Silent storm
*By Aether*
## Chapter 1: The Beginning
My story begins in a way that may sound ordinary, but every detail shaped who I became.
I grew up in a polygamous family. My father had three wives. The first wife had two sons, Dan and Joseph. Dan is the oldest of us all at 58, while Joseph is 52. The second wife had a son named Pete, now 38. My mum, the third wife, had four children. The first is Temi, my brother from another father. Then came me, the second. After me, my little sister Queen, 19 and in her second year of university, and my younger brother Marcus, 16, still in senior school. Temi, now 28, is married, and his wife is six months pregnant. He's financially stable and doing fine in life.
My dad was a graduate, well respected in his days, but by the time I was born, he had already retired. My mum wasn't always around for us. Still, that wasn't the root of my so-called 'psychopath' nature.
At 18, I was shorter than most, standing at just 5'4". Even then, I had fallen in love. She was cheerful, beautiful in ways I couldn't describe. Her smile could brighten a room. Her name was Amara. I dreamed of many things with her, creating a future in my head where it was just me and her.
But life wasn't as simple. Her grandmother had just passed away, and I went to her place during the funeral. At some point, I asked for her phone to make a call. She gave it to me without hesitation, but curiosity got the better of me. That's when I found out she was cheating, hidden in plain sight in her text messages.
I didn't flinch. I didn't cry. I was only… confused. I said nothing then, but later she realized her messages had been read. She came to me, apologizing. And because I loved her too much to let go, I forgave her immediately.
Time moved on. We went to college, separated by distance. But I discovered again — this time through Facebook — that she was cheating on me with two other men. I swallowed the pain and still accepted her, believing she would change.
But life had other plans. After a year apart, we finally met again. She looked at me with no hesitation and said she had already found a better man. I begged her for three months, but she never came back.
Since then… I've been like this. Stoic. Cold. Empty.