Nkiru understood before he finished.
“She recommended you.”
“Yes.”
“And you accepted partly because Kede was there.”
Tobe could barely speak.
“Partly.”
Nkiru sat down.
They had celebrated that job.
She remembered exactly.
They had almost no money.
Tobe had been unemployed for months.
When the offer came, she bought him a blue tie from a small shop because the one he liked in the mall cost too much.
They ate takeaway rice from plastic containers that night and prayed before his first day.
Nkiru had held his hands across their tiny dining table.
God, open doors for my husband.
Give him wisdom.
Protect his work.
Let this be the beginning of stability.
Now she looked at him.
“We celebrated that job.”
“I know.”
“I bought you that ridiculous blue tie.”
“I remember.”
“We could barely afford it.”
“I know.”
“I prayed over your first day.”
Tobe whispered:
“I know.”
“And while I thought my husband was building our future, you were positioning yourself near a child you believed might belong to you.”
“I never approached him.”
Nkiru laughed.
“That is your defense?”
“I only watched from a distance.”
He wiped his eyes.
“Company events. Family days. Sometimes across a room. That was all.”
“Did Tami know?”
“Yes.”
Nkiru looked toward Tami.
Tami could not meet her eyes.
“I was afraid of losing you,” Tobe said.
Nkiru looked back at him.
“You keep saying fear like it is permission.”
The investigation still was not finished.
Farin called another meeting the following morning.
“We reopened Kunle’s archived emails.”
Dapo sat slowly.
“And?”
“He knew about the real DNA report.”
Tami went pale.
“How long?”
“Eight years.”
Tobe stared.
“He was blackmailing Dapo.”
Farin nodded.
“Among other people.”
Nkiru looked at Tami.
“What did Kunle want from you?”
“Silence.”
“About what?”
Tami closed her eyes.
“The payment.”
The room froze.
Farin leaned forward.
“You knew Kunle altered Tobe’s transaction?”
“Not immediately.”
“When?”
“Two days after Tobe was suspended.”
Tobe stood.
“Two days?”
“I found an access log.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Kunle came to my office before I could report him.”
Tami’s voice shook.
“He showed me the DNA report.”
Tobe stared.
“He had the real one.”
“Yes.”
“And threatened to release it?”
“Yes.”
Tami began crying.
“He said if I reported the payment alteration, he would expose everything about Kede, the relationship, my father’s interference, all of it.”
Tobe walked away from the table.
“So you let them call me a thief.”
“I thought the investigation would collapse.”
“It didn’t.”
“I know.”
“I lost my job.”
“I know.”
“Our rent fell behind.”
“I know.”
“My wife sold jewelry.”
Tami’s eyes closed.
“I know.”
Tobe turned.
“You knew that too?”
“I checked on both of you.”
“From where?”
Tami answered: