Lagos, Nigeria.

The real witch.

“Family is supposed to be our safest haven. Very often, it is the place where we find the deepest heartache.”

—Iyanla Vanzant.

Noah.

Behind the toile-patterned, blackout window treatment set curtains stood the five-foot-eleven man. He watched with his hooded eyes as his mother alighted the car, pointing her fingers here and there –obviously giving instructions to the workers.

She walked forward until her figure was hidden by the curve leading to the door of the house.

Sighing, he walked back to his bed and dropped on it. He ran his hands through his round-cut afro hair, sitting erect on the king-sized bed.

He knew from her gait earlier, that she had gotten what she wanted. Oh, how he wished she did not.

In the past, he enjoyed every bit of the attention he was receiving from his mother, but not again.

Now it just felt like a trap. Or rather a small, suffocating room where breathing was a luxury. He hated how she breathed down his neck every moment.

She had become a control freak–wanting to control every aspect of his life, from choosing his friends to choosing his love interest and even pushing him to join politics, and she would not hear a negative response for any of her suggestions.

What stung him the most was the fact that she was using every and any dirty means she knew about to get him into politics.

If only his father was still alive, things would not have escalated to this extent.

"Noah!" The excitement in her voice was not hidden.

Just that morning, she left the house with a rehearsed gloomy expression, and on getting back home she had become the exact opposite.

The door to his room was thrown open, revealing the grinning woman.

"Guess what?" The full-figured, caramel-skinned woman said, moving forward until she rested her back on his wardrobe.

He shrugged.

"Maverick believed me!" She said with a brighter grin.

"Oh." Was the only word that could escape his lips.

One thing that never ceased to baffle him was her hatred for his sister, her daughter.

Never had he seen anyone that hated her flesh and blood the way his mother did.

At first, he thought it was just a natural, mild dislike that she had for Leticia, but the recent occurrences were enough to open his eyes to see that things were not as shallow as he thought.

The loathe she bore for Leticia was profound, and it was growing every day.

"Why are you not sounding happy? Ehn? Kilon sé bayi?"

[Trans: what's wrong with this one]

"Nothing ma." He faked a smile and turned to take his phone which was lying on the bedside.

He felt so bad for his little sister. Leticia was an innocent girl, too pure to pass through all that had been happening to her.

She had always been very witty, or rather, a genius.

Perhaps, it was part of the reasons why their mother hated her so much. Her tears of pain on the day of his eighteenth birthday party, on the day...

He didn't even want to relive those memories. They were haunting.

He hated himself for being a coward. Other older brothers protected their sisters, but he couldn't. Every time he would watch his sister go through so much pain and not be able to do anything about it.

Whenever he shut his eyes, the misery and helplessness in Leticia's eyes that day when she was being taken by those men invaded his dreams. Even if he wanted to help her, his mother's threats always surfaced, and then he would be left paralyzed.

"What are you thinking?" The question snapped him out of his reflections. Victoria's hawk-like eyes clashed with his and he withdrew his gaze.

"Nothing ma. I'm just happy he believed," he replied.

"You're sympathizing with her ba? Such an idiot," she countered his statement, pulling her lips up to show her disdain.

"I'm not -"

"Shut up! I've told you times without number, that if you want to be a politician, you have to be heartless. You can't be soft-hearted like a woman, you imbecile!"  Her chest was heaving up and down from the way she was screaming at him.

"You'd better stop feeling sorry for that witch. If I don't clear her from the way, she'll be the one lording over you. If you like, keep letting that innocent face get to you, but believe me when I say that you won't go far in life if you do. Because anything you do, Leticia would be a stumbling block; everyone would compare the both of you, and you know that you're not as sharp as she is." When she was done with her rant, she gave him a once-over and stormed out of the room.

Left for him, Leticia would be a better politician than he could ever dream of being, but he didn't have the guts to say it to his mother's hearing. She would kill him.

His phone started to vibrate, and he rose it to sight.

'Loml' flashed across the screen. He swiped the answer button and placed the phone on his ear, laying on his bed with his back.

"Hey babe," the woman said. He let his lips curl up for real the first time that day.

She was the only reason why he was still hanging on.

For him to be with her, he had to endure whatever his mother threw his way. Zara was the light of his gloomy life.

Left for his mother, she was futile. She didn't have a wealthy background, and she couldn't contribute anything to his political career. She would have preferred him to get engaged to Bukola Daraja, the daughter of the chief judge. He detested that woman.

He had made a deal with his mother that he would do anything and everything she wanted, as far as she let him be with Zara. Zara was the reason why he had not lost his sanity yet, and he was not ready to let her go.

"How are you, babe?" Zara's smooth, soft voice filled his ears.

They spoke for a while, and he asked when she was going to be back from her youth service to which she replied that it was in two months.

The next time his phone rang, it was an unknown International number.

