3
The morning after the shocking revelation, the house was still suffocating with the weight of Grandma Nandi’s words. It felt as though the walls themselves were closing in, suffocating everyone with the truth that had been left buried for so long. The family had been silenced, each person retreating into their own thoughts as the events from the night before lingered.Thuli paced back and forth in the living room, her mind racing. Every time she thought she had wrapped her head around what Grandma had said, another layer of confusion would surface. How could this be true? How could the man they all thought of as a loving father figure, uBaba Radebe, have been taken from them so cruelly?
"Thuli, stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy," Kabelo said, glancing up from his phone. "If you don’t stop, you’re going to wear a hole in the floor."
Thuli stopped abruptly, hands on her hips. "I can’t sit still, Kabelo. How can I? Grandma told us the truth last night, and I’m still trying to figure out how she could’ve kept this from us for so long. How could she lie to us like that?" Her voice shook with frustration. "I thought we knew everything about this family. I thought we had everything figured out."
Kabelo dropped his phone and rubbed his eyes, clearly not as invested in the family drama as Thuli was. "We all heard her, Thuli. She said it was planned. Ukufa kukaBaba was planned. It’s a lot to process, and I’m not sure I’m ready to go digging around in the past like this."
Thuli spun around to face him. "*Ubaba wethu* was murdered, Kabelo!" She hissed through clenched teeth. "How are we not ready to figure out why? Why was his death planned? Why wasn’t it just an accident? Don’t you want to know the truth?"
Kabelo stood up slowly, his expression guarded. "Of course I do. But sometimes it’s better to leave certain things alone. Ukuhamba phambili (moving forward) is better than clinging to the past, don’t you think?"
Thuli crossed her arms, shaking her head. "No, Kabelo. The past is the future. How can we move forward when we don’t know what happened to us, to our own father?"
Before Kabelo could respond, the doorbell rang, interrupting the heavy silence. Thuli frowned and walked to the door. When she opened it, standing on the porch was a tall man in a well-tailored suit, holding a briefcase. His face was stern, almost too perfect, and Thuli immediately felt a knot form in her stomach.
"Good morning," the man said, his voice smooth like silk. "I’m looking for Mrs. Nandi Radebe."
Thuli hesitated, glancing back at Kabelo, who had followed her to the door. "Uh… Grandma’s not available right now," she said, unsure whether or not she should tell this man about the events of last night.
The man smiled politely, though it didn’t reach his eyes. "I’m here on business. I represent the estate of uBaba Radebe."
At the mention of her father’s name, Thuli’s heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean, the estate?"
The man stepped forward slightly, his presence imposing. "I have some documents for Mrs. Nandi Radebe regarding the inheritance. It’s time we discussed how we’ll move forward. I’ll need her signature on a few things."
Thuli narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute," she said, her suspicion growing. "Who are you? And why are you here now, of all times? After everything we just found out about uBaba’s death? You just show up at our door?"
The man’s face softened slightly, but his eyes never lost their cold edge. "I understand your confusion, but my presence here is not a coincidence. There are things you don’t know, Miss Thuli. Things that are beyond your understanding. If you want to know the truth about your father’s death, then I suggest you listen carefully."
Kabelo took a step forward, his voice firm. "I don’t know who you are, but you’ve got no right to come here making demands. Siyakwazi ukwazi (we know what we’re doing)."
The man raised an eyebrow at Kabelo’s bravado. "I don’t think you do, my friend. I think you’re all in over your heads." He glanced past Thuli at the rest of the family, who had slowly gathered behind her, their faces a mixture of curiosity and concern.
"Listen," Thuli said, stepping forward and blocking the door slightly. "What exactly are you offering? And why come to us now? If this is about the will, why didn’t you deal with it earlier?"
The man sighed, clearly growing impatient. "I came because there’s more to the story than just the inheritance. If you want to claim your birthright, if you want to learn about your father’s past, then you need to understand that the Radebe name is tangled in more than just money. Ukufa kukaBaba—your father’s death—was only the beginning."
Thuli swallowed hard, her heart racing. The air around her felt thick with something she couldn’t quite place—fear? Suspicion? Something far worse than what they had ever anticipated.
The man looked at her directly, his eyes piercing. "Meet me at the old family estate tomorrow. I’ll explain everything."
With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Thuli staring after him, her mind reeling with questions.
---
Thuli stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes following the man as he walked away down the path. She wanted to shout after him, demand answers right here and now, but something held her back. The mystery of his presence, his cryptic words, gnawed at her. Why the estate? Why now? Why had he come after everything they’d learned about her father’s death?
Kabelo, ever the skeptic, placed a hand on her shoulder, his voice calm but insistent. "Thuli, we need to think this through. We don't even know who that man is, and he just waltzes in here talking about the estate like it’s his to give away."
Thuli shook her head, her gaze fixed on the man’s retreating figure. "I don’t trust him. But that’s exactly why I have to go. He said he’ll explain everything. I need to know what happened to Dad. I need to understand why Grandma's been lying to us for all these years."
