Chapter 244. Hope and Tears

Bernard turned away from them as he berated himself for allowing his sister to goad him into spilling what he had wanted to keep from his parents until the last minute.

“I expect you to answer me when I am talking to you, young man,” Helen said again when Bernard said nothing as he had his back turned to them. Helen could see the tension in the lines of her firstborn’s body, but she knew that the earliest he said it all out, the faster they could brainstorm to find a solution to whatever the issue could be. Helen sighed inaudibly as she blamed the inevitable growth of children. There used to be a time when none of them had secrets from the other, certainly not when it had to do with an issue that the whole family could try to bring a solution to. But now? A mother had to stand, expecting her son’s reply, while he had his back to her, like he couldn't hear her demand.

She sighed again and Alade Babalola laid his hand on his wife’s back as he spoke quietly yet his voice still