Babiessss. We are here again. 🥹

By the way, I forgot to thank you all for the reads so far. TMBT II got 1k reads in less than 24 hours and right now, we are pushing towards 3k. Thank you to everyone who's been gobbling up on this so far, I promise it won't disappoint. WE ARE ALL IN FOR ONE HELL OF A CRAZYYYY RIDE!❤️🔥

Please, don't forget to vote and leave comments. It makes me happy and I love to hear from you guys about how your read went. Also, I promised that I would start off every chapter by announcing my favorite comment from the last chapter and giving them a shout out. So, drum roll, pleaseee ...😂

The Comment for the Week Is none other than....

So, give it up for Margaret_Faustina everybody. 🍻

Unfortunately, no comment from the last chapter really stood out to me so I had to pick from Chapter Zeroo. But, humor me today guys. You may just be the next week's winner. 😂🍻 Signed by #Yuta'sWifeForLife.

No much talk again.
Oya nu na! Let's go!❤️🔥

~ACHA~

〚VIEW ALL 35,642 COMMENTS〛

WarriChampion
How comments go take pass likes abeg?

SaniBaka
So we all in the comments came from that one post on YabaLeft?

FuckOffMyFeed254
So, this is the WWE Champion??🤣🤣Walahi, this matter is too funny. But the guy get muscles sha, na why he manhandle 'im friend like woman. 🤣

UrsulaBrownie
Why he kinda...

JasmineTope
This is the most chaotic comment section I've ever seen in my life. A section of commenters are laughing and using matter as pure cruise and another section is absolutely tearing this guy apart. Then, there are the Castron High students dominated section and then, the simp section of girls who are crushing hard on Marcus Acha. Lmao, I am Girls. Girls is Me. #Shameless.

HelenaGrace
For the life of me, I can't understand what is wrong with this new generation of children.

DarkVader74
I hear say this guy kill one other guy for una school, @ChUniverse. Confirm this gist abeg.

- Rema'sBabyMama
Replying to @DarkVader74:
On top woman o.

- FareedaSani
Replying to @DarkVader74:
No need to tag their school blog, they won't answer you. No school blog snubs like Castron High. My friend's cousin goes to Castron High and we even attended a party in one of their classmates Yure's house one time, so I have some information. She told us everything. How the babe they're even fighting for is not even worth it. So unappealing. Dresses like a sock. And looks like she's always high on Meth or some cheap Weed. Not a surprise that the yeye boy was only doing it for a bet. His best friend exposed his wicked ass and he beat the guy. I heard the best friend is in a coma now.
All of them are mad, both the girl, the boy and the best friend. Met the guy in the party. Thought he was an alright guy. Disappointed he'd go for that ugly bitch. Even more disappointed he did it over a bet. I don't like her, but no one deserves that. But whatever. In case anyone accuses me of Hearsay, @FunmiBalewa told us. She goes to Castron High, you can confirm as the School Blog follows her and has posted her many times too.

- FunmiBalewa
Replying to @FareedaSan:
Wtf Fareeda, why did you tag me to this? Please, delete this comment. I beg you.

-KvngMario3452
Replying to @FunmiBalewa:
Abeg, tell us na!🙄 Everything that Fareeda babe talk na true??

- FunmiBalewa
Replying to @KvngMario3452:
Never in your pathetic life tag me again. I don't know who you are and I don't engage people I don't care to know. Thank you.

- KvngMario3452
Replying to @FunmiBalewa:
Na wa oh. Small question, she don vex. Sorry ma. Tch.🙄

-YettyMemes
Replying to @FunmiBalewa:
Castron High Girls are just so fucking rude and proud. God forbid.

-RaymondJay
Replying to @YettyMemes:
I swear, guy, too much pride! Na Politician's children full that school na, na why. I just returned from her page. Common 3000 followers. Na why she dey do like celeb.

