By the time I woke up again, we were already surrounded by high-profile detectives. Even Abel was sitting beside me, clearly being interrogated. My mother was there too—along with my father's closest brother, John.
And on the other side stood my elder brother, Tony. Everyone was there, and all eyes turned to me the moment I opened my eyes.
"Welcome back, Amanda," one of the detectives said. "I'm Detective Samuel." He showed me his badge and continued, "I believe you witnessed what happened to your father firsthand?"
A dull headache throbbed in my skull before I could finally focus. They asked me to narrate what I saw, and I told them.
"I don't really know… I saw a man. He was wearing a dark sweater with a Nike logo on the back. That's all I saw before… Dad."
That was when it hit me—my father was gone. The strongest man I knew was taken away in a single night. And I couldn't do anything. Did the Danladis actually do this or was it a frenemy? Could it be the Clements?
If I had stayed back last night, would this have happened? Could this somehow be connected to the Danladi family? I still couldn't wrap my head around it.
They made me repeat my statement three times before turning to Abel, asking him suspicious questions—like he was the prime suspect.
"I was with Abel the whole day. He couldn't have done this!" I defended. I wasn't comfortable with the questions they were asking him. He's innocent! He's not capable of this!
"Do you realize his father is your father's biggest enemy and competitor?" Samuel asked.
"They're not enemies, just competitors," I replied, letting out a painful sigh.
Then something strange happened. In the middle of the interrogation, my mother stood up silently, wiped her tears, and walked out of the room. No words. No explanation. Just silence—and even the detective didn't stop her. I found it odd, but I knew it was just grief.
When the detectives left, I finally collapsed into Abel's arms and cried. All the pain came crashing down as he tried to comfort me.
"You'll be alright, babe," he kept saying, patting my back gently.
Then, out of nowhere, my brother came in and forcefully pulled us apart.
I wiped the tears from my face. "Tony, what is the meaning of that?!" I shouted as I stood up to him.
"A Danladi is not welcome in this house! Get out now before I lose it!" Tony barked.
Abel calmly stood up to leave, but I held him. For Christ's sake, he's my fiancé! Why is everyone treating him like the enemy?
"He's not going anywhere!" I insisted.
Tony warned me to stay away, but I refused. I had always known marrying a Danladi wouldn't be easy—but what about my brother, who was soon getting married to Kemi Clements?
Who doesn't know the Clements? Another powerhouse in the production sector, second to the Evans being my family. But Father always said, "Better the Clements than the Danladis!"
"Father never stopped you from moving ahead with Kemi Clements, did he? So you won't stop me from mine!" I shouted, trying to stop Tony from going any close to Abel, so they won't fight.
"Did you say Kemi Clements?" Abel asked, turning to me.
I nodded. "Do you know her?"
"The prodigal daughter of the Clements? Come on, the girl is my father's sugar baby," Abel blurted.
And just like that, I saw my brother go pale.
To be continued…
Complicated
Episode 2
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