CHINYERE SIGHED AS she thought about all that happened in the past four months.

Four months had passed since she had woken up in the hospital and one month had passed since the court case.

Amanda was sentenced to thirty five years imprisonment with a five year probation for first degree murder, kidnapping and human trafficking.

She pledged guilty to all her charges and no further investigation was carried out on her part.

Amanda had also given away Tobi's and his father's location and they – and their minions – were sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for human trafficking.

Tobi was furious that Amanda betrayed them by revealing their location and Amanda bluntly stated, "If I'm going down, I'm not going down alone."

Several of the trafficked/sold people were found and returned to their parents while their buyers were arrested and made to pay a fine for the damages caused.

Emmanuel, the boy whom Chinyere had spoken to on the day she was bought, had turned out to be Vivian's son.

He had not tried to run away from home but he had wanted to find a job to help his mother pay the bills.

Tobi's father offered him a job and Emmanuel followed him into a truck and ended up with the rest of the abductees.

Chibinobim was arrested for rape and physical and emotional abuse. He was given fifteen years imprisonment with eight years parole.

He, surprisingly, pledged guilty to all his convictions without putting up a fight. Unlike Mr. Oko, who had tried to sue Chinyere for the attempted murder of his son.

The judge had concluded that self defense was not attempted murder.

Amadi was arrested for rape, spouse battering and the attempted murder of Tina. He was sentenced to thirty five years imprisonment.

Mr. Oko was arrested for human trafficking, murder and attempted murder.

He had pledged guilty to human trafficking and pledged innocent to murder.

"My late wife took her life herself! I never laid my hands on her!" he had said.

His defense was going so well until Esther walked into the court room as a witness. She did not only come as a witness but also came with evidence.

The security cameras in Mr. Oko's house had captured how he had strangled his wife to death with his bare hands.

He was clever enough to take down the security cameras in his house but he was not clever enough to destroy the evidence. He had rather placed them in the pantry where Esther had stumbled upon them when cleaning.

Further investigation was carried out and it was discovered that Mr. Oko was also involved in drug trafficking, which was his main source of income.

He was rewarded life imprisonment for all his crimes.

The past four months had been very emotional for Chinyere.

Rachel's parents had not invited her to the funeral and she went for therapy two days in a week.

Her father had gone back to the village with his wives and a few of her siblings. Chief Oko had died a month back and he had to take over the throne.

She stayed back in the city and lived with her oldest brother, Prince, and Florence as she wanted to complete her secondary school education.

Chinyere was currently at a mall with Prince, Tina and Solomon.

Tina still sat in a wheelchair but the doctors assured that she would soon start to walk again but it would just take some time.

"What do you think we should get for Tunde on his upcoming birthday?" Tina asked.

Tunde's birthday was just four days away and the two had not yet bought a gift for him.

"How about a pair of shoes?" Chinyere suggested. "We could buy him some sports shoes."

"He hates sports," Tina laughed.

"Right," Chinyere sighed and pushed the wheelchair down the aisle.

"Are you girls done?" Prince asked impatiently.

He had been waiting for the past one hour for the girls to complete their shopping but they had not bought a single thing, save for the chocolate bar that Tina had gotten for herself in another store.

"Almost," Tina said as she handed Solomon to Chinyere.

Solomon had become a noisy baby and was babbling on the top of his voice.

"That's the fourth time you've said that!" Prince crossed his arms dramatically.

He had a skinny body frame and a round face. He was darker than Chinyere but they shared a similar nose structure, the only proof that they were related.

He looked younger than his twenty four years of age and his behavior did not show maturity.

Chinyere knew that he got angry easily whenever he was hungry.

"I know that you're hungry," Chinyere said. "Why don't you and Solomon go shopping yourselves and find something to eat?"

Prince took Solomon from her and asked, "Are you sure that you girls will be fine on your own?"

Tina nodded, "We'll be fine."

"I just don't want to lose you again," Prince said. "Once was more than enough. Just promise me that you two won't leave this store. As soon as you're done, make sure to call me."

After Prince made them promise not to leave without telling him, he left the store with Solomon.

The two continued their shopping in silence but a tap on her shoulder made Chinyere jump back in surprise.