-KvngMario3452
Replying to @RaymondJay:
This life no balance sha. Because me, I no get money or IG followers na. CH Girls 1, Mario -10.😂

-MimiArchibaby
Replying to @YettyMemes:
CH girl here. Not all of us are rude, but I do agree that girls in my school are unbearable. The boys aren't any better, and as you can see, @ManLikeAcha is a concrete example.
Yes, what @FareedaSan said is true. Apparently, some guys in our set, I will tag a few of them: @JJJarah, @BlackguyOshio, @JagunofLagos, @Kvngsley and @Affah_ made a bet with Marcus Acha on Dabeluchi's head. I'm uncertain if Sean, the best friend was among, but I sha know that @JJJarah was there (and he's also Acha's friend, lmao🤡). Sean exposed them and because of it, Acha beat him up and landed him in the hospital. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he is attacking his friend. I never liked that Marcus Acha. Always got an odd vibe around him. I'm not even surprised.
CH Boys<<<<<

- EssieFayve
Replying to @MimiArchieBaby:
But why would the best friend expose him? I'm not supporting what he did, but that's kinda shady ngl. Thought guys had a guy code or something.

- WillyWonker
Replying to @EssieFayve:
Frankly, I'm just lost. Nothing makes sense to me. But may God remove evil people claiming to be my best friends from my life.

- MimiArchibaby
Replying to @EssieFayve:
The best friend acted on revenge. Acha slept with his best friend's babe. This Ada girl he used to date that's a set below us.

- Yuta'sArmpit:
Replying to @MimiArchibaby:
Jesus Christ.

-TheOnlyAdaUzoka
Replying to @MimiArchibaby:
Now, this is interesting.😏

-Rugerr
Replying to @MimiArchibaby:
But this Acha na rugged guy o.🤣🤣🤣

-EndSarsForever
Replying to @Rugerr:
The guy na cultist!🤣🤣No wonder everybody is dragging him on the 'Net.

-Henessicy69
Replying to @MimiArchibaby:
But, wait, lemme get this straight. This Acha guy or whatever he calls his useless self fucked his best friend's girl. Not only that, but he placed a bet on a girl AND then, got mad at the same best friend he betrayed for exposing him, to the point of beating the person into a coma? What's his anger? That they didn't allow him to finish chopping the babe finish? Or what? #Spits! And they're really people out there supporting him and insisting that he should not be dragged? Just because he is attractive?! So being good-looking gives you a pass to be an asshole?!Anyone supporting this @ManLikeAcha ASSHOLE should be ASHAMED of themselves!

-AbbaPraise
Replying to @Henessicy69:
Another Castron High girl here and frankly, I completely AGREE with you. Take it from me. Marcus Acha has ALWAYS been a very problematic person and his circle of friends is nothing to write home about too! He's always hanging out with these boys in our school that are absolutely diabolical, like the cultists of the school, and he has been involved in MANY scandals with women. A womanizer. Zero personality. Nonsense character. And you need to see the way he beat up his friend that night, the sheer vulgarity. I am so happy that he is finally getting what is coming for him. You NEED to see our class group chat. Everyone is dragging him by the tooth!

- RahmatHali
Replying to @AbbaPraise:
CH girl here too! And yes, I'm LOVING this thread! In our class group chat, someone also exposed him on something else. Asides from being a traitor who fucks his friend's girlfriends behind their backs, places bets on girl's virginities and beating people up like the gangster/animal that he fucking is, he poisoned a guy in our set too! In that same Christmas party!

-WhatCountryIsThis
Replying to @RahmatHali:
Poisoned, ke?!😳

-Bellz
Replying to @WhatCountryIsThis:
Yes! Hear it from me, another CH student. Ghadafi is my guy na. I don't know what on earth Acha had against him. What we knew is that he gave him a glass of poisoned Vodka. It was so bad. Me, @ThatNomsoGuy, @ZibaGegare, @FunmiBalewa, @WinnieEzra and @EmmanuellaAbaz slept in Hostel that night. It wasn't even funny.

-ThatNomsoGuy
Replying to @Bellz:
@ZibaGegare Abeg, who be this guy? You know him?

-ZibaGegare
Replying to @ThatNomsoGuy:
Just coming from his page. Looks like one guy from our class, but I no too sure. Abi his name is Richard or Richmond. I've never spoken to the guy before. Abi it's only me, you, Funmi and Winnie that were in the Hospital with Ghadafi that way. Some of our classmates just dey use us to catch cruise. Make everybody just de cruise dey go.

