The Price of Silence

Five Years Earlier

"Daniel?" Ritah held the phone against her ear. Nothing.

"Hello?"

The call had ended. She lowered the phone and stared at the screen. For a few seconds, she couldn't move. Then she called back. The number was unavailable. She tried again. Same result. Ritah placed the phone on the bed and rubbed her forehead.

Daniel. Why would Daniel call her now? And why would he mention Bob? She hadn't spoken to him in years. As far as she knew, Daniel had disappeared from Bob's life long before Bob disappeared from hers. She opened her contacts and searched for his name. Daniel. She stared at it. There was a time when his name had appeared regularly in Bob's conversations. Daniel and I are meeting. Daniel thinks we should try this. Daniel helped me with the paperwork. Daniel says the numbers don't make sense. Then, sometime after university, the name had gradually disappeared. Ritah had never questioned it. She had assumed friendships simply changed. People graduated, got jobs and moved. Life happened. She hadn't realized that sometimes people disappeared because something had happened between them. She looked at the unknown number again. Her mind returned to the message.

"If you want to know why Bob married Vanessa, ask him about Daniel."

Ritah felt a chill. She wanted answers. But another part of her was afraid of what those answers might reveal. She picked up her phone and opened Bob's chat. Her thumb hovered over the keyboard. She typed:

RITAH: Who is Daniel?

She stared at the message. Then deleted it. No. She wouldn't give Bob the satisfaction of knowing she was investigating him. Not yet. Instead, she opened google again. She typed Daniel's full name. Several results appeared. A business profile. A newspaper article. A photograph from a corporate event. Ritah stared at the screen. Daniel wasn't the university boy she remembered. He had changed. He was older, more composed and more successful. She opened one of the articles.

DANIEL OMONDI LAUNCHES NEW LOGISTICS VENTURE.

Ritah read the article. Then she saw something that made her pause. Daniel's company operated in the same industry as Bob's. Logistics. Her heart skipped. She searched again.

Daniel Omondi Kato Logistics.

This time, the results were different. An old article appeared.

KATO LOGISTICS SECURES MAJOR INVESTMENT.

The date was five years earlier. Ritah clicked it. The article was short. Kato Logistics had received investment from a private investment firm. The firm belonged to the Mugisha family. Richard Mugisha. Ritah leaned back. So this wasn't just about Bob and Vanessa. There was a business connection. A much older one. She closed the laptop. Her head hurt. She needed air. She walked to the window and opened it. Cool morning air brushed against her face. The city was beginning to wake up. Cars hooted as they moved along the road amidst the traffic jam. People hurried to work. Somewhere nearby, a motorcycle horn blared. Life was continuing. How could the world continue when hers had stopped?

She closed her eyes. And suddenly, she remembered the first time she had met Bob.

.....

Five Years Earlier

Ritah was lost. Completely lost. She stood outside a large lecture hall with three books pressed against her chest and a timetable folded inside one hand. Students moved around her in every direction. She looked at the timetable again. Then at the building, again at the timetable.

"Are you looking for something?" a voice asked

She turned. A tall young man stood a few feet away. He wore a simple black T-shirt and faded jeans with a backpack hanging from one shoulder. Ritah looked at him suspiciously.

"No." she answered. He glanced at the timetable in her hand.

"You're holding it upside down."

She looked down. She had been. She quickly turned it around.

"I knew that." she mumbled

The young man smiled.

"Of course you did."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Do you need something?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"I'm fine."

He pointed toward the building behind her.

"Then you probably know this is the engineering block."

Ritah looked at the building. Then at him and back at the building. Her face warmed.

"Where is the humanities block?"

He laughed. She frowned.

"You could just tell me."

"I could."

He adjusted his backpack.

"But then I'd miss the opportunity to save a lost freshman."

"I'm not lost."

"Of course."

He started walking.

"Come."

Ritah hesitated.

"Where?"

"I'll show you."

She followed him. They walked across the campus.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Ritah."

"Just Ritah?"

She looked at him.

"Is there supposed to be more?"

He laughed.

"I'm Bob."

"I didn't ask."

He looked at her, amused.

"I know."

