For The Pain You Caused

The Debt

Chapter 11

The Debt

I did not know which hurt more.

The fact that Damian had lied to me.

Or the fact that I was beginning to understand why.

I sat on the edge of my bed with my father’s old phone in my hands, staring at the dead screen.

I was the reason Victor found your father.

Those words would not leave me alone.

Nia stood near the window, arms folded tightly across her chest.

Call him.

I looked at her.

Why?

Because whatever happened between Damian and Dad, you deserve to hear it from him.

I laughed bitterly.

Do I?

Yes.

I looked at the phone.

After everything he has hidden from me?

Especially because of that.

I picked up my own phone.

Before I could call him, it rang.

Damian.

I answered.

What did you mean?

There was a long pause.

I mean exactly what I said.

You were the reason Victor found my father?

Yes.

How?

Damian exhaled.

I was working for Victor.

You said it was business.

It was.

What kind?

The kind where I was paid to gather information.

My heart sank.

Information about who?

Your father.

I closed my eyes.

Why?

Because Victor believed your father had something that belonged to him.

What?

I do not know.

You expect me to believe that?

I did not know then.

Then what did you know?

That Victor wanted me to find out where your father kept certain documents.

And did you?

Yes.

My eyes opened.

You found them?

No.

But you found my father.

Yes.

How?

I followed him.

Why?

Because Victor told me to.

The room seemed to tilt.

Damian...

I know.

No. You do not.

My voice broke.

You followed my father for Victor.

Yes.

And then you met me.

Another silence.

Yes.

Was meeting me part of it?

No.

I answered immediately.

That was the only thing that was never part of it.

I swallowed.

How am I supposed to believe that?

You do not have to.

Then why are you telling me?

Because you deserve the truth even if it destroys whatever is left of me in your eyes.

I looked at Nia.

She was listening.

What happened after you found my father?

Damian was quiet for so long that I thought he would refuse to answer.

Then he spoke.

Your father caught me.

I frowned.

He knew you were following him?

Yes.

And he did not report you?

No.

Why?

Because he knew who Victor was.

Damian's voice dropped.

Your father gave me a choice.

What choice?

Leave Victor.

Or become exactly what he wanted me to be.

I shook my head.

And you chose?

I stayed.

Why?

Because I was young.

Because I was desperate.

Because I thought money could solve every problem I had.

And because I did not understand what Victor was capable of.

I looked down at my hands.

Then my father changed your mind?

Yes.

How?

He showed me something.

What?

A file.

What was in it?

Damian hesitated.

Everything.

I need details.

I know.

Then give them to me.

I heard him take a breath.

Victor had been using people.

Business owners.

Politicians.

Police officers.

Anyone he could control.

And your father had evidence.

Evidence that could destroy him.

My stomach twisted.

So Dad was trying to expose him.

Yes.

And you helped him?

At first.

Then what happened?

Victor found out.

I closed my eyes.

How?

Because I made another mistake.

What mistake?

I told someone where your father was keeping the evidence.

Who?

Damian did not answer.

Who?

I asked again.

His voice became barely audible.

Someone I trusted.

Who?

My brother.

I froze.

Ethan?

No.

I opened my eyes.

What?

I heard Damian breathe.

Not Ethan.

Someone else.

Someone you have never met.

Then who?

Damian did not answer.

Instead, he asked me a question.

Do you remember the night your father died?

Yes.

Do you remember what your father told you before he left the house that evening?

I frowned.

He told me he would be back.

Did he say where he was going?

No.

He was supposed to meet someone.

Who?

Me.

My heart stopped.

You?

Yes.

But you were not there.

I was.

No.

I was at the hospital.

I mean before that.

I met him that afternoon.

Why did he not tell us?

Because he did not want you involved.

What did he say?

He told me Victor knew about the evidence.

And?

He told me someone had betrayed him.

Who?

He did not know.

But he suspected someone close to him.

I remembered the recording.

The danger is the person Damian believes he can trust.

My voice dropped.

Dad suspected someone close to you.

Yes.

Who?

I do not know.

You are lying.

I am not.

Then why does my father's recording say the danger is the person you believe you can trust?

Damian went silent.

Because Dad knew something.

What?

That the person who betrayed him was close to me.

Who?

I do not know.

Then why did he trust you?

Because he believed I could still fix it.

Did you?

No.

The honesty in his answer hurt more than another lie would have.

I looked away.

What happened at the hospital?

Damian's voice changed.

Your father had been attacked.

By Victor?

We think so.

You think?

There was no proof.

What happened when you arrived?

He was already dying.

I felt tears gather in my eyes.

And he gave you the letter.

Yes.

And the photograph.

Yes.

Why did he give them to you?

Because he knew I would survive long enough to protect you.

I wiped my cheek.

You failed.

I know.

I ended the call.

For several seconds, I stared at the screen.

Nia came toward me.

Amara

I held up my hand.

I need a minute.

She stopped.

I stood and walked to the window.

Lagos was waking up outside.

Cars moved through the streets.

People hurried to work.

Life continued as though mine had not just been turned upside down.

My father had trusted Damian.

Damian had betrayed him.

Then tried to protect me.

Victor Dampson had wanted something my father possessed.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it was another person.

Someone Damian trusted.

Someone my father feared.

Someone who might have known exactly how everything would unfold.

I turned around.

Nia?

Yes?

What was Dad's last conversation with you?

She froze.

What do you mean?

The night he died.

What did he tell you?

Nia looked down.

He called me.

What did he say?

He told me not to come to the hospital.

Why?

He said there was someone there he did not want me to meet.

Who?

She looked at me.

Damian.

My heart dropped.

Dad did not want you to see him?

No.

Why?

Because he was afraid you would ask questions.

Which questions?

Nia's eyes filled with tears.

The same ones you are asking now.

I stepped closer.

What happened after Dad died?

Nia looked away.

I saw Damian.

Where?

At the hospital.

And?

He was standing outside Dad's room.

Alone.

Did you speak to him?

Yes.

What did he say?

He asked me to take care of you.

I stared at her.

Then he gave you the letter.

Yes.

Anything else?

Nia hesitated.

He gave me something else.

My heart began pounding.

What?

She walked toward her handbag.

I have kept it for three years.

She pulled out a small silver key.

I stared at it.

What is that?

Your father's.

I reached for it.

Where does it open?

I do not know.

Dad gave it to Damian.

Damian gave it to me.

Why?

Because he said one day you would need it.

I turned the key over in my palm.

There was a tiny engraving on one side.

A number.

17.

My breathing changed.

What is 17?

Nia shook her head.

I do not know.

I looked at the old phone.

Then at the photograph.

Then at the key.

Three pieces.

Three years.

One dead father.

One man who had broken my heart.

And one man named Victor Dampson who apparently had been waiting for me to discover all of it.

My phone vibrated.

A message.

Unknown number.

I opened it.

You are looking in the wrong place.

Another message arrived.

Damian did not betray your father.

I stared at the screen.

Then the final message appeared.

Your father betrayed Damian first.

I stopped breathing.

Nia read the message over my shoulder.

Neither of us spoke.

Because suddenly, the story had changed again.

And this time, I was not sure which side I was supposed to hate.

My father.

Damian.

Or the man who had been hiding behind both of them.

Victor Dampson.