Adam stood off to the side, eyes on Aminu and his family while the media adjusted their cameras and whispered among themselves.
"You know I could just kill them and be done with it," Adam said casually, glancing at Rebecca.
Rebecca was listening to Sade, nodding once in a while. She didn’t even look at him when she replied.
"And then you become a crazed tyrant who murders people on live broadcast because he can," she said. "That’s not what you want."
Adam shrugged. "Who cares what they think."
He turned like he was about to leave, then stopped.
Kahdijah walked in like she owned the place.
She looked around, eyes bright, lips curled into a grin that said she was enjoying every second of this.
"Wow," she said. "Alex wasn’t exaggerating. You really went all out. Look at them. Quiet. Shaking. Even made my mother cry."
She laughed softly, then walked closer.
"Hello, mother," she said sweetly. "It’s me. Kahdijah."
Shakira stiffened.
Her face drained of color. Her hands started shaking. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Sweat rolled down her temples.
A kid near the front stared at Kahdijah, eyes wide. "Woah... you’re an elf."
Kahdijah turned, surprised, then laughed. "This one has sense. I like him already. Whose kid is this?"
Her siblings avoided her gaze. All of them except one.
Aliya stepped forward.
"He’s mine," Aliya said quickly. "Please. Whatever you’re here for, don’t touch the children. They didn’t do anything. They don’t know anything. The sins of our parents shouldn’t follow them."
Her voice cracked, but she didn’t stop.
"Please," she said again.
Kahdijah looked at her for a long moment. Then she smiled. Not cruel. Not mocking. Just soft.
"You were always kind," she said. "Still are."
She glanced at Adam.
He already knew. He nodded once.
Kahdijah stepped forward, took Aliya’s hand, and leaned down to the kids.
"Alright," she said lightly. "You lot. Follow me. Someone very annoying but very powerful is waiting to help you."
She looked up as Alex walked in.
"There he is," she said. "He’ll take you somewhere safe. Food. Beds. No screaming adults."
Alex nodded and opened his arms. The kids hesitated, then moved.
Aliya held her children tight before letting go.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Kahdijah smiled. "Don’t thank me yet. Family reunions are messy."
As they left, Kahdijah turned back.
Shakira was staring at her like she was seeing a ghost.
No.
Worse.
She stepped forward, tears spilling. "Haddy... baby... I—"
She reached out.
Kahdijah moved faster.
Her hand snapped across Shakira’s face.
The sound echoed.
Shakira stumbled back, hand to her cheek, shock written all over her.
"Don’t," Kahdijah said flatly. "Don’t touch me. Don’t call me that."
Her smile was gone.
"You don’t get to cry now," she went on. "You didn’t cry when you were hitting me. You didn’t cry when you covered it up. You didn’t cry when you watched my name dragged through the mud."
Shakira’s lips trembled. "It was an accident—"
"Shut up," Kahdijah said sharply.
She turned to Adam. "So what’s the plan? Kill them now or later?"
Adam tilted his head. "I was thinking now."
Rebecca cut in. "After they talk."
Both of them looked at her.
"They’re going to tell the world everything," Rebecca said. "Every lie. Every cover-up. The truth first. Then they die."
Kahdijah sighed. "Make it quick. I’ve got a family reunion to host."
Adam smirked. "You heard her."
He turned back to Aminu and Shakira.
The cameras were rolling.
The world was watching.
"Talk," Adam said calmly. "Or we keep going."
Shakira broke.
"I’ll talk," she sobbed. "I’ll say everything."
Adam stepped back and gestured to the cameras.
"Good," he said. "Let’s hear it."
Shakira spoke.
At first her voice shook, words tripping over each other, but once the first truth slipped out, the rest followed like a flood she could no longer hold back.
She talked about Haddy. About the shouting. The beatings. The nights she locked her out. The times she lost control and told herself it was discipline. She talked about the day it went too far. How her hands didn’t stop. How the room went quiet in a way it never had before.
Aminu joined in, his head bowed, voice hollow. He talked about panic. About fear of scandal. About power and image. About choosing reputation over truth. About how they staged it. The notes. The timing. The lies. How they called it suicide and watched the world accept it.
The cameras didn’t turn away.
The world listened.
And just like that, the truth spread everywhere.
People watched in silence. Then disbelief. Then horror.
But something else followed.
People started noticing the pattern.
Adam was supposed to be dead.
Rebecca too.
Alex as well.
And now Kahdijah.
Four people who should not exist were standing there, alive, unchanged, powerful.
Questions exploded.
If the dead could return, then where did they go?
If they came back with power, then what was death?
What was heaven?
What was hell?
Was God real?
Or had faith just been a story told long enough that people stopped questioning it?
The world shook, not from violence this time, but doubt.
Kahdijah turned away from the chaos.
"So," she said lightly, "you can deal with the rest. I’m taking my mother."
Before anyone could react, she grabbed Shakira. A tear-shaped opening split the space in front of them.
Shakira screamed.
Then both of them were gone.
Adam watched the space close, then looked back at Aminu and smiled.
"Rebecca," he said calmly, "do something for me."
Rebecca turned.
"Kill the rest of his family," Adam continued. "Then sentence him."
Aminu looked up, eyes wide.
"Put him into a cycle," Adam said. "Reincarnation. Over and over. He keeps his memories. His money. His power. Every life, he rises high."
Adam’s smile thinned.
"And every life, he watches his family die. He won’t be able to save them. He’ll try not to love. He’ll fail. He always does. Same ending. Every time."
He looked upward, eyes cold.
"I know you’re listening," he said. "Fate. Destiny. Whatever name you go by. Make sure it sticks."
Then he turned away.
Rebecca looked at Aminu.
"He really hates you," she said quietly.
She snapped her fingers.
The room went silent.
Aminu screamed.
Rebecca turned to Sade. "I’ll be back. I need to process his sentencing."
She vanished with Aminu.
Sade stood there alone, surrounded by bodies and silence.
She let out a slow breath.
"So this is what they became," she muttered.
Elsewhere.
Plane of Destiny and Fate.
A woman with glowing eyes and hair like liquid gold slammed her palm down.
"Damn it," she hissed.
Sweat ran down her face.
She had felt it. His gaze. Sharp. Absolute.
"He’s terrifying," she muttered. "And people still poke him."
A book appeared in her hands.
She opened it.
And began to write.
Aminu’s new destiny.