when Love and secrets collide
403 Words
Title: Chapter 18 – Tangled Promises
Ruby had always believed that love would make things clearer — like sunlight after a storm. But that evening, standing in front of Jide’s gated mansion, she realized that love sometimes thickened the fog. Questions clouded her heart like Lagos dust in the dry season, and she wasn’t sure if she was stepping forward or falling deeper into a secret she didn’t understand.
The housekeeper had let her in. Jide wasn’t home yet, but she wanted to surprise him. As she wandered into the living room, her eyes caught a glimpse of a framed photograph on a shelf — a woman. Beautiful, regal, with eyes that mirrored Jide’s. Ruby leaned closer. It wasn’t his sister.
Before she could fully process it, the front door clicked. Jide’s voice echoed, “Ruby?” He looked surprised but smiled. “You’re early.”
She forced a smile back. “I missed you.”
But her eyes said something else, and he noticed. “What’s wrong?”
She turned to the shelf. “Who is she?”
Jide froze. For a second too long. “That’s... that was my late fiancée.”
Ruby felt the floor shift beneath her. Fiancée? He’d never mentioned her.
“I wasn’t hiding her,” he added quickly. “It’s just... I wasn’t ready to talk about her yet.”
Ruby felt a stab of insecurity. Was she just someone he was using to patch the hole in his heart? “I wish you trusted me enough to tell me.”
“I do,” he said, stepping forward. “But Ruby, my past is painful. I lost her in an accident. I was broken for years. You’re the first person who’s made me feel alive again.”
His voice was tender, but Ruby still felt the distance between them. Not just physical — emotional. “I want to believe that, Jide. I really do.”
“Then stay,” he said. “Let me show you this part of my world. Let’s stop hiding.”
They spent the night talking, breaking down walls they didn’t know existed between them. He told her everything — the accident, the guilt, the way he’d shut everyone out. Ruby listened, heart aching but grateful for the honesty.
By dawn, she lay curled against him, no longer afraid of his past — only afraid of what their future might demand.
- Writer