-MimiArchibaby
Replying to @ZibaGegare:
So, wait, you're supporting Marcus Acha?

-WinnieEzra
Replying to @MimiArchibaby:
Why don't you fuck off, Archibong?

-MimiArchibaby
Replying to @WinnieEzra:
Lol, you're a hypocrite sha. You and your clique. Now you people want to pretend you side (or even ever liked) Dabi in public and at the same time, you're too afraid to call out Acha because you don't know where it will make you stand on the social ladder. Pretending to be fence sitters while hiding in cowardice. I won't shut up. Everyone on this thread will be exposed. Including you! All your secrets will be exposed!

-EllaChapo
Replying to @MimiArchibaby:
Not to be rude, but I think you have to calm down. I've been seeing you all over every thread on this Acha's matter and I get that he's not perfect, but trying to go about being an instigator is just not cool. Also, speaking against your classmates like this on Social Media doesn't have a good look on you either. Do you even care about Dabi? Or even Ghadafi? Because, me and the other prefects organized a hospital visit for Ghadafi and asked classmates to come and we didn't see you there. Casper, Krisdana, Ziba, me and my Co-Chapel prefect, Daniel even complied a list of people who dropped well wishes, and we didn't see a card or get-well- text message from you to him either. You don't seem to care as much as you are claiming, you just found an outlet to attack people you hate. Behave yourself. This is not Castron High. This is Social Media, and the whole world is watching you.

- IamThatGuy
Replying to @EllaChapo:
See long story. Acha na bastard. Period. Allow anybody who wants to drag him to drag him. If you get mind, go to Class GC and defend Acha na. 🤣🤣🤣🤣Mumu.

- EllaChapo
Replying to @IamThatGuy:
I'm not defending anybody.

-DareTheMan
Replying to @EllaChapo:
This one de fear. Acha supporters are just hiding, they no wan collect. 😂

-UdahaMike
Replying to @DareTheMan:
Some are bold o. You've not seen all those girls from other secondary schools under this post? They're crushing o. Acha's followers have moved from 30k to 70k since this matter started. Everywhere I go, I see a fan page dedicated to him. Some people go shock you.

- IamThatGuy
Replying to @DarkVader74:
Oya all these talk on Acha is even becoming boring. Una wan hear better gist? @LightSkinnedChika, how far your Dares and Pledges? We sha get the list, but we no go expose you. But, you, @_aaron27, you don fuck Chika already or you never fuck her?

- Aaron27
Replying to @IamThatGuy:
Your Fada.

-CasperTheGhost
Replying to @IamThatGuy:
Come, no be Othega be this? Othega, is this not you? You wey carry Canvas Shoe pose as Balenciaga for the Christmas party? You must be out of your mind. Keep Aaron and Chika's names out of your mouth, bro.

-JaJaOfCH
Replying to @IamThatGuy:
Come, this guy, who you de follow talk?

-IsahDagger
Replying to @IamThatGuy:
Is it Aaron he's talking to? Abi my eye dey pain me?

-RuggedAyo
Replying to @CasperTheGhost:
Don't worry, no mind am. Don't mind him. Na because na online banter. He's a warrior online. Mae we catch am when school resume first. When we catch you, Ortega!

〚 View Other 3765 Replies〛

No, thanks.

Frankly and firmly, I believe that is enough Social Media for me for one day.

I should have become used to this by now, but somehow, I couldn't. Every day, if it wasn't me drowning myself in conspiracy theories about a potential Dabeluchi's death or alive status, it was me surfing through countless posts all over every form of Social Media where my name was a topic of caricature, teardown or fetishization and pure objectification.

If they weren't slapping their thighs and edging on my non-existent WWE career, they were verbally massacring me.

And, if they didn't want to put me on a stick and roast me alive, then, they wanted to fuck me.

It was crazy how up until this point, I would have never guessed that I would actually grow to hate attention like this. In fact, I would have never guessed that I would ever have this much hate to give, pure unadulterated hate. The kind that made me want to punch a hole into my laptop so hard that my fists entered into another realm, into another digital dimension where I could grab onto the necks of every single motherfucker online dragging me with a vice grip, drag them in here and stuff their faces into the cupboards until they suffocated and turned blue.

