Steve's POV
The safehouse felt smaller than ever — walls closing in like the noose tightening around our necks. It was a suffocating silence, the kind that presses on your chest and makes each breath a fight. The city beyond was alive with its usual hum: cars rattling over cracked roads, faint music leaking from a late-night bar, distant sirens slicing the dark. But inside, everything was brittle, fragile, held together by frayed threads.
I paced, boots scraping sharply against the cold concrete, the sound a metronome to my spiraling thoughts. Each step was mechanical, a desperate attempt to control the storm brewing inside my head.
We weren't just fighting Koleosho anymore.
No.
The real enemy had wormed its way into our midst.
And it wasn't lurking in the shadows outside — it was inside.
Inside these walls. Inside our circle.
Poison coursing through our veins.
I caught Jomiloju's gaze. She sat curled against the cracked plaster wall, knees drawn to her chest, eyes darting between me and the shadows stretching beyond the threadbare curtains.
There was no warmth there.
Only suspicion. Cold, sharp suspicion.
"We can't trust everyone anymore," I said, my voice rough, low — a warning and a confession.
She swallowed, lips pressing into a hard, unforgiving line. "Who then?" she asked, voice quiet but cutting.
I stopped pacing, turning to face her squarely.
"Someone close. Someone who knows our moves before we make them."
The words hung between us like a poison, and for a moment, I saw betrayal flicker behind her eyes.
Jomiloju's POV
The ground beneath me fractured.
The foundation we'd spent months building — trust, loyalty, brotherhood — cracked like brittle glass.
The betrayal wasn't some faceless enemy on the other side of the battlefield.
It was inside.
Among us.
The poison was in our blood.
Tunde. Ada. Steve.
Who could I still believe in?
I demanded the signs.
"Show me," I said, voice trembling but fierce. "If we're to survive this, I need to know how to spot the snake hiding in plain sight."
Steve nodded slowly.
His jaw clenched tight as he lowered his voice, turning the lesson into a prayer.
"Listen for the lies beneath the words — the half-truths that don't line up. Watch the eyes that dart away when you ask the hard questions. Feel the tension in the room — that quiet scream no one dares to speak."
I swallowed hard.
The weight of it settled on me like a shroud.
Ada's POV
Every day felt like walking on a razor's edge.
The lies I told weren't easy.
They were necessary — or so I told myself.
But with every secret I kept, the noose around my neck tightened.
I watched the team.
Not with suspicion.
But with aching guilt.
I could see it growing — the subtle glances, the barely concealed distrust.
I felt their questions before they asked them.
The cracks in our circle were widening.
If Koleosho ever discovered I'd betrayed him, there would be no mercy.
Death.
I was caught in a web with no clear escape.
My heart was a war zone, torn between loyalty and survival.
Tunde's POV
The intel was a labyrinth.
Koleosho's influence stretched deeper than any of us had dared hope.
Politicians, businessmen, and shadowy figures we'd called allies were all threads in his spiderweb.
One wrong move, one wrong thread pulled, and the entire city could unravel.
I could feel the noose tightening.
One of us was feeding Koleosho information.
I didn't know who.
But the signs were there.
Steve's POV
We had to fight fire with fire.
Set traps.
Spread false information with surgical precision.
Every message, every step, watched carefully.
We baited the enemy, waiting for the trap to snap shut.
Days crawled by in tense silence.
Then came the slip.
A missed meeting.
A message sent too soon.
Jomiloju's POV
The realization hit me like a blow.
Ada.
The one I trusted more than anyone.
The one who stood beside me through every nightmare.
Her betrayal cut deeper than any gunshot.
When we confronted her, the dam broke.
Tears streamed down her face as she confessed.
"I did it to protect you," she sobbed.
"Protect me?" I echoed, fury burning through every word. "By betraying me? By selling us out?"
She couldn't answer.
Only silence.
Steve's POV
It wasn't just a betrayal of trust.
It was a weapon.
One Koleosho wielded with masterful cruelty — fracturing us from within, poisoning our bonds.
My fists clenched, fury rising like a wildfire I could barely contain.
But beneath the rage, I knew this was far from over.
We had survived worse.
This was just another war.
Expanded Scenes and Emotional Depth
The Suffocating Safehouse
The room felt like a cage.
Every shadow seemed to twitch, every breath felt monitored.
We gathered in the main hall — an unfinished, cluttered space with cracked plaster walls and flickering fluorescent lights.
Tunde was seated at the corner, rubbing his temple.
Ada sat opposite, hands tightly folded, eyes darting nervously.
Jomiloju leaned against the window frame, arms crossed, jaw clenched.
I stood near the door, fists tight.
The weight of suspicion hung thick between us.
The Trust Fracture
I broke the silence.
"We're not safe here," I said. "Not with a mole feeding Koleosho."
Tunde looked up sharply. "Someone is turning on us from inside."
Jomiloju's eyes burned. "Who?"
I glanced at Ada.
She swallowed hard.
I felt the room close in.
Watching the Signs
I told Jomi what to watch for — the subtle lies, the cracks in stories, the hesitation in eyes.
She nodded, absorbing every word like armor.
"People who can't meet your gaze when you ask about what matters."
"Those who deflect questions with charm or silence."
"And those who get nervous when plans change."
Her voice was steady despite the tremor beneath.
Ada's Torment
That night, Ada sat alone on the rooftop.
The city lights blurred through tears she refused to shed.
"I never wanted this," she whispered to the empty air.
Her betrayal was a prison she'd built to protect us all — but the bars were closing in.
Tunde's Suspicion
Tunde poured over the intel again, looking for any sign of the leak.
His jaw tightened with every name crossed off the list.
"We're dealing with a ghost," he muttered. "One who knows our every move."
The Trap Springs
We staged a false meeting — a bait to flush out the traitor.
Messages were sent with slight errors, rumors of a planned raid whispered carefully.
Days passed with no response.
Then, the slip.
A meeting was missed.
A message sent too early.
The game was up.
The Confrontation
We cornered Ada in the kitchen.
Her eyes darted like a cornered animal.
I looked at Jomi, who nodded.
"Why?" I asked, voice low but fierce.
Tears welled in Ada's eyes.
"I did it to protect you. To protect all of us."
Jomi's voice was icy. "Protect by betraying? By selling us out?"
Ada's silence screamed the answer.
The Aftermath
The room was thick with tension.
Jomi's hand trembled as she touched Ada's shoulder.
"We're broken," she whispered.
"No," I said, voice firm. "We're just beginning."
Final Scene — Fire and Resolve
The safehouse was dark.
The city slept, unaware of the storm brewing inside these walls.
Jomiloju's hand found mine in the darkness.
Her voice was fierce, fierce enough to light a fire inside me.
"We're not broken."
"We're just beginning."
And for the first time in weeks, I believed her.