25/05/2026
“She lied to you too.”
Those words refused to leave my head.
I stared at my father in disbelief.
“No,” I whispered.
“My mum wouldn’t—”
“She was trying to protect you,” he interrupted.
“STOP saying that!” I snapped.
“Everybody keeps hiding things and calling it protection!”
The car became silent again.
Because deep down…
I was scared he might be telling the truth.
All the secret calls.
The panic.
The fear in her eyes.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
“I need to talk to her,” I said firmly.
My father nodded slowly.
“But don’t trust everything she says.”
That annoyed me instantly.
“You disappeared for years,” I said coldly.
“You don’t get to tell me who to trust.”
Pain flashed across his face again.
But this time…
He didn’t argue.
When we finally got home, the compound was unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
My younger siblings were asleep in the sitting room.
Probably cried themselves to sleep.
But my mother…
Was waiting for me.
The moment she saw me enter—
She stood up immediately.
“Where have you been?!” she asked anxiously.
Then her eyes landed on my father behind me.
And her entire face changed.
Fear.
Shock.
Anger.
Pain.
“Dayo…” she whispered.
So it was true.
My chest tightened painfully as I looked between both of them.
“You know him,” I said quietly.
Neither of them answered immediately.
Then my mother laughed bitterly.
Not happy laughter.
The kind people laugh when they’re tired of suffering.
“So you finally showed yourself,” she said coldly.
My father looked at her calmly.
“This isn’t the time.”
“No,” she snapped.
“This is exactly the time.”
I looked at both of them, confused and angry.
“Somebody better start explaining NOW.”
Silence filled the room.
Heavy silence.
Then my mother slowly sat down.
Like the truth itself was exhausting her.
“He’s your father,” she said quietly.
Even though I already knew…
Hearing it from her still hurt differently.
Tears burned my eyes immediately.
“You lied to me my whole life…”
Her eyes filled instantly.
“I was trying to protect you.”
I almost screamed.
“From WHAT?!”
My father answered this time.
“From me.”
I turned sharply toward him.
“What did you do?!”
He hesitated.
Too long again.
Then my mother finally spoke.
“Your father used to work for dangerous men,” she said quietly.
“At first, it was small business deals… but later it became something darker.”
My stomach twisted.
“He wanted to leave after you were born,” she continued.
“But by then it was already too late.”
I looked at my father.
“So you ran away?”
“No,” my mother replied before he could speak.
“He disappeared because people were trying to kill him.”
Silence.
“And us?” I whispered.
My mother’s lips trembled.
“They threatened us too.”
Everything suddenly felt cold.
“So all these years…”
She nodded slowly.
“I changed your surname. I married Kunle. We moved. We stayed quiet.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“And the money?”
My mother looked away immediately.
Big mistake.
“You knew about it,” I said.
Silence.
“Mum.”
She finally nodded slowly.
Tears rolled down my face instantly.
“So every time I was confused… every time I was scared…”
I swallowed hard.
“You knew.”
“I didn’t want you involved in this life!” she cried.
“But I’m already involved!”
The room exploded into silence again.
Then suddenly—
My father stepped forward.
“There’s no more time,” he said firmly.
“They have Kunle.”
That changed everything immediately.
Fear returned instantly.
My mother’s face went pale.
“What do they want?”
“The drive,” he replied.
“And the hidden money.”
My mother froze.
Completely.
That reaction told me everything.
“There IS hidden money,” I whispered.
She didn’t answer.
“Mum…”
Nothing.
“MUM!”
Finally…
She broke.
“Yes!” she shouted.
“Yes, there’s money!”
My breathing stopped.
“How much?”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“Twenty million naira.”
The room went dead silent.
WHAT?!
My knees nearly gave way.
Twenty million?!
While we were suffering?!
“You had TWENTY MILLION hidden?!” I screamed.
Tears poured down her face immediately.
“You don’t understand!”
“THEN EXPLAIN IT!”
“That money is blood money!” she cried.
Silence.
My heart dropped instantly.
“What?”
My father closed his eyes.
Like he already knew this would happen.
My mother looked at me with shaking lips.
“That money destroyed people…”
Cold fear crawled into my chest.
“And if those men don’t get it back…”
She swallowed hard.
“…they’ll kill all of us.”
My breathing became uneven again.
Everything suddenly felt impossible.
Twenty million naira.
Dangerous men.
A kidnapped father.
A secret past.
And me?
Just a girl who thought mysterious alerts were blessings.
Then suddenly—
A loud knock hit the door.
Everybody froze.
Another knock.
Harder this time.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
My younger siblings woke up immediately, scared.
Then a voice shouted from outside:
“Open the door!”
My blood ran cold instantly.
Because I recognized the voice.
It was the man from the phone call.
And he sounded angry.
“Or we’ll come in ourselves.”
To be continued...
WRITTEN BY Tale From Motherland
Someone Has Been Sending Me Money Every Month Since 2020...
Episode 7..
