₦airaland Forum

jupitre:
Whoa...

Thanks repo

you're very welcome 🙂

bigbauer:
Apologies noted and accepted.

Thanks for the update. And do life one step at a time. Don't take life too seriously, nobody comes out of life alive (except Enoch and Elijah).

😂 very true words of wisdom! Thanks for reading.

sal1974:
Wowww! 😍 Another breathtaking update from the best! 🔥🔥 You really know how to keep us waiting… and then make the wait completely worth it! 😂👏

Thank you so much for the update! Please, take it easy on yourself — we’ll always appreciate you and everything you put into these amazing updates. ❤️🙌 The wait may be long, but somehow, it’s ALWAYS worth it! 😄👏

Aww, thank you so much! I truly appreciate your patience and all the love you keep showing the story.

I’m happy you enjoyed the update, and will try not to keep you waiting too long for the next one. 🤞🏽

My apologies for the delay. Life happened.

Next post comes up on Friday evening 8pm. Thanks for reading.

Mofe's smile faded, and his gaze moved instinctively toward the faint lines along her forehead, the scars left behind by the accident that had taken her sight and changed the direction of her life.

He lifted his hand slowly. He never touched her scars without thinking first. They were faint now, but he knew what they represented to her.

His fingertip gently followed one of the thin lines near her forehead. “I let it go because eventually I realized holding on to it wasn't doing anything good for me.”

Ezinne remained quiet beneath his touch.

“It wasn't changing the past. It wasn't punishing anybody I was angry with.” His fingers moved slowly toward her temple. “It was just keeping me angry.”

His hand settled gently against the side of her face. “Mentally. Physically. It wasn't worth it anymore.”

Ezinne swallowed; he felt a slight shiver pass through her.

His expression softened as he said, “And as for these...” His thumb brushed carefully along her forehead again. “Not that you need to change anything. You're still as beautiful as the first time I laid eyes on you.”

The words hit her harder than they should have, and her lips parted slightly.

“But if the scars bother you,” he continued, “I can have you sitting with the best plastic surgeons in the world.”

Ezinne slowly shook her head, but didn’t speak.

“And your eyesight...” His voice became quieter. “I won't rest until we've done everything possible.”

Her body stiffened. Mofe felt it immediately.
“When you're ready,” he added, and the tension eased from her shoulders. “No pressure, Ezinne.”

“That is very difficult to believe coming from you. You never take no for an answer,” she told him.

“Well, you’re teaching me to,” he told her, and it was the truth.

The small smile she gave him made something warm settle inside his chest, then he became serious again. “And if what hurts isn't physical, tell me what you need.”

Ezinne lifted her face toward him, still listening. She felt his fingers touch her glasses; then he lifted them from the bridge of her nose and placed them on her forehead. Ezinne guessed he was staring into her eyes directly now. She could barely make out anything but she felt the connection.

Mofe gazed into her unfocused pupils; she’d always had the most beautiful eyes.

“I don't care what it is. Therapy. Time. Space. Somebody to talk to.” His thumb brushed slowly over her cheek. “If what you need is a healer, I'll find you the best one.”

Something tightened painfully inside Ezinne. She wanted to tell him not to say things like that. Not to make promises he couldn't possibly keep.


Mofe spoke as though every broken thing in the world could somehow be repaired if he found the right doctor, the right therapist, spent enough money, or simply refused to stop searching.

But some things didn't work that way. She had spent ten years learning that.

There were wounds inside her no surgeon could see. There were memories that still had the power to change her mood in seconds. There were years of loneliness, fear, humiliation, and disappointment woven so deeply into her that she sometimes wondered whether removing them would leave anything behind.

She didn't know whether anyone could heal all of that. She wasn't even sure she knew what a fully healed version of herself would look like anymore.

But that wasn't what affected her most. It was the fact that Mofe meant what he was saying. She knew him well enough to hear it in his voice.

If she told him tomorrow that there was someone in another country who might be able to help her, Mofe would probably have a plane waiting before she'd finished the sentence.

He couldn't undo the past. But he would try to carry some of what it had left behind if she allowed him. And suddenly, that knowledge made it difficult to breathe properly.

Her cane slipped from her fingers. It landed softly against the carpet.

Mofe glanced down at the sound, but before he could bend for it, Ezinne lifted both hands to his face. He immediately became still.

Her palms settled against his cheeks, and she touched him slowly. There was nothing hurried about it at first. Her fingertips moved along his jaw, feeling the firm shape of it beneath the neatly trimmed beard. They travelled upward toward his cheekbones, then across his temples and slowly back again.

She was trying to remember him. Not the twenty-three-year-old man stored in her memory. This Mofe. The man standing in front of her now.

She knew he was older. His face had changed. His body had changed. His voice was deeper, his shoulders broader, and his beard hadn't existed when they were young, not like this.

She wished she could see what all those years had done to him. But since she couldn't, her hands did the seeing for her.

Mofe stood completely still and allowed it, and that somehow made the moment even more intimate.

“Mofe,” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

Her fingertips moved into his beard again. She liked how it felt against her fingers. Soft, full, velvety.

“Why are you so sweet?” She suddenly asked, drawing a quiet, unexpected laugh from him.

“I don't know if everyone would agree with that description.”

The sound of his laugh did something warm to her stomach, and Ezinne's hands continued over his face.

“I mean, how do you remain so calm even when I'm rude and antagonistic toward you?”

Mofe's amusement faded. It wasn't the question he had expected. He covered one of her hands with his and turned his face slightly into her palm.

“Because I know the real you.” He told her, and her fingers stilled against his cheek.

“I remember the carefree, beautiful, lovely young woman you were before everything happened.”

Something inside her tightened.

“And I know you've been through serious trauma,” he said, as his thumb moved slowly across the back of her hand.


“The real you is like a rose, Ezinne.”

She frowned. “A rose?”

“Yes.”

“That sounds suspiciously corny.” Her mouth twitched.

“Let me finish first; I’m getting somewhere.”

“Okay, go on.”

Mofe smiled before continuing. “Beautiful. Charming. Soft when she wants to be. But perfectly capable of defending herself when she needs to.”

Ezinne gave a small huff. “So I'm thorny.”

“Very,” Mofe said, as his fingers tightened gently around hers. “When you feel you've been hurt, betrayed, or treated unfairly, those thorns come out very quickly.”

Ezinne silently considered his words and decided he had described he quite well.

“But a rose that's been trampled on and kicked around is still a rose.” Mofe's voice became quieter. “I know what happened to you changed you. How could it not? But I don't look at you and see somebody ruined by what happened.”

His hand moved from hers to her cheek. “I still see you.”

Ezinne swallowed, still listening.

“The woman I loved then is still here. Stronger in some ways. More guarded in others. A little more difficult.”

Her mouth twitched again, and Mofe smiled. “But still you.”

His thumb brushed gently over her cheekbone. “And I love the real you.”

Ezinne's breath caught. There it was again. Those words. He had been saying them far too easily lately. As if there were nothing frightening about them. As if telling her he loved her was as natural as saying her name.

“You've become too comfortable saying that,” she murmured.

Mofe frowned slightly. “Saying what?”

“That you love me.”

“Why shouldn't I be comfortable with it?”

Ezinne lowered her hands from his face. “Stop saying it.”

Mofe was surprised at her sudden request. “Why?” He had to ask.

She turned her face away and tried to create space between them, but he moved closer and refused to let her go.

“Why, Ezinne?” He asked again, and she knew he wouldn’t let her go if she didn’t respond.

Ezinne inhaled slowly. She could lie. She could tell him it annoyed her. She could tell him it made everything more confusing. Both were true. But neither was the whole truth.

“It...” She hesitated, already regretting what she was about to admit. “It does things to me.”

For a second there was silence, and then Mofe laughed softly.

Heat rushed into her face. “Don't laugh.”

“I'm not laughing.”

“You are.”
“A little.”

“Mofe…”

He kissed her.

The first touch of his mouth stopped whatever she had been about to say. Mofe knew she had told him there should be no more kissing. He remembered the rule very clearly.

He also knew he was probably about to get himself into trouble. So he kept the kiss soft at first, almost questioning. His lips rested against hers, giving her more than enough time to pull away. She didn't.

Ezinne knew she should. She knew she should step back. She should remind him about the boundary she'd set. She should remember that less than an hour ago she had been furious with him. She should remember how complicated everything between them still was. She should think about tomorrow morning and the questions that would come with whatever they did tonight.

She should use her head. Instead, she kissed him back.

The decision happened somewhere before she could stop it.

Her fingers tightened against his shirt, and the careful voice inside her mind began to grow quieter.
Mofe's mouth was warm and familiar now, but somehow every kiss with him still surprised her. Maybe because she had spent so many years believing she would never feel this again. Maybe because the memory of being young and in love with him had never properly disappeared.

Or perhaps it was simply because this was Mofe. The man she had loved first. The man who had somehow returned and made himself part of her everyday life again.

The father of her daughter.

The man who had just stood in front of her and told her that even the ugliest parts of what had happened to her had not changed the way he saw her. How was she supposed to keep pretending none of that affected her?

He was talking his way back into her heart, and she was listening and letting him.

Mofe's arm circled her waist. When he drew her closer, Ezinne went without resistance.

The careful voice in her head tried once more. Slow down.

She ignored it, moving her hands from his shirt to his shoulders, feeling the firmness beneath her palms before sliding upward toward the back of his neck.

Mofe deepened the kiss, and a small shiver moved through her.

The anger that had brought her here seemed impossibly far away now. In its place was something warmer, something she'd been fighting for days every time Mofe stood too close, touched her, laughed beside her, or told her how he felt.

It was attraction. Desire. Want.

She had tried resisting it. She had really tried. She had told herself that she wouldn’t throw herself into his arms even though his actions and confessions had been weakening her resolve.

But here she was, finally shutting off her head and listening to what her body had been telling her. She wanted him.

The realization should have cautioned her. Instead, strangely, it freed her.

When Mofe finally pulled back, they remained close enough that his breath brushed against her mouth.

Ezinne's fingers were still tangled at the back of his neck. “I wish I could see you when you say those things,” she whispered.

Mofe went still. There was something about the quiet longing in her voice that squeezed his chest. His palm moved slowly along her back.

“Then agree to the surgery.”

His delivery was dry, almost casual, but Ezinne heard the seriousness underneath it. Her hands returned to his face.

Mofe waited. For one ridiculous second, hope lifted inside him. Perhaps this was it. Perhaps she was finally going to say yes.

Ezinne slowly traced the line of his cheek again. Her thumb moved over his lower lip.

Mofe barely breathed.

Then she said, “Kiss me again.”

He stared at her. A quiet laugh escaped him, partly from surprise and partly because he should have known better.

“That's not the answer I was expecting. You completely ignored my question.”

“Yes.”

Mofe shook his head, then he kissed her again.

This time Ezinne didn't wait for him to lead. She rose slightly toward him the moment his mouth touched hers and wrapped both arms around his neck. There was more urgency in her now.

The last small piece of restraint she had been clinging to began to disappear. For once, she wanted something simply because she wanted it.

Mofe.

Her hands slid down from his shoulders to his chest, and she felt the rapid beat of his heart beneath her palm. So he wasn't as calm as he pretended to be.

That discovery sent another rush of warmth through her.

Her fingers found the first button of his shirt, and Mofe noticed immediately. His mouth slowed against hers.

Ezinne undid the button. Then another.

His breathing changed. “Ezinne.”

She barely registered the warning in his voice. Her thoughts had moved beyond warnings.

She wanted to feel him closer. She wanted the barriers between them gone. She wanted, for one night at least, to stop thinking about fathers, betrayals, accidents, lost years and everything that had gone wrong.

She wanted the man standing in front of her. Now.

Her fingers brushed his smooth chest as she searched for the next button, and Mofe caught her wrist gently.

Ezinne stopped.

“Unzip my dress,” she instructed with a breathless whisper.

Mofe became completely still. The sudden silence between them was so complete that Ezinne could hear his breathing.

“Ezinne...”

The hesitation in his voice surprised her enough to slow the heat rushing through her.

Mofe kept hold of her hand, his thumb brushing unconsciously across her wrist while he stared at her. He wanted her, there was absolutely no question about that. But wanting her wasn't the problem.

Mofe needed to know whether this was something she genuinely wanted or an emotional reaction she would hate herself for tomorrow.

Ezinne felt his hesitation. Then another thought occurred to her.

“You have a condom this time, don't you?” She asked.

Mofe's eyes widened. For once, he was too shocked even to laugh.

“Yes.” The penthouse stocked them in the bedside drawer. That wasn't remotely the reason he had stopped, but he was too stunned by the question to say anything else at first.

Ezinne waited.

When he didn't move, she frowned. “Then why are you hesitating?”

Mofe swallowed. “Because I want to know what this is.”

Her expression changed. “This?”

“Yes.” His voice softened. “I need to understand what you're asking me for.”

Ezinne became quiet, as she thought about what she actually wanted. The answer was a no brainer. She wanted him. Not because she was angry. Not because she needed comfort.

Ezinne placed her free hand flat against his chest, and when she spoke, it was clear.

“This is a woman who wants you to make love to her.”

Mofe stopped breathing for a second.

She felt the reaction beneath her palm. Then she added quietly, “Except if you don't want to.”

Her hand started to retreat. “That's completely fine, Mofe.”

Mofe caught it before she could move away. Didn’t want her? The question was almost laughable. He had wanted her for longer than she understood.

He wanted her now badly enough that refusing required more self-control than he possessed. But beneath the desire was fear.

Fear of what would happen afterward. What if morning came and Ezinne decided she'd made a mistake? What if she pulled away again? What if tonight meant everything to him and became another thing she wanted to forget?

Common sense said he should probably slow them down. That he should be sensible.

Unfortunately, Ezinne was standing in his arms with her peach-hued lips still slightly swollen from his kisses, one hand against his chest and the other caught gently in his own. And Mofe had never claimed to be a saint.

He stared at her for several seconds, then slowly released her hand.

Ezinne heard the change in his breathing before she felt his arm slide around her waist. That was all the answer she needed.

Mofe pulled her into him, and Ezinne lifted her face instinctively, already knowing what was coming. His mouth found hers again, and this time neither of them held back.
*********

Present Day

The drive from Ezinne’s house to the hotel felt much longer than it actually was.

Ezinne sat beside Mofe in the back seat without saying a word. Since getting into the car, she had simply settled against the seat, folded her cane across her lap and turned her face toward the window.

He glanced at Ezinne for what had to be the fourth time in less than ten minutes. Her shoulders were stiff, her mouth was pressed into a thin line, and every now and then her fingers tightened around the handle of her cane before slowly relaxing again.

He wanted to speak. He wanted to tell her that whatever Eric had said, there was more to the story. He wanted to start explaining before she had enough time to twist the pieces she had been given into something worse than what had actually happened.

But each time the urge came, he stopped himself. She had asked him to take her somewhere private because she wanted to talk. She had specifically warned him that she was angry enough to lose her temper in front of everyone if they stayed at the party.

He knew the smartest thing he could do was shut up and let her speak first. He turned his face toward the window. Don't say anything.

Less than two minutes later, he found himself looking at her again. Her lips were still pressed tightly together.

Mofe opened his mouth, and then closed it. Don't.

He leaned his head against the seat and rubbed one hand slowly over his jaw. Silence had never been particularly comfortable for him when he knew trouble was waiting at the end of it. He preferred confrontation. Give him an argument, and he knew what to do with it. He could answer questions, defend himself, apologize if necessary and work toward some kind of solution.

Sitting beside an angry Ezinne while imagining exactly what she intended to say to him was far worse. And Eric had certainly given her enough ammunition.

Mofe still couldn't believe his cousin had casually revealed something he had managed to keep buried for more than ten years. Yet he couldn't completely blame Eric either. His cousin had genuinely believed Ezinne already knew what had happened.

A reluctant smile almost touched Mofe’s mouth. She was still such a crafty and clever woman. She had realized Eric thought she knew the story and had quietly encouraged him to continue talking until he told her everything.

Mofe glanced at her stiff posture again and immediately wiped the hint of amusement from his face. This was definitely not the time to appreciate how clever she was.

By the time the car pulled into the hotel, he had managed to stop himself from speaking at least six times.

The silence continued through the lobby and up the private elevator to his floor. Mofe stayed beside Ezinne, but he didn't try to touch her. She didn't appear to need guidance beyond her cane and her familiarity with the hotel now, and something told him that touching her without invitation in her present mood might be unwise.

The moment they entered the penthouse, however, Ezinne apparently decided she had been quiet long enough.

Mofe barely had time to close the door behind them before she turned around.


“I am starting to sound like a broken record, Mofe.”

Her anger came out immediately. There was no attempt to ease them into the conversation, and the sharpness in her voice kept him by the door for a second, his hand still resting on the handle.

“Ezinne...” he started, but she ignored him and moved farther into the suite, her cane tapping quickly against the polished floor as she made her way toward the sitting area. She knew the general layout now, and her steps were confident despite the anger behind them.

“How many times am I going to have to find out things about my own life from other people?” she demanded. “First one thing, then another, and every single time you have some explanation for why you decided I didn't need to know. The script is getting old, Mofe, and it's really starting to piss me off.”

Mofe closed the door properly and released a slow breath. Here’s where Damage control came in.

“Eric told you your father got me arrested.”

Ezinne stopped near the sofa and folded her arms over her chest. Her chin lifted slightly toward his voice, and although her glasses hid most of her expression, he could see the tension around her mouth.

“He did. Why did I have to find out from him?”

Mofe walked farther into the room, loosening the top button of his shirt as he went. He deliberately kept his voice calm, hoping that if he refused to match her anger, they might survive the conversation without either of them shouting.

“It happened a long time ago, Ezinne. It doesn't even matter now.”

He had meant to downplay it, but her reaction told him immediately that he had achieved the exact opposite.