She turned to meet Daniel Oko, Mr. Oko's first born son.

Tina turned her head and looked at his face. All she could read in his eyes were guilt and shame.

"What do you want?" Tina's voice was cold and held no emotion but anger.

"I-I... I want to apologise," Daniel sighed. "I apologise for every single thing that my father and siblings do to you. If you forgive me... and them... you'll have a burden lifted off my chest."

"Why should we forgive you?" Chinyere crossed her arms and asked. "Why should we even trust the person who betrayed his own sister by reporting her to the police?"

"I didn't think of it as betrayal at that time," Daniel said. "When I got arrested, I realised that I was immoral. My father had raised me to take revenge and punish my enemies but while in prison, I realised that his teachings were wrong."

"What does this have to do with betrayal?" Tina asked impatiently.

"When I was bailed out, I tried to get back into school but all schools rejected me. I had no choice but to find a job. I was lucky enough to become a gardener," Daniel said. "I cut off all my communication with my dad but I forgot that I had three younger siblings. I noticed that Amanda had slowly turned into a female version of my father after my mother died. She had called me to report the news about mother's death and she said that she was going to take revenge."

Chinyere rubbed her temple as she felt a headache coming on, "Can you please stop beating about the bush? We don't have all day."

"Right," Daniel was taken aback by her sharp tone. "I thought having her arrested for a while would give her the sense it gave me. Little did I know that she had gotten herself that deeply involved in crime. She is my youngest and only sister, of course I want the best for her, but she really messed up her life... way more than I messed up mine."

Chinyere nodded her head slowly, wondering what she would have done if she was in his position.

She was sure that she wouldn't have thrown her sibling under the bus like he did but Amanda would have been arrested either way.

"I really feel guilty and like a betrayal but I did what had to be done," Daniel said. "Do you know how hard it is to lose all your family at once? I have lost all of my family. I... I don't think I'll be able to live knowing what my family did to you two. I can't even describe how disgusted I am by their animalistic behaviours."

Daniel got down onto his knees. His eyes were red and glossy with tears that he was trying to hold back. His voice cracked as he spoke, "P-please forgive me on behalf of my family. I know what they did is unforgivable but to forget, you need to forgive."

Chinyere and Tina were both speechless.

Tears were now pooling out of Daniel's eyes and the other people in the store were glancing at them.

Chinyere knew that most of them knew she and Tina because the media was hot on their heels during the court case. Luckily, they had stopped chasing after them.

Chinyere looked at Tina with pleading eyes and Tina sighed, "You are forgiven and so is your family but I don't want to have anything to do with you or your family. I want this to be the last time we speak to each other. I'm done with your family."

Daniel nodded with a small smile and wiped his tears with the back of his hand, "Thank you! Thank you so much! I promise to do my best and stay away from you."

"Well... Bye," Chinyere turned around but but Daniel stopped her.

"Could I at least do you a favour by suggesting a gift for Tina's brother?"

"How do you know about that? Have you been eavesdropping?" Tina asked.

"No. No. Not at all," Daniel rose to his feet. "You guys were talking on the top of your voices when looking for what to buy. I'm pretty sure that the entire store heard you."

"Oh, well, what do you suggest?" Tina asked.

"Has your brother mentioned anything that he would like to have recently?" Daniel asked.

"He mentioned something about gold... I think and he also mentioned how much he loves wrist bands. He's a peculiar fellow. I don't know why everytime he sees me, he brings up golden wristbands."

"Then buy him a gold watch," Daniel said. "I'm sure that's what he meant."

"Great idea," Tina said. "Thanks for your help."

"It's the least I could do," Daniel said with a bow before walking away from them.

Chinyere watched as he left them and she thought about his words.
The Oko family had been nothing but a curse in her life and forgiveness surely didn't come easily. 

She had been trafficked and married off to a rapist but in order to forget, she did have to forgive.

It would take a few more months, perhaps years, to forgive the Okos completely but she would try her best.

It was also partially her fault that she had found herself in such a situation and a saying she always remembered was, 'Ignorance and rebellion may lead to a whole new problem.'

THE END

Thank you to everyone that who has read this far.

May God bless you.

Chapter dedicated to HaleematAkayinode for the votes.