Part 2:

 

Chioma didn’t dare to breathe.

Her fingers gripped the food bag so tightly the plastic crinkled softly. Cold sweat trickled down her back, soaking her blouse. Each of Femi’s footsteps on the floor was terrifyingly clear: slow, steady, like a countdown.

He was approaching her.

One step.

Then another one.

Chioma closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to think.

If she stayed still, he would discover her.

If she ran away, the noise would give her away.

His heart was beating so hard it seemed to break the silence of the house.

So he did the only thing he could.

He left.

Not too fast. Not too slow. As if it had just arrived at that moment.

—¿Femi?

His voice came out firm, even though his throat was dry.

Femi stopped.

Just a second… but enough.

Something strange shone in his eyes.

It was no surprise.

It was calculation.

“Chioma?” He frowned, instantly shifting to his usual worried expression. “You’re back? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He coughed twice.

False.

So fake it made his stomach turn.

Chioma took a few steps forward, placing the bag on the table — right next to the still-lit phone.

The call had ended.

But the evidence was still there.

“I was worried about you,” she said, without looking away. “You said you were sick.”

Femi smiled weakly, reflexively arranging the blanket on the sofa.

—I already feel better… I think the medicine worked.

Chioma looked at the blanket.

Wrinkle-free.

The glass of water, untouched.

Nothing sick about him.

—Oh, really?

Silence.

The air became heavy.

Femi opened her mouth…

But Chioma was faster.

He opened the folder.

Suddenly.

—¡No—!

Too late.

He took out the document.

And her world… shattered.

His name wasn’t there.

He had disappeared.

Instead, under the name Femi…

Adanna Okeke.

Chioma let out a dry laugh.

—Adanna… —he repeated—. Is that “she”?

Femi remained motionless.

Without a mask.

“You shouldn’t have seen that,” she said quietly.

“I shouldn’t have come home,” she replied.

They looked at each other.

For the first time… for real.

“What were you planning to do?” he asked. “Transfer the house? The money? And then what?”

Femi sighed.

“Start over,” he said. “A life without debt. Without pressure.”

—Without me.

She nodded.

—So… what am I?

Silence.

—A necessary step.

That should have destroyed her.

But not.

Not this time.

Chioma left the document.

Carefully.

Then he looked up.

She wasn’t the same anymore.

—You were wrong, Femi.

-In what?

She smiled.

—You thought I didn’t know anything.

He took out his phone.

Screen on.

Recording.

Femi paled.

—Three days ago —she said—, when you started to “get sick”… I already suspected something.

He stared at him.

—I work in accounting. I know how to read numbers… and people.

He played the audio.

—“I already transferred it… the title… the account… everything.”

Femi retreated.

—You—

—And that’s not all—she interrupted.

He took out an envelope.

—I spoke with the bank.

He left it on the table.

—And with a lawyer.

Total silence.

“You transferred shared assets without my consent,” he said. “That’s fraud.”

A break.

—And I just recorded it.

Femi was lost.

—Chioma, listen—

—No.

Her voice was soft.

But finally.

—Now it’s my turn.

She took the bag of food.

As if nothing had happened.

He walked towards the door.

It stopped.

Without turning around.

“Ah… and Femi….”

Silence.

—Check your email on Friday.

One last sentence:

—I have a plan too.

The door closed.

Suave.

But definitely.

Three weeks later.

Femi was alone.

A rented apartment.

Cold light.

Phone vibrating nonstop.

Bank.

Lawyers.

Accounts frozen.

Demands.

Adanna… disappeared.

Without a trace.

Without explanation.

Only him.

And the consequences.

Elsewhere in the city, Chioma was drinking coffee by his office window.

At peace.

For the first time in a long time.

Her phone vibrated.

A new email.

“The assets have been secured. The process is progressing favorably.”

Chioma smiled.

Not a victory.

But freedom.

Outside, the city remained the same.

But inside her…

Everything had changed.

She was no longer the woman hiding in a dark hallway.

Now he was walking towards the light.

And this time—

No one would ever take his life again.