The next morning arrives not with sunlight, but with a raging storm.
Rain lashes against my window like it's trying to scrub the city clean the lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, make it seeme like a freaking horror film scene. I stand there for a long moment, watching the streets blur beneath the heavy downpour. Lagos never stops moving even when everything inside you is coming undone.
I take my time getting dressed. Today isn't about revenge.
It's about taking control.
Gloria picks me up just before 9 a.m., her usual calm tinged with quiet urgency.
"We've isolated three more suspicious vendors," she says as we drive through Victoria Island. "All linked through one person our new procurement officer. Guess who referred him?"
I raise an eyebrow. "Kola."
She nods. "It was subtle. Through a middleman agency. But the trail is there."
I sigh, pulling out my notepad. I jot down the names she gives me.
"You're doing great," I say softly. "I hope you know that."
She smiles for the first time in days. "So are you."
At the office, I call a meeting with my remaining core team. We're a smaller group now too many trusted faces have walked out or turned into strangers. But those who stayed? They matter more than ever a subtle reminder of the havoc Kola caused.
"We're implementing a full system freeze," I tell them. "All procurement, hiring, and finance operations are paused until further notice. We're rebuilding from the inside out."
Tunde, loyal and blunt, clears his throat. "Will that affect clients too? He asked."
"Yes. And we'll handle the fallout as it comes. But we can't keep pretending we're not bleeding."
I catch the flicker of understanding in their eyes. For the first time since everything started crumbling, I sense alignment.
Then Gloria leans close and whispers, "He called."
My heart stumbles.
"Kolade?"
She nods. "from a blocked number. But I recorded it."
She plays it back in her phone's speaker just low enough that only I can hear. It's him smooth, quiet, deliberate.
> "I never meant for it to go this far, Rita. But you were never supposed to love me. That wasn't part of the plan."
The breath I draw in hurts. His voice still does something to me, even now, even after everything.
Quite a nerve he has though, mentioning I wasn't supposed to love him. Like was he even supposed to accept such a devious job offer from Nse...
He continues:
> "I wanted to stop. I did. But stopping meant losing you, and I couldn't figure out how to do both. So I kept going. I'm sorry."
The message ends, and Gloria locks the phone.
I look up at the team, at the plans on the board behind them, at the empty chair where he once waited for me in the parking lot, hands folded like a gentleman.
"I want a press release ready," I say calmly. "We're going public with the security breach."
Tunde frowns. "Won't that damage the brand beyond repair?"
"It'll save our integrity."
Because what he tried to destroy wasn't just my business it was my reputation. My name. And I won't let that go quietly.
I don't know where Kolade is. But I know he's watching. Listening.
And if he thinks I'm broken, he's mistaken.
I've only just begun to rise, Like the phoenix I am or should I say an albatross whichever is stronger...