CHAPTER TWELVE-AFTERMATH
392 Words
Months later, the city moved on.
Scandals had short lifespans,
New headlines replaced old ones,
Emerald Trust Bank released statements.
Internal controls strengthened,
Policies updated,
Training mandated,
The language was clean and
Sanitized.
As if damage could be edited.
Tosin’s case weakened,
Auditors found inconsistencies,
No direct withdrawals
No personal gain,
Just access.
,proximity,
trust misused.
Eventually, the charges shifted, and was
Reduced.
Administrative negligence.
Not mastermind,
But not innocent either.
Life rarely offered clean absolution.
Only degrees of blame.
He was released on restrictions and
Probation.
A record that would follow him into every interview,
Every application,
Every introduction,
He walked out of the gates with one small bag.
The sky felt too wide.
Freedom didn’t feel triumphant.
It felt unfamiliar.
Like returning to a house you no longer owned,
Across the city, Kemi sat outside Dr. Bello’s office after her final session.
“You don’t hate yourself anymore,” the therapist observed.
“No,” Kemi said.
“That’s progress.”
It feels like punishment.
“Accountability often does.”
She stepped outside.
Traffic roared.
Life continued.
No one pointed or stared.
The world did not care as much as she had imagined.
She passed a supermarket and
Stopped,
For a moment, the memory returned so clearly it felt present.
Fluorescent lights.
Shopping carts,
“Tosin Adewale?”
The beginning of the end.
She almost laughed.
Fate had such ordinary settings.
Not storms.
Just groceries.
She didn’t go inside.
Some places were better left untouched.
That evening, her phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
I’m out.
Tosin
Her chest tightened,
Not with desire,
Just recognition.
Some loves didn’t disappear.
They settled quietly into history.
Permanent.
Like ink on paper.
She typed.
I’m glad you’re free. Take care of yourself.
She stared at the screen a long time before pressing send.
No meeting,
No reunion,
Some stories did not deserve second chances.
Some transfers were never meant to be repeated.
Across town, Tosin read the message.
Nodded once.
Deleted the thread.
Not out of anger.
Out of acceptance.
They had already taken enough from each other.
Night fell.
The city lights flickered on.
Two people, separate nowa, moved forward with careful steps.
Older,
Marked,
The scandal faded.
The romance became memory.
But the consequences remained
not loud,
just present.
The kind that needed no noise.
The kind that simply stayed,
Permanent.
- Writer
