My Sister and Brother Plotted to End My Life Because of My Business

I traveled to China to study. While here, a friend from Ghana reached out that she was buying wigs from China but wasn’t sure of the suppliers, so I should help. I laughed at her. “Do you think China is like Makola? From my place to Xuchang where the suppliers are is like making a pilgrimage to heaven.”

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But she didn’t stop pestering me, so I agreed to help her. When I got there, I discovered how cheap wigs are. I took my time to get the explanation so I could deliver exactly what she wanted. Right after that transaction with my friend, a business idea was born in me. I started making noise on my WhatsApp status, telling my friends I could ship whatever they wanted for cheap prices.

I got people asking for cosmetics, kitchen wares, kids’ stuff, and even auto parts. Business was good, but I didn’t want to end there. I wanted to own my own shop in Ghana and run it for extra money, so I called a friend and asked him to do a business registration for me. When he was done, I called my elder sister to look for a shop for me. The idea was to get a shop, hire attendants, and run the shop through them.

My sister said, “Are you crazy? Why am I your sister? I can run the shop for you.”

Whenever I shipped containers for people, I added my own, and my sister received them into the shop. When she sold them, she sent the money through an account so I could buy new stock. From 2023, I shipped a lot of things to her, and she accounted for each of them. I was paying her, but later decided to share ownership with her. After all, what are sisters for?

When I decided to branch into selling auto parts, I involved my elder brother. I came to Ghana and looked for the shop with him. I paid for everything and handed the shop over to him. It started slowly, but by 2024, that side of the business had also picked up. My brother was even giving me pressure and disturbing my sleep because of customer demands.

I was living in China but doing business in Ghana. I had completed schooling long ago, so I decided I would eventually go home and manage my businesses. It was better for me to travel to China once in a while than live in China and do business in Ghana. I didn’t tell anyone I was coming to settle. They all thought it was one of the visits I do and later go back.

I didn’t want to interfere with the flow of business. I asked questions. I did the order online when I needed to restock. I started handling the money myself. That was when things started changing. My brother kept asking when I was going back. When I asked about sales, the answers were not straight to the point, especially from my brother. I was mostly at the shop my sister managed, so I got to see everything that happened and also interacted very well with the two ladies there.

Later, the ladies also started hiding information from me. My brother was the first to report me to my parents, saying I’m taking his business from him and that that wasn’t the agreement we entered when the business started. I was so angry when my dad called to talk about it. “Agreement? He said we went into an agreement? What agreement?”

Then my sister followed, challenging my decisions and setting aside my opinions. “What’s happening?” I asked her. She answered, “What do you mean what’s happening?”

So I decided to kick them out and start everything afresh. These two now have money. My brother owns his own house and drives a Benz. My sister too has two cars she runs as Uber and is now building a house. But ask me what I have? Nothing. All I’ve done is invest my money into the business they are running.

One morning, I went to work and saw a trace of some whitish substance like powder. It looked like someone poured a powder on my seat and later cleaned it but couldn’t clean everything. I didn’t sit in the chair that day. My sister acted jittery around me all day. I saw the same thing around my car and a few days later, at the entrance of my house.

I thought I was becoming paranoid. I went to sleep and saw nightmares. It was either I was being chased by a mob while my siblings stood aside and watched, or in the dream, I had eaten something and was vomiting blood. My mom has that divine instinct when it comes to these issues. I told her about it and she said, “Come home. It doesn’t look good.”

My mom said the enemy was close, but she didn’t mention anyone’s name. I knew it was those two siblings of mine. She said, “Don’t go ahead of yourself. You’ll make a mistake.”

My dad took me to his pastor, and the man didn’t mince words. He told my father, “You should know where the problem is coming from. It’s your other kids who are ganging up against her. Young lady, don’t go back to where they are. You might lose your life.”

A week later, I traveled back to China, and ever since I’ve been here, none of my siblings have called to ask my whereabouts. One day, I got so sad and angry and confused I stayed in bed and cried like a baby. “My own siblings want to end my life because of a shop?”

I called my dad and told him, “Those two will die before me. They should wait and see.” My mom called to tell me she was talking to them and we had to come together again, blah blah blah.

I sent guys to close the shops. My brother was screaming, “Who told her the shop belongs to her? Where was she when I was sweating to build this?”

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My sister didn’t say much. She didn’t even put up a fight when I told her I was taking her to court. She vacated the shop and gave the keys to my dad. It’s my brother who is fighting and telling people that I’m trying to end his livelihood. He’s determined to fight, so he hired a lawyer. I’ve also hired one. He doesn’t know what is coming from the skies; he would have worn a metal helmet. You want to kill your own blood because of a shop.

—Godwina

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