CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR “CONVINCED”

© Opeyemi Akintunde

Inspired by the Holy One

Imade’s POV

How?

That was the only word my mind could form.

Not why.
Not when.
Just… how.

The room tilted slightly, as though the ground itself was rejecting me.

Teju stood at the doorway, half blocking my view, half shielding what he could no longer hide. He looked like a man trapped between panic and explanation… someone who had never imagined himself in a situation that required excuses, yet now had to invent one on the spot.

“I can explain,” he said again, this time softer.

“Things are not as they look.”

I didn’t respond.
Because behind him… on our honeymoon bed… sat Beauty.

She wasn’t naked.

Just… present…Too present.
Her hair was slightly disheveled.
Her robe loosely tied.
Her legs crossed with ease… casually, confidently… like she belonged there.

Like she had been there long enough to get comfortable.

Then the scent hit me fully.
Not imagination.
Not paranoia.
Her perfume.

The room smelled like betrayal wearing confidence. God! Please…

My mind exploded into motion, replaying everything at once… angrily.
The poolside laughter.
The careless jokes.
The advice she offered like wisdom.

The truth she packaged as freedom.

Her playbook.

She was the first to break the silence.

“Oh,” she said lightly, standing up.

“Imade… you’re back early.”

Early?

My knees almost gave way.

Teju turned sharply toward her.

“Beauty, please…”

“Please what?” she interrupted calmly.

“She deserves clarity, don’t you think?”

Clarity.

The same word Daniel had used.

I laughed… not loudly, not bitterly.

Just a small, broken sound that surprised even me.

“So this is it,” I said slowly, my voice steadier than my body felt. “This is the storm.”

Teju reached for my arm.
I stepped back.

“Don’t,” I said quietly.

My eyes moved from him… to her.

Beauty met my gaze without flinching.

“You see,” she said gently, like she was explaining something obvious,
“life doesn’t wait for indecisive people.”

My chest tightened.

“She came to tell me why you left,” Teju rushed to explain.

“She said you were going to live your truth. I…”

“So you decided to live your own truth,” I cut in, “by going to the next available girl?”

“Nothing happened between us,” Teju insisted.

But I was done with him.
I turned fully to Beauty.

“You told me,” I said slowly, carefully,
“to play my role and find love elsewhere.”

To my shock, she smiled faintly.

“I did.”

“So you decided to play your role… with my husband?”
She shrugged.

“He was lonely. You left him. Do I need to refresh your memory?”

I looked back at Teju.

“You gave me twenty-four hours,” I said.

“But I didn’t even use twelve.”

“And that’s what I’m saying,” he pleaded. “Nothing happened…”

My phone buzzed in my bag.
I didn’t check it.
I already knew.
My mother.
Her prophet.
The storm.

Only now did I understand something terrifying.
The storm hadn’t been waiting for us abroad.

It was hanging over us…

I stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind me.

Something settled inside me… quiet, firm, undeniable.

I was done managing half bread.

I was going to find my full bread.

Wherever Daniel was in the world… I would find him.
I picked up my boxes.
“Beauty, Teju,” I said calmly,
“please continue with your party. Forget I was ever here.”

I turned to Teju.

“When you’re done,” I added,
“meet me in the car. We’ll go home.”

Then, almost thoughtfully, I said,
“Becoming housemates will be more bearable than the marriage plan we signed up for.”

I looked back at Beauty.

“Feel free to visit the house.”
With that, I opened the door, wheeled my boxes out, and walked away.

To be continued..

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