Kiss Marry Kill by Yemi Dipeolu

The Prologue: A Wedding Marred by Murder

The narrative of Kiss Marry Kill begins with an atmosphere of profound irony during the wedding of Ade Dolapo and Ifelayo (Ife) Ojo. As Ife walks down the aisle towards Ade, he observes her beauty and the fact that she is pregnant, yet he feels a disturbing lack of joy or emotional connection. He acknowledges his own selfishness in marrying her, wondering why a woman would commit to a man who is so clearly “broken”. For Ade, Ife has become “oxygen” a necessary presence to keep him from “drowning,” even if he does not truly love her back. Despite his desire to walk away, he remains at the altar to avoid disappointing his mother, who is overjoyed that he has finally moved on from his previous partner, Cynthia Bennet, whom she dismissively refers to as the “Jamo girl”.

After the ceremony and during the reception, while the guests are eating jollof rice and drinking Guinness, the situation takes a surreal turn. Ade spots Cynthia who has been missing for three months hiding in plain sight among the crowd, dressed in black and staring at him with eyes full of “malice”. In a panic, Ade interrupts his brother Tayo’s speech and attempts to reach her, nearly knocking over the wedding cake. Cynthia disappears through the door before he can catch her, and the overwhelming grief Ade had suppressed for months causes him to collapse on the floor in tears. In this state of vulnerability, he is suddenly arrested by police officers on suspicion of murder. As he is dragged away, he sees his new wife standing apart from the chaos, her hands resting on her stomach, watching him with a look of “desperation”.

The Origins of Conflict: Twelve Weeks Before the Disappearance

The story then flashes back to twelve weeks before Cynthia’s disappearance, beginning on a stifling spring evening. Cynthia and Ade are driving to London to have dinner with Ade’s mother, Mama. The tension in the car is high because Ade has kept a major secret from his mother: he and Cynthia moved from London to a cottage in Windchapel, Dorset, over a year ago. Ade apologizes for the deception, claiming he didn’t want Cynthia to have to lie, but Cynthia is certain she will be blamed for “luring” him into a life of deception. Cynthia, who grew up in Manchester, feels a sense of displacement both in the rural quiet of Dorset and in the high-pressure environment of Ade’s family dynamics.

At the dinner, Cynthia attempts to show respect to Mama by kneeling, a gesture Mama dismisses with a backhanded comment about Jamaican culture. The dinner table is set with a “dolphin centerpiece,” which Ade takes as a sign that his mother likes Cynthia, though Cynthia remains skeptical. Mama displays clear favoritism towards Ade, while his younger brother Tayo, a medical student who secretly wants to study design, is treated as the “outcast”. The dinner is interrupted by the arrival of a surprise guest: Ifelayo (Ife), a tall, beautiful woman who grew up with Ade and has recently returned from Dubai.

Mama’s intentions become immediately clear as she praises Ife for being a “good girl” who works hard, while pointedly insulting Cynthia’s career as a professional dancer. Cynthia is furious but tries to remain composed, even as Mama reminds Ade and Ife of how they used to “play husband and wife” as children. The evening implodes when Mama suggests that Ade and Ife should settle down together. Cynthia, unable to take more insults, reveals the truth about their move to Dorset, which causes Mama to explode in anger and accusation. Ade, appearing like a “coward” in Cynthia’s eyes, attempts to pacify his mother by claiming the move was intended as a “surprise” and invites Mama to visit them the following weekend. Cynthia storms out of the house in disgust.

The Present Day: Ife’s Unraveling Life

Back in the present, Ife is sitting in Tayo’s car outside the hotel where she was supposed to spend her wedding night. Her life has completely fallen apart; her husband is in a police cell, and she is left to manage the fallout of the wedding disaster. Mama has gone to the police station to “rescue” her son, leaving Ife to face the gossip of the Nigerian wedding guests, some of whom whispered that Ade was arrested for “419” fraud. Tayo is the only person showing her kindness, eventually ending the party by pulling the speakers from their sockets.

Inside the honeymoon suite, Ife finds a room filled with rose petals that look like “tiny drops of blood” and chocolates she eats in frustration. She receives a series of notifications on social media about Ade’s arrest and a text from a colleague asking for gossip. When she finally speaks to Robert, Ade’s lawyer and best friend, he informs her that Ade is not answering questions well and will be kept overnight. Ife asks if the arrest is about Cynthia Bennet, and Robert’s hesitation confirms her fears. She then receives a threatening text from an unknown number: “youll pay for what you did“.

