TOLULOPE.

The Balogun family was in the living room, watching a documentary on TV. Abayomi, the eldest son, walked in with a beautiful woman, Chika. "Hi mom, dad," he greeted, "meet the lady I wish to marry." Chika smiled warmly, "Good evening, sir, and ma." Shade, their mother, examined Chika from head to toe. "What kind of name is Chika?" she asked, her voice laced with disapproval. "And who are you to my son?" Chika's smile faltered, but Abayomi stood firm. "Mother, Chika is a wonderful person, and I love her. We're getting married, and she's already pregnant with our child." Shade's face contorted in anger. "You won't marry that worthless Igbo girl! I won't associate with you or your new family." She turned to her husband, Mr. Balogun, "Balogun, are you going to allow this nonsense?" Mr. Balogun shook his head, "My dear, let's not be too hasty. Abayomi is an adult. He can make his own decisions." Shade's anger turned to her husband. "You're always so weak, Balogun! I'm the only one who knows what's best for our family." The argument escalated, with Abayomi and his mother exchanging harsh words. Finally, Shade disowned her son, "You're no longer, my son! Get out of my house!" Abayomi stood his ground despite his mother's disapproval. "Mother, I've made up my mind. I'm marrying Chika, and we'll build a life together." Shade's anger turned to rage. "You'll regret this, Abayomi! You'll regret disobeying me!" Abayomi took Chika by the hand as he stormed out of the house with her. Tolulope, Abayomi's sister, watched the drama unfold with a heavy heart. She confided in her friend Rachael, "I wish I could swap mothers with you. Mine is so controlling and cruel." In a bid to relieve her friend from the stress, Rachael revealed that Tolulope's long-lost love, Jimmy, had returned. She convinced Tolu to hook up with Jimmy and that he specifically came to ask her out on a date, but she was absent on his visit. Rachael stated that Jimmy said he had a lot to share with Tolu, and it would give him great joy to finally see her. They reunited, and Jimmy shared how Tolu's mom, Shade, had threatened him to stay away from Tolulope because he was not good enough for her daughter. Tolulope's heart ached, remembering the pain her mother had caused her. She vowed to stand up to her mother once and for all. Tolulope confronted her mother, "Why did you ruin my happiness? Why did you threaten Jimmy and ask him to end our relationship?" Shade responded, "You're insulting me because of that no-good boy?" The argument escalated, with Mr. Balogun intervening, "Shade, stop this evil character! I'm sick of all this nagging, controlling, and cursing." You just want to play God in all of our lives. You pick our food, clothes, friends, and TV programmes to watch, you only let us use the words you like, you even picked the schools and courses our children studied, you even tried to pick a wife for our son. Let them be.They are grown adults! But before he could finish speaking, Shade cuts in, raining all sorts of insults on her husband. He was about to respond in anger, but it was too late. Shade's words had already struck their mark. Mr. Balogun collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where he died after advising and praying with his family. Shade blamed Tolulope for her husband's death, declaring, "You'll pay for this, Tolulope! You'll marry Jide as a remission for the wrong you have done to me for making me a widow before my time, and that's final!"