Demilade* (27) and her older brother Olumide* (30) have always stood on opposing sides. After tempting her brother into a shady investment scheme, she’s now wondering if the revenge she sought was justified.
You get to decide at the end, did she fuck up?
This is Demilade’s dilemma, as shared with Betty
I don’t know why, but my older brother, Olumide*, and I have never seen eye to eye. For as long as I can remember, he acted like he was constantly trying to win a competition I didn’t know existed.
If I said I wanted something, he’d suddenly “remember” he needed it more and try to have it first, even when he didn’t care about it before. If it wasn’t something he could take, he would rubbish the idea. The most annoying part was how my parents always seemed to take his side because he’s the firstborn.
Once in 2018, I asked my parents for a loan to start a business while I was in university. As soon as Olumide heard about it, he shut it down and said it would affect my grades. He convinced them to use the money to buy him a car instead, and they did.
He doesn’t stop at big things, he also blocks me from having even seemingly small things. When his cousin got married in Abuja* in 2019, he said he couldn’t attend because of a work trip. I was still in school and wasn’t sure I’d be able to attend either. Since we were both unavailable, my mum bought aso ebi for just herself and my dad. When the material arrived, she realised she’d already used the exact fabric for a dress and didn’t need it.
My school went on a strike around the wedding, and I suddenly became available to travel. I asked my mum for the material since she wouldn’t be using it, and my brother immediately said he needed it because he had “changed his mind” about attending. I suggested we split the material, but he insisted his style needed the full fabric. Our parents told me to let him have it since he’s older. He never sewed that material or went to the wedding. He packed it along on his work trip just so I wouldn’t have it. I found it odd, but that’s just one of many examples.
At first, I thought we’d outgrow the rivalry, but it only got worse. The last straw came during my service year.
After school, I wanted to leave Ibadan and serve in another state. Olumide shut that down again because he didn’t get the same opportunity, and he didn’t think I deserved it either. It made me upset, and I was determined to get my revenge. I didn’t know what form my revenge would take, but I found the opportunity in 2023.
An acquaintance advertised a cryptocurrency investment scheme on WhatsApp that promised to double the investment in six months. The whole thing looked shady, but I also knew my brother well enough: if I showed interest, he’d try to edge me out.
So I forwarded the guy’s contact to him and told him I wanted to invest but needed his opinion first. As expected, he dismissed the idea, saying it was foolish and that I’d be better off saving in a bank. But he still went behind me to speak with the guy and invested around ₦500k. I only found out because he confided in our mum.
At first, I thought I had made a mistake because he suddenly had cash three months later. But I was happy to see that when the six months ended, everything crashed. Whether the investment collapsed or the guy ran away with his money, I’m not sure. All I know is that his investment went up in smoke, and I thought it was well deserved.
When he realised he was never getting that money back, he came back to insult me for showing him the business in the first place. I innocently told him I took his advice, and I didn’t put any money in it. He was upset for months after, and I didn’t feel bad about it at all.
When I told a friend everything, she said what I did was wrong. According to her, even if my brother and I had our differences, we were still blood, and I shouldn’t have set him up like that. Now, I’m starting to wonder, did I take things too far? Am I the bad guy for using his ego against him?
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