“It doesn't matter?” Her face snapped toward him. “Are you for real right now, Mofe?”

Mofe pressed his lips together, as he realised he’d given the wrong reply.

Ezinne took another step toward him. “Did you really spend the night in a police cell? Is that why I didn't see you all night when I spent that night alone in the guest house?”

For one brief moment, the penthouse disappeared around him. Mofe was twenty-three again. He remembered the stale smell of the holding cell and the bodies of strangers crowded into the small space with him. He remembered the hard floor beneath him because there had been nowhere comfortable to sit. He remembered the anger that had kept his blood hot for hours and the fear he had refused to show because fear would have been useless to his predicament.

“Err...” Mofe rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly uncomfortable beneath the weight of the memory. “Yes.”

Ezinne didn't say anything, and Mofe sighed because he could tell the single word wasn't enough.

“Yes,” he repeated quietly. “I spent the night there.”

He prepared himself for another accusation. Instead, Ezinne moved. Her cane tapped rapidly against the floor as she crossed the space between them, and Mofe barely understood what she was doing before her arms went around his body, hugging him.

He froze. For a few seconds, his arms remained awkwardly by his sides while he stared down at the top of her head. This was not how he had imagined the confrontation going.

“Wait.” The word came out almost by itself as his brows pulled together. “I thought you were angry with me.”

“I am.” She said, still resting her head against his chest.

He looked even more confused.

“This...” He glanced down at the arms holding him tightly. “This doesn't exactly feel like you're angry with me.”

A small part of him considered keeping his mouth shut and enjoying his unexpected good fortune, but he genuinely wanted to understand what was happening.

“I'm angry with you but not as much as I am with my father,” she said.

“Oh.” Mofe said, finally relaxing a little. His arms came around her, one circling her waist while the other settled against her upper back.

Ezinne pressed her face against his chest and released a shaky breath. As soon as Mofe held her properly, something inside her seemed to give way. The anger was still there, but underneath it was something more painful. It had followed her all the way from the party, growing with every piece of the past Eric had unknowingly placed in her hands.

“If I'd known what happened to you that night...” Her voice became unsteady. “Mofe, I would never have reacted the way I did. I was so angry with you afterward because I thought you betrayed my trust.”

A faint smile crossed his mouth despite the seriousness of the moment. “You blocked me and refused to speak to me for weeks.”

Ezinne pulled away enough to lift her face toward him. Her hands remained around his waist, as though some part of her still needed the contact even while she talked.

“ I thought you went to him because you didn't want to sleep with me or because you were afraid of what he would do when he discovered we were staying together.”

Her voice softened, but the hurt became clearer. “I thought you had decided that whatever was happening between us wasn't worth all the trouble anymore.”

Mofe's expression changed. He had known she had been angry with him, but hearing the insecurity behind that anger after all these years made something twist painfully inside him.

Ezinne shook her head slowly. I was so devastated that even after we eventually made up, that night stayed somewhere in my head because I thought you'd broken my trust.” Her throat tightened before she continued. “And then, when you suddenly left later, I remember thinking... well, maybe I shouldn't even be surprised. It wasn't the first time you had broken my trust.”

Mofe's jaw tightened. There were too many things hidden inside that statement, too many truths that he wasn't ready to touch.

He said nothing, and Ezinne's hands slowly slipped away from his waist.

“And to think that all that time, you had been arrested.” The hurt in her voice quickly turned back into irritation.

“Mofe, why didn't you tell me?”

There it was. The question he had been waiting for.
He stepped away slightly and dragged one hand slowly across his jaw while considering how much he could safely explain.

“Because I couldn't.”

Her brows immediately pulled together. “What do you mean you couldn't?”

Mofe hesitated before answering. “I made a deal with your father.”

Her expression sharpened. “Eric said something like that. What was the deal, Mofe?”

Mofe moved toward one of the sofas and sat on the edge. “When your father had me arrested, He knew you'd gone with me willingly, but he didn't care. He told me he could keep me in that cell for as long as he wanted. He also claimed Eric was being held because he'd helped me.”

Ezinne's mouth tightened. “He threatened you.”

“Yes.”

“With prison.”

“With the allegation and everything that came with it.” Mofe gave a short, humorless laugh. “And I believed him. Your father had enough influence then to make twenty-three-year-old me very nervous about what could suddenly appear on his record.”

His expression became more serious. “I was supposed to be leaving for school in America. One kidnapping charge, even if it eventually fell apart, could have destroyed everything. So I gave him something.”

Ezinne's grip tightened around the cane as she asked, “What?”

“A bargain.” Mofe paused before continuing. “I told him that if you ever found out he'd had me arrested and threatened me with kidnapping charges simply because you chose to be with me, you'd hate him.”

Ezinne became very still.

“You were already angry with him. He knew that. I told him this would destroy whatever chance he still thought he had of fixing his relationship with you.”

The muscles around Ezinne's mouth tightened.

“I promised him that I wouldn't tell you about the arrest or the night I spent in the cell. I would accept that the caretaker job was gone, pack whatever things I still had there and stop living so close to you.”

He paused. “And in return, he would drop the kidnapping accusation, leave Eric out of it and let me go.”

Ezinne's lips parted slightly. “And you would take him to me.”

Mofe nodded. “Yes.”

“So you were the one who suggested the deal?” She asked.

“Yes, Icame up with it.”

Her silence made him rise from the sofa again.

“I needed to,” he said, his voice firmer now. “I genuinely believed Eric had been arrested. I needed to get him out of trouble. I needed myself out of there, and needed your dad to clear me of those charges.” He paused before adding something he knew she might not like. “And honestly, by then I knew our plan had reached a dead end.”

Ezinne frowned. “What does that mean?”

“I mean staying hidden in that guest house wasn't a real solution.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I'm sorry, Ezinne, but I didn't believe your plan was going to work.”

Her expression tightened briefly, but she didn't argue.

Mofe continued more quietly. “Your father got most of what he wanted in the deal, so he agreed to it.”

Ezinne was quiet for several seconds. Then she asked, “So you didn't go to my father because you were tired of staying in that room with me? Or because I kept pressuring you about sex?”

Ezinne shifted slightly, suddenly seeming less angry and more self-conscious. “I remember what happened before you left that evening. You were completely against us sleeping together, and we had a huge fight about it. Then you stormed out.”

She swallowed. “I just need you to tell me the truth.”

“Ezinne, are you kidding me? Of course not.”

The tension in her shoulders eased enough for him to notice.

He moved closer. “I enjoyed those days with you. Back then, I was happy to spend any time I could with you. Even when you were driving me completely insane. Even while I was worrying about your father’s wrath, and the room bills had kept piling up, I loved being there with you.”

A faint smile threatened the corner of her mouth, and Mofe saw it.

“And the sex thing...” He released a breath. “That could have been sorted out between us.”

Ezinne's smile grew slightly.

“We could have talked. Argued some more. You probably would have sulked. I probably would have apologized eventually.” His brows rose. “I was not going to hand you over to your father because you wanted us to be intimate.”

A quiet sound escaped her. “When you say it that way, it sounds ridiculous.”

“It was ridiculous.”

Ezinne folded her arms, but there was no longer the same hardness in the movement.

Mofe's expression became serious again. “I went because I genuinely believed Eric had been arrested because of me. At that point, everything had become bigger than you and me hiding in some room pretending we could stay there forever.”

He hesitated. “In a way, I suppose I threw you... us... our relationship under the bus to save myself and my cousin.”

Ezinne shook her head immediately. “No. You didn't throw me under the bus. You made a logical decision.”
Her voice had softened now. “You were twenty-three years old, sitting in a police cell while my father threatened to put a kidnapping charge on your record and told you your cousin was in trouble too. What exactly were you supposed to do?”

Mofe didn't answer.

Ezinne released a long breath. “Now that I know what actually happened, I understand.”

He watched her quietly.

Then her face hardened again. “Damn Eric.”

Mofe's brows rose.

“And damn my father. I still can’t believe that both of them actually ganged up against us. I am never forgiving that man for anything.”

“Hey.” Mofe reached for her arm. “Hey, hey. It's in the past, Ezinne. All of it has passed.”

She pulled her arm slightly away from him. “No, Mofe. How can you keep saying that?”

Her voice changed so suddenly that whatever amusement he'd felt disappeared. The anger was still there, but pain had risen beneath it.

“It may have passed, but it still hurts.” One of her hands moved to her chest as if she could somehow press down the ache there. “It hurts, Mofe. Every new thing I learn just gets added to everything else. Sometimes I feel like I'm carrying this huge pile of things that happened to me, and I can’t let it all just go.”

Mofe's expression softened. “Ezinne, you have to let it go.”

“I can’t, Mofe. I don’t even understand how you can let things go so easily.”
“I wouldn't say easily.”

“Well, it looks easy from where I'm standing,” she said, and her voice trembled slightly. “I don't know how to just move on from everything. I don't know how you can.”

Mofe released a slow breath, and for a while, he simply looked at her. Then a thought came to him.

“Have ...” He hesitated because he wasn't entirely sure how she would receive it. “Have you ever considered that maybe it was always meant to happen this way?”

Ezinne frowned. “What does that mean?”


Mofe moved closer to her. “That maybe we needed to be apart for a while for us to be together again?”

Silence followed, and for several seconds, Ezinne seemed to consider his words. Then she said very calmly, “We are not together, Mofe.”

The stubborn woman was still hell-bent on resisting him when he already knew she still had deep feelings for him. One minute she was hugging him tightly, and in the next, she was telling him they were not together. Who was she deceiving?

His mouth slowly curved. “And whose fault is that?”

Ezinne tilted her head, as the teasing note in his voice registered immediately. She lifted her cane in an instant and swiped it toward him. Mofe tried to step back, but it was too late.

The cane struck his thigh.

“Ow!” he gasped in surprise.

Ezinne's mouth twitched, and Mofe rubbed his leg as he stared at her in disbelief. “You actually hit me.”

“It was just a light tap; stop whining like a big baby.”

“Madam, when I designed that cane for you, it wasn’t so that you could be using it on me.” He told her, trying to sound serious but couldn’t because of the smile tugging at her lips despite her attempt to hide it.

Mofe's own expression softened when he saw it. That was better, much better. It encouraged him to move closer to her, closing the distance between them.

Ezinne heard his steps and didn't move away. She had become so used to the way he approached her that she knew he was close before he touched her. The familiar scent of his cologne reached her, followed by the warmth of his body standing only inches away.

Something inside her immediately softened as Mofe's hands touched her shoulders, pulling her to him. She went into his arms willingly. There was no hesitation this time.

His arms wrapped around her, strong and warm, and Ezinne allowed herself to settle against him. Her cheek rested against his chest, and beneath the fabric of his shirt she could hear the steady beat of his heart. Mofe lowered his cheek to the top of her head while one hand moved slowly over her back.

For a while, neither of them spoke. The anger that had brought her to the hotel was still somewhere inside her, but it no longer felt as sharp. It was difficult to hold on to the same level of fury while Mofe held her like this.

“Ezinne,” he finally said, his voice low near her hair. “We found each other again.”

She remained still against him and didn’t say anything, but she listened.

“We can't change what happened before, but we control what happens now.” He said as his hand continued its slow movement along her back. “There's nobody standing between us anymore. No father. No uncle. No Eric deciding he knows what's best for me.”

A faint smile entered his voice. “It's just us, Ezinne.”

He paused before adding, “and our beautiful daughter.”

Something warm moved through her chest. It would have been so easy to believe him. Too easy.

Ezinne pulled back enough to create a little distance between them. “Once again, Mofe, just so we're clear, we are not together.”

Mofe smiled down at her. “Your commitment to that statement is impressive.”

“I'm serious, Mofe,” she said, but he saw the faint smile on her lips.

“Of course you are,” he told her. Stubborn woman.

She left her fingers resting lightly against his chest, and then the humor slowly disappeared from her face. “But seriously... how do you let it all go? What my father did, what I did to you, everything that happened between us. How do you just let it go?”

Her fingers curled faintly against his shirt. “Because I can't. I'm literally still suffering the consequences of everything that happened.”

The second part will come up tomorrow by 2pm. Thanks.

Chapter 39



Eleven Years Ago

Soft morning light slipped through the curtains, but neither Mofe nor Ezinne was ready to start the day. Breakfast sat forgotten near the window while they remained curled together in bed, both wearing the hotel bathrobes and aware that checkout was only a few hours away. Ezinne rested against Mofe's chest with one leg over his, while his arm stayed around her waist. Every now and then, his fingers moved lazily against her side, drawing absent patterns through the soft material. Neither of them wanted to move. Leaving the room meant leaving their quiet little world and returning to everything waiting outside.

For two days, they had managed to forget almost everything outside the hotel room. They had eaten when they felt hungry, slept when they felt tired, talked for hours about everything and nothing, watched half of several movies without finishing any of them, and made love so many times that Ezinne had stopped counting at some point. She had joked that it had to be some kind of world record. Mostly, they had simply enjoyed being together without anyone interrupting them. There had been no officer waiting outside, no hurried goodbyes because Ezinne needed to get home, and no worrying about who might see them together.

Ezinne rested her cheek against Mofe's chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. She tightened her arm around his middle and released a contented sigh.

“I don't want to check out,” she murmured, her voice soft and sleepy as she rubbed her cheek slightly against him. “Can we just stay here?”

Mofe smiled and looked down at the top of her head. “For how long?”

“Forever.”

His chest moved beneath her as he laughed quietly.

Ezinne lifted her head and frowned at him. “Why are you laughing? I'm being serious.”

“Forever is a long time, babe,” Mofe pointed out, amusement filling his eyes as he pushed a loose strand of hair away from her forehead. “The hotel will eventually want their room back.”

“I'll pay them.”

“Babe…” he said, unable to hold back a chuckle. “I’m very sure your father doesn’t have enough money on that card to cover forever in this hotel.”

Ezinne lifted her head and smacked his chest. “Excuse me? My father is wealthy.”

Mofe looked doubtful as he said, “Not live in a luxury hotel forever wealthy.”
“That's rude, considering he unknowingly paid for the last two nights we enjoyed here.”


Mofe laughed harder and caught her hand before she could hit him again. He brought it to his mouth and pressed a kiss against her fingers, his eyes still dancing with amusement.

“All right,” he said, lowering their joined hands onto his chest. “I'll make enough money so you can spend the rest of your life lying in expensive hotel beds doing absolutely nothing.”

Ezinne smiled as she teased him back. “That's your life plan now?”

“For you? Apparently.”

Resting her chin on his chest, she studied his face as she asked, “So you'll go to work while I just stay in bed?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod, but the amusement was in his eyes.

“Eating?”
“Yes.”

“Sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“And spending your money?” She asked wriggling her eyebrows.

Mofe hesitated dramatically before nodding. “Within reason.”

Ezinne burst out laughing and smacked his chest again. “Clown.”

He caught her around the waist before she could move away and pulled her higher against him, his grin widening when she struggled half-heartedly.

“You're the one who said you wanted to stay in bed forever,” he reminded her, settling her comfortably against him again. “I'm trying to make your dreams come true.”

“How very generous of you.”

“I’m very generous where you’re concerned.” He told her.

Ezinne rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. She relaxed back into his arms, and Mofe bent his head to press a lingering kiss against her forehead, and for a while, they simply stayed that way.

Ezinne's fingers played lazily with the edge of his robe while Mofe's hand moved slowly over her back. She wished she could freeze the morning exactly as it was. There was something peaceful about being wrapped around him, with nowhere to rush to and no one waiting to question her whereabouts.

The past two days had given her a small taste of what being with Mofe could be like without everyone else interfering, and she liked it far too much.

Mofe's hand stopped moving. Ezinne didn't notice at first. It was only when his fingers became still against her back that she lifted her head slightly and looked at him.

His smile had faded.

“What?” she asked, watching his face.

Mofe looked at her for a moment before taking a slow breath. “I need to buy my ticket soon.”

Ezinne immediately knew what he meant, and her expression changed. “Mofe…”

“I… I have the money, it’s just … I’m trying to come up with a date but …” He sighed. He’d been stalling because choosing a departure date would seal the deal, and he was very reluctant to leave.

“No.” She shook her head quickly and lowered her face back onto his chest as though refusing to look at him might stop the conversation. “Don't talk about that now.”

His arm tightened around her. “Zinny, we have to talk about it sometime.”

“We really don't.”

A small smile touched his lips, but there was sadness behind it. He ran one hand gently over her hair, smoothing it away from her face.

“I have to buy the ticket,” he said quietly. “I've already delayed it long enough.”

Ezinne went still against him. His trip had always been there, sitting quietly at the back of her mind, even during the happiest moments of the past two days. As graduation drew closer, she knew his departure was getting closer too. She had simply refused to think too deeply about what it would really mean.

Mofe leaving. Thousands of miles between them. Different time zones, different routines, different lives. There would be no more finding excuses to see each other, no more turning up at his door because she missed him, no more knowing he was only a drive away.

She was proud of him. Being accepted into one of the best schools in the world was something he had worked hard for, and she wanted him to go. She wanted him to succeed and build the future he had always dreamed of. But knowing all that did not make the thought of losing his physical presence any easier. Every time she remembered that he would soon be gone, something inside her tightened.

Ezinne swallowed and tightened her arm around him. “How long?” she asked quietly.

Mofe looked down at her. “What?”

“How long before you leave?”

He hesitated. That hesitation made her stomach twist before he even answered. “A few weeks,” he admitted softly. “Two months at the most.”

Ezinne slowly lifted her head. “Two months?”

Mofe nodded, and her face fell. He immediately reached up and cupped her cheek, his thumb moving gently beneath her eye. “I've stretched it as far as I can,” he explained, his voice low. “I could leave earlier. I probably should leave earlier, but...” He paused and looked at her for a long moment. “I don't want to.”

