Drowning In His Lies

Chapter 2 : One Year Later

Port Harcourt has changed. Or maybe I changed.

My office is on the 15th floor of Riverview Towers. Glass walls. City view. Cold AC. My name on the door: M. C. JONES — Managing Director, Starlight Media Ltd.

Nobody calls me Mimi here. Mimi died in that pool club.

"Madam, the Cole Group contract is here," my assistant Tola says, dropping a thick file on my desk. Her perfume is strong. Too strong. "Mr. Jaden Cole will be at the meeting tomorrow by 10am. He wants to partner with us for the Calabar Carnival coverage. It's a big deal. Two hundred million naira deal."

My blood freezes.

Jaden Cole.

The same name that broke me. The same name I swore to never hear again. The same boy who left me on that blue pool floor with my dress torn.

I open the file with shaking hands.

His picture is on the first page. Same handsome face. Same arrogant smile. Same brown eyes that once told me he loved me. But now he is wearing a suit that costs more than my old one-year rent in Diobu. CEO, Cole Energy & Hotels.

He thinks he is coming to meet a CEO.

He has no idea he is coming to meet the ghost of the girl he destroyed.

Tola is staring at me. "Madam? Are you okay? You look pale."

I close the file. My voice is steel. "I'm fine. Prepare the boardroom. And Tola... get me his full background. I want to know everything about Jaden Cole. His wife. His girlfriend. His secrets."

She nods and leaves.

I stand up and walk to the window. Down there, Port Harcourt is busy. Cars honking. People hustling. One year ago, I was nothing. A small girl who believed love was enough.

Now I have power. I have money. I have a plan.

Tomorrow, Jaden Cole will walk into my office with that same smile that ruined me.

And tomorrow, I will start to make him drown.

Slowly.

Painfully.

Just like he did to me .