THE TRAP
952 Words
The plan was simple.
Make Malik think he’s in control.
Make him think Leila is alone.
Make him show himself.
But Jayden knew better. Malik wasn’t stupid. He was dangerous because he wasn’t reckless. He always played the long game.
That’s why they had to make him want to break his own rules.
So they chose the perfect place—the rooftop where Malik and Leila used to meet back when she still thought he was someone safe. It wasn’t random. Malik would understand what it meant.
A silent invitation.
A place where things started.
A place where they would end.
Jayden’s cousin, Moses, arranged everything.
Two plainclothes security guys positioned near the stairwell. Phones ready. Cameras rolling. All angles covered.
Jayden would wait out of sight—but not far. Close enough to step in if things went bad. Far enough to let Malik believe he’d won.
The afternoon crawled by, each second dripping with the weight of what was coming.
As the sun began to sink behind the Nairobi skyline, painting the clouds in deep orange and bruised purple, Leila climbed the stairs alone.
Each step louder than the last.
Her heartbeat was a war drum in her ears, but her face was calm.
No more running. No more fear.
The rooftop was just as she remembered—peeling paint, the rusted water tanks, the smell of sun-warmed concrete.
And Malik was already there.
Leaning against the ledge, hands in his pockets, like he hadn’t just spent the last few weeks terrorizing her.
“You came,” he said, his voice smooth, satisfied. “I knew you would.”
Leila’s chin lifted. “I came to end it.”
Malik’s smirk was slow. “End what? There’s nothing to end. You belong to this story. To me.”
“No, Malik. I never belonged to you. I just didn’t know how to leave.”
He circled her slowly, eyes sharp, calculating. “You brought your little boyfriend, didn’t you? Thought I wouldn’t see him?”
Leila’s heart skipped.
How?
Was Malik bluffing? Or did he really know?
Malik chuckled. “I’ve been doing this longer than you think. I see everything. I see you.”
His hand twitched toward his pocket.
Leila tensed. “What do you think you’re doing, Malik?”
“Relax,” he said, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He tossed it to the ground between them. “One last sketch.”
Leila glanced down—her heart sinking.
It was Jayden—his outline sketched perfectly.
But this time, the drawing showed him falling.
Off a building.
Leila’s breath caught. “You’re threatening him now?”
“I’m reminding you,” Malik hissed, stepping closer, “that I can take everything from you. I still can. I always can.”
Her fists clenched at her sides. “No. You don’t get to do this anymore. I won’t let you.”
Malik’s smile cracked, the first sign that maybe he wasn’t as sure as he pretended to be. “You’re brave now? Because he’s nearby?”
Leila took a step forward, her voice rising. “No, I’m brave now because I finally believe I deserve to be free of you.”
A flicker of panic crossed Malik’s face, but it was gone in an instant.
“That’s not how this works, Leila,” he snapped. “You don’t get to leave me.”
Jayden’s voice rang out from the stairwell, sharp and cold. “She already did.”
Malik spun around just as Jayden appeared, not running, not rushing—just walking with deadly calm toward them.
Malik’s eyes darted between them. “This is a setup.”
“Yeah,” Jayden said. “It is.”
From the shadows, Moses and the security team emerged, blocking the stairwell exit. One of them already had his phone out, live-streaming for evidence.
Malik’s chest heaved, realizing he had no way out.
“You thought you could scare her into silence,” Jayden said, closing the distance, “but you made one mistake. You forgot that when people have nothing left to lose, they stop being afraid.”
Malik’s composure cracked wide open.
His hand darted toward his jacket pocket—but Jayden moved faster, slamming him against the wall, pinning Malik’s wrist before he could pull anything.
Jayden’s voice dropped, dangerous and low. “What were you reaching for, huh? A weapon? Another drawing? What?”
Malik struggled, but Jayden didn’t budge.
“You’re done,” Jayden growled.
The security guys moved in, pulling Malik away, forcing his hands behind his back.
“You’ll regret this!” Malik spat, thrashing as they dragged him toward the stairs. “You think you’ve won? I’ll always be in her head!”
Jayden didn’t even flinch.
“No, you won’t,” Leila said, stepping forward, her voice steady. “You don’t live there anymore.”
Malik’s furious shouts echoed down the stairwell as they took him away.
And just like that—
It was over.
Jayden turned to Leila, his pulse still hammering. “You okay?”
She exhaled, shaky but solid. “I think… I will be.”
Her hands found his, fingers threading through tightly, as though anchoring herself to him.
Jayden’s jaw softened. “You were incredible. You faced him.”
Her smile broke through, small but real. “I didn’t face him alone.”
Jayden pressed his forehead to hers, their breaths mingling in the warm Nairobi air. “You’ll never have to.”
As the sun dipped lower and the city lights flickered on, it felt like they had finally stepped into their own story—one not written by fear, but by choice.
- Writer