Kabelo sighed, looking over his shoulder as the rest of the family gathered in the hallway. Mandla was the first to speak, his voice heavy with suspicion. "Did you hear what he said, Thuli? Everything? It sounds like more lies to me."
Thuli stepped back into the house, shutting the door behind her. The weight of the situation pressed heavily on her chest, but her resolve only grew stronger. "I don’t care what it sounds like. I’m going to the estate tomorrow, whether anyone comes with me or not. I’ll figure this out on my own if I have to."
Sibongile stepped forward, her usually calm demeanor replaced with concern. "Wait, Thuli, you don’t know what you’re walking into. What if this is a trap? What if they’re trying to pull us back into the same mess? What if this whole thing about uBaba being murdered is a set-up?"
Thuli spun around to face Sibongile, her voice sharp. "Do you think I’m going to let this go? Grandma has been hiding the truth from us for years. And now I find out uBaba wasn’t just taken from us by an accident but by someone who wanted him dead—someone who probably still wants to keep us in the dark. I’m not just going to sit back and pretend everything’s fine anymore. We deserve to know the truth."
Mandla raised his hands in surrender, a rare moment of caution in his voice. "No one’s saying you should ignore the truth, Thuli. But we’re a family. Whatever this is, we need to handle it together. You can’t just charge in without knowing who’s behind this."
Thuli paused, her chest tightening. She hated the idea of backing down, but she couldn’t shake the unease that churned inside her. Maybe Mandla was right. But her gut told her there was more to this than just an inheritance or a will. Her father’s death wasn’t just an unfortunate event—it was a calculated move. She had to know why.
She glanced at her cousins, who stood silent in the hallway, their eyes filled with a mix of fear and curiosity. "Fine," she said after a moment, her tone softer. "I’ll go, but we go together. I need you all there. If there’s even a chance that something’s not right, I need backup. No one is walking into that estate alone."
Kabelo, who had been silent for a moment, nodded reluctantly. "Alright, Thuli. If you insist on going, then we go. But we need to be careful. I don’t trust this guy, and I sure as hell don’t trust the family estate."
With the plan in place, they all retreated to their rooms, the conversation still heavy in the air. But there was no turning back now. Tomorrow, they would go to the estate, and everything would change.
---
The next day arrived with a suffocating heaviness. The sun was already high in the sky when Thuli and her cousins made their way to the old family estate. As they drove through the familiar roads leading to the large, isolated house, an eerie sense of foreboding settled over them.
The estate was a large mansion, nestled in a valley surrounded by thick trees, almost as if it had been swallowed by the earth. The grounds were vast, the gardens overgrown with weeds that hadn’t been tended to in years. As they approached the house, Thuli felt an unfamiliar unease. She’d spent years here as a child, visiting her grandparents, playing in the wide hallways, laughing in the garden. But now, it felt like a different place—forgotten, haunted.
They parked the car in front of the towering gates, where the man in the suit from yesterday was waiting for them. He didn’t smile, didn’t offer any pleasantries. He simply motioned for them to follow him.
"Come inside," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "We don’t have time for formalities. There are things you need to hear before it’s too late."
As they followed him through the front door, the silence was overwhelming. The grand foyer, once filled with laughter and life, was now still and cold, the only sound the echo of their footsteps on the marble floors. Thuli’s heart pounded in her chest as they moved deeper into the house, following the man down a long hallway.
At the end of the hall, he stopped in front of a large, imposing door. "This is where the answers lie," he said. "What you find inside will change everything. Are you ready for the truth?"
Thuli nodded without hesitation. "We’re ready. Izimpendulo (the answers) have been kept from us long enough."
The man opened the door, revealing a dimly lit room that felt even colder than the rest of the house. There, in the center of the room, was an old desk stacked high with papers and old photographs. But it wasn’t the documents that drew their attention—it was the large wooden chest standing at the corner of the room.
"This chest," the man said, his voice lowering, "holds the key to everything. Everything you think you know about your father’s death, about this family’s history, is about to change."
Thuli stepped forward, her pulse quickening. Was this it? Was this what they’d been waiting for?
She reached for the chest, her hands trembling as she slowly opened it, unsure of what she would find.
---
Thuli’s hands shook as she carefully lifted the lid of the chest. The air seemed to thicken, and the faint scent of old wood and dust wafted up, making her nose twitch. Inside the chest were several objects, but it was one item in particular that caught her eye: a faded, leather-bound journal. It looked ancient, its pages yellowed and fragile. But there was something about it that made Thuli’s breath catch in her throat.
"This is it, isn’t it?" she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. Her fingers brushed over the cover, but she hesitated before opening it.
Kabelo, standing behind her, leaned over her shoulder, his voice low. "What’s that? A journal?"
The man in the suit, who had been standing by the door, finally spoke. "Yes. That journal belonged to your father. It holds the answers you’ve been seeking."