And maybe, do it over and over again until they kneel and apologize for every single time that they had my name in their fucking mouths.

So much hate. So much anger. And, it's crazy how you'd never know how much hate you could actually give until you are angry enough. I hated the feeling, I hated how much it made unable to feel anything more. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Fucking Hate. That's all I felt these days.

"He's here."

My eyes boredly moved around the screen, reading over and over hundreds and thousands of comments bashing me under my post, hands tapping against the reading desk I sat on, with a calculating precision.

"I said he's here."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Fingers against wood. My mind was a maze, but my face was most likely a facade of bore as I glazed over the words of these many strangers. So many fucking comments, all of them aiming daggers and clown faces at me, all because of that guy. All because of him. Him. Him. Him.

"Marcus Acha, are you deaf?" My mother's voice rang behind me, a subtle stern to it as her voice rose slightly. "I'm expecting you downstairs in a few minutes. I will be waiting in the Living Room with him."

She knew better than to not leave me alone with him, I'd give her that.

I didn't understand it. Why my Mum thought this was redeemable, and why she tried to force me to succumb to her delusions as well. If I walked in there and had one sight of him - of Sean Ayomide - that would be a shame. And, even my Mum would not be able to stop whatever would come afterwards.

So, with slow steps, I made my way downstairs towards the Living Room. Hands stuffed in the pockets of my sweats, my sweater hood layering darkness over the unrecognizable sinister my face had become, and a
dead gaze zeroing in every line of direction that I walked, I climbed down the stairway. Step by step, each footstep more quiet than the last one.

I reached the Living Room in time to see all eyes staring at me, with nothing short of petrification in their dilated pupils.

The urge to smile was dark and desperate, but I controlled. I didn't want to feel like I was losing my mind more than I already am, smiling at the sheer horror of people. People who looked like they were terrified to shit to be in the same fucking presence at me...

Even if I liked it.

So, I watched them, transferring a careful gaze from my mother first, who sat at one arm of the couch, obvious fear laced in her sharp eyes while she forced a dominating demeanour, raising guard with her shoulders, to the 'company' we had in the room with us.

Like a man on a mission, I walked towards him.

With every quick and deliberate step I took, I saw my mother's soul leave her body and the moment that I was at arm's length with him, she jumped off from her seat, the exact moment his reflex warned him to take a step, two steps back...

But, all I did was outstretch my hand towards him, a wide grin on my face as I offered a handshake accompanied with a welcoming greeting:

"Good evening, Mr. Roland Ayomide."

His demeanor seemed to slightly relax at my behavior, a subtle smile spreading across his lips as he took my hand, accepting my firm, strong grip as a lighthearted handshake.

Sean Ayomide had some audacity...

To send his Father to my house instead of showing his face here himself.

"I heard you have been having a hard time holding up, Marcus..." He said to me, laughing to wave off the rest of the tension and subtle awkwardness that filled the atmosphere a few minutes ago, "And, wow, you have a firm grip there. Strong hands for a boy your age. Have you been working out, my boy?"

A subtle smile played against my lips, eyes watched even his every littlest movements without a single word, and I tried again to tame the smile from turning into a grin when he started to feel slightly scrutinized.

"You haven't seen him since he was in junior secondary school, that's why he's all so strong and grown now. And yes, he works out from time to time," My mum was the one who answered the question that Mr. Ayomide had asked me.

He broke into a loud, exaggerated laughter. Clearly trying to wade off more tension in the air.

"Of course, these younglings are now so big and strong!" He concurred with my Mum, "And look, the boy is even taller than me now," He faced me again, hearty grin on his face as he tried to engage me again, "How old are you now, Marcus? How many years ago was it when you were still running around the house with that your fine pampers? And now, you're a big boy, right Marcus? Don't tell me you are now legal o!"

"He's not yet legal," My mum interjected immediately again, and she was smart to be the one answering the questions this man was directing at me, "But, his birthday is on the 19th of February. Next month, Marcus will be eighteen years old!"

"Time flies so fast!" The man jumped in again, and him and my Mother shared a laughter together that I could tell was fake from even a mile away.

The air in this room was difficult for the both of them to breathe...

And, I liked it.