That was the first time she smiled at him. Neither of them knew it then. But five years later, she would remember that moment with painful clarity.

.........

"Ritah."

She opened her eyes. She was back in her bedroom. She hadn't realized she had been crying. She wiped her cheeks. Why did every memory suddenly hurt? She walked to the bedside table and picked up the framed photograph from graduation. Bob stood beside her. They were both smiling. He had his arm around her. She remembered what happened immediately after that photograph was taken. They had gone out to celebrate. They had eaten cheap food and had talked about their plans. Bob had looked at her across the table and said:

"One day, you'll be proud of me."

She had laughed.

"I already am."

"No."

He had shaken his head.

"You'll be more proud."

She had believed him. Back then, his ambition had seemed beautiful. Now she wondered whether she had mistaken ambition for something else. Her phone vibrated. She looked down. A message from Bob.

BOB: Please give me a chance to explain.

Ritah stared at it. Another message arrived.

BOB: I know you hate me right now.

She didn't reply.

Another.

BOB: But what happened wasn't as simple as you think.

Ritah's heart tightened. She typed:

RITAH: You married another woman.

She pressed send. The typing indicator appeared almost immediately. Then stopped. She waited. Nothing. Her phone rang.

Bob. Ritah stared at his name.She didn't answer. It rang again. Still nothing.

A third time. She finally picked up.

"Hello."There was silence. Then his voice.

"Ritah."

She closed her eyes. Hearing him almost broke her again.

"Why?"

Bob breathed heavily.

"I don't know how to explain this."

"Try."

"It's complicated."

She laughed bitterly.

"That's what people say when the truth makes them look bad."

"That's not fair."

"Fair?" Her voice trembled.

"You married another woman, Bob."

"I know."

"You were with her for two years."

"I know."

"You took me to dinner three weeks ago."

"I know."

"You told me you loved me."

"I still do."

Ritah's eyes filled with tears.

"Don't."

"I mean it."

"Don't say that."

"Why?"

"Because if you loved me, you wouldn't have done this."

Bob was silent. Ritah waited. Finally, he said:

"I didn't have a choice."

Her heart stopped.

"What?"

"I said I didn't have a choice."

Ritah gripped the phone.

"Everyone has a choice."

"Not when you know what is at stake."

"What is at stake?"

Silence.

"Bob?"

He didn't answer.

"Tell me."

"I can't."

Ritah felt anger replacing the sadness.

"You can't?"

"It's not safe."

She frowned.

"What does that even mean?"

"I'll explain everything when I see you."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"No."

"Please."

"I don't want to see you."

"You need to hear me."

"I don't need anything from you."

Bob's voice softened.

"Ritah, please."

She closed her eyes.

A thousand memories flooded through her mind. His laughter. His arms around her. Their first date. The promises. The nights they stayed awake talking. The future they had imagined. And then the wedding.

Vanessa. The white dress. The ring. The suit she had bought him. She swallowed.

"Was she worth it?"

Bob didn't answer. Ritah's voice broke.

"Was she worth five years?"

Still nothing. She ended the call. For several seconds, she stared at the phone. Then she noticed something. A notification. An email.She opened it. It was from an unfamiliar address. There was no greeting. No explanation. Only one attachment.

KATO LOGISTICS - FINANCIAL RECORDS

Ritah stared at the file. Her pulse quickened. Below the attachment was a single sentence. You deserve to know what your boyfriend has been hiding. Ritah's finger hovered over the file. She knew she should close it. She knew she should stop. But five years of unanswered questions had suddenly become heavier than her fear.

She opened the document. The first page contained a list of transactions. Her eyes moved down the page. Then stopped. One name appeared repeatedly.

Daniel Omondi.

Ritah's breathing changed. She scrolled further. There were dates and mounts. Company accounts, transfers, and at the bottom of one page, a signature.

Bob Kato.

Ritah stared at it. Then she noticed another name underneath. Edward Kato. Bob's father. Her fingers went cold. She had never heard Bob mention his father's involvement in the company. Not once.

She looked at the document again. Then at the wedding photograph on her bedside table. For the first time, Ritah wondered whether the woman Bob had married was only the beginning of the truth. And somewhere in the city, someone had decided she was finally ready to see it.