Morning came like it didn't care what had happened the night before.
Amechi opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a long time, as if the white paint could give him answers. The room was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that made you hear your own heartbeat.
He sat up slowly, rubbing his face.
His phone was beside him on the bed.
For a moment, he didn't touch it.
He already knew what he would see.
The last thing he did last night was delete the chat history with Oge. Like that would erase the confusion, the anger, the betrayal, the weight in his chest.
Like it would erase her.
He picked up the phone anyway.
No message.
Of course there wouldn't be.
He deleted everything.
Amechi exhaled sharply and dropped the phone back on the bed.
"Good," he muttered to himself. "Let it stay like that."
But even as he said it, he knew he was lying.
The truth was simple: he wasn't okay.
He wasn't okay with the pregnancy.
He wasn't okay with the clinic result.
He wasn't okay with Nneka's words.
And he wasn't okay with the fact that… deep down, he still cared.
He stood up and went to the bathroom, splashing water on his face.
His eyes looked tired.
Not the kind of tired sleep could fix.
The kind of tired that came from carrying too many things alone.
Later, he was sitting outside with Emma, both of them eating bread and tea from a small nylon.
Emma kept watching him the way a brother watched someone he couldn't force to talk.
"You didn't sleep," Emma finally said.
Amechi didn't answer.
Emma sighed. "Guy, you think silence will solve this thing?"
Amechi took a bite, chewed slowly, then swallowed.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked quietly. "Talk to her?"
Emma leaned back. "At least talk to yourself first. You're fighting everything inside your head."
Amechi laughed without humor.
"You know what's funny? I used to pray for love. I wanted the kind that feels safe… the kind that makes you want to be better. I thought I had found it. I wanted it so badly. And now…" He laughed, but it wasn't funny. "…it feels like I've been drowning in lies all along."
Emma nodded slowly.
" Amechi's voice broke slightly. "…it feels like I'm drowning."
Emma stared at him.
Amechi looked away quickly, as if he had said too much.
Emma lowered his voice. "You're not drowning, Amechi. You're just scared."
Amechi's jaw tightened.
Emma continued. "And you have every reason to be scared. But you can't keep running from it."
Amechi's phone vibrated.
His heart jumped before he could control it.
He picked it up.
Unknown number.
He frowned.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
There was a pause.
Then a female voice.
"Amechi."
His body went stiff.
That voice.
He knew it.
"Nneka?" he asked, disbelief mixed with irritation.
"Yes," she said calmly. "It's me."
Amechi stood up immediately, stepping away from Emma.
"How did you get my number?"
"That's what you're asking?" Nneka replied, sounding almost amused. "Not why I'm calling?"
Amechi clenched his fist.
Emma watched him from where he sat, his eyes narrowing.
Amechi remembering last experience with her, spoke through his teeth, "Why are you calling?"
Nneka inhaled softly, like she was preparing to drop a bomb.
"Because I don't think you understand what you're dealing with."
Amechi's chest tightened.
"What are you talking about?"
Nneka's voice dropped lower.
"Oge is not the only one lying to you."
Amechi froze.
His brain almost refused to process it.
"Who else is lying?" he asked.
Nneka didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she said, "You're not at home, are you?"
Amechi's throat went dry.
"Why does that matter?"
"It matters," she said, "because I'm close to your street."
Amechi's heart skipped.
"What?"
"I need to see you," Nneka said. "Today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today."
Amechi's mind raced.
He remembered last night. The questions. The pregnancy paper. The confusion.
And now Nneka was calling like she had something else.
Something worse.
Amechi forced his voice to stay steady.
"Why should I even believe you?" he asked.
Nneka's voice sharpened.
"Because I have proof, Amechi."
Silence.
Amechi's fingers tightened around the phone.
"What proof?" he asked.
Nneka hesitated.
Then she said the words that made Amechi's stomach twist.
"Proof that Oge didn't come into your life by accident."
Amechi felt his knees weaken.
He leaned against the wall, breathing harder.
Emma stood up now, sensing the danger.
"What do you mean?" Amechi whispered.
Nneka's voice became softer, almost pitying.
"I'll show you. But not on phone. I don't want anyone hearing it."
Amechi swallowed.
"Fine," he said.
"Where?" Nneka asked.
Amechi looked around, his eyes landing on the small junction near the supermarket.
"Meet me at the junction near the supermarket," he said. "In thirty minutes."
"Good," Nneka replied. "Don't come with anyone."
Amechi's eyes narrowed.
"I'm coming alone," he said.
"Good," Nneka repeated. "And Amechi… don't tell Oge you're meeting me."
The call ended.
Amechi stood there, frozen.
Emma walked closer.
"Who was that?" Emma asked.
Amechi stared at his phone like it had just betrayed him.
"Nneka," he said.
Emma's eyes widened. "What does she want?"
Amechi's voice came out rough.
"She said she has proof."
"Proof of what?"
Amechi swallowed hard.
"Proof that Oge didn't come into my life by accident."
Emma stared at him like he didn't understand.
Then he laughed, but it wasn't funny.
"Guy," Emma said slowly, "this is starting to look like something bigger."
Amechi nodded once.
It was.
And he was walking into it.