Funke's mother and younger brother die in a car accident during a tropical storm in Lagos, leaving Funke the only survivor.

Funke's father tells a family friend he wishes Funke had died instead of his son, and Funke is arranged to be sent to England.

Funke arrives at The Ring in England, where her entire family insists on calling her Katherine rather than Funke.

Dominic pushes Funke into the swimming pool; Liv jumps in to save her, but Funke looks disappointed to be rescued.

Funke speaks for the first time since arriving in England, tells Liv her real name, and decides to go by Kate.

Kate receives perfect scores on her final exams, but the celebration is cut short when Grandpa dies of a heart attack.

Liv attends a modeling photo shoot and is gradually pressured by photographer Clinton into posing nude.

Clinton blackmails Liv with her nude photos; Liv steals and pawns her mother's pearl necklace to pay the ransom.

After the ball, a drunk Dominic crashes the car into a tree, severely injuring Liv and leaving Kate disoriented from the drugs.

Margot sees Kate's pearl necklace and accuses her of theft; police charge Kate and give her no option but to return to Nigeria.

Kate arrives back in Nigeria and discovers her father has remarried and given his new son the name Femi.

Kate swallows quinine pills knowing she may be fatally allergic; Ndidi saves her life and she moves to the Bensons as Funke.

Funke and her friends attend the Barcelona Olympics, where Nigeria wins a bronze medal and Funke is shown celebrating on television.

Funke steps off a boat onto a Lagos beach; Liv recognizes her, runs toward her, and faints onto the sand.

Liv and family lawyer Derek present Margot with evidence of her theft; Funke is awarded The Ring and Grandpa's full inheritance.

Funke's life in Lagos is shattered when a car accident kills her mother and brother, and her grieving father sends her to live with her English relatives at The Ring. She slowly adapts to life in England, changing her name to Kate and building a close bond with her cousin Liv. After years of progress, a series of betrayals—Clinton's blackmail scheme, Dominic's car crash, and Margot's false accusation of theft—result in Kate being forced back to Nigeria with almost nothing. She rebuilds her life there, attending medical school and reclaiming her identity as Funke, while Liv spirals in London believing Kate has died. Their dramatic reunion on a Lagos beach sets in motion the final confrontation with Margot, which restores Funke's inheritance and allows both women to begin building the lives they deserve.

The headline events that define Funke and Liv's intertwined story across two continents.

Funke's grandmother slaps her for laughing during a bicycle race after the funerals; her father sides with his mother against Funke.

Funke's father visits her room for the first time since the accident and tells her not to forget who she is.

Liv excitedly prepares for Funke's arrival assuming she will be poor; Funke arrives and is underwhelmed by the grey drabness of The Ring.

Funke solves Dominic's Rubik's cube in minutes; Liv quietly scrambles it again to avoid Dominic feeling shown up by Funke.

Margot enrolls Kate at the state school Downsview Comprehensive instead of the private school Wooders where Liv studies.

On Kate's tenth birthday, Liv gives her a handmade mermaid drawing that makes Kate feel loved for the first time since losing her mother.

Liv meets a man named Clinton outside a cinema; he claims to be a modeling agent and hands her a business card.

After Grandpa's death, Kate and Liv visit Dulwich Picture Gallery hoping Kate will feel connected to her mother, but Kate feels nothing.

Kate and Liv visit Horniman Museum, where Kate finally feels her mother's presence among the trees and flowers of the garden.

Grandpa's will is read and reveals he left everything to Grandma rather than Margot, leaving Margot furious and stunned.

Jojo kisses Kate by the pool and confesses his love; Kate pulls away and tells him she does not feel the same.

Liv wakes up in hospital after the crash and writes Kate a note thanking her for staying silent, believing Kate is safely in Bristol.

Margot tells Liv that Kate chose to return to Nigeria; Grandma later informs Liv that Kate has died of malaria.

Liv wakes up bleeding heavily in the night and learns at the hospital she has lost a pregnancy she never knew she had.

Funke arrives in London, signs a legal affidavit confirming she is alive, and reunites with Grandma waiting outside The Ring.

Before Funke leaves Nigeria, her family's rejection and her father's farewell reveal just how alone she truly is heading into her new life. Her arrival at The Ring is shaped by mutual misunderstanding—Liv assuming Funke will be poor, and Funke shocked by the grey drabness of England. Smaller moments in their childhood together, like Funke's hidden brilliance with the Rubik's cube and Liv's heartfelt birthday drawing, show the depth of their bond beneath the surface tension. The reading of Grandpa's will, Jojo's rejected romantic confession, and Liv's slow recovery after the crash fill out the middle of the story with consequences that ripple forward. The novel finds its resolution when Funke finally returns to London, signs an affidavit, and reunites with Grandma at The Ring, closing the chapter that Margot's cruelty had forced open years before.

The quieter and supporting moments that reveal character and deepen the bonds between Funke and Liv.

Funke overhears her father tell a family friend that Funke should not have survived the crash instead of his son Femi.

Funke reveals to Liv that she squeezes the bottlecap to numb her grief; Liv insists Funke hug her instead when she is hurting.

After Jojo warmly calls her Kate, Funke decides that changing her name may be the way to fit in at The Ring.

Dancing with Liv and Jojo on her tenth birthday, Kate decides she will survive and do everything she can to flourish at The Ring.

Without Kate's knowledge, Liv slips pills into Kate's drink at the ball before Dominic drives them all home.

Kate agrees to tell police she was driving after the crash so that Dominic will call an ambulance for Liv.

A police officer visits The Ring and tells Kate her charges will be dropped only if she boards a plane back to Nigeria.

Liv finds a letter at The Ring supposedly from Kate's father confirming Kate's death, but notices it is suspiciously typed rather than handwritten.

Funke discovers her mother's lasting legacy in Lagos through the people Lizzie helped with medical care and school fees over the years.

Liv spots Funke alive and celebrating on television at the Olympics; when Grandma dismisses it, Liv agrees to check herself into rehab.

Grandma gives Liv Kate's pearl necklace at a memorial ceremony, acknowledging that Liv cared for Kate when the rest of the family did not.

Funke and Liv argue at Funke's apartment door in Lagos and gradually realize that Margot deceived them both for over a decade.

Visiting Funke's father together, Funke and Liv learn that Margot sent Funke back to Nigeria with only £10,000 instead of £50,000.

After Funke refuses to return to London, Oyinkan scolds her and forces her to pack, insisting the inheritance money is rightfully Funke's.

Kunle proposes to Liv the day before Funke's arrival; at the confrontation, Funke has a panic attack and waits in a café instead.

The most pivotal moments of the novel hinge on secrets kept under pressure and truths that take years to surface. Funke's decision to become Kate after hearing Jojo use the name warmly, and her later choice to take quinine pills despite the risk, reveal how deeply her trauma shapes every decision she makes. The night of the ball brings the novel's central act of betrayal when Liv unknowingly drugs Kate, and Kate's desperate bargain to take the blame for the crash sets everything else in motion. The forged letter about Kate's death triggers Liv's long spiral, while Funke quietly rebuilds her identity in Lagos by uncovering her mother's lasting legacy among the people Lizzie helped. Their reunion in Lagos and the slow unravelling of Margot's deceptions ultimately bring both women back together, leading to a confrontation that restores justice and lets each of them finally move forward.

The key decisions, buried secrets, and emotional revelations that drive the story to its resolution.