Love can blind you. But betrayal makes you see everything....
The drive was long and quiet....too quiet.
Darian sat beside me in the backseat, phone in his hand, eyes fixed on the window. He didn't speak, and I didn't dare ask where we were going.
The car hummed softly, tires rolling over smooth asphalt. Lagos blurred past... tall glass buildings, the bridge, the waves hitting the shore in the distance but the silence between us was louder than the city.
I clutched my bag tighter, feeling the folded note hidden inside. My palm was damp. My heart hadn't stopped racing since dawn.
We turned off the main road and into a narrow path lined with tall trees. The house behind us disappeared from view.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked.
He looked at me, his expression unreadable. "Somewhere peaceful....somewhere private."
Private?...The word made me tense.
I turned to the window again. The car stopped in front of an old building by the water, a quiet estate surrounded by white fences. It looked abandoned, but the guards outside told another story.
"This used to be my family's place," Darian said as he stepped out. "Now, it's just… history."
He opened the door for me. His tone was calm, but his eyes were sharp, watching my every move.
Inside, the air smelled like dust and salt. Faded paintings hung on the walls, and the floor creaked with each step.
I followed him down a narrow corridor until we reached a room with a long table and boxes stacked neatly against the wall.
He stopped beside one and looked at me. "Do you remember your father's company?"
My chest tightened. "Of course I do. He built it from nothing."
Darian nodded slowly. "Yes.....and when he died, everything changed."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
He looked at the box, then back at me. "Your father didn't just run a company, Adanna. He hid something inside it. Something people would kill to find."
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
"What are you talking about?"
He sighed. "I didn't come into your life by accident."
The words hit like a slap.
He walked around the table, eyes never leaving mine. "The night you found that file....Target A.C... you weren't supposed to see it. But since you did, you deserve the truth."
I froze. Every muscle in my body went tight.
"You were sent to destroy me," I whispered.
He didn't deny it. "At first… yes."
The air in the room felt heavier.
"At first?" I repeated.
He took a step closer. "Adanna, listen. I was sent to find what your father hid....data, documents, whatever it was. Your family's company wasn't just business. It was cover for something bigger."
"What kind of something?"
"Evidence," he said quietly. "Against the people who hired me."
The floor seemed to tilt under my feet.
I shook my head slowly. "You're lying."
"I wish I was."
"Then why marry me?" I demanded. "Why pretend to love me?"
He looked at me, not angry, not cold. Just… tired.
"Because somewhere along the line, it stopped being pretend."
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to. But the note. The cameras. The voice message.
"You said we move at dawn," I said, my voice shaking. "Those were your words."
His jaw tightened. "That was before I knew they'd use you as bait."
I blinked. "Use me?"
He nodded. "Your father's files are buried under your name. You're the only one who can open them."
The room spun for a moment.
My father's voice echoed faintly in my memory..."Never share your passwords, Ada....Not even with someone you love."
I'd laughed when he said that.
Now it felt like a warning.
"So this is what it's all been about," I whispered. "The wedding. The love. Everything."
His voice softened. "No. Not everything."
He stepped closer again, hand reaching for mine. "I tried to protect you."
I pulled back. "By locking people in rooms?"
His eyes flickered, guilt passing through them like shadow. "You weren't supposed to see that."
I turned away. The walls suddenly felt too close.
"Who's in there, Darian?"
Silence...
"Tell me!"
He exhaled, voice low. "Someone who tried to take what doesn't belong to them."
I faced him. "A person, not a thing."
He didn't argue. And that scared me more than any lie could have.
"Adanna," he said after a moment, "you need to trust me now. I can't explain everything yet. Not here. Not while they're watching."
"Who's watching?"
He looked toward the ceiling...the corners, the windows. "They always are."
His paranoia felt real. The way he scanned the room, the way his voice dropped.... it wasn't performance. It was fear.
But I didn't know if he feared them… or me.
We drove back to the mansion at sunset.
The sky burned orange and red, like fire touching water....
Neither of us spoke....
When we reached home, he went straight to his study.
I stayed outside the door, listening.
His voice was low, urgent. "She knows more than she should. No, not yet. I'll handle it."
He paused, then added, "Yes. If it comes to that."
My blood ran cold....
If it comes to what?
That night, I didn't sleep....
I replayed everything in my head.....my father's death, Darian's calm lies, the locked door, the woman on the screen.
I couldn't tell which part scared me most....that he was lying, or that he was telling the truth.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of shouting downstairs...
Two guards were arguing near the front door. One of them looked panicked, the other firm...
"What's going on?" I asked.
They froze...
"Nothing, ma'am," the older one said quickly. "Just a misunderstanding."
But as they turned, I saw something....a slip of paper in the younger guard's hand. The same handwriting as before.
Before I could say a word, Darian appeared at the top of the stairs. "Adanna," he said, smiling. "Come eat."
The guard stuffed the paper in his pocket and looked away.
At breakfast, Darian was calm again...Too calm....
"After breakfast," he said, pouring coffee, "we'll go see your father's old office."
My spoon froze midway. "Why?"
"Because it's time," he said simply. "You deserve to see where it all began."
Every instinct in me screamed don't go, but curiosity fought back.
If my father really hid something… if Darian's story was true… that office might hold the answers I'd been chasing.
I nodded slowly. "Okay."
He smiled, satisfied. "Good girl."
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
Hours later, as we drove toward the city, I watched him quietly. The man beside me wasn't just my husband. He was my hunter, my protector, and maybe… my prisoner too.
Because even though I feared him, I was starting to see it.... the cracks in his calm, the flicker of guilt, the small way his hand trembled when he thought I wasn't looking.
Maybe he wasn't the only one trapped...
Maybe we both were...
When we reached the building...my father's old company... it was empty, dust-covered, untouched for years.
But Darian walked through it like he'd been there a thousand times.
He stopped near a framed picture on the wall. My father's face smiled back at us, proud and gentle.
Darian touched the frame lightly. "He was smarter than they gave him credit for."
"You knew him?"
He nodded. "Before he died. He warned me about them too."
"Them who?"
He looked at me, eyes dark. "The people who run everything from behind the glass."
My stomach turned. "So you're saying he was killed?"
He didn't answer directly. "Let's just say accidents don't always happen by chance."
I stepped closer to my father's desk.
The wood was old, scratched, but one corner looked newer.... like it had been replaced recently.
My fingers brushed over it...Something clicked...
A hidden compartment slid open.
Inside was a flash drive...
Small. Dusty. With my initials carved into it.
A.C.
I turned to Darian. His eyes widened slightly, then softened.
"You see?" he whispered. "This is what they wanted."
I held it close. "And now?"
"Now," he said, "we finish what your father started."
But as he reached for it, I pulled back.
"Not until I know everything."
He smiled faintly, almost proud. "Good. You're stronger than I thought."
He turned toward the window. "We don't have much time. If they know you've found it, they'll come."
"Who will?"
He didn't answer.
Outside, I heard a faint sound.... engines, approaching fast.
Darian's eyes met mine. "They already know."...
To be continued...