AKANNI'S POV
The phone rang once, I answered without looking.
"Toke?"
Her sob hit me before her words.
"Akanni… please," she cried, breathless. "Demi is hurting her. Bukky—he's—please come now."
Everything in me went cold, then hot.
I didn't ask questions, didn't think, didn't breathe properly.
I grabbed my keys and was already moving before the call ended.
The drive blurred—red lights ignored, speed unchecked, my hands gripping the wheel so hard my knuckles burned. My heart wasn't racing. It was pounding with one singular command:
Get there. Now.
By the time I reached the villa, I didn't park properly. I abandoned the car, storming toward the door.
Toke flung it open before I could knock.
Her face was soaked in tears.
"He's inside—"
That was all she managed before I was already past her.
The sound hit me first.
Bukky's voice—strained, broken.
Then Demi.
I turned the corner and saw it.
Bukky was on the floor, struggling to rise, Demi towering over her, fury and frustration twisting his face. His hand was raised again.
Something snapped in me.
I didn't shout.
I moved.
I grabbed Demi from behind and slammed him away from her with a force that sent him crashing into the wall.
He barely had time to turn before my fist met his jaw.
Once.
Twice.
"You don't touch her!" I roared.
He swung back, wild, desperate. I blocked it easily.
"There is no pride—"
I punched him again.
"—no honor—"
Another blow.
"—in a man—"
I grabbed his collar, driving him backward.
"—who beats his wife!"
He stumbled, shocked, blood already blooming at the corner of his mouth.
"She pushed me!" he yelled. "She—"
I hit him again.
"You walk away," I said through clenched teeth. "You leave. You do not raise your hand. Ever."
He lunged at me, rage overtaking sense.
I ended it.
One final punch that sent him sprawling to the floor, gasping, broken—not just physically, but in spirit.
"Stay down," I warned, standing over him. "If I ever hear you touched her again, there will be no one to stop me."
Then I turned.
"Bukky," I breathed.
She was pale. Too pale.
Her eyes met mine briefly—confused, overwhelmed.
"Akanni…" she whispered.
Then she screamed.
"Stop—please—stop—!"
Her body shook violently, then she collapsed. Everything in me dropped.
I was beside her in seconds, lifting her carefully, her weight terrifyingly light in my arms.
"Bukky—stay with me," I said urgently, tapping her cheek gently. "Hey. Look at me."
No response.
Toke was crying behind me.
"She fainted—she just—"
"I know," I said firmly. "Get the keys. Now."
I didn't look back at Demi.
He no longer mattered.
I carried Bukky out of that house like something sacred and fragile, my jacket wrapped around her, shielding her from everything—including the truth I couldn't fix anymore. My voice shook for the first time as I spoke.
"You're safe now," I whispered into her hair.
"I've got you."
I laid her gently into the car, climbed in, and drove straight toward the hospital—sirens screaming in my head even though the road was silent.