The Billionaire's Fake Wife

Chapter 9: The Risk

Two days of silence.

That’s what scared Ada the most.

Victor hadn’t called. Hadn’t texted. Hadn’t threatened.

And in the Udoka family, silence always meant something worse was coming.

Ada’s mother was now in the private wing. 24-hour armed guards. Fingerprint access. Kene had locked it down like a fortress.

But Ada still couldn’t sleep. Every sound in the hallway made her heart jump.

*“You haven’t eaten since this morning,”* Kene said, placing a tray of soup on the table beside her mother’s bed. *“Ada, you’ll collapse.”*

Ada didn’t look up from her mother’s hand. *“I’m not hungry, Kene.”*

Kene pulled up a chair and sat beside her, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. *“You can’t protect her if you don’t protect yourself.”*

Ada finally glanced at him. His suit was wrinkled. There were dark circles under his eyes. He hadn’t left the hospital in 48 hours.

*“You haven’t slept either,”* she said quietly.

Kene almost smiled. *“I can’t. Not until Victor is behind bars.”*

Ada nodded but said nothing.

Since that night in the lobby, something had changed between them.

Kene had said _“You’re more important to me than everything.”_

And ever since, he’d been colder. More distant. Like he regretted it the moment it left his mouth.

Ada hated that it hurt.

Before she could say anything else, her phone buzzed on the bedside table.

*Unknown Number.*

Ada’s blood turned to ice.

Kene saw it and snatched the phone before she could answer. *“Don’t.”*

*“What if it’s about my mother?”* Ada whispered, reaching for it.

*“What if it’s Victor?”* Kene’s voice was low and dangerous. *“I won’t let him get to you again, Ada.”*

The phone buzzed again. And again.

Kene sighed and put it on speaker.

*“Hello?”* Kene’s voice was steel.

A woman’s voice came through, shaking and broken.

*“Kene? Is that you?”*

Kene froze.

Ada’s stomach dropped.

She knew that voice.

*“Auntie Funmi?”* Kene whispered.

Madam Ngozi shot to her feet from the corner of the room. *“Funmi? Where are you? What happened?”*

Auntie Funmi was Kene’s aunt. Victor’s sister. The only person in the Udoka family who’d ever treated Kene like family when he was a child.

*“I’m at Admiralty Way Mall,”* Auntie Funmi sobbed. *“Victor’s men… they have me, Kene. They said if you don’t come alone in 30 minutes with the financial records, they’ll…”* She broke down completely. *“They’ll kill me, Kene. Please. Please don’t let me die.”*

The line went dead.

Silence. Heavy. Suffocating.

Then Kene grabbed his car keys and moved toward the door.

*“I’m going.”*

*“No!”* Madam Ngozi grabbed his arm. *“It’s a trap, Kene. Victor wants you alone.”*

*“I don’t care,”* Kene said, pulling away. *“She’s my aunt, Mama. I can’t just leave her.”*

Ada stood up too, her hands trembling. *“Then I’m coming with you.”*

Kene stopped and turned to her, his expression hard. *“Absolutely not, Ada. It’s too dangerous.”*

*“So you can risk your life but I can’t risk mine?”* Ada shot back, anger breaking through her fear. *“Kene, Auntie Funmi is family too. I’m not sitting here doing nothing.”*

Madam Ngozi stepped between them. *“Both of you, stop. This is what Victor wants — for you to split up and panic.”*

Kene ran a hand through his hair. *“Then what do we do, Mama? We can’t just wait for the police.”*

Madam Ngozi’s eyes hardened. *“We call them now. Right now.”*

Kene hesitated. *“By the time they arrive, it’ll be too late.”*

Ada made her decision. She grabbed her bag and walked toward the door.

*“I’m going to the mall, Kene. With you or without you.”*

Kene stared at her for a long moment. Then he cursed under his breath and followed her.

*“Fine. But you stay behind me. You don’t talk. You don’t move. You don’t do anything unless I say so. Understood?”*

Ada nodded. *“Understood.”*

---

*30 minutes later. Admiralty Way Mall. Parking Garage. Level 4.*

Dead silent.

No cars. No footsteps. No lights except the flickering fluorescent bulb overhead.

Kene held Ada’s hand tightly as they walked toward the center of the garage.

*“Stay close to me,”* he whispered.

Victor stood in the middle with four armed men. Auntie Funmi was on her knees beside him, hands tied, blindfolded, her face swollen.