Thuli’s heart raced. "What do you mean? My father… he kept a journal?" The words felt foreign, but she couldn’t deny the weight of what was happening. The journal was the key to the mystery surrounding uBaba’s death.
She turned the journal over in her hands, her fingers trembling as she opened the first page. The handwriting inside was elegant but hurried, as though her father had written in a rush, trying to record something important before it was too late.
"Read it," the man urged, his tone almost impatient. "You need to understand."
Thuli began reading aloud, her voice quiet but clear. "‘*There are things about this family that no one is ready to hear. Secrets buried deep, truths that have been kept hidden for far too long. I don’t know if I’ll make it out alive, but I must write this down…*’" She paused, her throat tightening.
Kabelo stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as he read over her shoulder. "This is crazy. Why didn’t Grandma tell us about this?"
"She didn’t know," the man in the suit interrupted, his voice sharp. "Your grandmother didn’t know the full extent of what was happening. The people involved went to great lengths to make sure the truth stayed buried."
Thuli frowned, flipping through the pages quickly. "Who was involved? Who did this to uBaba?" She glanced up at the man, desperate for an answer.
The man sighed, his expression hardening. "It’s not that simple. There are names you won’t expect. People you trust. But in time, you’ll understand."
Mandla stepped forward, his voice cutting through the tension. "What are you not telling us? Who exactly is behind this?"
The man didn’t immediately respond. He seemed to be weighing his words carefully. "The truth is dangerous, and knowing it comes with consequences. There are people out there who will stop at nothing to protect what they’ve stolen from you. You think this is just about money, about a company, but it’s not. It’s about control. It’s about power."
"Power over what?" Thuli demanded, her voice shaking with frustration. "What are you talking about?"
He hesitated, his eyes flicking to the journal in her hands. "The Radebe name is powerful. But it was never meant to stay in the hands of just one family. Your father knew this, and he tried to fight it. That’s why they silenced him."
Thuli’s head spun. Everything she thought she knew about her family’s history, about her father’s legacy, was being turned upside down. Her father wasn’t just an innocent businessman who died in a tragic accident—he had been a man caught up in a dangerous game of power and control. And now, somehow, she and her family were at the center of it all.
She slammed the journal shut, her chest heaving with emotion. "Enough of the cryptic nonsense! Just tell me—*who killed my father?*"
The man in the suit took a step forward, his eyes locked onto hers. "I’m not the one who killed your father. But I know who did. And it wasn’t just one person. It was a group. A family, to be exact. Your family."
The words hung in the air, cold and final. Thuli’s world tilted as she stared at him in disbelief. "What are you saying? You’re saying… our family killed uBaba?" Her voice cracked with shock.
The man nodded slowly, his face unreadable. "Yes. But I need you to understand, it wasn’t out of malice. It was about something much bigger. Your father stood in the way of something dangerous. Something that, if left unchecked, could destroy everything you’ve known."
Thuli’s breath caught in her throat, her mind racing. How could this be true? How could the people who had raised her—*her own family*—be responsible for her father’s death?
Kabelo stepped in front of her, his face dark with anger. "I don’t believe this. This sounds like some kind of twisted conspiracy. How can you expect us to just accept this?"
The man in the suit’s expression softened slightly, but his voice remained firm. "I know this is hard to accept. But the truth has a way of coming to light, no matter how long you try to hide it. Your father was murdered because he was standing in the way of something far more dangerous than any of you realize."
Thuli’s knees felt weak as she took a step back, leaning against the chest for support. "Then… if it was our family, who exactly is pulling the strings? Who was he trying to stop?"
The man sighed deeply, as though he had been waiting for this moment. "There’s a powerful organization, much bigger than you can imagine. They operate in the shadows, and they’ve been using your family for their own purposes. But your father was different. He fought back. And for that, they had him killed."
Thuli felt the room spin, her head pounding with the weight of the revelation. A family betrayed by their own flesh and blood? The idea was too horrifying to process. But if it was true, they were all in far more danger than they realized.
"I need you to listen carefully," the man said, his tone serious. "What I’m telling you isn’t just about your father’s death. It’s about everything that’s been hidden. The company, the land, the legacy of the Radebe name… it’s all part of a much bigger plan. And you’re about to find out exactly what that plan is."
Thuli felt a cold sweat break out on her skin. "And what happens next? What do we do with all this? How do we stop them?"
The man’s eyes darkened. "You don’t stop them. They stop you."
The silence that followed felt like it lasted an eternity, as each of them absorbed the weight of his words. Then, slowly, the man turned and walked toward the door. "The rest of the story is in that journal. Read it carefully. The truth isn’t pretty, but it’s your only chance to survive."
As he left, the door clicked shut behind him, leaving the Radebe family standing in a room filled with secrets and questions. But the most important question still lingered:
Who could they trust when it was clear that the greatest threat to their survival had always been hiding in plain sight?
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