Mr. Ayomide got the hint pretty soon that I was not interested in discussing frivolities and small talk with him, so he faced my Mum who was ready to entertain him, while I stood there with hands never leaving the warmness of my pockets, watching them.

Watching him...

At one look, Sean's father had barely changed. In comparison to the last time I remember setting my eyes on him, I mean. He was only slightly bigger, broader shoulders and more defined biceps. I always felt he made up for things he didn't have, in some way. For example, he didn't have a fiery personality or a no-nonsense character, so he made up for it with a massive builder body. He didn't have any hair on his head, so he made up for his baldness with the massive beard on his face. He didn't have perfect skin either, and this was maybe due to a history of suspected bleaching, but he also made up for that with the dozens of tattoos all around his neck, hands, and body. And, lol, he also didn't have the best relationship with his wife, so he made up for that with-

"So, Marcus, I came here to talk to you."

I raised a brow, but that was the most reaction that I was able to give.

My mum sat back down, waiting anxiously on the couch as she watched the interaction between me and Mr. Ayomide.

"Can we sit?" He asked me, his tone was soft and slightly desperate.

I sat before him. Leaned back into the centre of the sofa. Crossed my legs lazily. And, waited.

"It's about my son," he said, and I watched a softness grow in his big eyes, and I tamed the burning sensation within me by masking it all with a small smile.

"Okay." Was all I answered.

"I heard what happened between you two, and when I reached out to your Mum, she was the one who told me about how things from that night led up to other consequences... Like what may or may not have happened to your girl."

I stared at the man, barely giving off more of a reaction or a response as I observed him more to realize one little tiny detail about him that still hadn't changed...

The hatred I had towards him.

And, I knew it wasn't just because of the fact that now, I couldn't stand Sean Ayomide or anything that was even in the slightest in connection to the bastard.

"I wish things didn't have to go as far as they did. I just wish-"

"- And, somehow, you felt responsible?" I cut him off, asking.

He stopped, an unreadable look flashing through his eyes in a second.

"Why?" I further asked, "Tell me why you felt responsible. I'm listening. Tell me right here, in front of my Mother too."

He stopped, looking back at my slightly confused mother for a second before turning back to me, a small pleading look in his eyes.

"Relax," he said to me, calmly, "I will tell you, Marcus."

I didn't respond. Just waited for him to get to the damn point.

"I'm sure he didn't tell you," he started to tell me, "but that night before the Christmas party, he ran away from Home. He said he couldn't stand being in the same space with his mother, so he ran away... And came to my place."

I waited for him to continue.

"He was crying," his father told me, a heaving sigh coming off him, "Really badly. Sean was crying really badly..."

I waited for him to continue.

"He was crying about many things," the man went on, "But, he didn't give me many details. He just said that he felt like I was the only one that he had and that you had betrayed him. He couldn't speak, his tears made him a mess. He just kept hiccuping and barely letting any words out. All I got out was that he felt betrayed by you. And apparently, they were videos of something too. Sean didn't give me any details until he fell asleep crying on my bed..."

For a second, I felt human again...

But, then the next second came.

And, then, again, I waited for him to continue.

"But, after he slept, I decided to put two and two together and I remembered that I didn't see you on the day of his big game and I remembered how bummed he was, that you missed both his birthday and one of the biggest days of his life, so I supposed that was possibly one of the things that may have contributed to the negative feelings Sean felt about you," he said to me.

I blinked, waited for more.

"And, I may not have understood the concept of the videos, but my concern was not on getting details of my son's life drama... It was on finding a solution for him to be happier," his father said to me, and for a moment, my brows furrowed in confusion.

"So, what are you trying to tell me?" I had to ask him.

"Sean really rates you, Marcus," he said to me, "He says that I am the most important person in his life, but I don't believe that... I think it's you. The next day was the scheduled day of your school's Christmas party and he kept telling me how he wants to make it up to you, that he must have been a terrible friend, because you're a good guy and good people don't hurt others. So, if you hurt him, then maybe he did something to deserve it. So, he wanted to make peace with you and put it all behind him. I knew that was all cap. There was no way he believed all that from the depth of his heart. My son was just terrified to not have you by his side, so he needed an excuse to try to win you back even if he very well knew that it wasn't his job to do..."