*“You came alone, Kene,”* Victor said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. *“I’m impressed.”*

Kene stepped forward, pulling Ada behind him. *“Let her go, Victor. Now.”*

Victor glanced behind Kene and frowned when he saw Ada. *“I said alone.”*

*“She’s not leaving,”* Kene said firmly. *“Where are the financial records?”*

Victor nodded to one of his men. The man stepped forward and held out a USB drive.

*“The records are here, Kene. Hand over 20% of Udoka Holdings, and I’ll let your aunt go.”*

Kene reached for the USB.

But before he could take it, Ada stepped out from behind him.

*“Stop.”*

Everyone froze.

Ada walked past Kene and stopped 5 feet from Victor.

*“Victor, let Auntie Funmi go. And I’ll give you what you really want.”*

Kene grabbed her wrist. *“Ada, don’t you dare—”*

*“Let go of me, Kene,”* Ada said without looking at him. Her eyes were locked on Victor.

*“You don’t want the company, Victor. You want Kene to suffer. You want to destroy him.”* She swallowed hard. *“So destroy me instead. Let Auntie Funmi go, and I’ll terminate the contract marriage. Right now.”*

Victor’s eyes lit up. *“Terminate it?”*

*“Yes,”* Ada said. *“The contract says if one party wants out, the other gets 10 million naira. I’ll sign it over to you. No fight. No conditions.”*

Kene looked like she’d struck him. *“Ada, you can’t—”*

*“I can, Kene,”* Ada cut him off, her voice shaking but firm. *“I’m tired of being the reason people get hurt. I’m tired of being the reason you and Victor are at war. I’m tired of being the reason your aunt is on her knees right now.”*

Kene stared at her, speechless.

Pain flashed across his face. Real, raw pain.

Victor clapped slowly. *“Bravo, Mrs. Udoka. You’re smarter than you look.”* He pulled out a single sheet of paper and a pen from his jacket pocket. *“Sign it, and you’re free. No more contract. No more Kene. No more problems.”*

Ada took the pen.

Her hand trembled so badly the pen almost slipped.

Kene stepped forward, his voice breaking for the first time. *“Ada, don’t sign that. Please. We’ll find another way. I promise you.”*

Ada looked up at him one last time.

*“I’m sorry, Kene.”*

And she signed.

The pen scratched across the paper like a death sentence.

Victor snatched the paper the moment the ink dried and read it with hungry eyes.

*“Perfect. The contract is terminated. You’re free, Mrs. Okeke.”*

Kene’s face went white as a sheet. *“You did it. You actually ended it.”*

Ada nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. *“I had to, Kene. For your aunt. For your mother. For you.”*

Victor pocketed the contract and smiled at his men. *“Alright boys. We’re done here.”*

But as Victor turned to leave, Kene’s voice cut through the garage like a blade.

*“You think it’s over, Victor?”*

Victor stopped and turned around slowly. *“What are you talking about, Kene?”*

Kene stepped forward until he was standing right in front of Ada. His eyes weren’t cold anymore. They were burning.

*“The contract might be over. But Ada… Ada is still mine.”*

Ada’s heart stopped.

*“What did you just say?”* she whispered.

Victor laughed harshly. *“You’re delusional, Kene. The contract was the only thing keeping you two together.”*

Kene shook his head. *“No, Victor. The contract was the only thing keeping me from her.”*

Ada couldn’t breathe.

Kene turned to her, and for the first time since they met, he wasn’t the billionaire CEO.

He was just Kene. A man. Scared. Vulnerable. Real.

*“Ada, I fell in love with you the moment you held my hand in the hospital,”* Kene said, his voice rough. *“I fell in love with you when you stood between me and Victor. I fell in love with you when you chose my aunt’s life over the contract.”*

Ada’s knees nearly gave out.

*“Kene… please don’t…”*

*“I won’t stop,”* Kene said. *“Because I don’t care about the contract anymore, Ada. I don’t care about the money. I don’t care about the company.”* He reached out and took her hand in both of his. *“I only care about you.”*

Victor’s smile vanished. *“You’re making a mistake, Kene. A huge mistake.”*

Kene ignored him completely. His eyes never left Ada’s.

*“So I’m asking you now, Ada Okeke. No contract. No rules. No lies.”* He squeezed her hand gently. *“Will you stay with me? For real this time?”*

The entire garage went silent.

Auntie Funmi held her breath.

Madam Ngozi’s hand flew to her mouth.

Even Victor’s men stopped moving.

Ada stared up at Kene, tears blurring her vision.

Her heart was screaming _YES. YES. YES._

But her mind was screaming _NO. IT’S TOO RISKY. HE’LL LEAVE YOU AFTER 6 MONTHS JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

Ada opened her mouth to answer.

And then the gunshot rang out.