Something tightened painfully in Ezinne's chest.

“Then don't,” she whispered.

Mofe gave her a sad smile. “You know I have to I don’t want to but I have to.”

Yes, she did. It was very selfish of her to have said that.

“Do you really want me to stay?” He asked, searching her face for an answer.
She looked away from him. Her eyes were already beginning to burn, and she hated it. She didn't want to cry this morning. She didn't want their peaceful two days to end with her thinking about airports and goodbyes.

“Ezinne.” Mofe gently turned her face back toward him to see that her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

“I said I don't want to talk about this,” she complained, her voice unsteady as she blinked rapidly. “You've just ruined my nice morning.”

Mofe's expression softened completely. “Come here.”

“I am already here.”

“Closer.”

Despite herself, Ezinne gave a small, broken laugh as Mofe pulled her fully against him. She tucked her face beneath his chin and held him tightly, while his arms wrapped around her as though he could somehow make up for the distance they were already imagining.

“I don't want you to go,” she whispered. “But you need to go. Forget what I said earlier.”

Her words came out so quietly that Mofe almost didn't hear them.

He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against her hair. “I don't want to leave you either.”

A tear slipped from the corner of Ezinne's eye, disappearing against his robe. She quickly wiped another one away before it could fall. “What if everything changes?” she asked, her voice muffled against him.

Mofe pulled back enough to look at her. She was uncharacteristically emotional this morning, he noticed. “Between us?”

She nodded.

His brows pulled together immediately. “I'm not planning to let that happen.”

“You can't plan everything, Mofe.”

“I can try, and you know I don’t ever plan to fail.”

That earned the smallest smile from her. “Of course you would say that.”

Mofe smiled too and brushed his thumb gently beneath her damp eye. “I'll come back at the soonest opportunity I get,” he promised. “Holiday, break, whatever. Once I can come back, I'll come.”

Ezinne sniffed softly and shook her head. “No.”

Mofe's expression changed. “No?”

“I'll come first.”

He stared at her for a second before smiling. “You'll come over to the United States?”

“Yes.” She lifted her chin, suddenly determined despite the tears still sitting in her eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that? I can travel; I do have a passport. I just need a good reason to get my dad’s approval.”

“I know you can travel, but your dad’s approval … that one will be tricky.”

“By now, you don’t know I can get crafty and creative?” She asked, looking at him with mock disappointment.

Mofe's smile deepened. “Oh, okay.”

“Don't ‘okay’ me like you're humouring me.”

“I'm not.” He laughed softly and pulled her closer again. “I hope you do find a way to come; I'll be eagerly waiting.”

“You better be.” She said, settling against him again, comforted slightly by the thought. She could visit. He could come home. They could call. They could make plans. It didn't have to mean losing him.

She had just begun to calm down when a strange feeling rolled through her stomach.

Ezinne frowned. At first, she thought it was nothing. Then another wave came, stronger than the first.

Mofe noticed the sudden change in her expression. “What?”

Ezinne pressed one hand against her mouth. “I feel—”

Her face changed completely. “Oh God.”

She threw the covers aside so suddenly that Mofe barely had time to move before she scrambled out of the bed.

“Ezinne?”

She didn't answer. She hurried across the room, with her hands covering her mouth as she struggled with the loose robe around her legs before disappearing into the bathroom.

Mofe was out of bed almost immediately. By the time he reached her, Ezinne was bent over the toilet, one hand gripping the edge as she vomited.

“Hey, hey.” His voice softened immediately as he moved behind her.

He gathered her loosened braids away from her face with one hand and rubbed the other slowly over her back, his brows drawn together in concern. Ezinne stayed there for several moments, breathing heavily as the nausea finally eased.

Mofe remained beside her. “You okay?” he asked quietly, crouching next to her while keeping one hand against her back.

Ezinne closed her eyes and nodded weakly. “Yeah.”

“You don't look okay.”

“Thank you,” she muttered, her voice rough. “Very romantic.”

Despite his worry, Mofe gave a short laugh.

Ezinne slowly sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Mofe immediately reached for a towel, dampened the corner beneath the tap and handed it to her.

She took it gratefully and wiped her face.

“What happened?” he asked, studying her closely. “Were you feeling sick before?”

“Not really.” Ezinne shook her head and leaned back against the wall. “I felt weird when I brushed my teeth earlier, but it passed until now.”

Mofe placed the back of his hand against her forehead.

She gave him a tired look. “What are you doing?”

“Checking if you have a fever.”

“I don't,” she told him. “I’m not feeling feverish. I feel okay.”

Mofe's expression remained concerned. “Maybe we should get someone to look at you.”

“There’s really no need.” Ezinne shook her head immediately and took his hand away from her forehead. “I'm fine, Mofe. It was probably something I ate.”

“You sure?” He asked, the crease between his brows deepening with concern.

“Yes.” She nodded, though she still looked slightly pale. “We've been eating hotel food for two days. Maybe something didn't agree with me.”

Mofe looked unconvinced. “Do you still feel nauseous?”

“A little, but it's passing.”

He watched her for another moment before helping her to her feet. Ezinne steadied herself with one hand against his chest, and Mofe immediately wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Slowly,” he murmured, keeping his eyes on her face.

“I'm fine, Mofe.”

“I heard you the first three times.”

Ezinne rolled her eyes but allowed him to guide her toward the sink. She rinsed her mouth, splashed some cool water over her face and stared at her reflection for a moment.

She didn't look sick. Tired perhaps, but not sick.
When she turned around, Mofe was still watching her with a worried expression.

Ezinne sighed and walked into his arms, and he held her immediately. For a while, she simply rested against him, her cheek pressed to his chest while his arms closed securely around her.

“I don't want to be sad today,” she murmured after a moment.

Mofe looked down at her. Ezinne lifted her face, and although her eyes were still slightly damp from earlier, her expression had become determined.

“No more talking about you leaving today,” she told him, sliding both arms around his waist. “No more being miserable about something that hasn't even happened yet.”

Mofe's mouth curved slightly. “So we're going back to pretending?”

“We're not pretending.” She shook her head and tightened her hold around him. “We're deciding that we'll deal with it when it happens.”

He studied her face quietly, and she reached up and touched his cheek.
“You'll go,” she said, her voice softer now. “I'll visit. You'll come back when you can. We'll call and text and annoy each other every day.”

Mofe smiled and turned his face slightly into her palm. “Every day?”

“Unfortunately for you,” She said dryly, making him laugh again.

She looked at him for another moment before resting her forehead against his chest again. “We'll make it work,” she murmured, holding him tighter. “One way or another.”

Mofe lowered his head and kissed the top of her forehead “Yeah,” he whispered, wrapping both arms around her. “We will.”

*********

bigbauer:
T- 3 hours to Tuesday

😂😂 D-day!

bigbauer:
I appreciate you.

Hehehe ... Thanks?

.

Alright guys, I've tried.

Next post comes up next Tuesday.

Rachel was standing near one of the serving tables, moving dishes around and complaining that people were ruining the arrangement she had spent so much time putting together.

Maureen stood beside her with a glass in her hand, laughing at her.

“Rachel,” he called.

Rachel turned. “Yes, Mofe?”

“Ezinne and I need to step out for a while.”

Rachel's brows pulled together. “Now?”

“Yeah,” he replied, knowing he should add a good excuse for why he would be leaving now with Ezinne, but it was taking a while for him to think up something.

She glanced toward Ezinne. “Why?”

“She needs to get something.”

Rachel turned back to him slowly. “At this time?”

Mofe nodded. “Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed at him but he kept his expression neutral.

“What does she need?” Rachel asked.

“Something.” He said with a shrug, knowing it sounded stupid, but what could he do?

Rachel stared at him, and Mofe sighed, “Something she needs.”

Beside her, Maureen started smiling, and Mofe looked between them.

“Why are both of you looking at me like that?”

Rachel's mouth twitched. “Like what?”

“Exactly like that.” he pointed at their amused expressions on their faces.

She laughed. “Fine. Go.”

“Thank you,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief at finally being permitted.

"Are you going to tell Azora you're stepping out with her mother?"

Mofe turned toward the lawn, his gaze landing on his daughter, and he considered telling her about their departure, but Azora was completely absorbed with the helicopter. She stood between two other children with the controller clutched tightly in both hands, shouting at everyone to move back while the helicopter lifted unevenly from the grass.

It rose about six feet into the air. The children screamed, and Azora screamed even louder.

Mofe watched for a moment before shaking his head. “Right now it doesn't look like she cares where we are.”

Rachel laughed. “Clearly.” She waved him away. “Go. Before whatever Ezinne needs becomes an emergency.”

Something about the words made Mofe's stomach tighten again. He turned away, but instead of going directly back to Ezinne, he walked into the house.

Once inside, the noise from the party became muffled behind him. Mofe headed straight toward the study, closing the door behind himself before pulling out his phone.

He called Eric. His cousin answered on the second ring.

“Guy.” Mofe didn't bother with a greeting. “What the Bleep did you tell Ezinne?”

There was a short silence as Eric seemed taken aback by Mofe’s sudden attack. “What?”

“You were sitting with her at some point, and you seemed to be telling her something.”

“Yes, we were talking,” Eric agreed carefully.

“And now she's pissed at me.”

Another pause followed.

Eric sounded genuinely confused. “She was fine when I left her.”

“Well, she isn't fine now.” Mofe started pacing across the study. “Think. What did you two talk about?”

“A few things.”

Mofe rolled his eyes impatiently before asking, “Like what?”

“My wedding. Mariah. Azora's science thing.” Eric paused. “You.”

Mofe stopped walking. “Me?”

“Yes.”

“What about me?”

This time Eric hesitated. It was barely a second, but Mofe caught it. His hand tightened around the phone. “Eric.”

“I don't know if this is what she's angry about.”

“Tell me.”

There was another short pause. Then Eric said carefully, “Could it be the thing with her father that happened years ago?”

Mofe's entire body went still. “What thing with her father?”

“The time he got you arrested.”

Mofe closed his eyes. “Bleep.”

Eric went quiet, and Mofe pressed two fingers against his forehead. “What exactly did you tell her?”

“Just what happened back then, nothing else.”

“Eric,” Mofe said with long-suffering patience.

“What?”

“What exactly did you tell her?” His voice had become sharper now.

Eric sighed. “I told her about going to her father back then. How I thought separating the two of you would finally end everything. I told her how you came out of hiding because you thought I'd been arrested because of you.”

Mofe dragged a hand slowly down his face. “Jesus Christ.”

“And I told her about the kidnapping allegation, and how her father threatened you with it.” Eric added quickly.

His hand dropped. “You told her that too?”

“Yes.”

“Why the hell would you tell her that?” Mofe asked in exasperation.

Eric's own tone rose slightly. “Because I thought she knew!”

“Well, she didn't.”

“How was I supposed to know that?”

Mofe started pacing again, his steps quicker this time. Here he was trying to facilitate a reconciliation between father and daughter and Eric had done his best to destroy it his efforts.

“What else?” Mofe asked again.

“What do you mean, what else?” Eric asked back.

“What else did you tell her?”

“Nothing else.”

“Eric.”

“Guy, I am serious.” Eric sounded defensive now. “I told her about the arrest, how her father wanted the kidnapping accusation to stick, and how you bargained your way out of it. That's all.”

Mofe stopped beside the desk and placed one hand against the edge. “Bleep. When did you get such a big mouth?”

“Guy, I swear, I thought she knew already.”

“She doesn't know some things yet, Eric.” The words left Mofe before he had time to think about them, and there was silence on the other end.

Mofe closed his eyes again. “And I planned to keep it that way.” At least for now.

That last part remained in his head. There were things from that period Ezinne knew. There were things she thought she knew. And there were things Mofe had deliberately never explained because he knew exactly what would happen once he started opening that part of the past.

One truth would lead to another. Then another. And eventually, they would arrive at the one thing he was still not ready for her to know.

He pushed away from the desk and began pacing again.

Now Ezinne was angry because she had discovered another part of their history from someone else. He could already hear the accusations already..

MOfe suddenly stopped moving as something else came to mind, and he quickly asked, “Did you also tell her about her father offering to fund my trip and the conditions he gave?”

Eric answered so quickly that Mofe almost laughed. “No. Of course not. Am I mad? That's not for me to tell.”

Mofe released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Eric continued, his voice lowering. “She would kill me right before she kills you if I told her that.”

Mofe rubbed his palm slowly over his mouth. “At least you had that much sense.”

“Gee, thank you very much.”

Mofe shook his head. “Guy, you just lit a fire under my ass with what you told her.”

“I know, I said I'm sorry.”

“You haven't actually said sorry.”

“Well, I'm saying it now. Guy, I'm sorry. I genuinely thought she knew.”

Mofe frowned. “How could you think she knew?”

“Because she acted as if she knew, I swear it.”

Mofe paused. “What do you mean?”

“She never looked surprised when I was talking about it. You know what I mean.”

“No, explain.”

“She talked like she remembered it. She even asked questions like she was just trying to fill in the details.”

Mofe slowly stopped moving, and his expression changed. Then it clicked.

Ezinne. Clever, stubborn Ezinne. She had realized Eric thought she already knew. And instead of correcting him, she had sat there and let him continue talking.

Mofe closed his eyes. “That woman played you, Eric.”

There was silence from Eric, then, “Ah.”

Mofe opened his eyes again. “Yes. Ah.”

“Hell.” He heard Eric’s groan.

Mofe shook his head, and despite everything, the smallest part of him almost admired her for it. “She goaded you into spilling everything.”

Of course she had done that. She had probably sat there calmly, pretending to remember things, asking just enough questions to keep Eric talking until he handed her every detail he thought she already knew.

Now she was waiting outside for him. Angry. Wonderful.

“Guy, I'm really sorry,” Eric said again. “I thought she knew. Hell, I honestly thought I was reminding her of something she already knew.”

Mofe opened his mouth to respond when his phone vibrated against his ear. He pulled it away and looked at the screen.

Ezinne.

His stomach tightened.

“She's calling me.”

Eric released a breath. “Good luck.”

Mofe frowned. “Shut up.”

He ended the call before Eric could say anything else. For several seconds, Mofe remained standing in the middle of the study with the phone still in his hand.

The call stopped, and he stared at the screen. Then it immediately started ringing again. It was her again.

Mofe looked at her name and exhaled slowly. The last few days between them had been good. Better than good, actually.

She had been relaxed around him. She had allowed him closer. She had listened when he told her things he'd never imagined saying aloud to her, and little by little, Mofe had started to believe that perhaps they were finally finding their way back to each other.

Mofe stared at her name for another second before answering the call. Whatever peace they had managed to build was about to be seriously tested.

**************

Present Day


The party was still lively when Aunt Moni cornered Mofe near one of the tables at the side of the garden. Music played softly from the speakers, mixing with the sound of laughter and different conversations happening around them.

Somewhere farther down the lawn, Azora’s new helicopter buzzed unevenly above the grass while she and Dara’s children screamed instructions at one another as though any of them really knew what they were doing. Mofe had been watching them a few seconds earlier, smiling when the helicopter suddenly dipped and nearly hit one of the boys on the head. The boy ducked dramatically and fell to the ground while the other children burst into laughter.

Then Aunt Moni cleared her throat beside him, and Mofe slowly turned back to her. She had been talking for several minutes, and although he had heard most of what she was saying, he had been hoping she would eventually get distracted by someone else.

Unfortunately, Aunt Moni rarely became distracted when she had decided there was something she wanted from him.

“So,” she said again, folding her arms beneath her chest. “When exactly are you going to see your uncle?”

Mofe lifted the glass in his hand and took a slow drink before answering. He avoided her eyes deliberately, looking instead toward where Rachel stood near the food table laughing with Maureen.

“I'll see him.”

Aunt Moni's expression didn't change. “That wasn't my question.”

Mofe glanced at her then and gave her a faint smile. “I know.”

“Then answer the question.”

He sighed softly and looked away again. “Maa mi..”

“No.” She pointed a finger at him. “Don't Mummy me. Every time I bring this up, you start behaving as if you suddenly have somewhere else to be.”

Mofe raised one brow. “Sometimes I actually do have somewhere else to be.”

“Like now?”

He looked around the garden as though seriously considering it, and Aunt Moni gave him a warning look.

Mofe laughed quietly. “I'm joking.”

“I am not.”

That made his smile fade a little.

He shifted his weight and rubbed his thumb slowly along the side of his glass. Since Aunt Moni had told him the truth about his uncle helping to pay for his flight to America all those years ago, she had been carefully pushing him toward a meeting he still wasn't sure he wanted.

Mofe understood why. The revelation had changed something inside him too.

For years, he had believed his uncle had simply taken over his father's business after his parents died, sent him off to live with Aunt Moni and more or less forgotten about him. That belief had hardened over time until anger and resentment had become easier than questioning whether there might have been more to the story.

Now there was more. But knowing that didn't suddenly wipe away everything else.

“I told you I'll see him,” Mofe said, quieter this time.

“When?”

“I don't know.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because I genuinely don't know.”

Aunt Moni watched him for a few seconds, her expression softening even though the determination remained in her eyes.

“Mofe, I'm not asking you to walk in there and suddenly pretend everything is fine. I'm not asking you to forget the past either.” She reached over and touched his arm briefly. “Just go and see him. Talk to him.”

Mofe lowered his gaze to her hand before looking back at her face. “I'll think about it.”

She immediately pulled her hand away and gave him an irritated look. “You've been thinking about it.”

“Then apparently I need more time to think.”

“Mofe.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but his attention shifted past her shoulder. Ezinne. She was sitting by herself near the edge of the patio.

Mofe frowned slightly. She had been sitting there for some time.

At first, he hadn't thought anything of it. Parties could become overwhelming for anyone when there were too many conversations happening around all at once. She’d probably moved away from everyone for a little quiet.


