I never thought I'd be the kind of woman who needed proof of a man's lies. I always believed I'd know instinctively. That I was too sharp to be fooled.
But here I am, waiting in a quiet hotel lounge, heart in my throat, about to accept evidence that the man I loved built our entire life on a lie.
Nse walks in right on time, looking like she hasn't slept either. She doesn't bother with greetings this time. She just sits, opens her handbag, and pulls out a slim manila envelope.
She slides it across the table.
"This is everything. She says"
I hesitate before picking it up. The flap opens easily, like the truth has just been waiting for me to ask.
Inside: printed emails, bank records, prison photos, forged ID documents all tied to Kolade Akinola. My husband.
Fake certifications. Shell companies. Photos of him with people I've never met, laughing like a man who doesn't know guilt.
I feel like I've been punched in the chest.
"I kept everything," Nse says quietly. "At first, it was insurance. But now… now it feels like an apology."
I don't say anything. I can't. My throat is tight, my heart feels like it's caught in barbed wire.
"And this?" she says, pulling out one final photo.
I glance at it, and the room seems to tilt.
It's Kola no, Kolade standing outside my office building… six months before he ever applied for the job.
He was watching me.
Planning.
"You were a target, Rita," Nse says softly. "From the start."
I nod slowly, holding the picture between two fingers like it might burn me.
"How long was the plan supposed to last?"
"Until your company collapsed. Until your assets were seized. He was going to leave you with nothing."
"And the marriage?"
"A tool. A way in. You were the prize. The empire was the ultimate goal."
I stare at her, all the pieces clicking into place, one jagged truth after another.
"But something changed," she adds, eyes unreadable. "He stopped following the plan. After the wedding, he became… let's just say distracted."
"With me?"
She nods. "It happens. Even to the best liars."
I sit back, clutching the envelope in my lap.
So now I know.
Everything.
He planned this. He chose me. Not for love but for destruction.
And the worst part?
A piece of me still wonders if any of it was real, If he'd just gone along with her plan just to get close to me, If he took this job because he loved me and wanted to get close and this was the only opportunity he had.
Ahhhh !!!
Who was I kidding... I laughed bitterly at how foolish I'd become just because of the facede.
Now I wish I'd not fired Femi that morning and I begin to wonder, if they (Nse and companions) were responsible for the delay that caused Femi to be late on the particular day.
What if I'd given him a second chance...