Confused, Noah accepted the call.

"Noah please, please help me. I beg you please," the person said, making Noah freeze.

Leticia's voice sounded so weak and raw.

He sat up once again, adjusting his turtle-necked black shirt, and swallowed the lump that was stuck in his throat.

"Noah, are you there? I know you are, please answer me. I-I was abducted, and I can only get out of here with the help of a family member. I can't call mom, she's still angry with me. I have no one to turn to except you, so p-please..." She started to sob.

His stomach churned at the sound of her painful cries.

"Where are you?" He choked out the question.

"I don't know. If you agree to help me, he'll tell you a place to come and get me."

"I'll help you," he said with determination.

"You-you will?"

The disbelief was evident in her voice. He wondered just how much an asshole he had been over the years. His sister found it hard to believe that he would help her.

"I will. Hand over the phone." He heard a shuffling sound and then a little moment of silence.

"Your name?" A deep baritone with a foreign accent asked.

How far had they taken his sister?

"Noah. Noah Adama," he replied.

"Who are you to her?"

"Her brother." His resolve was strengthening every second. He did not want to imagine what would have happened to his sister in the two weeks she had been missing, but he had a chance to help her out for the first time, and he would do just that.

"What do you think you're doing?" He turned to see the rigid form of his mother, shooting lasers at him through her eyes.

She snatched the phone from his hands and ended the call.

"Are you mad? No, tell me, are you crazy? Ehn! You want to sabotage all the plans I've made? Noah, did someone pour sand into your brain? Why won't you have sense for God's sake!"

He stood up from the bed and reached for his phone from his mother's hands. His veins were bulging already because of her interference.

"I'm talking and you're still trying to cross me ba? You've grown horns abi? She has bewitched you too ba?"

"Yes! I've grown horns, and wings included mom. I'm fed up with all this rubbish. Leticia is your daughter you gave birth to her! Don't you pity the girl? Haba! She has suffered enough. When Kunle raped Leticia, mom you-you beat her. You beat her for being raped! How old was she? Sixteen! Your sixteen-year-old daughter was raped and you apologised to her rapist all in the name of she seduced him! I wonder how you can live with yourself, after all, you've done to that girl, not to talk of presently that know your daughter is in danger but you won't do anything. She is my sister, and I'll do my duties as her older brother. I'm not going to do your bidding again."

After pouring out his heart angrily, he turned to walk out of the room.

"You walk out of that door, I'll deal with Zara." Her threat was clear and calm.

Noah chuckled, dropping his head. He shoved one hand into the pocket of his blue joggers, using the tip of his other thumb to scratch the side of his face.

"Isn't that what you always say? You'll destroy her, or her family, or whoever-"

"I mean it this time. I was trying to be considerate, but you don't deserve it. Dare me. Help Leticia, I'll make sure Zara and her family suffers it all."

A tear dropped from one of his eyes. He felt so helpless and useless at that point. This was what she was good at doing–destroying lives, all in the guise of making him amount to something.

The phone started to vibrate in his hands. He started at it and threw his gaze.

"Take the call," she commanded.

He gritted his teeth, feeling his blood rushing through his veins.

"Go on, take it. Or else..."

Without waiting for her to complete her statement, he accepted the call.

She quirked a brow at him.

"Leticia." As he called her name, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. How would he be able to tell her that he couldn't help her again?

"Noah, he said you should–"

"I'm not helping you, Leticia." He tried to stiffen his shaky voice when he uttered the sentence.

"W-what? B-but you-you said you will help me," she said.

It was hard to remain so rigid in the situation, however, the beady eyes that were peering at him were enough to keep him in check.

"I won't help you again."

"Are you joking? Noah please, help me please, you said you would help me," she whimpered.

"But I won't." He hung up the call as he couldn't bear to hear his sisters heart-wrenching sobs.

"I hope you're happy now," he said to a smirking Victoria. The lump he was struggling to swallow was still stuck in his throat, refusing to go down.

He couldn't stop the sobs that racked through his trembling lips and the tears that slipped from his eyes as he slid down the door.

The hatred he felt for himself was intensifying.

"Between you and her, I think the witch is you," he spat.

"Coward!" His mother scoffed and laughed.

"It doesn't stop there my dear. For disrespecting me, you will break up with that girl."

Hey wattfam!! I've been able to update today, and I feel so happy about it🥳🥳

How was your weekend? Mine was lazy, but my week was verrrrryyy busy.

I really want to thank y'all for 700+ reads and 160+ votes. I'm so grateful🥺🥺🥺😩🤭🤭🤭

So, what do you think about the change in point of view? I feel kinda refreshed to write from someone else's POV, I'm happy I took the advice from annaliese162 thank you so much babe😘

I've discovered that I'm more likely to update on Sundays, so I want to try and see if I can schedule my updates for Sundays.

Thank you for your support😩❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤.

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