, as the kicks got worse. They were channeling all their energy into hurting him. She turned to Randy who just stood there watching. She crawled to him in desperation and then grabbed his legs, kneeling in front of him.

"Chief please." She said, crying as hard as she could. "Stop them before they kill him."

"Since he wants to die, we should let him. Don't beg for him now when you couldn't even raise him up right. You made him this way. You made him the kind of man to disrespect his parents. You spoilt him. And now both of you would suffer the consequences."

"Chief please. He's still your son. He's your son."

"I don't care. I have tolerated his insolence for far too long. I can do without this one. I have two more."

"Randy!"

"Let me go!" He kicked her away from him before she could say anything else. Sommadinah held her breath as she watched him walk away from the golf course as fast as he could. She slowly turned to the men who didn't look like they were going to stop anytime soon. She couldn't stop them either.

"You're going to kill him!"

She yelled at them as they kicked even harder. She was crying as hard as she could.

"Don't kill my son!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, glaring at them. "Don't kill my son!"