My teeth grinded against each other as I waited for him to fucking continue.

"My mistake was allowing him to do this, Marcus," Mr Ayomide said, admitting it to me, "I allowed him. And, since everything had gone down the drain, I started to wish I stopped him from going to that party that night. I wish I didn't let him go there. None of this would have happened. And my son and another man's daughter would not have been fighting for their lives right now."

He sat up against his couch, and I could see the heaviness in his heart through the guard in his demeanor. But, I don't know... I don't know why I found it hard to feel anything for this man right now.

"I'm working with some authorities and they have good news... Dabeluchi Orji is alive," he told me.

I felt a grave burden uplift from my shoulders, my breathing seemed to get easier, but I said nothing.

"But, Marcus?" He spoke again, his tone sounded like it expected a response from me but when I gave none, he carried on, "When I found out what happened to my son, Marc, it broke me," he looked at me, saddened eyes matching deadpanned ones as he said, "It broke a grown man like me to absolute pieces."

I felt my Mum's gaze from where she sat, her eyes were on us the whole time.

"I am barely allowed in my own house for Christmas, and the one time that my wife finally lets me see my own child for Christmas... The one time. I pushed in all the money I had in my savings account to buy a flight ticket the night that I saw my wife's message, and I flew all the way from Ibadan that very night because I couldn't imagine how surreal it was to finally get to spend Christmas with my only son after years. And, then, I have to spend Christmas watching my son all night, half dead, by a Life monitor and coming to terms with the fact that the line may go flat at any time and it would be the last time I ever see my child again..."

His eyes didn't leave mine, and for a moment, there was the smallest hint of contempt in it.

"I blamed you for my pain, Marcus, but then, you are only a kid," he said to me, "But, if I tell you that I was not flatly disappointed and even slightly angry with you for the rest of Last Year, I would be the biggest liar on the planet."

I watched him, a thousand train of thoughts running through my mind. But he wouldn't be able to tell. Not when the eyes that stared back at him were blank.

"You and Sean have been best friends for years, Marcus," he said to me, like he was gently trying to make me go back on memory lane, "All through my years and until now that I am approaching the prime of my years, I have never seen a friendship like the both of you..."

The tightening of my jaw fastened harder, my fingers starting to tap somewhere against my thighs.

"Have you forgotten so many things so fast, like that one time the both of you shared the same dream. Every time I asked you who you wanted to be when you grew up, you would say 'Michael Jackson' and my son would shout the same thing and claim that it was his dream too, just because he wanted you two to be the same thing when you grow up. Sean couldn't dance to save his life, but he wanted to dance everytime he saw you dancing. Remember when you were taking those dance classes behind your father's back and Sean even started attended for a month, because he wanted to dance like you too... Even after he broke a foot trying to copy you.

My son is older than you by roughly a few months, but he seems to look up to you more than you'd notice. He depends on you too, he always has. Maybe because you've always had his back from childhood, even when those kids would call him 'short' and pick on him, you always defended Sean. You grew in on him and I can understand why he would feel so attached. I still have an old footage in my cam from over ten years ago, where you and Sean did a dance performance to Billy Jeans. Both of you were roughly six or seven. Remember?"

I hesitated before I nodded.

"Do you remember that Billy Jeans video, Marcus?" He asked me again.

I did. I remembered. Everything.

"If you truly remember, then you would recall the ending..." Mr Ayomide said to me, "You and Sean made a speech you both prepared, and I'm getting old, so I may not remember the details but I have a line ingrained in my brain. The part where you and Sean made a promise to stay best friends till you were 105 years old. Do you remember, Marcus?"

I hated that I did, but not more than the fact that I felt a warm nostalgia with the memory.

"I have always been keen on keeping your bond," he said to me, "That's why many times, even when his mother wouldn't let him, I made sure to take you boys out everywhere you wanted to go. Like that one time on his seventh birthday when he wanted to go bowling in Gomery, remember that? I did this because I didn't want what you guys had to go down the drain. And many times, you all didn't even need me to keep your bond. You genuinely loved each other as brothers and all your fights never lasted a day. And you've always been a good kid and a good friend to my son, not someone capable of the kind of damage you had inflicted on my son. And I know that he may have gone overboard, your mum told me how it almost cost another girl's life, and sincerely from the bottom of my heart, I apologize on his behalf...

