"So who... who is the father?" my father roared, his voice cracking.
"Does it matter?" my mother replied. "You just told me to pack my bags for the village. You just told your 'loyal' daughter that she is only worth something because she kept your dirty secret. Well, now the secret is out. You have no bloodline. You have no legacy."
I felt like the ground was opening up. I had betrayed my mother for a man who wasn't even my biological father. I had stayed silent while he cheated, all for a London dream that was now turning into ashes.
"Dad... is it true?" I reached out to touch his arm.
"Don't touch me!" he screamed, pushing me away. "You are a bastard! All of you! Get out of my house!"
"If they leave, I leave too!" Bolatito shouted, suddenly panicked. She knew the game was up. If my father found out her pregnancy was actually for her boyfriend in Shomolu, he would kill her. "Segun, she's lying! She’s just trying to hurt you!"
"The test is from a week ago," my mother said calmly. "I knew this day would come. I already emptied the joint savings account yesterday. I have enough to start a new life with my daughters, the ones who are actually loyal to me."
She looked at me, her eyes filled with a mix of pity and disgust. "But you, Seyi? You chose him. You chose the car and the London trip over the mother who protected your secret for twenty years. You can stay here with your 'father' and his mistress."
My mother turned and walked toward the door. My two younger sisters followed her without looking back. They had known. They had stayed loyal to her while I was busy playing spy for my father.
I stood in the middle of the room. On one side was my father, a man who now looked at me with pure hatred. Next to him was Bolatito, my "friend" who had stolen my mother’s place. On the other side was the door, where my mother was disappearing into a future I was no longer part of.
"Mummy, wait!" I cried out.
She stopped at the door but didn't turn around. "You made your choice, Seyi. You said it yourself, you did it for the PhD. Go and ask the Chief to sign your papers. Let’s see if he still wants to sponsor a 'bastard'."
She walked out and slammed the door.
My father turned to me, his eyes red. "Get out. Both of you. Before I call the police."
"But Dad, I'm still your daughter in my heart!" I pleaded.
"I have no daughter," he spat.
I looked at Bolatito. She was already on her phone, probably calling the real father of her baby. I was left with nothing, no mother, no father, no degree, and a conscience that would never be clean again.
Who was more wrong?
The Mother for lying about the children's paternity for 25 years?