Cynthia’s Detour: Meeting Mark and the Studio Struggles

Eleven weeks before the disappearance, Cynthia is packing a suitcase to move out of the cottage temporarily, unable to forgive Ade for failing to defend her against his mother. Ade tries to stop her, arguing that they should “protect” their relationship, but Cynthia feels he is simply letting her go. She moves into the apartment above her dance studio in Windchapel. The studio is struggling; numbers have dwindled, and Cynthia feels that moving to Dorset may have been a mistake.

While practicing at the studio, she is interrupted by a man named Mark, who has just moved into the apartment upstairs. Mark is a Mancunian record producer who is going through a divorce. He is kind to Cynthia, noticing she has sprained her ankle and offering her a foot rub. This encounter is a stark contrast to her relationship with Ade, as Mark seems genuinely interested in her talents and her business. When Ade shows up at the studio with lunch and finds Mark helping Cynthia, he is consumed by jealousy. In an aggressive display of possession, Ade lifts Cynthia over his shoulder and carries her out of the studio.

Present Day: The Cottage of Reminders

In the present, Ife arrives at the cottage Ade and Cynthia once shared, feeling the cold and darkness of the house. To her horror, she finds that the living room is filled with Cynthia’s belongings: photos of Ade and Cynthia, piles of women’s clothes, and the scent of hair conditioner. Ife is overwhelmed, feeling that Cynthia is “everywhere”. Ade returns from the police station looking disheveled and finds Ife amidst the chaos. He tells her that Cynthia has been missing for months and that the police are trying to frame him as an “angry ex”. He claims the breakup was mutual and that they remained friends, a statement that contradicts what he told Ife when he proposed.

A loud bang in the house terrifies Ade, who tells Ife not to move. Despite the gravity of the situation, Ade attempts to initiate intimacy with Ife, but in the heat of the moment, he accidentally calls her “Cynthia”. Ife flees to a storage cupboard and locks herself in, where she sees a news headline on her phone: “BODY FOUND IN SEARCH FOR MISSING DANCER”. She receives another threat: “pack your bags or i will tell him everything“.

Developing Ties: The Job Offer and the Boat

Eleven weeks before the disappearance, Ade takes Cynthia to her boat in the harbor, knowing the sea air will calm her down. Cynthia loves her boat, finding it a source of peace in Windchapel. Ade attempts to explain his mother’s psychological hold on him, revealing that she “protected him when he didn’t deserve it,” though he refuses to provide specifics. He promises to reschedule Mama’s visit, but then drops a bombshell: he has offered Ife a job at his tech company.

In the present, Ife visits the harbor where Cynthia’s body was found. She meets Mark, who is also mourning at the police cordon. Mark reveals that he lived with Cynthia before she disappeared and that their relationship was “complicated”. He tells Ife that Ade’s arrest “speaks for itself” and challenges Ife’s belief in Ade’s innocence. Before leaving, Mark gives Ife a necklace with a ring an exact replica of Ife’s emerald engagement ring, but with blue-grey gemstones. He tells her to keep it if she has any doubts about what happened. Ife, wanting to reclaim her power, throws Cynthia’s ring into the sea.

Mama’s Visit and the Escalating Tension

Three weeks before the disappearance, Mama and Tayo arrive at the Dorset cottage for their scheduled visit. Cynthia is incredibly nervous, but to her surprise, Mama greets her with a warm, floral-scented embrace. Cynthia prepares a bedroom for Tayo, painted in royal blue, and encourages him to follow his dreams of studying design at Bournemouth, promising he can live with them to save on rent.

While Ade, Mama, and Tayo go out for dinner, Cynthia stays behind to read a book recommended by Mark. Mark arrives at the house unannounced with mac and cheese, and they spend the evening talking. Mark tells Cynthia about his failed marriage to Emma, claiming they simply fell out of love. He also shares that he has secured a meeting with investors for her studio. When Ade and the others return, they find Mark in the garden, caught by Mama, who demands to know what the “Oyinbo boy” is doing there.