But there was something about the way she was sitting now that immediately bothered him. She wasn't relaxed. Her back was straight, her hands resting together on her lap, and her face was almost unnaturally still.

Mofe's eyes narrowed. He looked around the garden, trying to remember who had been sitting with her earlier.

Eric.

He had seen his cousin talking with her not too long ago. Now Eric was across the garden with some of the other guests, laughing about something as though everything was perfectly normal.

Mofe looked back at Ezinne, and he knew something was wrong. Aunt Moni followed his gaze and immediately understood where his attention had gone.

“Oh, wonderful,” she muttered.

Mofe handed his glass to her. “ Maa mi, sorry, I need to check on something.”

Aunt Moni stared at the glass now sitting in her hand before looking back at him. “You have got to be joking.”

“Please, we'll talk later.”

“Mofe, don't think this conversation is over.”

He was already walking away, but he called back at her. "It isn't, I know."

Aunt Moni shook her head at him while he continued toward Ezinne.

At first, Mofe was almost grateful for the excuse. Then he reached her, and the feeling disappeared immediately.

He stopped beside her chair and looked down at her for a moment. Up close, her expression was even more difficult to read. Her mouth was set in a firm line, and there was a tension around her shoulders that hadn't been there earlier in the evening.

“Hey,” he said softly.

Ezinne didn't answer immediately, and Mofe's concern deepened. He moved closer, lowering himself slightly beside her chair so he wouldn't have to speak down at her.

“You okay?”

Her face remained blank as she turned slightly toward his voice. “No.”

That one word immediately put him on alert.

Mofe straightened. “What happened?”

Ezinne took a slow breath before answering. Her voice was quiet, but there was something controlled about it that he recognized immediately. “I need you to do something.”

“Okay.”

“Go and give Rachel a very good excuse for why we're leaving her party.”

Mofe stared at her. “We're leaving?”

“Yes.”

His brows pulled together. “Why?”

“Because I need to talk to you.”

His stomach tightened slightly. “We can talk inside the house.”

“No.”

The answer came quickly enough that he frowned. “Why not?”

Ezinne turned her face more fully toward him. Her expression still hadn't changed, but her voice became a little harder. “Because I'm pissed.”

Mofe went still. For a second, he said nothing. Then his eyes moved automatically across the garden.

Rachel was laughing with some of the guests. Azora was still running after the helicopter with the other children. Aunt Moni had apparently abandoned their conversation and was now talking to Dara. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them.

Still, Ezinne lowered her voice further. “And things have actually been going well between us lately. I don't want Azora hearing us arguing and suddenly thinking something is wrong again.”

Mofe looked back at her, wondering what he’d one now. “What exactly happened?”

“We'll talk when we leave.”

“Ezinne—”

“I mean it, Mofe.” Her jaw tightened. “I'm angry enough right now that I don't trust myself to keep my voice down, and I'm not going to ruin Rachel's party or have Azora worrying because of whatever happens between us.”

The uneasiness in Mofe's stomach grew. Whatever had happened, it wasn't small.

“Okay.” He rubbed one hand over the back of his neck. “Just calm down first.”

Ezinne's head snapped toward him so quickly that Mofe immediately knew he had chosen the wrong words. “If you dare tell me to calm down one more time,” she said, her voice dangerously low, “I will go off on you right here.”

Mofe froze. Then he slowly lifted both hands in surrender. “Alrght. Noted.”

She turned her face away from him again, and Mofe watched her for another second before deciding there was absolutely nothing useful he could say while they were still sitting in the garden.

“Is my hotel okay?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“You want to go there?”

“Yes. I said it’s fine.”

“Fine.”

He hesitated, still trying to read her mood. “Are you sure we can’t—”

Ezinne turned toward him again, and Mofe stopped speaking immediately. “Never mind.”

He straightened slowly and looked across the garden again. His eyes landed on Eric. His cousin was still standing with Anthony.

Mofe's gaze narrowed, before he reached down and touched Ezinne lightly on the shoulder. “Give me a few minutes.”

She nodded once.

Mofe walked away, but the uneasy feeling stayed with him. He headed toward Rachel first.

She didn't answer. Instead, she reached for her handbag, opened it and searched inside for a moment before pulling out a hotel key card. Holding it between two fingers, she slowly lifted it in front of his face.

Mofe stared at it, at her, then back at the card.

“What is that?” he asked, although his expression said he already knew exactly what it was.

Ezinne's brows lifted. “What does it look like?”

“A hotel key.” He found himself answering his original question.

“Very good.” She nodded approvingly and patted his arm. “See why you're the overall best graduating student?”

Mofe's face immediately tightened in warning. “Don't start.”

Ezinne burst out laughing. “Sorry, Mr. Overall Best Graduating Student.”

“Ezinne,” he groaned, dragging her name out as he leaned his head back for a moment. “Now is really not the time.”

“I know,” she replied through her laughter. “That's why it's funny.”

“It is not funny.”

“It is very funny.”

Mofe looked at her sternly for perhaps two seconds before her laughter got to him and the corner of his own mouth lifted. He shook his head, trying to recover his seriousness. “You are never going to stop, are you?”

“Probably not.”

Mofe laughed despite himself, but his attention returned to the card still held between her fingers. He reached out and gently lowered her hand.

“Okay. Seriously. Why do you have a hotel key?”

Ezinne leaned closer, her eyes bright with excitement now that she had finally reached the part she had been waiting to reveal. “Because I got us a room.”

For a moment, Mofe simply stared at her.

“A room?” he repeated slowly.

“Yes.”

He glanced around the lobby again as though there might be another hotel hidden somewhere nearby. “Here?”

Ezinne laughed. “Yes, Mofe. Here.”

His eyes came back to hers, still filled with disbelief. “For tonight?”

She shook her head, enjoying every second of his reaction. “For the next two nights.”

Mofe's eyebrows shot upward. “Two nights?”

“Two whole nights,” she said happily, shifting closer until her shoulder pressed against his arm. “Your aunt ruined my first plan by coming home, so I came up with another one.”

Mofe looked at her, then at the key card, then around the lobby once more.

Ezinne could almost see him calculating.

“This place isn't cheap,” he said finally, his tone changing from amused surprise to genuine concern.

“Yup, it definitely isn't.”

“How much?”

She hesitated for the briefest second, and that was enough.

Mofe's eyes narrowed. “How much, Ezinne?”

“About three hundred a night,” she admitted casually, reaching for her wine again as though the amount was not worth discussing.

"Three hundred thousand naira?" He asked.

"Three hundred dollars."

Mofe stared at her. The glass had barely reached her lips when he caught her wrist gently and lowered it.

“Hold on.” His brows pulled together as he looked at her more closely. “You just paid for two nights in a three hundred dollar a night hotel?”

Ezinne pressed her lips together, trying not to smile at the expression on his face. “Yes.”

Mofe's concern deepened. “With what money?”

This time she looked away. It was only a small movement, but he caught it immediately.

“Ezinne.”

She sighed and turned back to him. “My father's card.”

The change in Mofe was immediate. The amusement disappeared completely from his face, and his hand slowly left her wrist.

“You did what?”

“I think you actually heard me, Mofe.”

Mofe sat straighter, lowering his voice even though there was no one particularly close to them. He glanced around once before looking at her again. “You used your father's card to book this room?”

“He gave me the card,” Ezinne pointed out, her expression already becoming defensive.

“That isn't what I'm asking.” He leaned closer, keeping his voice low and serious. “Doesn't he get alerts on that card?”

Ezinne's fingers paused around the stem of her wineglass, and Mofe saw it.

“Exactly,” he murmured, his jaw tightening. “A charge from a hotel like this isn't going to look like lunch or shopping. It's two nights in a five-star hotel in Abuja while he's still in Lagos. What happens if he sees it and starts asking questions?”

Ezinne shifted slightly, but Mofe wasn't finished.

“What if he calls you?” he continued, his expression growing more troubled as the possibilities began stacking up in his head. “Or calls the hotel? What if somebody checks the statement and the hotel name is sitting right there? Zinny, this isn't something you can easily explain away if he decides to look into it.”

She glanced down at the glass in her hand. She had thought about some of that. Not all of it, admittedly.

When the idea had first come to her, excitement had moved much faster than caution. She had been angry about losing the two nights she had been looking forward to, and the solution had seemed almost perfect. Her father had given her the card for expenses. She had used it before without needing to explain every purchase.

But Mofe was right about one thing. This was not an ordinary purchase. If her father paid attention to the transaction, there would be questions. And lately, questions from her father were rarely simple questions.

Mofe watched her expression and knew immediately that she understood the risk. “Ezinne,” he said more gently now, reaching for her hand. “You know this could become a problem.”

Ezinne was quiet for a moment, then she released a slow breath and lifted her chin. “He's in Lagos for another two days,” she said, squeezing Mofe's fingers before giving him a stubborn look. “By the time he notices anything, I'll deal with it.”

Mofe stared at her. “That is not reassuring.”

“It should be.”

“It really isn't.”

Her mouth curved slightly. “Mofe, relax.”

“No.”

“Just a little.”

“No. I can't relax.”

Ezinne sighed dramatically and turned more fully toward him, one leg folding beneath her as she faced him on the sofa. “Mofe, he gave me the card to use, and I used it.”

“For a hotel room with me.”

“He doesn't know that part, nor does he need to know.”

Mofe raised a brow, and she had to bite back a laugh because he looked so genuinely alarmed.

Mofe saw it and frowned. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because you're doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“That responsible father slash husband thing you do when you're worried about something.” She reached up and smoothed the small crease between his brows with one finger. “You'll give yourself wrinkles before you're thirty.”

Mofe caught her hand and lowered it, though his mouth twitched despite himself. “I'm being serious, Ezinne.”

“So am I.” Her expression softened for a moment before something firmer settled into it. “I'll handle my father if he asks. I can simply say Dara and I booked our stay in the hotel to treat ourselves before convocation. We needed to use the spa, pool, and other amenities, and it was cheaper to pay for a room.”

Mofe continued watching her, unconvinced.

Ezinne looked down at their joined hands before speaking again. “Besides, he deserves it.”

Mofe's eyebrows rose again. “Deserves what?”

“To pay for my weekend.”

He gave her a look.

Ezinne shrugged, the stubbornness returning to her face. “He kept me like a prisoner for months, Mofe. I couldn't go anywhere without somebody following me. I couldn't drive. I couldn't see you. Every little thing I did became something I had to explain.” Her voice stayed light, but there was still hurt beneath it as she shook her head. “Six hundred dollars for two peaceful nights sounds like very small compensation to me.”

Mofe's expression softened immediately. He knew she was joking about the compensation, but he also knew the frustration underneath it was real.

“Zinny,” he murmured, rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her hand. “I'm not saying you don't deserve to enjoy yourself. I just don't want this to create another problem for you.”

“I know.” She leaned closer and rested her shoulder against his. “And I love you for worrying.”

Mofe closed his eyes briefly. "This girl ... You are simply trouble waiting to happen."

Ezinne laughed and rested her chin against his shoulder.

“Alright, come on,” she coaxed, nudging him gently. “I've already paid. The room is already waiting. My father is hundreds of kilometres away, and we have two days to enjoy the hell out of this hotel. We need to get our money's worth. Or rather, my father's.”

Mofe turned his head toward her and laughed softly.

Ezinne brightened immediately when she heard it. She lifted her head and pointed at him. “See? You're already coming around.”

“No, I'm not.”

“You are.”

“I still think this is reckless.”

“But?”

“There is no but.”

She smiled slowly. “Once you see the room, there will be.”

Mofe shook his head, but the firmness in his expression was already weakening.

Ezinne leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Trust me.”

He turned toward her with an amused look. “That sentence has become very dangerous coming from you.”

She laughed, picked up her handbag and stood, then held out her hand toward him. “Come and see what six hundred dollars bought us before you condemn my financial decisions.”

Mofe stared at her outstretched hand for a moment. Then he looked up at her smiling face.

“You're impossible,” he muttered, though he reached for her hand anyway.

Ezinne's fingers closed around his immediately, and she pulled him to his feet with a delighted grin. “And yet you love me.”

“Unfortunately.”

She gasped dramatically and smacked his arm.

Mofe laughed as she dragged him toward the elevators.

By the time the doors slid shut behind them, the tension over her father's card had not completely disappeared from Mofe's mind. He was still thinking about it, still wondering whether they should turn around before this became another problem neither of them needed.

Then he looked at Ezinne.

She was standing beside him with the hotel key card in one hand and a smile she was doing a terrible job of hiding. She looked so pleased with herself that some of his worry softened despite his better judgement.

Ezinne caught him staring and slowly turned toward him.

“What?” she asked, leaning her back against the mirrored wall.

Mofe moved a little closer. “Nothing.”

“That means something.”

He smiled. “I'm just wondering when you became this much trouble.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Excuse me? You knew exactly what you were getting into.”

“I definitely did not.”

“You did.” She reached out and hooked one finger into the front of his T-shirt, drawing him half a step closer. “And you missed the trouble while I was gone.”

Mofe's hands settled naturally at her waist. “I missed you,” he corrected softly.

Ezinne's teasing expression changed immediately.

“How much?” she asked, tilting her face toward his as her hands slid slowly up his chest.

Mofe looked down at her for a moment, his smile becoming quieter. “A lot.”

“That sounds better.”

She rose slightly onto her toes and kissed him.

Mofe responded almost immediately, one arm tightening around her waist as he drew her closer. The kiss remained soft at first, warm and familiar, carrying all the affection and longing that had been building through days of calls and messages. Ezinne smiled against his lips when he pulled her even closer, her arms settling loosely around his neck.

She drew back just enough to whisper, “You know there are probably cameras in here.”

“I know,” Mofe murmured, his forehead resting against hers.

“And yet your hands are still on me.”

His mouth curved. “Your hands are on me too.”

Ezinne glanced down as though she had only just noticed her arms around his neck. “Interesting.”

Mofe laughed quietly and kissed her again.

The elevator chimed before either of them was ready.

They separated quickly as the doors opened, though Ezinne was still smiling when she stepped out. Mofe followed her, clearing his throat and tugging lightly at the hem of his T-shirt.

She glanced back at him as they began walking along the carpeted corridor.

“You look guilty,” she whispered, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Mofe gave her a look. “You were there too.”

“I look innocent.”

“You have never looked innocent a day in your life.”

Ezinne stopped walking long enough to turn and stare at him in mock offence. “That is a terrible thing to say to your girlfriend.”

Mofe walked past her with a grin. “Find the room, Ezinne.”

She laughed and hurried after him.

A few moments later, they reached the room. Ezinne held the key card against the sensor, and when the light flashed green, she pushed the door open with obvious excitement.

“Okay,” she said as she stepped inside, immediately turning toward Mofe while he followed her. “Before you start complaining again, let me show you around because the room is actually amazing. There's this huge bathroom and the view from the—”

She barely got the door closed before Mofe reached for her.

One arm wrapped firmly around her waist, and Ezinne let out a startled laugh as he pulled her against him.

“Mofe!” she exclaimed, her hands automatically landing against his chest.

He looked down at her, smiling now in a way that made her forget whatever she had been about to say.

“We'll look around later,” he murmured, keeping her close.

Ezinne's eyes narrowed playfully even as her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. “Excuse me? I paid an unreasonable amount of money for this room. You are going to appreciate it.”

“I will.”

“When?”

“Later. After I've finished appreciating you.”

Her smile widened slowly as he lowered his head and kissed her again, and within seconds, Ezinne's carefully planned tour of the room had been completely forgotten.

*****

Chapter 38

Eleven years ago

Mofe stepped through the wide glass doors of the hotel lobby and slowed almost immediately, his eyes moving around the large, elegant space with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. This was definitely the hotel Ezinne had sent him, but standing inside it made her choice even stranger. Everything about the place looked expensive, from the polished marble floor beneath his sneakers to the massive chandelier hanging several floors above the centre of the lobby. Soft music played somewhere in the background, and the staff moved around in perfectly pressed uniforms, speaking quietly to guests who looked like they belonged there.

He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his phone to check Ezinne's message again, even though he already knew he had the right address. She had called him barely an hour earlier after getting home from the airport and told him to meet her here. When he had naturally asked why, she had refused to explain anything and simply told him to come.

Mofe had come straight from home, still dressed in the simple dark T-shirt and jeans he had been wearing when she called. Now, standing in the middle of a five-star hotel, he was beginning to wonder if he should have at least asked what she was planning before agreeing.

He was about to call her when his gaze moved toward the lounge area.

There she was.

Ezinne sat comfortably on one of the cream-coloured sofas near the tall windows, one leg crossed over the other and a glass of red wine resting between her fingers. Her handbag sat beside her, and she looked so relaxed that for a moment Mofe simply stood there staring at her.

Almost as if she felt him watching her, Ezinne lifted her head.

Her eyes found him immediately.

She released a slow sigh.

Not because she was tired, although the trip from Lagos had been exhausting. It was because Mofe had absolutely no business looking that good in something as simple as a T-shirt and jeans.

She watched him start toward her and shamelessly allowed her gaze to travel over him. The dark T-shirt stretched nicely across his broad shoulders and chest, while his jeans fitted his long legs without looking like he had made any special effort at all. His skin looked even darker against the shirt, and there was something about the easy way he walked toward her, tall and confident without even trying, that made her stomach flutter.

Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him in over a week.

Or maybe she had simply forgotten how ridiculously good-looking her boyfriend was.

Either way, to Ezinne, he looked as though he had walked straight out of some jeans advertisement and into the hotel lobby.

She raised the wineglass to her mouth and took a small sip, mostly because she needed something to do besides sit there openly staring at him.

God, she had missed him.

It had only been a little over a week, which was hardly enough time to justify the ridiculous excitement building inside her, but it felt much longer. And now that her father was still in Lagos and she had successfully solved the problem of Mofe's aunt returning home, she intended to enjoy every minute of the next two days.

