“Daddy, why is Mummy sleeping inside the deep freezer? She will be cold,” six-year-old Tola asked her father, her small voice trembling in the dark kitchen at midnight softly now

“Daddy, why is Mummy sleeping inside the deep freezer? She will be cold,” six-year-old Tola asked her father, her small voice trembling in the dark kitchen at midnight softly now.

Jide froze. He dropped the padlock he was holding. He did not know his daughter was awake, watching everything from the doorway quietly behind her worn pink curtains nearby tonight.

“Go back to sleep Tola! Mummy is playing a game!” Jide shouted, his eyes red and frightening under the flickering bulb casting long shadows across the cracked kitchen walls tonight.

“But Daddy, her eyes are open. She is crying,” Tola whispered, pointing toward the humming freezer with shaking fingers afraid of the strange cold mist escaping slowly outside the lid.

Jide slammed the freezer door shut and locked it tightly, his breathing heavy and uneven in the silent room as sweat trickled down his trembling face in panic and guilt.

“I said go inside! If you come out again, I will put you there too!” he warned harshly while glancing at the wall clock ticking toward midnight without mercy tonight.

He looked at the time, eleven fifty five, and muttered to himself about the promised money arriving soon that would finally prove he was still powerful and respected again someday.

It had all started three years earlier when Jide lost his stable banking job after a sudden company downsizing that left him ashamed and bitter at home every single day.

For months he searched halfheartedly, but rejection letters piled up and his confidence shrank beneath whispered neighborhood gossip that painted him as useless and dependent on his hardworking wife alone.

Simi became the pillar of the household, waking before dawn to sell fabrics at the busy market daily so their daughter could eat and attend school without fear or hunger.

She paid the rent, covered Tola’s school fees, and even handed Jide small pocket money weekly though shame burned inside him whenever he accepted the notes silently from her hands.

Instead of gratitude, bitterness grew in him like mold spreading across damp forgotten walls fueled by friends who mocked his dependence and laughed at his wounded pride publicly each evening.

They called him woman wrapper and joked that his wife had become the true husband while he shrank under their laughter pretending it did not pierce his already fragile ego.

Instead of searching harder for work, Jide sought escape in gambling shops glowing late into the night where flashing screens promised quick riches without sweat or patience dignity at all.

He secretly stole from Simi’s business savings to place desperate bets on football matches convincing himself he would repay everything once luck finally smiled and restored his broken status completely.

When Simi discovered the missing money, tears streamed down her tired face in disbelief as she pleaded with him to remember their daughter and the sacrifices they had endured together.

“Jide, that money was for Tola’s fees, why are you doing this to us?” she cried softly standing beside the small dining table cluttered with unpaid bills and hope fading.

“Shut up! Am I not the man of this house?” Jide roared before striking her as anger fueled by humiliation exploded without restraint or thought inside their narrow living room.

Simi endured the pain silently, praying each night that God would soften her husband’s hardened heart while fasting quietly for change and refusing to abandon the vows she once cherished.

Then one afternoon Jide met Emeka, an old classmate whose sudden wealth dazzled the neighborhood with luxury cars loud parties and whispers of connections beyond ordinary business dealings or ethics.

Emeka studied Jide’s frustration and smiled knowingly, as if sensing the hunger beneath his friend’s despair that craved power respect and effortless wealth without enduring another day of ridicule.

“Why are you suffering like this?” Emeka asked, leaning casually against his polished car as curious neighbors pretended not to watch the expensive vehicle gleaming under afternoon sunlight proudly nearby.

“There is a way out, but you must be brave,” Emeka whispered carefully glancing around before mentioning a powerful shrine deep inside the forbidden forest beyond town limits at midnight.

Desperation silenced Jide’s doubts, and he followed Emeka through winding paths into darkness where strange drums echoed and incense smoke curled beneath towering ancient trees watching silently above them both.

The shrine keeper examined Jide closely and laughed at his trembling hunger for riches as flames flickered against carved wooden idols arranged around the dusty sacred altar floor that night.

“You want billions?” the keeper asked, voice thick with amusement and menace while studying the fear and greed battling inside Jide’s restless eyes without blinking once in the dark hut.

“The person who feeds you must be offered in return,” he declared solemnly as distant thunder rolled and Jide realized the ritual demanded a terrible betrayal beyond forgiveness that night.

He knew instantly the sacrifice meant Simi, the woman who sustained his failures with tireless patience and love even when he returned home defeated and resentful each evening from losses.

“Bring her fresh body and place it inside a freezer before midnight,” the keeper instructed coldly warning that no blade must spill blood because frost alone would satisfy unseen gods.

Greed drowned conscience, and Jide agreed without seeking another path or mercy imagining millions flooding his empty bank account while neighbors bowed in sudden respect and admiration at last finally.

He purchased a large deep freezer the next day, presenting it as support for Simi’s fabric business while she danced happily believing their prayers had finally been answered by heaven.

That evening he crushed sleeping tablets into her tea, masking bitterness with honeyed affection and telling her she worked too hard and deserved restful dreams after another exhausting market day.

Simi drank gratefully and soon drifted into heavy sleep on the worn sofa unaware that her trust was being traded for greed and a promise of cursed wealth before midnight.