And I have never considered you to be a bad kid, Marcus. But, my son is in pain because of what you did to him. He may lose his life, Marcus. That's my only son. It hurts me. It really does. But, you're just a kid. A good kid who got angry. So, even if it tears me apart to say, even if I spent the entirety of Last year thinking that I would never resort to this final conclusion, I have to say my mind..."

I let out the breath that I didn't even know I was holding, my hands shaking against my thighs as I waited to hear what next he had to say.

"I forgive you for what you did to my son."

I stared back at Mr. Ayomide and the heavy words that he forced to let out of his mouth, and my body seemed to not know how to control it's reflexes anymore. The shaky fingers. Heating body. Heaving chest. It was like I was feeling every emotion that I had not felt all these while all at once, and it wasn't even pretty. I couldn't breathe anymore, and my body vibrated and it wasn't anger. It wasn't anger at all... Not even remotely close.

"Mr. Ayomide?"

He looked at me, hope in his eyes.

"You can take your forgiveness, and shove it up your ass with the rest of every filth that's been there."

And, in the middle of my Mum's convulsion, I stood up and started to throw myself out of that living room.

Mr. Ayomide's shocked gaze remained on me and even if my peripheral vision caught it, I ignored it and started to walk back up the stairs with a burning anger that was only growing inside of me. Rising higher and higher into my head with each step that I pounded into the steps. Soon, my head was hot again and my entire body was triggered with a sensitive surge, that lividity was back...

With it's resentment for everything and everything, thick and toxic.

"Marcus, how DARE you speak to that man like that?!" I heard my Mum screaming at me from behind me, "How dare you speak to him like-"

I slammed my bedroom door in her face, drowning the rest of her words behind, but she was maddened, screaming and pounding against my door ballistically.

"Open this door, Marcus! Open this door now! Marcus Acha, open this goddamn door right now!" She was screaming, but I didn't care. I didn't fucking care. Now when all I could see was Red. Fire. Flames all around me. The burning within me becoming so real, so hot that I could see it around me, feel it around me. And with a surge of aggression I couldn't control, I started to wreck everywhere around me, doing to everything my hands touched all the things I wished I could do to everyone who put me in this kind of pain I was in right now.

Breaking glass. Falling furniture. Shattering luvres. Sounds of clanging equipments as they fell against each other, everywhere around me a trembling noise, and with each scream and shriek of my mother behind the door that she almost broke down, I got even more ballistic, more aggressive, more vengeful. Taking it all out on everything that I could reach.

"Marcus, open this door now!" She yelled again.

"Go Away!" I screamed at her, I didn't need her here. Not when all I wanted to do was wreck everything that my hands fucking touched. "Just go away, Mum. Go away. Go the FUCK away!"

"I will break this door down myself if you don't open it! Ina a pu ara?! Open this door right this instant!" She kept screaming, "Open this door now, Marcus! Open this damn door right now!-"

She almost fell over with the speed that I used to yank the door open and my first reflex was to reach out to hold her so she didn't fall to the ground, but she was furious. Too furious. The moment she yanked my hand away, out came from her a storm. My mum was screaming at me at the top of her lungs.

"That man came here and poured his heart out to you and all you could do was be so downright disrespectful to him?!" She was yelling, veins popping so hard in her forehead that they looked like they would burst, "How DARE you be so disrespectful to him? What did he do wrong?! How could you be so vulgar with him? Marcus Acha, when did you become like this?!-"

Her words became background noise in my head as I walked around my room aimlessly, eyes burning with triggering tears as I knocked down everything else on sight that was not her.

"Marcus, you had better go back down there right this instant and apologize to that man!-"

"Over my dead body."

"You WILL apologize to Mr. Ayomide!" She screamed at me, latching even closer to me as I tried to avoid her.

"Stay away from me, Mum, please," I was almost begging as my anger only rose, my head hot and heavy as my body aimed to destroy everything it touched, anything it touched.