The moment Mofe got close enough, his face broke into a wide smile.

That was all it took.

Ezinne quickly placed her glass on the table and jumped to her feet.

“Finally, you're here,” she breathed with a laugh, closing the small distance between them before throwing both arms around his neck.

Mofe barely had time to steady himself before she pressed herself against him. His laugh came out warm and surprised as his arms automatically closed around her waist, lifting her slightly onto her toes before settling her firmly against him.

“Jesus, Ezinne,” he murmured, his shoulders shaking with laughter as she squeezed him even tighter. He bent his head toward hers and added teasingly, “Anybody watching us would think I've been missing for six months.”

“I don't care what anybody thinks,” she replied against his shoulder, making absolutely no effort to release him. She turned her face into the side of his neck and inhaled softly before admitting, “I missed you.”

The teasing smile on Mofe's face softened at once.

His hold around her became gentler, and one hand moved slowly up and down her back as he pressed his cheek briefly against her hair. “I missed you too,” he said quietly, the amusement in his voice giving way to something warmer. “Very much, actually.”

Ezinne stayed there for a few seconds before reluctantly pulling away. Even then, she didn't move far. Her hands remained on his shoulders while she leaned back and looked properly at him again.

Her eyes travelled over his face and down his chest.

“You look very good,” she told him, narrowing her eyes slightly as though this was somehow his fault.

Mofe gave her a puzzled smile before glancing down at himself. “I'm wearing jeans and a T-shirt, babe,” he reminded her, lifting both hands slightly as though presenting the very ordinary outfit for inspection.

“Yes, I have eyes,” Ezinne replied, and the appreciation in the way she looked at his chest made his smile widen. She slowly shook her head. “That's exactly why it's irritating. You didn't even try.”

Mofe laughed and slipped one hand around her waist again. “So looking good is now an offence?”

“When you do it this easily, yes,” she answered seriously, although the smile tugging at her mouth betrayed her. “You look like you just walked out of one of those jeans adverts where everybody is unnecessarily attractive.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Unnecessarily?”

“Very unnecessarily.”

Mofe laughed again, drawing her briefly closer before releasing her. “Thank you. I think.”

“You're welcome,” Ezinne replied proudly as she returned to the sofa and picked up her wine.

Mofe sat beside her, close enough that their thighs pressed together. For a moment he didn't say anything. He simply turned toward her and watched her take another sip of wine, a quiet smile sitting on his face.

Ezinne eventually noticed.

She slowly lowered the glass. “What?” she asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

“Nothing,” Mofe replied, shaking his head, though his eyes remained on her.

“You're staring.”

“Yes, I am.”

Her brows rose. “And?”

The smile on his face softened as his gaze moved over her features. “You look breathtaking,” he told her quietly, reaching across to rest one hand on her knee. His thumb moved gently against it as he added, “And I'm just happy you're back.”

Ezinne's expression softened despite herself. She placed her hand over his and squeezed his fingers lightly. “I'm happy to be back too,” she murmured, holding his gaze for a few seconds before a playful smile returned. “Especially since I've spent most of today thinking about these next two days.”

That reminder made Mofe look around the lobby again.

His brows slowly drew together.

“Which actually brings me back to something,” he said, turning toward her and shifting slightly on the sofa. “Why exactly am I meeting you here?”

Ezinne's lips twitched.

She lifted her wine and took another slow sip instead of answering.

Mofe watched her suspiciously. “You said you didn't want us going anywhere,” he reminded her, leaning one arm along the back of the sofa while he studied her face. “You said you wanted us to spend the next two days alone.”

“I do,” Ezinne replied calmly, lowering her glass.

“And I thought you were coming to my place.”

“I was.”

Mofe waited, but Ezinne simply looked at him.

“But?” he prompted, his eyes narrowing as he noticed the smile she was trying to hide.

“But I changed my mind.”

“Why?”

Her smile grew.

Mofe immediately pointed at her. “See that face?”

“What face?” she asked innocently, widening her eyes.

“That face you're making right now.” He leaned closer, studying her as though he could force the answer out of her by staring long enough. “You have done something.”

Ezinne laughed softly and placed her glass back on the table. “I might have.”

Mofe's suspicion deepened. “Ezinne.”

“Mofe,” she replied sweetly.

“What did you do?”

Dear readers,

The next post comes up today. Yay!

It should be up sometime on or before noon.

She kept her expression as neutral as she could. There had never been any mention of an arrest. Not from Mofe. Not from anyone. Not once.

She could have asked Eric immediately what he was talking about, but instinct stopped her. Eric already seemed uncomfortable discussing the past. If he realised she had no idea what he was referring to, he would probably become guarded and refuse to say anything else until he spoke to Mofe.

So Ezinne slowly nodded. “Oh .. Yes, that time.”

Eric sighed, apparently reassured that she remembered. “I still hate thinking about it. God, I was such an idiot.”

Ezinne kept her hands relaxed in her lap even as her pulse began to quicken. “You thought you were helping him,” she said carefully.

“I thought I was ending the relationship for good.”

Eric leaned back in his chair, his expression tightening with regret. “When the two of you disappeared, everyone was looking for you. Your father was furious, and I knew Mofe was involved somehow.”

Ezinne listened without moving.

“So I went to your father,” Eric continued. “I told him that I suspected you were both hiding somewhere together since you’d both seemed to go missing at the same time. Honestly, when I went to him, I didn’t know he would take it much further than I expected.”

He'd gone to her dad? She thought to herself, but instead she said, “Of course, why wouldn’t he? My father has always been a very thorough person.”

Eric sighed. “Yeah, I definitely found out later.”

Ezinne's heartbeat stumbled. She kept her face turned toward him, forcing herself not to react too strongly.

The noise of the party seemed to recede. Ezinne could still hear the music. She could still hear Azora and the other children shouting somewhere on the lawn. Someone laughed loudly near the food table, and the helicopter buzzed overhead before one of the children screamed for Azora to bring it lower.

But all of it had become background noise. She needed to get Eric to tell her the entire story.

“It was such a long time. When exactly did this even happen again?” Ezinne asked, keeping her voice light and uninterested.

Eric frowned slightly. “When you two were hiding. About two days after Mofe returned home bruised, He claimed he was mugged by unknown people. They gave him a good beating.”

She nodded slowly as though she remembered. But her mind was already racing through memories she had not examined closely in years.

Then she remembered; the events vividly lining up in her mind.

She’d thought staying away from home would make some kind of point to her father and Ekene after her ex had sent hugs to rough Mofe up. She’d come up with a plan to hole up at a guest house, and Mofe had gone along with it even though he’d known it had been a poorly conceived idea.

Eric continued, apparently too caught up in his own guilt to notice how carefully she was choosing every response. “To get Mofe to show up, your father and I came up with a plan.”

A strange uneasiness began to crawl through Ezinne. “What was the plan?”

Eric hesitated before responding, “Me.”

Her brows drew together.

“We made him believe I'd been arrested.”

Ezinne went completely still but Eric continued, apparently mistaking her silence for recognition rather than shock. “The idea was simple. Mofe would hear that your father had had me picked up by the police, and he'd come out of hiding. We knew he wouldn't leave me there to suffer for something he'd done.”

Her attention had narrowed completely to Eric. “So you weren't actually arrested?”

“No.” Shame entered his voice. “That was the lie.”

Ezinne's heartbeat began to quicken, and a memory surfaced with startling clarity. Mofe leaving her at the hotel. She remembered asking questions. She remembered his urgency. The sudden change in him. The tension she'd felt without fully understanding what was happening. They’d even had a fight about something before he’d left.

Ezinne wet her lips. “So, that was why Mofe was arrested,” She supplied even though she didn’t know about any arrest.

“Yes,” Eric said.

She had believed for years that he had simply left her there and gone to her father. But he hadn't. He had left because he thought Eric was in danger.

“Eric continued. “Imagine my surprise when I learnt that your father had actually reported to the police that Mofe had kidnapped you. I was shocked because I hadn't expected things to go that far. I thought they would frighten him, question him, force him to tell us where you were. I didn't know how far your father was prepared to go. He was so furious he threatened Mofe with making sure it was permanently on his record. ”

Ezinne swallowed, not sure what to say anymore since this was all new news to her.

Eric sighed before speaking again. “Good thing Mofe came up with some type of deal and convinced your dad to let him off. He bargained the hell out of that mess.”

That word, ‘Deal’. It was the same word she’d heard her father say that day at the centre, when they’d not known she’d been listening.

Her fingers curled against her palm. ‘Deal?’ … ‘Bargained how?’ she wanted to ask, but instead said, “That’s Mofe; he can talk himself out of anything, if he can get you to listen long enough. I don’t even remember how he got my dad to let him off again.”

Eric hesitated. It seemed he was also trying to remember. “I wasn't there for that discussion, so I can't tell you exactly what was said between them. But Mofe managed to negotiate his way out of it. He finally got your father to drop the kidnapping allegation.”

Ezinne barely heard the rest as she suddenly now fully recalled the confusion she’d felt that afternoon after Mofe had left. The confusion.

The hours she had spent awake wondering where he had gone and why he hadn’t returned. And then afterward, learning that he had gone to her father and returned with the officers who’d taken her home.

For years, she had believed something entirely different. She had thought Mofe had gone to her father voluntarily. She had believed that perhaps the pressure had finally become too much for him. That he had decided that he didn’t want to go along with her plan and had gone to her father because he was ready to give up her whereabouts or negotiate some way out of their situation.

But that wasn't what had happened. He hadn't simply gone to her father. He had been arrested because her father had accused him of kidnapping her.

“Ezinne?”

Eric's voice pulled her sharply from her thoughts.

She forced herself to turn her face toward him. “Yes?”

“You okay?” He asked.

“I'm fine.” She replied, but it came too quickly. So she made herself relax her fingers and gave him a small smile. “I was just thinking about how young and stupid all of us were.”

Eric laughed softly, apparently accepting the explanation. “Mostly me.”

“I'm not going to argue with you about that,” She said lightly, earning a dry laugh from him.

“Ouch. But I totally deserved that.” Eric said before relaxing again, but her mind did not.

Because the more she thought about it, the more something bothered her. Mofe had never told her where he had been that night.

Even during all their recent conversations about the past, when he had supposedly been trying to become more honest with her, he had never mentioned being arrested by her father.

He had told her about her father interfering with his life. He had told her about losing his job. When she’d pushed, he had confessed to buying her father's company before bringing criminal charges against him. He had admitted things she had never expected him to admit.

But not this. Why?

Her anger began quietly.

It wasn't the explosive kind that came when someone shouted or said something deliberately cruel. It was slower than that, building beneath her ribs as she replayed recent conversations with Mofe.

How many times had she asked him for the truth? How many times had he promised her there would be no more secrets? Yet every few days, another piece of their past seemed to fall into her lap from somebody else's mouth.

What else was there?

Only hours ago, she had been thinking about how close they were becoming. About the things he had confessed to her in the study after career day. He had kissed her forehead before leaving, and Ezinne had sat there afterward feeling something she had been desperately trying not to name.

Trust.

She had been beginning to trust him.

Now she sat beneath the warm afternoon sun listening to the same man laugh across the garden while another secret opened beneath her feet. Her father had had him arrested. He had been accused of kidnapping her. He had bargained his way out of it.

And Mofe had never told her.

Ezinne slowly turned her face in the direction of his voice. She could not see him, but she knew exactly where he was.

Her jaw tightened. Mofe Johnson had some serious explaining to do.
*************

⬇️

Present Day



It was early evening, and the garden behind the house was already full of music, laughter and conversation. The smell of food drifted from the buffet tables under the canopies. Rachel had returned home two days earlier after finishing culinary school, and although she had insisted that she did not want anyone making a big deal about it, Ezinne had ignored her. Rachel was always there for everyone else. She deserved to have the people who loved her celebrate her for once.

It was not a very big party. They had only invited close friends and family, along with a few of Rachel’s friends. Aunt Moni had arrived early and immediately started taking charge of things nobody had asked her to handle. Dara was there with her children, Anthony had brought a bottle of wine, and Maureen sounded much more relaxed than she usually did at the centre. Eric had also arrived with a rather expensive gift for Azora.

Children shouted and laughed somewhere to Ezinne’s left while the adults talked around her. Naija music played from the speakers, and every few minutes, she heard something buzzing above them before dropping lower again.

Eric’s gift. A remote-controlled helicopter.

Apparently, an ordinary gift was not good enough for a child who had just won a science competition.

“No, no, don’t touch that button!” Azora shouted excitedly. “My cousin Eric said that’s the emergency landing!”

One of Dara’s children yelled something back, and all the children burst into laughter before the helicopter started buzzing through the air again.

Ezinne smiled and settled deeper into the soft garden chair. For once, she allowed herself to simply enjoy what was happening around her instead of worrying about whether everyone had enough food or whether something needed her attention.

Then Mofe laughed somewhere across the garden, and her attention went straight to him without her even trying.

She could pick his voice out of a crowded place too easily now. It did not matter how many people were talking or how loud the music was. Somehow, she always heard him.

And it was not only his voice anymore. She knew the sound of his footsteps. She knew the smell of his cologne. She even knew the gentle way his fingers rested on her elbow whenever he helped guide her somewhere, never making her feel as though she could not manage on her own.

She knew far too much about him again. The worse part was that she liked it.

Ezinne pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling. The last few days between them had been good. Almost too good.

Mofe had somehow entered her life and made many things easier. He showed up. He remembered things. He noticed when she needed help, but he was finally learning that helping did not mean taking control. He still overstepped sometimes because that was simply Mofe, but at least he was learning when to back off and allow her to make her own decisions.

And when it came to Azora, she could barely complain about anything.

Seeing how easily he had fitted into their daughter’s life sometimes made Ezinne sad for all the years they had lost. Azora adored her father, and Mofe seemed determined to make up for every year he had missed.

His latest plan was for Azora’s birthday. A normal parent might have planned a nice party with cake, food, games, and a few friends.

Mofe Johnson was trying to rent Magic Island for an entire day so Azora and her friends could have the water park and amusement resort completely to themselves.

Ezinne had told him it was too much. He had agreed, and then he had continued with the plans anyway.

Apparently, knowing that something was too expensive and unnecessary did not mean Mofe had any plans to stop.

She had accused him of spoiling their daughter, and he had calmly reminded her that he had ten missed birthdays to make up for. Ezinne had not known what to say after that.

That was Mofe now. A man rich enough to rent an entire amusement park for his daughter’s birthday and somehow think it made perfect sense. Yet under all the money, power, and confidence, she could still find pieces of the young man she had fallen in love with years ago.

Maybe that was the real problem.

Since their conversation in the study a few nights earlier, the walls she had built around her heart were no longer as strong as before.

Mofe had told her that he had carried her with him for years, and that information had stayed with her since that night.

He had gone to America, built another life, become more successful than either of them could ever have imagined when they were younger. He had met Eve, fallen in love with her in his own way, proposed and planned a future with her.

Yet Ezinne had still been with him. So much so that even Eve had known.

Mofe had admitted that he probably would have gone ahead with the wedding simply because he was stubborn if Eve had not been brave enough to end it herself. She had understood what Mofe had refused to admit for a long time.

That his heart still belonged somewhere else, with someone else. With Ezinne.

Even now, remembering the simple answer he had given when she asked made something warm move through her chest.

"With me?"

"Yes."

How was she supposed to hear something like that and feel nothing? She was not made of stone.

She even felt sorry for Eve whenever she thought about it. The woman had never truly had a fair chance if Mofe had spent their relationship still carrying her in his heart.

Then again, Mofe had done almost the same thing to her. He'd ruined her for anyone else.

Men had approached Ezinne over the years. She knew she was still a beautiful woman, and becoming a young widow had not stopped men from showing interest in her. Some had been kind. Some had been attractive. A few might even have made good partners. But none of them had ever made her feel the way Mofe did.

For years, her anger had helped her hide that truth from herself. She had been so hurt by what he had done that it had been easier to hate him than admit she still felt something for him.

But most of that anger was gone now. And without it, there was very little protecting her heart.

She had fallen deeply in love with Mofe once ... Was it really strange that she could fall in love with him again?

Even without her sight, Ezinne knew Mofe was a very attractive man. She still remembered what he looked like when they were younger, and from everything she had felt and heard since his return, age had only made him more attractive.

She knew how broad his shoulders were from the times he had held her. She knew the strength of his arms and how easily they wrapped around her without making her feel trapped. She remembered the rough feel of his beard under her fingers when she had touched his face in the hotel suite. She had also become far too familiar with the clean scent of his cologne.

And then there was his voice. That voice was another problem entirely.

But attraction was not what worried her most anymore. It was how much she had started enjoying having him around.

Her life felt easier with Mofe in it. Problems did not seem as heavy once she shared them with him. She loved hearing Azora talk excitedly about her father and seeing how happy their daughter had become since he returned. Even when Mofe annoyed her, he somehow still found ways to make her laugh.

She might be falling down a slippery slope for him but she told herself that she was not going to simply throw herself into his arms because he had told her he loved her and kissed her until she could barely remember why she had been trying so hard to resist him.

There was still too much history between them. Too many secrets had already come out, and she still had the feeling that there were parts of Mofe she did not completely know.

That alone was enough to make her careful. But once again she remembered his confession in the study, and her heart ached a little.

She had heard the love and regret in his voice when he told her he had carried her in his heart for ten years.

If only she'd been able to see his face, maybe she could have understood the depth of his words.

She wanted to know what he had looked like while saying those words. Had he looked scared? Sad? Relieved? Had his expression shown the same emotion she had heard in his voice?

She would never know.

Ezinne lifted her glass and took a slow sip. She did not need to decide anything tonight. One day at a time. For now, that was enough.