Jide lifted her limp body with difficulty, his arms trembling yet fueled by twisted ambition as he carried her toward the humming white freezer waiting silently in the corner nearby.

He placed her inside and hesitated briefly before lowering the lid over her sleeping form while the cold air swirled around her peaceful unaware face in the dim kitchen light.

Just as he reached for the padlock, a small voice echoed behind him carrying confusion and innocence that pierced deeper than any knife could ever wound his conscience that night.

“Daddy?” Tola asked softly, clutching her teddy bear in the doorway with wide eyes reflecting the harsh kitchen light and the cold white freezer looming before her in silent dread.

Now she stood trembling as her father tried to mask terror with anger while the freezer vibrated faintly and frost formed around the metal edges beneath his shaking hands suddenly.

He considered silencing the witness, noticing there was still space inside the freezer as greed whispered that survival required no loose ends or innocent questions left unanswered in his house.

He lured Tola closer with a sweet, pretending he needed her help to check whether the freezer was cold enough for her mother to stay inside comfortably for the game.

As he grabbed her wrist, the lights suddenly went out across the house plunging the kitchen into thick darkness broken only by the freezer’s low mechanical hum echoing through shadows.

In the darkness, loud banging erupted from inside the locked freezer shaking the thin metal walls and sending cold vibrations through the silent room where father and daughter stood frozen.

“Jide! Open this door!” a voice screamed, yet it sounded strange and distorted as though pain and fury had twisted it into something not entirely human anymore in the cold.

Jide stumbled backward, releasing Tola and collapsing onto the kitchen tiles as the padlock slipped from his trembling fingers and clattered loudly against the floor beside him in sheer terror.

The freezer door creaked open slowly without any human touch releasing a rush of icy air that rolled across the tiles toward Jide and his terrified daughter in stunned silence.

Simi stepped out unsteadily, eyes wide, breath visible in the freezing air yet somehow standing upright as though unseen forces had restored her strength beyond ordinary endurance limits that night.

Tola ran to her mother, crying and clutching her tightly despite the cold while Jide crawled backward against the cabinet whispering apologies that tangled with fear and disbelief in darkness.

Simi’s gaze fell upon her husband, no longer weak or pleading but steady and fierce as though betrayal had burned away fear and replaced it with unshakable resolve within her.

“You chose greed over love,” she said, voice echoing unnaturally through the silent room while the clock struck midnight and the final minute of the ritual slipped away forever lost.

Jide checked his phone frantically, but no alert or money appeared as the screen remained blank and his promised billions dissolved like smoke in the cold air around him completely.

Outside, sirens wailed as neighbors reported strange screams from the house that pierced the quiet night and summoned flashing lights and curious eyes to the narrow street outside their home.

Police burst through the door, drawn by chaos and terrified cries as they found Jide shaking on the floor and Simi holding their daughter protectively beside the open freezer door.

Emeka’s involvement surfaced quickly as investigators traced suspicious calls and shrine rumors linking Jide to desperate meetings in the forest where promises of cursed wealth were whispered in darkness before.

Jide was arrested, his hands cuffed as Tola watched silently while Simi stood behind officers refusing to meet his pleading eyes that finally understood the cost of greed and pride.

The ritual failed, leaving only shame and shattered trust behind as the promise of sudden riches proved hollow and destructive rather than miraculous or redemptive for anyone involved that night.

In the courtroom months later, Simi faced her husband once more with quiet strength born from surviving betrayal and choosing to protect her child above every other broken promise remaining.

Jide wept openly, no longer proud, begging for forgiveness he scarcely deserved as he realized wealth gained through bloodless cruelty would always cost more than it promised to repay ever.

The judge sentenced him firmly, condemning greed that nearly destroyed his own family and reminding the courtroom that desperation never justifies betrayal or violence against those who trust us completely.

After the trial, Simi and Tola moved to a smaller but safer home where no freezer hummed with secrets and no whispers of dark bargains echoed through their nights anymore.

Tola sometimes asked about that terrifying night in hesitant whispers while Simi held her close explaining that greed can freeze hearts but love keeps them warm and alive always daily.

Simi never answered whether she forgave Jide entirely because some wounds heal slowly and some betrayals carve lessons too deep for easy absolution or forgetfulness ever again within one lifetime.

Yet she chose survival over vengeance, focusing on raising Tola with courage and teaching her that dignity matters more than money and that shortcuts often lead into darkness and regret.

In prison Jide replayed the freezer door opening endlessly in his mind wondering whether he had truly heard his wife or something born from his own guilt and fear alone.

He realized the true freezing was not in the machine but inside his heart where envy pride and resentment had hardened compassion into something unrecognizable and dangerous over time gradually.

Wealth without integrity, he learned too late, is a curse disguised as opportunity that tempts desperate souls to sacrifice what matters most for promises that crumble at midnight without warning.

Tola eventually stopped fearing freezers, though she never forgot that night because her mother taught her that courage can thaw even the coldest memory and transform pain into strength someday.

The question remained whether forgiveness could survive such betrayal and terror as Simi weighed mercy against justice while watching her daughter sleep peacefully in their modest safe home each night.

But one truth stood clear beyond superstition and fear that haunted them greed had nearly frozen their future yet love had shattered the ice and saved what remained for good.