Before Nkiru could obtain more, another anonymous message arrived.
Meet me at Johnson’s underground car park. One hour. Come alone.
Nkiru almost deleted it.
Then recognized the sender’s phrasing from earlier messages.
She went.
Farin Akinwale waited beside a dark sedan.
Nkiru stopped several feet away.
“You could knock.”
Farin looked tired.
“Were you sending me those messages?”
“Some.”
“The hotel video?”
“Yes.”
“The message that led me to your father’s involvement?”
“Yes.”
“You used me.”
Farin absorbed the accusation.
“I gave you information anonymously because if I confronted my father directly, he would have closed ranks with Tami.”
“So instead you detonated the truth inside my marriage.”
“Tobe should have told you years ago.”
“Do not use his failure to clean yours.”
Farin looked down.
“You’re right.”
“Why me?”
“Because my father respects you.”
Nkiru laughed bitterly.
“That is not a reason.”
“Because Tami fears your judgment more than mine.”
“That is worse.”
“And because Tobe loves you enough that eventually he would stop lying.”
Nkiru stared.
“You studied my marriage like a business problem.”
“I needed the truth out.”
“Truth is not automatically justice because a billionaire decides when to release it.”
Farin was silent.
Then:
“You’re right.”
The answer took some of her anger away.
Not much.
“What drove you?”
“I was angry.”
“At who?”
“My father.”
Pause.
“Tami.”
Another.
“The whole machinery of this family.”
Nkiru folded her arms.
“So you turned me into the machinery.”
Farin nodded.
“I did.”
“Who sent the latest message?”
“Not me.”
“The DNA archive?”
“No.”
Nkiru’s eyes narrowed.
“Then who?”
“I don’t know.”
Two days later, one of the company’s forensic investigators requested an urgent meeting.
Nkiru.
Tobe.
Farin.
Tami.
Dapo.
The investigator placed an encrypted drive on the table.
“This was recovered after Kunle Balogun’s office computers were seized for review.”
Farin frowned.
“What is it?”
“An archived folder.”
The investigator opened it.
KA-08.
Inside were laboratory files.
Scanned collection records.
Emails.
A PDF bearing the same accession number as Tobe’s paternity test.
Nkiru leaned forward.
The investigator opened it.
Relationship DNA analysis.
Child: Kede.
Alleged father: Tobechukwu Eze.
Probability of paternity:
99.9987%.
Nobody moved.
Tobe stared at the number.
Tami put one hand over her mouth.
Nkiru looked from the screen to Dapo.
“The laboratory numbers match.”
Farin whispered:
“Somebody could have created this.”
The investigator nodded.
“That is why we recommend independent retesting.”
Nkiru looked toward Tami.
“Kede is a child.”
Everyone turned.
“He is not evidence.”
The investigator said:
“Exactly. A modern test would be for relationship clarity only. It should not be treated as a custody determination.”
Tami shook her head.