Another burst of Mofe’s laughter carried across the garden, followed by Rachel loudly accusing him of stealing something from one of the serving trays before dinner had properly begun.

Ezinne smiled again. Ten years ago, she would never have imagined this.

Mofe in her garden –well, it was technically his garden because he's bought the house. Mofe arguing with her about their daughter's birthday. Mofe playing video games and helping Azora build Lego robots and cheering embarrassingly loudly when she won a science competition.

She was still smiling when Eric lowered himself into the empty chair beside her.

“Should I be worried about that smile?” Eric’s voice came from her right, breaking into her thoughts.

Ezinne quickly straightened and turned toward him. “What smile?”

“That one.”

“Oh .. I was just listening to the children.”

“Hmm.”

She heard the amusement in his voice as he lowered himself into the empty chair beside her.

“You sound suspicious.”

“I am naturally suspicious.”

“That explains a lot about you.”

Eric laughed.

Another cheer erupted from the lawn, followed by Azora yelling that everyone needed to move because the helicopter was coming down.

Eric groaned. “I probably should have bought her a book.”

Ezinne laughed. “You created this problem. Now you have to live with it.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do when I heard my smart cousin won a science contest? I couldn't show up empty-handed.”

Ezinne laughed, and for a few moments, they simply listened to the children. The helicopter buzzed overhead again before moving farther away, and somebody yelled for Azora to let them have a turn.
Ezinne relaxed deeper into her chair. “So,” she said, “how is Mariah?”

“She’s good, actually. She left Abuja for Lagos yesterday.”

“And the wedding?”

Eric released a long, theatrical sigh. “Still happening.”

Ezinne smiled. “You sound very enthusiastic.”

“I am enthusiastic. I just didn't realize getting married required this many decisions.” He shifted in his chair. “Flowers. Colours. Table arrangements. Invitations. Apparently there are different shades of white, Ezinne.”

“There are.”

“You’re part of the problem.”

She laughed.

“Yesterday, she asked if I preferred ivory, pearl or something called eggshell.”

“And?”

“They all looked white to me.”

Ezinne burst out laughing. “I would strongly advise you not to tell your fiancée that.”

“I already did,” he said with a groan.

“Oh, Eric.” Ezinne said in sympathy, already knowing what would come next.

“She looked at me the way Mofe looks at people when they say something stupid.”

That made her laugh harder. Eric joined her for a moment before his voice softened. “But it's going well. She's handling most things with her sisters, thankfully. I just show up wherever I'm told.”

“Smart man.”

“Exactly. I know my boundaries and don't plan to cross them.”

There was another burst of applause from the children, and Eric glanced toward the lawn. After a moment, Eric added, “And congratulations again on Azora.”

Ezinne's smile returned immediately. “Thank you.”

“That science win is a big deal.”

Ezinne turned her glass slowly between her hands. “Mofe deserves a lot of the credit. He really worked with her on it. She came up with ideas, and he helped her figure out the programming and all the technical parts she was struggling with.”

Eric was quiet for a moment. Then he said softly, “He’s good with her.”

Ezinne nodded. “He is.”

“Better than I expected,” Eric confessed.

That made her laugh. “Why?”

“Because Mofe has always seemed like someone who would interrogate a child instead of playing with one.”

“Right? But he's really good with kids. He practically becomes ten when he’s with her sometimes.”

Eric chuckled. The laughter faded slowly, and when he spoke again, his tone was different. “You know, I still appreciate what you’ve done.”

Ezinne frowned slightly. “What have I done?”

“With me,” Eric said, releasing a small breath. “You didn't have to let everything go the way you did. I know I've said it before, but I'm still grateful you decided to put everything between us behind you. I got off much easier than I deserved.”

“Eric … There’s nothing to gain from keeping the fight going forever,” she told him.

“I know, still …”

“And I understand why you did what you did back then.” She cut him off as she turned more fully toward him. “You thought you were protecting him. You believed I was bad for him. I don't agree with what you did, Eric, but I understand that you thought you meant well.”

Eric gave a quiet laugh, but there was no amusement in it. “That explanation sounds better when you say it.”

“It doesn't make everything right.”

“No.” He paused. “It really doesn't.”

The music changed to a slower song behind them. Eric remained quiet for long enough that Ezinne realized his thoughts had gone somewhere else.

“When I actually sit down and think about the things I did back then,” he eventually said, “I get angry with myself.”

Ezinne’s brows drew together.

“If I'd simply stayed out of Mofe's business, none of this might have happened.”

“You can't know that.”

“Ezinne, I’m very sure your lives would have taken on a different route.”

“Maybe, but not necessarily the right one. Remember, my father was also against the relationship back then; it wasn’t just you.”

“Yes, but I actively worked against the two of you, Ezinne.” His voice had become more serious now. “I didn't like the relationship. I thought Mofe was throwing away everything he had worked for. He had the opportunity to leave Nigeria, build something for himself, and all I could see was him risking it because he was madly in love with General Onu's daughter.”

Ezinne remained quiet.

Eric continued. “I thought I knew what was best for him. That was the problem. Instead of telling him I disagreed and then minding my business, I kept interfering.”

He rubbed his hands together before exhaling. “And now I look at Azora running around this garden and think that if I had simply stayed out of it, maybe Mofe wouldn't have missed ten whole years of his daughter's life.”

Ezinne immediately shook her head. “You cannot put that on yourself.”

“No. Some of it belongs to me.”

“You didn't even know I was pregnant.”

Eric fell quiet.

“None of you knew,” Ezinne continued. “Not Mofe. Not you. Not even my father at first. So don't sit here and act as though you knowingly took a child away from him. You didn't participate in that.”

Eric looked at her strangely. Then he frowned. “You must have forgotten the things I did back then to keep you two apart.”

Something in the question immediately made Ezinne cautious. “What do you mean?”

“When I went as far as working with your father,” he reminded her as if it would jog her memory.

Her body went very still. Anytime someone mentioned her father, it sent a flash of dread through her. She had no idea what Eric was talking about.

Eric apparently took her silence for recollection because he continued. “I went as far as conniving with your father to get Mofe arrested, Ezinne. I knew exactly what I was doing.”

Ezinne felt something cold settle in her stomach. Arrested? Mofe had gotten arrested? When … how … Why?

Frankcallys:
@Repogirl, welcome back 😊
Thank you for the update and we are waiting for more 👏👏👏

Expect it by 6.00pm today, or earlier. No delays this time

By the time Ezinne reached the hotel lobby, the heaviness from the conversation with her father had settled into a dull ache somewhere in her chest. She refused to dwell on it, however. She had spent enough of the past few months thinking about everything that had gone wrong between them, and right now, she wanted to focus on leaving Lagos.

She wheeled her suitcase across the polished marble floor, passing a few guests gathered around the reception desk before choosing an empty armchair close to the glass entrance doors. The lobby was relatively quiet at this time of the morning, and sunlight poured through the tall windows, brightening the cream-coloured floor.

Ezinne placed her handbag beside her and pulled out her phone. She opened the Uber app, entered the airport as her destination and waited while the app searched for a driver. Someone accepted the trip almost immediately, twelve minutes away.

She leaned back against the chair and released a long breath, her shoulders finally relaxing.

In a few hours, she would be back in Abuja. She wouldn't have to worry about anyone asking where she was going or when she planned to return.

More importantly, she would have Mofe almost entirely to herself.

That thought improved her mood immediately.

Her thumb moved to his name, and a small smile curved her lips as she opened their conversation.

Ezinne: I'm on my way to the airport now. I'll be home in a few hours. And I'm reminding you once again that I'm spending the next two nights with you, so don't suddenly develop amnesia.

She barely had time to lower the phone before the typing indicator appeared.

Mofe: Lol, @amnesia. I haven't forgotten. But there's been a slight development.

Ezinne's smile faded suspiciously.

Ezinne: [/b]Hmm … I don't like developments.

Mofe: You haven't even heard it yet.

[b]Ezinne: [/b]Anything standing between me and the two nights I was promised is automatically bad news.

[b]Ezinne: What happened?

Mofe: [/b]My aunt got back yesterday.

Ezinne stared at the message for a moment before sitting slightly straighter.

[b]Ezinne: Oh.

Mofe: Yeah.

Ouch, this was disappointing.

A few seconds passed before she typed again.

Ezinne: So my overnight privileges have officially been revoked?

Mofe: Unfortunately, yes.

Ezinne: Completely?

Mofe: [/b]Completely.

[b]Ezinne: [/b]What if I promise to be very quiet?

[b]Mofe: [/b]Ezinne.

She grinned.

[b]Ezinne: I'm only asking.

Mofe: [/b]You and I both know quiet isn't the problem.

Her mouth fell open slightly before she laughed, covering it quickly with one hand.

[b]Ezinne: Wow.

Mofe: What?

Ezinne: Nothing. Look at you feeling yourself.

She could picture him chuckling at her words.

Mofe: I'm just stating facts, babe. Keeping things hush-hush is not a problem for us.

Ezinne: [/b]Okay, then I'll just sleep in the sitting room.

[b]Mofe: Not an option.

Ezinne: Floor?

Mofe: Never.

Ezinne: Kitchen?

Mofe: Absolutely not.

She giggled, knowing they were just playing now.

Ezinne: [/b]You could just tell her I'm stranded.

[b]Mofe: And conveniently, my stranded girlfriend needs to sleep in my house for two consecutive nights?

Ezinne: Exactly. You understand quickly. It's one of the things I love about you.

Mofe: You're still joking, right?

Ezinne: I'm extremely serious.

Mofe: [/b]I enjoy being alive, Zinny. I intend to remain that way.

She smiled, although disappointment was beginning to settle in despite all the joking.

[b]Ezinne: [/b]Coward.

Mofe: Proudly.

[b]Ezinne: So what are we going to do now? I've been looking forward to staying with you since I left Abuja.

There was a slightly longer pause before his response appeared.

Mofe: [/b]We’ll still spend time together; I've cleared my schedule for the next two days.

The simple message softened her immediately.

[b]Ezinne: Cleared it how much?

Mofe: Completely. I'm yours for two entire days.

Ezinne's smile returned.

Ezinne: Mine, mine?

Mofe: Yours, yours.

Ezinne: Morning till night?

Mofe: [/b]Morning till evening-ish

[b]Ezinne: And then you send me home like a parcel?

Mofe: A very beautiful parcel, yes.

Ezinne: I still don't like this arrangement.

Mofe: Yeah, me neither, but we'll survive.

Ezinne: You sound very confident for someone who claims to have missed me.

Mofe: I've missed you terribly, babe. You know I have. I'm just making lemonade out of lemons.

His words reassured her.

Ezinne: Better.

Mofe: So, we'll hang out during the day and then I'll return you home at night like a respectable boyfriend.

Ezinne laughed again, imagining him saying it with that annoyingly responsible expression he wore whenever he had decided something was non-negotiable.

Ezinne: And who asked you to be respectable?

Mofe: Nobody. It just comes naturally.

Ezinne: That's unfortunate. I preferred you the last time we were together.

Mofe: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Ezinne: Liar. You remember every single moment we spent together.

Mofe: I do. I cherish every single moment we spend together. I've got to go now, but have a safe flight, troublesome woman. And sorry about the change of plans.

He didn't have to apologise since he really had no control over the situation, but he did anyway. She smiled.

Ezinne: [/b]I'll think about forgiving you before I land.

[b]Mofe: Take your time. You're still coming to meet me anyway, so I'm not bothered about that.

Ezinne: So arrogant.

Mofe: And yet here you are flying across the country to see me.

Ezinne stared at that one for a second, fighting the ridiculous smile spreading across her face. They could tease themselves like this all day, but she knew he had to go.

Ezinne: Bye, Mofe.

Mofe: 😂 Love you too.

She was still smiling when her phone suddenly began vibrating in her hand.

The moment Ekene's name appeared across the screen, the warmth left her expression.

Ezinne stared at it until the call ended. She had absolutely no desire to speak to him.

After the way he had behaved the night before, the last thing she wanted was another conversation in which he shouted at her because of Mofe.

Not that his temper had surprised her. If anything, Ezinne had expected something close to it from the moment she realised he had seen Mofe's message.

She knew Ekene. She knew how quickly his anger could change him, especially whenever Mofe was involved. It was one of the reasons she had learnt to choose her words carefully around him, constantly measuring how much she said and how she said it.

Walking on eggshells around someone she was supposed to love had become exhausting long before she finally admitted to herself that their relationship needed to end.

She had already given him another chance once, but it had ended with him threatening her and physically assaulting her.

She had never forgotten it.

So no, the rage at the event had not shocked her. The insults had hurt, and the way he had flung her phone at her had infuriated her, but none of it had come from some version of Ekene she had never seen before. That version was precisely why she no longer wanted him.

Her phone started ringing again. Ezinne's jaw tightened as she watched his name flash across the screen for a second time.

She could ignore him. She wanted to, but another thought stopped her.

He knew about Mofe now. And strangely, he hadn't told her father … yet.

Ezinne frowned slightly as she looked toward the glass doors of the hotel. Her father's questions earlier had been suspicious, but they had been his usual suspicions. If Ekene had told him outright that she and Mofe were back together, there would have been nothing subtle about the conversation upstairs.

Her father would have confronted her. There would probably already have been an officer waiting to escort her back to Abuja.

Why had Ekene kept quiet?

The phone continued vibrating.

With a small sigh of frustration, Ezinne swiped to answer and lifted it to her ear.

“What?” she asked, her voice flat as she settled back into the chair.

There was a brief silence on the other end, as though Ekene had not expected her to answer with quite so little enthusiasm.

“You're leaving this morning?” he asked finally, surprise evident in his voice. “Your dad just called and mentioned you just left.”

“Yes,” Ezinne replied, glancing toward the Uber app still open in the background of her screen. “I'm going back to Abuja.”

“Today?” he repeated, and she heard what sounded like a door closing somewhere around him. “I thought you were staying until your dad left.”

“I wasn't,” she answered, shifting slightly in her seat. “I came for the event. The event is over.”

Ekene was silent for a moment.

“I was hoping we could see today,” he said eventually, his voice noticeably more careful. “I wanted us to talk.”

A humourless scoff escaped her before she could stop it.

“Talk?” Ezinne repeated, her brows lifting as she stared straight ahead. “After the performance you gave outside the bathroom yesterday? No, thank you.”

“Ezinne, I’m sorry about last night. I know I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.”

She frowned slightly. “Do you?”

“Yes,” he replied, releasing a slow breath. “That's why I'm calling.”

Ezinne said nothing. She wasn't particularly interested in making the conversation easier for him.

“I shouldn't have spoken to you like that,” Ekene continued, his voice quieter than usual. “I lost my shit when I saw the message. I was angry, and I went too far.”

“You think?” Ezinne asked coldly, crossing one leg over the other as her fingers tightened around the phone. “You picked up my phone without permission, waited for me outside a bathroom, then started shouting at me and calling me names.”

“I said I know.”

“And I'm supposed to do what with that?”

“Nothing,” he replied quickly. “I'm apologising.”

Ezinne's eyes narrowed slightly. His apology this morning actually surprised her more than the outburst had.

Ekene losing his temper was familiar. Ekene admitting afterward that he had been wrong was not. He usually doubled down on how she was the one who had pushed him to it. Still, she wasn't foolish enough to mistake an apology for change.

“Fine,” she said after a moment, keeping her tone guarded. “I've heard you.”

Another silence settled between them.

Then Ekene cleared his throat. “I had time to think last night,” he said, and something in his tone made Ezinne sit a little straighter. “About you and him … Mofe. About everything.”

Her expression hardened at the mention of Mofe's name.

“I still don't understand what you see in that guy,” he continued, bitterness slipping beneath the calmness of his voice. “After all the trouble that relationship has brought into your life, you still went back.”

Ezinne rolled her eyes. “I don't need you to understand it.”

“Fine, I know.”

“Do you?” she asked pointedly.

“Yes,” Ekene answered after a pause. “I do now.” The calmness in his voice made her more uncomfortable than his anger had.

“I've decided not to interfere,” he continued. “Do whatever you want with him. It's your life.”

Ezinne remained silent, waiting for the rest. Because there was going to be a rest. With Ekene, there almost always was.

“No wahala,” he added, sounding almost casual now. “I won't even tell your father.”

Ezinne's eyes narrowed instantly, and her posture changed. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Yes, I heard you,” she replied, her voice sharpening as she sat forward. “I'm asking what that's supposed to mean.”

Ekene sighed. “It means I'm not going to tell him.”

The words came out quietly, but the warning in them was unmistakable.

“Are you threatening me?” She had to ask.

Ekene was silent for half a beat. “No.”

“Because it sounds very much like a threat,” Ezinne continued, her fingers tightening around the phone. “You're saying you won't tell my father like you're doing me some kind of favour.”

“I'm not threatening you, Ezinne,” Ekene replied, irritation creeping into his voice despite his attempt to remain calm. “I'm covering for you.”

Ezinne gave a short, disbelieving laugh. “Covering for me?”

“Yes.”

“I didn't ask you to cover for me.”

“I know you didn't.”

“Then don't talk like I owe you something because you've decided not to run to my father.”

Another pause followed.

When Ekene spoke again, his voice was lower. “Oh, but you do owe me.”

Ezinne went completely still. For several seconds, the sounds of the hotel lobby seemed to fade into the background as she stared through the glass doors.

“What did you just say?” she asked slowly.

“You owe me, Ezinne,” Ekene repeated. “I'm keeping this from your father. We both know exactly what will happen if he finds out you're back with Mofe.”

Her stomach tightened. She hated that he was right about that one thing.

Her father finding out now would destroy the small amount of freedom she had only just regained. The officer would return. Every movement she made would be questioned, and every excuse she had used over the last few weeks would suddenly be examined under a microscope.

Worse, she had no idea what her father might do to Mofe this time.

