The room stayed quiet after Daevyd spoke.
Shemmy was still staring at him.
"You had another company before TechWave."
Daevyd nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"And it was destroyed."
"Yes."
Ruth leaned back in the chair.
"Well… that explains the mysterious three-year disappearance from the tech scene."
Neither of them laughed.
Shemmy's voice stayed calm, but the tension was obvious.
"Why didn't you tell me about it?"
Daevyd rubbed the back of his neck.
"Because that chapter was over."
"Clearly it isn't."
Ruth pointed toward the laptop.
"Especially if your girlfriend's ex fiancé suddenly shows up talking about it."
Shemmy looked back at the paused video.
Emeka standing inside her studio.
Calm.
Confident.
Like he knew exactly what he was doing.
"He said the company didn't collapse by accident."
Daevyd didn't respond.
Shemmy noticed.
"You already knew that part."
"Yes."
"Then what aren't you saying?"
Daevyd leaned forward on the table.
"That company didn't fail because Astra attacked it."
Ruth frowned.
"Then what happened?"
"Someone helped them."
The answer hung heavily in the room.
Shemmy slowly processed the words.
"You mean someone inside your company betrayed you."
"Yes."
Ruth whistled softly.
"That's messy."
Shemmy crossed her arms.
"Do you know who it was?"
Daevyd hesitated.
"For a long time I thought I did."
Shemmy watched him carefully.
"Who?"
Daevyd's eyes moved back to the screen.
"Adrian."
Ruth blinked.
"Wait… the same Adrian you caught spying for Tunde inside TechWave?"
"Yes."
"That guy again?"
Daevyd nodded.
"He used to work with me before TechWave existed."
Shemmy frowned.
"So he betrayed you the first time too?"
"That's what I believed."
Ruth leaned forward.
"But Emeka just said Adrian wasn't the one."
Exactly.
That was the problem.
Shemmy felt the tension returning.
"Then who was it?"
Before Daevyd could answer, her phone buzzed again.
The same unknown number.
The room went silent.
Ruth pointed at the phone.
"That's him."
Shemmy picked it up slowly.
She answered.
"Hello."
Emeka's voice came through immediately.
"You watched the video."
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
"Yes."
"Good."
"What do you want?"
"To talk."
"You already said that."
"And you didn't listen."
Shemmy's patience was thinning.
"You broke into my studio."
"I needed your attention."
"You burned my studio."
"That wasn't me."
The statement surprised her.
Shemmy glanced at Daevyd.
He was listening closely.
"If that wasn't you," she said carefully, "then who did it?"
Emeka paused for a moment.
"Astra."
Ruth mouthed silently.
Speaker.
Shemmy switched the phone to speaker mode.
Emeka continued.
"They wanted to send a message."
Daevyd finally spoke.
"You seem to know a lot about them."
"I do."
"Why?"
Another short pause followed.
Then Emeka answered.
"Because they're the ones who brought me back to Lagos."
The words hit the room hard.
Ruth sat up straight.
"So you're working for them?"
"Not exactly."
"That sounds suspicious."
"I'm close enough to know what they're planning."
Daevyd's voice turned colder.
"And what exactly are they planning?"
"To take TechWave."
"That's not new information."
"No," Emeka replied calmly.
"But the way they plan to do it is."
Shemmy's heart was beating faster now.
"What do you mean?"
"They're not just attacking your company."
"They're attacking everything around it."
Her chest tightened.
"My studio."
"Yes."
"And that's only the beginning."
Daevyd's eyes darkened.
"You expect us to believe you're warning us."
"I am."
"Why would you care?"
Emeka didn't answer immediately.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter.
"Because Shemmy doesn't deserve to be caught in the middle of this."
Ruth slowly turned toward Shemmy.
"Oh."
Shemmy felt heat rise to her face.
"You don't get to say that."
"Why not?"
"You disappeared from my life."
"And now I'm trying to keep you alive."
Daevyd stepped forward.
"You're not her protector."
"No," Emeka replied calmly.
"But someone has to be realistic."
The tension between the two men grew instantly.
Shemmy interrupted before it escalated.
"Enough."
Both men went quiet.
She spoke again.
"If you know something about Astra…"
"…then say it."
Emeka sighed softly.
"This isn't a conversation for the phone."
"Then where?"
"I'll come to you."
"That's not happening," Daevyd said immediately.
Emeka chuckled.
"You don't trust me."
"No."
"That's fine."
Another message appeared on Shemmy's phone.
An address.
Shemmy read it silently.
A marina parking lot.
Midnight.
Ruth leaned closer.
"You're not going, right?"
Shemmy didn't answer.
Daevyd already knew that look.
"You're thinking about it."
"Yes."
"It's a bad idea."
"But it might be the only way we get answers."
Ruth shook her head.
"This story is starting to sound like a crime movie."
Shemmy looked at Daevyd.
"We need to know the truth about your first company."
Daevyd exhaled slowly.
Then nodded.
"Fine."
Ruth immediately stood up.
"I'm coming too."
"No," Daevyd said.
"Why not?"
"Because if this is a trap…"
He looked toward the phone again.
"…I'd rather walk into it prepared."
The clock on the wall showed 11:12 PM.
Less than an hour until midnight.
Shemmy looked at the address again.
Her stomach tightened.
Because deep down she knew something.
Emeka didn't come back just to talk.
He came back because something big was about to happen.
And whatever that secret was…
It had already started destroying everything around them.