The Billionaire's Fake Wife

Chapter 6: The Secret

The ICU door slammed open.

Madam Ngozi stood in the doorway, her face red, her chest heaving. In her hand was her phone, the screen glowing bright with a headline that made Ada’s blood turn to ice.

*“BILLIONAIRE KENE UDOKA SECRETLY MARRIES UNKNOWN WOMAN.”*

Beneath it was the photo.

Ada and Kene, walking out of the restaurant. His hand on her back. Their faces too close. Too intimate.

The angle made it look like a honeymoon, not a business deal.

Ada’s throat went dry. “Madam… that’s not what—”

“Don’t.” Madam Ngozi cut her off, her voice sharp enough to make the nurses in the hallway stop and stare. “Don’t lie to me, Ada.”

Kene stepped forward quickly. “Mama, let me explain—”

“Explain what, Kene?” Madam Ngozi’s eyes flashed. “Explain why my son is holding hands with a stranger and telling the whole of Lagos it’s a secret marriage?”

Ada felt her cheeks burn. Stranger. That’s all she was to them. A stranger.

“Madam, I swear he didn’t force me,” Ada said quickly, her voice shaking. “I signed the contract willingly. It’s just business—”

*“Contract?”* Madam Ngozi repeated the word like it tasted like poison. “What contract, Kene?”

Kene’s jaw clenched. For the first time, he looked cornered.

“I’ll explain everything, Mama. But not here. Not now.”

“Not now?” Madam Ngozi laughed, but there was no humor in it. “When? When the newspapers are calling you a liar and calling Ada a gold-digger?”

Ada flinched at the word. _Gold-digger._ That was the one word she’d prayed no one would use for her.

Before Kene could answer, Ada’s phone buzzed on the bedside table.

*Unknown Number.*

Ada hesitated. Then she answered. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end was calm. Too calm.

“Mrs. Udoka.”

Ada froze. Nobody had ever called her that before.

“Who is this?” she whispered, stepping away from Kene and Madam Ngozi.

“It doesn’t matter who I am.” The man’s voice was smooth, like silk hiding a blade. “What matters is that you stay away from Kene Udoka. If you don’t… your mother’s medical bills won’t be the only thing you can’t afford.”

Ada’s breath caught. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the surgery this morning.” The man chuckled softly. “It would be a shame if there were complications during recovery. If the oxygen supply suddenly failed. If a certain medication went missing.”

Ada’s stomach dropped.

“You wouldn’t—”

“I wouldn’t have to.” The man’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Accidents happen in hospitals every day, Mrs. Udoka. Especially to patients without 24-hour security.”

The line went dead.

Ada stared at her phone for a full five seconds before her knees buckled.

Kene caught her before she hit the floor, pulling her against his chest.

“Ada? Ada, talk to me. Who was it? What did he say?” Kene’s voice was no longer calm. It was urgent. Panicked.

Ada looked up at him, tears blurring her vision. “Someone knows about the contract, Kene. And they’re threatening my mother.”

Kene’s entire body went still.

The warmth left his eyes. In its place was something cold. Something dangerous.

“That was my uncle,” Kene said quietly. Like he was confessing a crime.

Madam Ngozi’s eyes widened. “Victor?”

Kene nodded once, his jaw locked tight. “He’s been trying to push me out of the company for months. If he can ruin my reputation with this fake marriage scandal, the board will vote him in as acting CEO.”

Ada’s mind raced. “So he leaked the photo too?”

“I’m sure of it.” Kene’s voice was ice now. “And now he’s escalating. He’s using your mother to get to me.”

Madam Ngozi stepped between them, her expression suddenly fierce.

“Over my dead body.” She turned to Ada and gripped both her hands. “If Victor touches your mother, I will make sure he spends the rest of his life regretting it. Do you hear me?”

Ada nodded, but her hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

Kene ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “This is my fault. I should have protected you. I should have seen this coming.”

Ada pulled away from him, anger mixing with fear. “Protect me? By denying our marriage to the press? By pretending I don’t exist?”

Kene flinched like she’d struck him.

“That was to protect you, Ada. If the public thinks this is real, Victor will use it against you. Against your mother.”

“So what now?” Ada asked, her voice sharp. “We just sit here and wait for him to strike again?”

Kene’s eyes met hers, and for the first time, Ada saw it.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For her.

“No,” Kene said quietly. “Now we fight back.”

Madam Ngozi nodded firmly. “Good. Because if Victor thinks he can intimidate the Udoka family, he’s about to learn the hard way that we don’t back down.”

Ada looked between them — mother and son, standing together against a common enemy.

For the first time since this contract started, Ada didn’t feel alone.

But as she glanced at her sleeping mother, a new fear gripped her chest.

What if Victor wasn’t bluffing?

What if he actually hurt her mother to get to Kene?

Ada reached out without thinking and grabbed Kene’s hand.

Kene squeezed it back immediately, like he’d been waiting for her to do it.

“We’ll keep her safe, Ada,” Kene promised. “I swear it on my life.”

Ada nodded. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.

Victor Udoka had just declared war.

And Ada Okeke was now in the middle of it.

_Contract marriage. Don’t fall in love. Don’t you dare fall in love._

The words echoed in Ada’s head like a warning.

But for the first time… she wasn’t sure she could obey them.