"I am NOT going anywhere!" She shouted at me, her voice shaking and I hated to hear it. She sounded either scared or angry to the point of tears, or maybe both. I hated to see her cry, I didn't want that. But, I needed her away from me. "I am worried about you, Marcus! Look at the mess that you are turning your room into. You don't even clean up after yourself anymore! Everywhere, there's broken glass, your own blood stains on the wall, every goddamn thing in this room is out of its place. It looks like HELL in here, it looks like you are on a mission to tear the whole house apart! I am TIRED of seeing you like this! I thought bringing this man here would give you some sense of Hope!-"

"Don't let that man inside this house ever again," I cut her off, a warning in my tone as I spurn around to face her. "This will be the last time I will warn both you and him. On God, I swear."

"Just look at how you speak to me now!" She shouted at me, "Look at how you are speaking to your own mother. Laying out threats on me, you're now THREATENING your own mother!-"

I lost it when her hands touched my back.

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, OBIANUJU!" I growled at her, closing the proximity between me and her as I stepped up against her smaller frame, towering over my own mother with a seething, cruel anger oozing off every pore in my skin.

That shut her up...

And it wasn't just the close proximity. There was a look in her eyes, a realization, as she looked at me. She looked at me as if she was just realizing that she was looking into the eyes of someone that was no longer her son. Or at least, the son that she used to know. The fear in the realization too, the fear that she could not control me that easily anymore.

Here I was, standing and challenging my own mother. She looked up towards me, eyes following mine and trying not to show the fear that I could clearly see in them. The fear that the child she gave birth to who was now twice her size and ten times stronger, standing over her in intimidation. Like a threat. And that realization had made me reflect. It has made me think...

What the fuck am I doing?

I stopped, stepped back, and put my head down. My mother didn't even flinch. Now when I was towering over her and not now after I had taken a step back and bowed my head at her. I couldn't even look at her anymore. But, I felt her gaze following her, her hard gaze. Even if I didn't look at her, I knew her eyes were the same as they were seconds ago when I squared them. Moistening up, yet trying to prove otherwise. On the verge of tears, but trying to establish her place over me. Her dominance over me as my mother.

My eyes remained downcast, hovering against the broken glass and furniture on the porcelain tiles of my room.

"I'm sorry," I said to her.

She didn't respond.

Yet, her eyes never stopped hovering around me.

"Mum, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

I was caught off by her movement. She walked off on me mid sentence, moving towards the door and my eyes shot up, watching her as she aimed for the exit.

Frankly, I couldn't have shocked myself even more. The way I didn't even go after her as she walked away.

She stopped when she got her hands on the door, her eyes that were now red and wet moving back to me as she prepared to leave, but she had something more to say to me before she did.

Her words came out:

"You've changed, Marcus."

And that was it.

She walked out of my room without a word, leaving me standing there and feeling even more shit than I had ever felt before.

When she left, I felt the void inside me opening up even more, and in reflex, my hands went to my chest, in an attempt to stop the pain from spreading farther than it was trying to. In that moment, everything started to fall apart all over again. It felt like the world around me was crumbling all over again as I slid against the wall and laid there on the ground that littered with too many broken things, a mirror of what I was becoming. I was scorning the monster I was becoming. I was loathing myself even more than the people that I blamed for all of these.

And in that moment, I did something that I had forgotten how to do for a while...

I wept.

Man.

This chapter makes me feel so bad. In as much as I hate how far things went in Book One with the whole Sean/Acha drama, it just feels heartbreaking to see how much he's being torn apart and how everyone has an altered narrative of what happened and him in general... If I were in his shoes, I would cry until I vomit.🥲💔

And these kind of things have a way of turning people into something else, but I am just so happy that Mama Acha still knows how to handle him and deal with all these. How did y'all feel when you read the entire scene with his Mum? I hope you didn't think Marc would ever hurt her. He could never hurt his own mother, he wouldn't dare it sha. God forbid.

And did you expect to see Sean's father?😂What did you make out of this man? And what do you think about him?

How do you think Marcus will deal with all of these and what do you suggest is the best way to help him? What would you do if you were in his mother's shoes?

Ngl, this side of Marcus sha...

Nonetheless, thanks for reading. I love you all! I'm supposed to double update, but lemme wait and see. The feedback from this chapter will evaluate if I should update again or wait till next Sunday. Thank you, love you all, and bye for now!❤️🔥