Ife’s Haunted Reality and the Secret Pregnancy

In the present, Ade is suffering from night terrors, sobbing “I’m sorry” in his sleep. Ife finds him sleepwalking into the garden in the snow, where he lies on the grass sobbing Cynthia’s name. Ife meets Mark again at a café, where the owner, Nyara, tells her that Cynthia had been having trouble with her boyfriend and was close to Mark. Ife realizes Mark was telling the truth about his relationship with Cynthia.

At the cottage, Ade reveals that he has known about Ife’s pregnancy for some time, despite her attempts to hide it. He expresses excitement about being a parent, but then seems to “jerk away” as if he has heard something invisible. Later, Ife and Ade go for a twelve-week scan, where they hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. On their way home, they are met by Detective Callaghan, who wants to speak with Ife. Ife admits she is pregnant to the detective but denies having had an affair with Ade while he was with Cynthia.

The Turning Point: The Crayfish Incident

Three weeks before the disappearance, Cynthia is forced to help Mama in the kitchen. Mama asks Cynthia to chop okra, which Cynthia finds repellent. Mama gives Cynthia shots of peach schnapps, and they have a conversation where Mama tells Cynthia she is a “foolish girl” and that Ade deserves someone like Ife. During the subsequent dinner, Cynthia begins to have a severe allergic reaction. Her airway closes, and she struggles for air while Mama watches with a “pursed” expression, appearing indifferent to her suffering.

Ade and Tayo arrive to find Cynthia choking. Ade panics and uses an EpiPen to save her life. He discovers an empty packet of crayfish to which Cynthia is highly allergic in the kitchen and realizes Mama put it in the food. Furious, Ade hurls the plates off the table and physically carries Mama out of the house, telling her to get out. Cynthia, feeling her fears have been realized, packs her bags to leave for good. She goes to Mark’s apartment, where he calls an ambulance for her.

The Manchester Revelation and Mark’s Identity

One week before the disappearance, Cynthia travels to Manchester to stay with her sister Valerie. She is still hurt by Ade’s actions and the fact that he continues to bombard her with messages. While there, she reflects on her past trauma: her father, a pastor, kicked her out of the house years ago when she was nineteen because of her relationship with a boy named Francis. Cynthia also goes to a club with Mark, where she unexpectedly runs into Francis. Francis looks at Mark and calls him “Chris,” expressing shock to see them together. Mark becomes extremely agitated and drags Cynthia out of the club.

Mark later claims that “Chris” is his middle name and that Francis probably knows his “delusional” ex-wife. However, in the present day, Tayo and Ife investigate Mark’s flat and discover that the photographs of him and Cynthia are fake they have been photoshopped using Ade’s body from Cynthia’s Instagram posts. Ife finds a “stalker room” in Mark’s flat filled with professional photos of Cynthia, journals detailing his obsession with her, and proof that he was the one who told Cynthia’s father about Francis years ago.

Ade’s Confession and the Ill-Fated Proposal

One day before the disappearance, Cynthia has a final dinner with Ade so he will stop hounding her. During this dinner, Ade reveals his darkest secret: when he was six years old, he accidentally caused his father to fall to his death during a domestic dispute where his father was attacking his mother. Mama covered up the death and used it to manipulate and control Ade for the rest of his life.

Ade proposes to Cynthia with the blue-grey gemstone ring, but Cynthia, overwhelmed by the secrets and the trauma, says she needs time to think. When she returns to Mark’s apartment, Mark is furious that she didn’t flatly reject the proposal. They end up drinking wine, and Mark tells Cynthia he loves her, a declaration she finds “weird” and unsettling.

The Day of the Disappearance: The Cliff and the Truth

On the day she disappears, Cynthia discovers Mark’s stalker room and realizes he has been following her for years. Terrified, she packs her bags to run away, but Mark has taken her car keys. She flees on foot to the top of the hill the “Windchapel” to meet Ade, hoping he can protect her. Mark finds her first and begs for another chance, but Ade arrives and a three-way confrontation ensues.

Ade and Mark begin fighting over Cynthia near the edge of the cliff. In the struggle, they both push her out of the way, and Cynthia falls backwards over the edge. In the final chapter, it is revealed that Cynthia survived the fall but was severely injured. She sees a pair of hot-pink trainers with diamantés the ones Ife was wearing at the spa approaching her. The “saviour” touches Cynthia’s neck to check for a pulse and tells her she will be okay. However, the person Ife then walks away and leaves Cynthia to die, ensuring she can have Ade and their new life without interference.