The apartment felt different after the video ended.
Shemmy couldn't stop staring at the blank laptop screen.
Emeka.
The name alone carried too many memories.
Too many unfinished emotions.
Ruth broke the silence first.
"So… let me understand this properly."
She pointed at the laptop.
"Your ex fiancé sneaks into your studio, tells you not to trust your current man, and somehow he might be working with the same people who burned your studio?"
She shook her head slowly.
"This story is getting crazy."
Shemmy sat down on the couch.
"I still don't understand why he would come back."
Daevyd leaned against the table.
"Money."
"That's your first guess?"
"It's the most common reason people betray someone."
Shemmy looked up at him.
"You think Emeka betrayed me?"
"I think someone hired him."
Ruth nodded.
"That actually makes sense."
Shemmy rubbed her forehead.
"But he disappeared years ago."
Ruth sighed.
"People disappear all the time when they're planning something."
Daevyd picked up his phone.
"I need to find him."
"How?" Shemmy asked.
"If he's in Lagos, he left a trail somewhere."
Two hours later.
Inside TechWave headquarters, the atmosphere had completely changed.
The server room buzzed with activity again.
The earlier hack attempt had forced the engineers to upgrade several systems overnight.
Now Daevyd stood beside one of the analysts watching data appear on a screen.
"Search Lagos airport arrivals for the last two weeks," he said.
The analyst nodded.
A list of names appeared.
Passport numbers.
Travel history.
Then one name appeared on the screen.
Emeka Okafor
Arrival date: three days ago.
Country of origin: London.
The analyst turned toward Daevyd.
"Looks like he came back recently."
Daevyd's expression darkened.
"Where is he staying?"
The analyst typed quickly again.
A new address appeared.
Victoria Island.
Luxury apartment complex.
Daevyd smiled slightly.
"Well."
"That makes things easier."
Meanwhile Shemmy sat in the TechWave lounge area with Ruth.
Her phone rested in her hands.
She kept staring at Emeka's contact name.
Still saved.
Still untouched for years.
Ruth looked over her shoulder.
"You're thinking about calling him."
"No."
"You're lying."
Shemmy sighed.
"I just want to know why."
Ruth leaned back.
"Honestly?"
"What?"
"I think he'll come to you."
"Why would he?"
"Because people like Emeka love drama."
Shemmy gave her a small tired smile.
"You're not wrong."
At that exact moment her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Ruth's eyes widened.
"Oh wow."
Shemmy stared at the screen.
Her heart was already beating faster.
She answered.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end was calm.
Too calm.
"Hello Shemmy."
Her body went still.
She knew that voice.
"Emeka."
Ruth mouthed silently.
Is it him?
Shemmy nodded slowly.
Emeka chuckled softly on the phone.
"I was wondering when you'd recognize me."
Her voice was cold.
"What do you want?"
"To talk."
"You broke into my studio."
"I visited."
"You were watching me."
"I was checking on you."
Shemmy laughed bitterly.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
There was a short pause.
Then Emeka continued.
"But I do expect you to listen."
Ruth leaned closer trying to hear.
Shemmy walked toward the window.
"Say what you need to say."
"Not on the phone."
"Then where?"
"I'll come to you."
"That's not happening."
Emeka sounded amused.
"You're still stubborn."
"And you're still manipulative."
Another pause followed.
Then Emeka spoke again.
"You deserve the truth."
"About what?"
"About Daevyd."
Shemmy's chest tightened.
"What about him?"
Emeka lowered his voice.
"You think TechWave was his first company."
Shemmy stayed silent.
"It wasn't."
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
"What are you talking about?"
"There was another company before TechWave."
Her heart skipped.
"And that company didn't collapse by accident."
Shemmy's voice dropped.
"What happened to it?"
Emeka answered quietly.
"Ask Daevyd."
The line went silent.
Shemmy stared at the phone.
Ruth immediately spoke.
"What did he say?"
Shemmy turned slowly.
"He said TechWave wasn't Daevyd's first company."
Ruth frowned.
"That's not shocking."
"But he also said the first company didn't collapse by accident."
Before Ruth could respond, Daevyd walked back into the room.
His eyes went straight to Shemmy.
"What happened?"
Shemmy hesitated.
Then she told him everything.
The phone call.
The warning.
The question.
Daevyd listened quietly.
But his expression grew darker with every word.
Finally Shemmy asked the question directly.
"Was TechWave really your first company?"
Daevyd looked at her.
Then he sighed slowly.
"No."
The answer landed heavily.
Ruth blinked.
"Well… that's new."
Shemmy's voice was calm but tense.
"What was the first one?"
Daevyd hesitated.
For the first time since she met him, he looked uncertain.
"That company…" he said quietly,
"…was the reason I disappeared from the tech world for three years."
Shemmy's heart pounded.
"What happened to it?"
Daevyd looked away.
Then he said something that made the room go silent.
"It was destroyed."
Shemmy swallowed.
"By who?"
Daevyd's eyes darkened.
"The same people who might be coming for TechWave now."
Ruth exhaled slowly.
"So Astra has done this before."
Daevyd nodded.
"Yes."
Shemmy felt her stomach twist.
"And Emeka knows about it?"
"Yes."
"But that means something else."
"What?" she asked.
Daevyd looked at her carefully.
"If Emeka knows the truth about that company…"
His voice turned serious.
"…then he was there when it happened."
The realization hit Shemmy like cold water.
Because that meant one thing.
Emeka had been part of the story long before she even met Daevyd.
And whatever happened back then…
Was about to happen again.