Ezinne's jaw tightened as anger and unease twisted together inside her. “What exactly do you think I owe you?” she asked, her voice quieter now.

“Relax,” Ekene replied, and she immediately hated the word coming from him. “I'm not asking for anything right now.”

“Right now?”

“Don't twist what I'm saying.”

“I'm not twisting anything,” Ezinne shot back, lowering her voice when a couple walking past glanced toward her. “You're the one telling me you're keeping something from my father and then saying I owe you for it. How exactly am I supposed to take that?”

“As me helping you,” he answered, his patience beginning to thin. “That's all.”

Ezinne pressed her lips tightly together. Every instinct told her to tell him exactly where he could shove his favour.

She wanted to remind him that she had never asked for his protection. She wanted to tell him that whatever choice he made about speaking to her father was his own and she would not allow him to turn it into some imaginary debt she had to repay.

But the words remained trapped behind her teeth. Because this was Ekene, and she knew what happened when his temper was provoked.

She had spent enough time walking carefully around that temper to recognise when a conversation was approaching dangerous ground. More importantly, she couldn't afford to push him into making an impulsive call to her father just to prove that he could.

So Ezinne said nothing.

Her silence stretched long enough that Ekene eventually spoke again.

“I'm not your enemy, Ezinne,” he said, his tone softening as though he were trying to reassure her now. “Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you.”

Her mouth twisted bitterly. There had been a time when she might have believed that. Not anymore.

Through the glass doors, she saw a dark Toyota pull into the driveway, and a quick glance at the registration number on her Uber app confirmed that it was her ride.

“My car is here,” she said abruptly as she stood, pulling up the handle of her suitcase with one hand.

“Ezinne, listen..”

“No,” she interrupted, slipping her handbag over her shoulder as she began walking toward the entrance. “I've listened enough.”

“I apologised.”

“And I heard you.”

“Then why are you still acting—”

“Goodbye, Ekene.” She ended the call before he could finish.

Ezinne stopped just inside the doors and stared at the phone in her hand for a few seconds, her chest rising slowly with a deep breath.

She was angry. She was more than angry.

The idea that Ekene believed he could hold her relationship with Mofe over her head made her skin crawl. She did not owe him anything, no matter how many times he said otherwise, and the very idea of him deciding to ‘cover for her’ as though she needed his permission to live her own life infuriated her.

But underneath that anger sat an uncomfortable truth. For now, she needed his silence.

Not because she trusted him, and certainly not because she believed his apology meant anything had changed.

She needed his silence because she knew exactly how quickly her father could close every door around her again.

Ezinne slipped her phone into her handbag and walked outside, where the driver had already stepped out to help with her suitcase.

As he loaded it into the boot, she pulled her phone out one more time to see that a new message from Mofe was waiting.

She frowned; had he not just told her he had to go?

Mofe: Have you started missing me yet, or should I give you another ten minutes?

Despite everything, a small smile tugged at her mouth. She shook her head and climbed into the car.

Ezinne: [/b]Shut up, Mofe.

His response appeared before the driver had even pulled away from the hotel.

[b]Mofe: That's a yes.

Her smile transformed into a full grin. Gosh, this guy.

Ezinne rested her head against the seat as the car moved toward the hotel gates, letting the conversation with Ekene retreat to the back of her mind. She would deal with him later. For now, she was going home.

*****

Chapter 37

Eleven years ago

Ezinne stood outside the door to her father's hotel suite, one hand resting on the extended handle of her suitcase. Her handbag hung from her shoulder, and she was already dressed for the trip back to Abuja in jeans, a loose blouse, and comfortable white sneakers. Everything she had brought with her to Lagos was packed, and as far as she was concerned, there was no reason to remain another night.

The event had been the reason she came, and she had played her part the night before. She had dressed up, smiled for photographs, greeted more of her father's military colleagues and old friends than she could remember, and sat through speeches about his accomplishments and years of service. She had spent time with relatives she had not seen in years, especially Aunty Oge and her children, and that part of the evening had actually been enjoyable.

She had done what was expected of her. Now she wanted to go home.

More specifically, she wanted to get back to Abuja, prepare for her convocation and see Mofe. The thought of the last one brought the faintest smile to her lips before she quickly pushed it away and lifted her hand to knock.

Her father's aide opened the door a few seconds later.

“Good morning, Sir,” Ezinne greeted him politely, giving him a small smile as she stepped back slightly from the doorway.

“Good morning, Miss Ezinne,” the senior officer replied, his eyes dropping almost immediately to the suitcase beside her before returning to her face. “You're travelling?”

“Yes, I'm heading back to Abuja,” Ezinne explained as she adjusted the handbag on her shoulder. “Is my dad around?”

“Yes, he's inside,” the aide answered, pulling the door wider and stepping aside for her. “Please come in. I'll let him know you're here.”

“Thank you,” Ezinne murmured as she wheeled her suitcase over the small rise at the entrance and left it beside the door.

She walked farther into the suite and lowered herself onto one of the armchairs in the living room area while the aide disappeared down the hallway to get her father. Morning sunlight streamed through the wide windows, spilling across the carpet and the large centre table where a few newspapers lay beside a half-empty cup of coffee. The television was on with the volume turned low, showing one of the morning news programmes.

Ezinne rested her handbag on her lap and folded both hands over it, feeling awkward.

There had been a time when she would never have sat formally in a living room waiting for someone to tell her father she was there. She would have walked straight into his bedroom without knocking, probably climbed onto his bed and disturbed him until he gave her his full attention.

Until recently, she had always been comfortable with him. Even when they disagreed, even when his strictness irritated her, she had never doubted how much he loved her or how much she loved him.

Now she wasn't even sure how to behave around him.

Months had passed since everything happened, and the anger was no longer as hot as it had been in the beginning. She could sit at the same table with him now. She could answer when he spoke to her. She had attended his event, smiled beside him for photographs, and behaved like everything between them was perfectly fine whenever relatives or his colleagues were around.

But something fundamental had changed. She simply did not see her father the same way anymore. Sometimes she wondered if she ever would.

Footsteps from the hallway pulled her out of her thoughts, and Ezinne looked up as her father walked into the room. He was dressed casually in dark trousers and a polo shirt, his reading glasses held loosely in one hand. His expression softened slightly when he saw her, but almost immediately, his gaze travelled past her toward the suitcase by the door.

“Good morning, Sir,” Ezinne greeted as she stood.

“Morning, Ezinne,” the Colonel replied distractedly, still looking toward her luggage. He gestured toward it with the glasses in his hand before turning his puzzled gaze back to her. “Where are you going with your bags?”

“Back to Abuja,” Ezinne answered calmly, sitting again after he lowered himself onto the sofa opposite her. “I came to tell you before I leave.”

Her father's brows immediately drew together. “You're leaving today?” he asked, leaning back slightly as though the idea had genuinely caught him by surprise.

“Yes, I've booked my ticket already,” Ezinne replied simply, her fingers tightening slightly around the strap of her handbag.

“I thought you would stay for a few days,” he said, watching her closely. “I'm still here for another two days.”

Ezinne gave a small nod to show she had heard him, but her expression remained unchanged. “I know.”

Her father waited, perhaps expecting her to say more. When she didn't, he shifted forward on the sofa and rested his forearms against his thighs.

“I thought you could spend some time with Oge and her family,” he continued, his tone becoming more persuasive. “You haven't seen them properly in years, and you barely know her children anymore. It would be good for you to spend another day or two with them and get reacquainted with your cousins.”

“I spent time with them yesterday,” Ezinne replied, keeping her voice polite as she adjusted the bag on her lap. “Aunty Oge and I talked for quite a while, and I met all three of the children. It was nice seeing them again.”

“Exactly,” her father said, lifting one hand as though she had just strengthened his argument for him. “So why not stay a little longer? Oge was very happy to see you.”

Ezinne inhaled slowly through her nose.

“Because that wasn't the plan, Daddy,” she explained, her tone still respectful but noticeably closed. “I came to Lagos for your event. The event is over, so I'm going home. I can visit another time.”

The Colonel's eyes remained fixed on her face, and Ezinne immediately recognised the familiar scrutiny in them.

She hated it.

“Besides, my convocation is in a few days,” she added, shifting slightly in the chair. “I need to prepare for it. There are things I still need to sort out before then.”

Her father remained quiet.

Ezinne looked away from him and glanced toward the television, although she wasn't paying the slightest attention to whatever was being discussed on the morning programme. She could feel him studying her, and with each passing second, her shoulders became a little stiffer.

Eventually, he released a long, weary sigh.

“Ezinne,” he began, rubbing one hand slowly over his chin before looking at her again. “Are you going back just because of the convocation?”

Her eyes returned to him immediately.

A small frown formed between her brows as she wondered what he was asking.

For a few seconds, she simply stared at him.

“What else would I be going back for?” she asked quietly, tilting her head slightly as she held his gaze.

Her father shifted uncomfortably. “I'm only asking you a question.”

“Are you?” Ezinne asked, her fingers slowly curling around the edge of her handbag. She stopped there for a moment, visibly restraining herself before she said something she would regret. “I've told you why I'm going back already, so I don't understand the question. Or you think I'm going to see him? Mofe?”

The General's mouth tightened slightly at the direct mention of his name, but he did not deny it.

Ezinne gave a faint shake of her head and looked away.

She’d deliberately mentioned Mofe's name to gauge her father's reaction. To see if he knew something he wasn't supposed to. If he knew or suspected she and the guy he disapproved of were back together.

Clearly, he didn't; otherwise, he would have told her what he knew.

“I have my convocation in a few days,” she repeated, turning back to him. Her voice remained calm, but the firmness in it made it clear she had no intention of explaining herself any further. “I want to go home and prepare for it. I didn't plan to spend several days in Lagos, and I don't want to.”

Her father looked at her for a long moment before lowering his gaze to the glasses in his hand. He turned them absently between his fingers, his shoulders dropping slightly as he released another tired breath.

“Fine,” he said eventually, giving a slow nod. “If you want to go back today, you can go.”

“Okay,” Ezinne replied softly.

There was no triumph in getting her way. No relief either.

Just that same uncomfortable distance.

She stood, slipping the strap of her handbag properly over her shoulder, and her father looked up at her again. For a brief moment, something passed over his face that made her hesitate. He looked tired, suddenly older than he had the night before when he had stood surrounded by friends and colleagues, smiling broadly while people celebrated him.

There was a time when seeing him like that would have made her go to him immediately.

She would have hugged him. She might even have changed her mind and stayed another day simply because he asked. But that instinct wasn't there anymore.

Or perhaps it was still there, buried underneath too much hurt for her to reach it. Ezinne looked away first.

“I'll be going then,” she murmured, taking a step toward the door.

Her father nodded slowly. “All right.”

She walked across the living room and wrapped her hand around the handle of her suitcase. As she straightened, she paused for the briefest moment.

This felt wrong. Leaving her father without hugging him felt wrong. Walking out with nothing more than a polite goodbye felt wrong. But somehow, forcing affection she did not currently feel capable of giving seemed worse, so she reached for the door.

“Ezinne,” her father called behind her, his voice quieter than it had been throughout their conversation.

Her hand stopped on the handle.

She turned her head and looked back at him.

The Colonel was still sitting on the sofa, his glasses resting between his hands as he watched her. His expression had softened, and for a second, Ezinne wondered whether he was finally going to say something about the distance between them.

Instead, he gave her a small nod.

“Have a safe trip,” he said, his voice gentle. “Call me when you get home.”

Ezinne stared at him for a moment before her expression softened despite herself.

“Okay,” she replied quietly. “I will.”

Neither of them said anything else.

Ezinne opened the door and pulled her suitcase into the corridor, letting it close softly behind her. She stood there for a moment, her hand still wrapped around the suitcase handle as she stared at the patterned carpet beneath her feet.

A heaviness settled in her chest.

There had been no argument. Her father had not shouted at her or tried to stop her from leaving. Compared to some of their conversations over the past few months, this one had been remarkably peaceful.

Yet she somehow felt worse.

Ezinne released a slow breath and began walking toward the elevators, the wheels of her suitcase making a soft, repetitive sound against the carpet.

She didn't know how they were supposed to come back from everything that had happened. She didn't even know if they could.

All she knew was that she had once been her father's little girl, and now she could stand three feet away from him and feel as though there was an entire world between them.
****

dripzzy:
finally it the 15th

Ahh ... Monitoring Spirit. I'll post tonight. From 8pm.

abubakarbabang7:
Repogirl please don’t abandon this story

It's not abandoned, just set aside for a while

Frankcallys:
The last 2 chapters, now that's the part I've been waiting for 🤔 Good job @ Repogirl 👍

Till 15th September then, that's if I've not fainted from waiting ooo 😆

Thank you. 😁😁

I can promise that the story gets even better from here on.

See you September 15th

Hello, Readers!

Once again, I apologise for the delay. The chapter is finally complete, and I hope you enjoy it!

I’m going to take another brief break until September 15. So sorry, but mama duty calls! Schools are about to resume, and the back-to-school madness has begun. I need a little time to get my pack sorted, push them all out of the den, and return with my writing hat back in place.

In the meantime, did you know that Books I&II of Tishé – The Story of an Exclusive Call Girl (18+) are available to purchase?

If you haven't read them yet, now is a good time to catch up while you wait for my return.

Links below. 👇🏽

https://selar.com/m/Pejuamadi

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HC4G63VT?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1785390367&sr=1-2&ref=dbs_dp_awt_sb_pc_tkin


Thank you, as always, for your patience. You guys are the best!

Mofe’s expression became more serious. “She knew why I was really coming. I couldn't fool her. I wanted to lie to her to save her the stress of worrying about our relationship, but she’s a very smart lady. She knew I was coming back to see you.”

“And she was okay with that?”

“No.” His honesty surprised her. “It hurt her.”

Mofe looked away briefly. “But she tried not to make it harder for me, because we both knew it was something I needed to do. I used to call your name in my sleep, Ezinne. That’s how bad it was. I think she believed that if I came here and finally faced whatever I still felt for you, then maybe I could actually move forward with her. The dreams about you would stop, and I’d be free to move on.”

His voice changed when he spoke again. "But then I tracked you, came over, and found out about Azora."

The memory of those first days after discovering the truth still had enough power to darken his expression. There was still anger there, but she could hear the regret beneath it now.

"I was furious, Ezinne. I wanted you to suffer. I …” his voice trailed.

The honesty made her chest tighten. “I know,” she whispered.

“No, I don’t think you understand how angry I was.” He told her. “I came here thinking I was going to close a chapter of my life, and instead I found out I had a ten-year-old daughter.” He shook his head slowly. “I felt like you had taken something from me that I could never get back.”

Ezinne’s mouth tightened. “I did.”

The quiet admission made him stop. Ezinne’s face had lowered, and the sadness in her voice took away some of the sharpness in his own.

Mofe exhaled. “I wanted you to suffer for it. I wanted you to feel what I felt, Ezinne. I wanted to punish you for keeping her from me."

Her fingers tightened.

“I know that sounds terrible.”

“You were angry. It’s understandable.” She told him.

“I was beyond angry.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “I’d lost a good part of my mind and was ready to make your life difficult simply because I wanted you to feel some of what I was feeling.”

"But then I went back to America, and Eve ended our engagement."

Ezinne's brows pulled together, not sure she'd heard right. "She ended it?"

"Yes."

"She was the one who ended it?" She asked again, looking genuinely surprised. “I thought you broke up with her because of everything happening here.”

Mofe gave a small laugh and leaned back. “No. If it had been left entirely to me, I probably would have gone through with the wedding.”

Ezinne stared toward him in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because I was stubborn." He gave a humorless laugh. "Pride. I had already invested so much into that relationship. I thought maybe if I went through with it, eventually my heart would follow."

She was silent for a moment. Then her mouth curved slightly. “That sounds stupid.”

“It was very stupid.” Mofe agreed, laughing softly at himself. “but I had already made plans. Everyone knew we were getting married. I had convinced myself that I could come back here, deal with the situation with Azora, return to America, and continue exactly where I left off.”

“But you couldn’t.”

“No.” His voice softened. “And Eve knew that before I did.”

Ezinne felt an ache settle somewhere deep inside her. "What did she say?"

Mofe smiled faintly. "She said I was going to marry a woman I didn't love because I was too afraid to admit I was still in love with someone else. She told me to my face to cut the crap and stop lying to myself."

Ezinne's lips parted slightly. "She told you that you were lying to yourself?"

“Oh, she said that and more,” Mofe said, recalling his last conversation with his ex. Funny, he hadn’t even thought about her since he’d returned to Nigeria. Was he a horrible person for not remembering or thinking about the woman he’d spent a few years with? “She said she deserved someone who could love her completely.”

Ezinne’s expression softened. “She was right.”

“Yes.” Mofe’s gaze remained on her face. “She was. She told me she had known for a long time that there was a part of me she could never reach because it belonged somewhere else … to someone else.”

Mofe paused for a second before continuing quietly. “She knew where my heart really was, and I couldn’t fool her.”

The room seemed suddenly still, and Ezinne swallowed. “With me?”

Mofe’s expression softened. “Yes.”

The answer was simple, but it landed with more weight than anything else he had said.

He gave a small shake of his head. “Eve was braver than I was. She walked away because she knew neither of us deserved a marriage built on pretending.”

Ezinne remained silent, and Mofe kept watching her face, trying to read what he could despite the dark glasses. He did not know whether she was uncomfortable, touched, frightened, or all three at once.

Eventually, she asked, “Did you love her?”

Mofe did not answer immediately. He thought about it carefully and said, “I cared about her deeply.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Not in the way she deserved,” he confessed. “I don’t know how to explain it. I loved her, but it lacked the deep, starving kind of feelings I have for you. I carried you in my head for ten whole years, Ezinne. You haunted me. Part of why I got so angry after finding out about Azora was because I wanted to hate you. I thought hate could dispel my strong desire for you, but Eve’s leaving set my mind straight. The truth was that I loved you, and hurting you wouldn’t make anything right. So after Eve left, I decided to stop lying to myself there and then.”

Silence settled between them. The conversation had gone much further than he intended, and he could feel the heaviness of everything he had said hanging between them.

Ezinne knew she should say something, but she didn't know what to say. Her heart was too full. As she had listened to him speak about years she had not been part of, she realized something that unsettled her deeply. Mofe had carried her with him.

All those years. Even when he had tried to replace her. Even when he had been engaged to someone else. Some part of him had still belonged to her. The realization stirred something warm and giddy inside her. She didn't want to acknowledge how much it pleased her.

For all the anger, confusion, and uncertainty between them, there was something painfully intimate about hearing him finally tell her the truth about those years he was away.

Mofe finally spoke up. "I should go."

Before she could craft a response, she heard him shift in his chair. Then he stood, and Ezinne's body immediately became aware of his presence. He walked around the desk and stopped beside her, close enough that she could feel the faint warmth of his body.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. For a moment, Mofe simply stood there. Then he raised one hand and gently brushed his fingers along the side of her face.

She did not move away; instead, she was tempted to lean into his touch, but she held back.

"I'm glad I came back," he whispered, and Ezinne's chest tightened.

Before she could answer, he bent toward her. His lips touched her forehead in a slow, gentle kiss. It was nothing like the kiss they had shared in his hotel suite. There was no urgency in it. No heat. Just tenderness. And somehow, that made it more intimate.

Ezinne closed her eyes as his lips lingered against her skin for a brief moment before he straightened.

She could still feel the warmth of his mouth after he stepped away.

"Goodnight, Ezinne," he said softly.

She opened her eyes, though there was nothing for her to see.

Her throat tightened slightly. "Goodnight, Mofe."

He gave her cheek one final soft stroke before turning away.

Ezinne remained seated behind the desk, listening as his footsteps crossed the study and disappeared into the hallway. Even after the front door eventually closed somewhere in the distance, she stayed exactly where she was, her fingers resting lightly against the spot on her forehead where he had kissed her as she replayed everything he’d just told her.

She had heard the anger in his voice when he spoke about discovering Azora. She had heard the hurt, the regret, and the years of longing he had carried with him. She had heard the raw honesty in the things he had finally allowed himself to say.

But somehow, words no longer felt like enough.

For the first time in a very long time, Ezinne found herself wishing she could have seen him. Not because she needed to know what he looked like. She knew his face.

She wanted to see what his face had looked like when he told her he had never stopped loving her. She wanted to see the expression in his eyes when he said her name. She wanted to see the man he had become.

And for someone who had spent years learning to live without sight, the realization unsettled her more than she expected. She had told herself she didn't need her sight and could manage without it. Tonight, for the first time, she found herself wishing she could see.



**********

He settled more comfortably into the chair and changed the subject. “So our much-anticipated career day went well," he said.

The tension eased almost immediately, and her smile grew. “Yeah, it went very well. And you were worrying for nothing.”

“The thought of having to explain software engineering and technology to ten-year-olds was quite daunting for me,” He told her.

“And somehow, against all odds, you survived.”

“Barely.”

Ezinne laughed softly. The truth was that she had been worried too, though not for the same reason.

She had spent part of the morning wondering how people at Azora’s school would react to Mofe suddenly appearing as her father. For years, teachers and parents had known Ezinne as Azora’s only visible parent, and now Mofe had walked into career day as though he had always been there.

In the end, nobody had made an issue of it.


"I was also quite terrified," she confessed quietly.

"Of what?" He asked in surprise.

"Everything." She laughed softly. "People asking questions. Parents wondering who you were. Teachers wondering why Azora suddenly had a father who looked like he had walked out of a technology magazine."

Mofe chuckled, and then sighed. "So you were also worried for nothing," he said.

"Yeah … I know that now." She nodded, smiling.

There had probably been curious glances and whispered questions, but no one had said anything directly. Besides, Azora had been far too excited about having her father there to notice anything anyway.

And Mofe had been brilliant. His ten-minute presentation had quickly become one of the most interesting sessions in the class. Ezinne had listened as the children became more excited with every video he played, especially when he showed them machines and robotic systems his company had worked on.

The questions had started immediately. They wanted to know whether robots could think, whether artificial intelligence could become smarter than people, and whether Mofe could build machines that did homework. At some point, even the teacher had started laughing because almost every question had somehow returned to robots.

"Your presentation was very good," she told him.

"Just … very good?" he asked, not sounding impressed by her comment about his presentation.

"Calm down, don't let it go to your head," she teased.

He smiled in defiance. "I was phenomenal."

Ezinne laughed. "You were," she admitted. "Azora was so proud of you."

“Yeah, she just told me I would have won the most awesome career if the trophy existed.”

Ezinne burst into an unexpected chuckle. “Azora said that?”

Mofe sighed, “she did.”

Ezinne knew Mofe had also won the Most Awesome Dad award, especially after her moving Lego robot had stolen the show. The project she and Mofe had spent time programming together had worked beautifully, and Azora had explained it confidently to the judges.

"Well deserved." Ezinne continued, shaking her head. "The robot was brilliant. You mentored her well."

Mofe's smile widened. "Nah, she did most of the work."

"You programmed it together,” she reminded him.

Mofe shrugged modestly, but Ezinne could hear the pride in his voice.

He didn’t have to be so modest. She’d silently listened in on them some afternoons when they had been building it. Azora was usually standing beside her father, while he patiently guided her through the difficult parts. The two of them making jokes and laughing together when the robot made odd moves.

It was the sort of memory she wished she could have seen. Instead, she had to build the image from their voices.

“Was I embarrassing?” He had to ask.

“A little.” Ezinne nodded, laughing at his question.

He groaned, “I really tried not to be.”

“Nope, you didn’t.” She said, shaking her head. "You whooped and cheered so loudly that everyone turned and were staring at us."

He laughed and shook his head. “Well, what was I supposed to do when my daughter won the science contest?”

“Winning that award for something she built with you...You gave her a day she will never forget,” she told him.

"I think it’s she who gave me one,” he said with a sigh. All the money in the world could never buy the experience of what he'd felt as a proud father.
Mofe’s smile slowly faded, as if he recalled something. “So did you."

Ezinne's fingers stilled. "Me? What did I do?"

"You gave me Azora,” He said quietly. “I don't think I've ever thanked you for the job you've done with her. “

Her breath caught as their discussion had taken a turn she didn't expect.

“She is a wonderful child, Ezinne. With me out of the picture all those years ago, there were decisions you could have taken, but you chose to keep the baby, and I'm also grateful for that. So, yes, you contributed to this wonderful memory that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. One of many beautiful memories to come.” He explained softly.

She was still trying to gather her words for a response when he spoke again, "speaking of memories... one other beautiful memory I've always kept with me, is the first time we were together."

There was something in his tone that made Ezinne sit straighter. "What… do you mean?"

He was silent for several seconds, then he said, "The first time we were together, Ezinne."

She heard him shift in his seat like he was now leaning forward.

"Do you remember? Because for me, I remember everything." He said, his voice was quieter and his eyes took on a distant look as the memory pulled him backward. “I remember everything about that evening, even stupid details that should have disappeared with time but didn't.”

Ezinne's heart gave an uncomfortable little thump. She hadn't expected their talk to veer in this direction.

The room suddenly seemed warmer.

Mofe leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting somewhere beyond her. "Now I know why that evening always haunted my thoughts and my dreams. If I'm right, it's most likely the night Azora was conceived. It was the only time we didn't use protection."

Ezinne swallowed, vaguely remembering something about a morning-after pill she was supposed to take but had kept postponing.

"Even when I was in America, I couldn't shut you out of my mind,” Mofe confessed. “The girl I left behind. The girl who tore my heart to shreds and I could never piece it back together.”

She remained completely still. He'd also shattered hers in the same way when he'd left.

“I really tried,” He raised his gaze to her again. “But you were always there somewhere.”

“Even when you were with Eve?” Her question was quiet, her voice light

Mofe nodded slowly. “Even then. God knows I tried. I had a whole life I had built for myself, a thriving company, influence, plans I had worked hard to achieve, and a beautiful fiancee who was a partner at a top law firm. I had convinced myself that I could move on, build something big and eventually stop looking back.”

Ezinne felt something twist inside her at the mention of his ex. She knew about Eve, but knowing about her and hearing Mofe speak about her were two different things.

Mofe looked down at his hands for a moment. His thumb moved slowly across his palm as though he needed something to do while saying things he had kept buried for years.

"But I still kept wondering about you," he said. "Where you were. What you were doing. Whether you were okay … if you were happy with him.” He paused, his mouth tightening slightly. “I also wondered if you had children. If only I'd known.”

Then he smiled bitterly. "Eventually, I knew I needed to see you."

Ezinne's throat tightened. She knew she was meant to listen and not interrupt. Mofe was making a confession, and she needed to hear him out even though she had questions to ask him.

“Why?” She asked, giving in to her curiosity.

“I kept telling myself it would bring me closure,” he explained. “That it did not mean anything. That everybody wonders about people from their past once in a while. And if I saw you one last time, I could finally put everything behind me. But I'd only been fooling myself.”

“So you didn’t believe any of that?” She asked.

“At first I did.” A faint, humourless smile touched his mouth. " But what I felt wasn't that easy to explain. It felt like I couldn't go another day without seeing you."

“And Eve? Did she know all this?”

Present Day


By the time Azora finally went to bed, the house had settled into the kind of quiet Mofe had begun to enjoy more than he cared to admit.

Mofe had spent most of the evening with her in the game room. After she’d gotten tired of playing Roblux, she’d moved on to Minecraft and resumed talking about the science fair, not minding that he had been there for every second of it. She had gone over the questions the judges asked, how her robot had responded exactly as programmed, and how nervous she had been when they began announcing the winners. By the third retelling, she had started yawning between sentences, but she still insisted she was not tired.

Mofe had eventually laughed, taken the game console from her hand, and pointed toward the stairs.

“Bed.”

Azora had groaned dramatically and accused him of being no fun, but she had gone upstairs anyway. He had followed her, waited outside while she brushed her teeth, and stood beside her bed while she carefully placed her science fair trophy on the small table where she could see it first thing in the morning.

“You know it's not like you'll wake up and discover it disappeared overnight,” he had teased.

“I know,” she had replied, laughing and pulling the covers over herself. “I just want to see it when I wake up.”

Mofe smiled and bent to kiss her forehead. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, Dad.”

He straightened and reached for the light switch, but before he could turn it off, Azora spoke again.

“Dad?”

He looked back at her. “Yes?”

There was a small smile in her voice when she said, “You were awesome today.”

Mofe paused.

“At Career Day,” she added, as though she needed to make sure he understood what she meant. “If they were giving trophies for the most awesome career, you would have won.”

For a moment, Mofe simply stood there. The words were so innocent, so casually offered, that Azora probably had no idea what they had done to him. Something warm spread through his chest.

He laughed softly, shaking his head as he looked at her. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

His smile widened. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He walked back to the bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead again. “That means a lot to me.”

Azora smiled beneath the covers.

“And honestly,” he continued, his voice gentler now, “it was a privilege talking to your classmates today. They were a great audience.”

“You made them laugh.”

“I noticed.”

“They liked you.”

“I liked them too.”

She smiled sleepily. “Good.”

Mofe stood there for another moment, looking at her. There was something about hearing her call him Dad so naturally and then hearing her praise him with such complete sincerity that made the moment settle somewhere deep inside him.

He had missed so much. He’d missed many ordinary moments, many little conversations, and opportunities to be the man she looked up to. And yet here she was, lying in bed after a long day, telling him he had been awesome.

He swallowed past the sudden tightness in his throat. “Goodnight, Azora.”

“Goodnight, Dad.”

This time, he switched off the light and quietly closed the door behind him, but as he walked downstairs, her words stayed with him. “If they were giving trophies for the most awesome career, you would have won.”

He found himself smiling again.

Now he was ready to return to the hotel. He picked up the jacket he had left downstairs and checked his phone, already thinking about the messages he needed to answer before sleeping. He would have headed straight for the front door, but instead his feet carried him toward the study.

He couldn't leave without saying goodnight to Ezinne, and he also needed to have a little discussion with her.

The door to the study was partly open, and Mofe pushed it wider before stepping inside. Ezinne sat behind the large desk with several pages spread in front of her, her fingers moving carefully over one of the documents while she listened to something playing softly through the small speaker beside her. Her glasses sat low on her nose, and a loose strand of braid had fallen near her cheek.

There was something about seeing her like that which made Mofe forget, for a moment, that he was supposed to leave.

She lifted her head almost immediately. “Are you leaving for the night?”

Mofe stopped just inside the room, staring at her for a moment before looking back at the doorway as though someone else might have entered before him.

“How do you always do that?” He asked.

“Do what?”

“How did you know it was me who came in and not someone else? Every single time.”

A small smile touched her lips. She placed the page down and leaned back slightly in her chair.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just do. It’s the same with Maureen, Rachel, and everyone I work with.”

Mofe walked farther into the room, amusement pulling at his mouth. “You didn’t even ask who was there. You just knew.”

Ezinne gave a small shrug. “Maybe it's your shoes.”

“My shoes?” he asked.

“Yes, the sound of them.”

Mofe looked down at the polished shoes on his feet before raising his gaze to her again. He was sure his shoes hadn't really been making that much sound. “You can identify me by the sound of my shoes?”

“Maybe.” Her smile widened slightly. “Or the sound of your walk. I don’t know exactly.”

“Well, that is amazing,” he confessed

Ezinne tilted her head. “Is it?”

“Yes.” He moved closer to the desk. “And slightly disturbing.”

She laughed softly. “Disturbing? Why?”

“Because I can never sneak up on you.”

“You have never been particularly subtle, Mofe. You may think you are, but you’re not,” she teased, and he chuckled and lowered himself into the chair opposite her, laying his jacket across one thigh.

For a few seconds, he simply looked at her, enjoying the calmness of the moment after the excitement of the day.

Then his expression became more serious. “We need to talk, Ezinne.”

Immediately, she heard the change in his voice, and her fingers stopped moving over the papers. “About?”

“The surgery, Ezinne.” He leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms against his thighs. “It has been about two weeks since the consultation.”

The question immediately wiped the lightness from the room, and the softness disappeared from her face. Mofe noticed it at once.

“Yes .. I know,” she said with a sigh. She had known the subject would eventually come up. The doctor had contacted her, but she had been avoiding giving a definite answer.

“So … what’s it going to be?" His voice remained gentle, but there was a firmness underneath it. "The doctor messaged me today."

Ezinne’s fingers moved toward the edge of one of the papers, smoothing it unnecessarily. “What did he say?”

“He said they are ready to schedule you.” Mofe watched her carefully as he spoke. “The hospital can start preparing everything as soon as you give them an answer.”

She was silent for a few seconds before turning her face slightly away from him. She hated the way the decision made her feel. For years, she had learned how to live with blindness. She had built routines around it, learned to recognize people by their voices and footsteps, learned to navigate rooms through memory and touch. She had learned to live without seeing Azora's face, without seeing Mofe standing across from her, without knowing what the world looked like anymore.

The possibility of getting all of that back should have been something to celebrate. Instead, it frightened her.

"I'm still not sure."

Mofe frowned. "Why, Ezinne? The doctor was very positive.”

“I know ... I know what he said.”

“He believes the surgery can help you.”

“Yes, I heard him.”

“And his team is ready.”

“Mofe.” The quiet warning in her voice stopped him.

He leaned back slightly and studied her expression, trying to understand what she was refusing to say. “What are you waiting for?”

Her mouth tightened. “I’m not waiting for anything.”

“You are.”

“I told you, I need more time.”

“You have had two weeks, Ezinne.”

“And maybe I need longer than two weeks.” Her voice had grown firmer now, and her shoulders had stiffened.

Mofe opened his mouth, then closed it again. He remembered how she had broken down after the consultation, how terrified she had been to allow herself to hope. To him, the decision seemed simple. If there was even a chance that she could see again, then she should take it.

But he was not the one who would be lying on the operating table.

He released a slow breath. “You’re still scared.”

Ezinne’s fingers stopped moving, and for a moment, she did not answer. Then she nodded once. “Yes. It's just ... I've operated this way for so long that it's become a part of who I am, and honestly, I'm fine with it. What if I do this now and it doesn't work or makes things worse? I'm just not ready to find out yet.”

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Mofe, please. Give me some time."

His expression softened as he studied her for several seconds. Her words took the argument out of him, and he knew she had to make the decision herself. He couldn't make her do it.

Ezinne could feel his gaze on her even though she couldn't see it, and that awareness made her strangely self-conscious.

He leaned back into the chair and rubbed one hand over his jaw as he decided not to push the surgery any further that night. Instead, he said, “okay.”

Her head turned toward him as the simplicity of his response surprised her. She had expected another argument.

“Okay?”

“I’ll give you time.”

Some of the tension left her shoulders as she said, “thank you.”

“But not forever,” he added.

A faint smile appeared on her face. "Of course, you cannot simply agree to something without adding conditions.”

He laughed quietly. “I am actually trying very hard to be patient.”

“Well, you were doing well until that last sentence.” She told him.

“Well, even a Saint has his limits."

Ezinne shook her head, but she was smiling now. It did things to him whenever he made her smile like that. It felt good, like he’d won a prize.

Frankcallys:
Aunty Repogirl, me I no sleep ooo. I was waiting for the present day part. Thank you for the update, We appreciate you well well jare 🫡

😂 My apologies abeg.

Due to circumstances controlling my beyond, I've not been able to write consistently. There's a power issue in my area that's hindering the process.

I'm not sure when the next part will be posted. Hopefully by tomorrow evening 8pm.