Chapter 17: Epilogue - One Year Later*
376 Words
One year later.
The café on Allen Avenue was busy, but the corner table by the window was theirs.
Same table. Same two people.
David stirred his coffee and watched Ada laugh at something on her phone. Her hair was longer now. She wore the bracelet he bought her last Christmas.
It felt normal. It felt safe.
_"Stop staring,"_ Ada said without looking up. _"People will think you’re weird."_
_"Let them,"_ David said, smiling. _"I like staring at you."_
She rolled her eyes but her cheeks went pink.
A year ago their lives were chaos. Wrong calls. Gangsters. Running. Fear.
Now? Now David had a real job at a tech company. No more customer service scams.
Chika was in school, studying accounting. She texted them every Sunday.
Tunde opened his own security firm. He still checked in on them, but mostly to eat free food at David’s place.
The trial was over. The men in the black SUV got 15 years.
The threatening texts stopped on day 3 after the arrest.
David deleted the unknown number and never looked back.
_"You’re quiet,"_ Ada said, putting her phone down. _"What are you thinking about?"_
David reached across the table and took her hand. _"I was thinking about that first call."_
_"The wrong number?"_ she asked.
_"Yeah,"_ he said. _"If I hadn’t answered, we wouldn’t be here."_
Ada squeezed his hand. _"Best wrong number ever."_
Outside, Lagos traffic was loud. Horns, buses, people shouting.
But inside the café it was just them. And peace.
David’s phone buzzed.
He tensed for half a second. Old habit.
Then he looked.
Bank alert.
Salary credited.
And a message from Tunde: _Dinner at my place Sunday. Chika is cooking. Don’t be late._
David laughed and showed Ada.
_"See? Normal problems now,"_ she said. _"Food, not gangsters."_
_"I’ll take it,"_ David said.
Later that night, back in his apartment, David stood at the same window.
The street was still dark. But the black car was gone.
For good.
He got into bed and turned off the light.
No fear. No checking locks three times.
Just sleep.
Right before he drifted off, his phone lit up one last time.
Ada: _Goodnight. See you tomorrow._
David smiled and typed back: _Goodnight. To the right number._
- Writer
