It was an ordinary evening.  

Mark had just returned from helping a neighbour carry goods to the market, his mind already calculating how much money he could add to his savings. As he stepped into the house, he sensed something was wrong. Carefully, He tiptoed to his room as he silently prayed that Madam Eno had not discovered his secret.

Madam Eno stood in the middle of his small room, her eyes burning with fury. The box lay open beside her.  

His money, his carefully saved future, was scattered across the floor.  

“What is this?” her voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a blade.  

Mark froze. He knew this feeling, this moment before pain. Madam Eno kicked the box aside. Mark’s heart began to beat faster as she stepped closer. “You think you can leave?” she hissed. “You think you can plan a life without me?”  

Mark said nothing. He had learned in the hard way that his words never saved him.  

But silence only made her angrier. 

Madam Eno did not just punish Mark—she destroyed him. She did what Mark never expected.

One by one she took his money, every single note, tearing some apart in front of him. “Useless boy!” she spat bitterly. “You will never be anything. You want university? You think life will be easy? I will make sure you never succeed!”  

Then, she did what Mark had feared for years, she threw him out.  

She grabbed his arm, dragged him to the door, and shoved him outside the house.  

“You want to leave? Then leave! Don’t ever come back!”  

The door slammed shut.  

Mark stood outside, staring at the house, the only place he had ever lived, yet never truly called home. The evening air was cold, wrapping around him like a cruel embrace.  

For the first time in years, he let the tears flow down his face. He cried bitterly, he wished his father never died because right now he felt empty. 

He had nothing.  

No money. No refuge. No family but bruises.

For a long moment, he did not move. Then, slowly, he wiped his tears and turned. He did not look back.