Chapter 13: The Reveal
1401 Words
Tunde’s POV - 7:45 PM)
I sat in my car in the Eko Hotel parking lot. My hands were gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were white.
My phone sat on the passenger seat. The notification light blinked. It was Amara. She was inside waiting for a man who didn't exist.
Waiting for ChefX.
I looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror. I saw a coward.
For weeks I had hidden behind a screen. I told myself I was doing it to help her. I told myself she needed a friend more than she needed a neighbor. But the truth was simpler. I was afraid.
I was afraid that if she knew who I really was she would hate me.
And tonight I was going to prove myself right.
I picked up the phone. I unlocked it. I opened the ChefsConnect app. I looked at our chat history. It was a diary of our relationship. The jokes. The advice. The late-night confessions.
She had fallen for a ghost. And tonight I had to kill the ghost.
I stepped out of the car. I straightened my jacket. I walked toward the entrance of the hotel. I felt like a man walking to his own execution.
(Amara’s POV - 8:05 PM)
The Eko Hotel bar was dimly lit and smelled of expensive perfume and old money.
I sat at a small table in the corner. I had checked my reflection in my compact mirror five times in the last ten minutes. I was wearing a simple black dress. I had taken down the cornrows and worn my wig again. I wanted to look nice for him.
For ChefX.
My heart was doing nervous little flips in my chest. Who was he?
Was he older? Was he a young culinary student? Was he handsome? It didn't matter. He was kind. That was what mattered. He was the anti-Tunde.
I checked my watch. 8:05 PM. He was late.
"Please come," I whispered. "Please be real."
I took a sip of my Chapman. I watched the door.
A man walked in.
He was tall. He was broad-shouldered. He was wearing a dark navy suit that fit him perfectly. He scanned the room with an air of authority.
My stomach dropped.
It was Tunde.
I ducked my head immediately. I prayed he hadn't seen me. What was he doing here? Did he follow me? Was this a coincidence?
I grabbed a menu and held it up to hide my face. Go away, Tunde. Go away.
I heard footsteps. They were heavy and deliberate. They were coming toward my corner.
Maybe he was meeting someone else. Maybe he had a business meeting.
The footsteps stopped right in front of my table.
"Amara."
I lowered the menu slowly. Tunde was standing there. He wasn't smiling. He didn't have that arrogant smirk on his face. He looked... pale. He looked tired.
"Tunde?" I hissed. I looked around nervously. "What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?"
"I am not stalking you," he said. His voice was flat.
"Then please leave," I whispered. "I am waiting for someone. Someone important."
Tunde didn't move. He pulled out the chair opposite me.
"You can't sit there!" I panicked. "He will be here any minute. If he sees you he might leave. Please Tunde. Don't ruin this for me."
Tunde looked at me. His eyes were full of a sadness I didn't understand.
"He is not coming, Amara," Tunde said softly.
"What?" I frowned. "How do you know? Do you know him?"
Tunde reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone. It was a sleek black iPhone. I had seen him use it a hundred times.
He placed the phone on the table between us. The screen was facing up.
"What is this?" I asked. "I don't want your phone."
"Look at it," he said.
I looked down.
The phone was unlocked. The ChefsConnect app was open.
I saw the chat window. I saw the username at the top.
SpiceGirl.
I saw the last message I had sent ten minutes ago.
I am at the table in the corner. I am wearing a black dress.
I stared at the screen. The words blurred. My brain refused to process what I was seeing.
I looked up at Tunde.
"No," I whispered.
Tunde didn't say anything. He just looked at me. He looked like he was waiting for a slap.
"It's a joke," I said. My voice was rising. "You hacked him. You hacked his account. You are playing a sick game."
"It's me Amara," Tunde said. "It has always been me."
"No!" I stood up. My chair scraped loudly against the floor. "ChefX is kind! ChefX listens to me! You... you are Tunde! You are the billionaire who tries to buy everything!"
"I am the man who sent you pepper soup when you were sick," Tunde said quietly. "I am the man who washed your dishes because you were drowning."
The room spun.
The pepper soup.
How did he know exactly what I wanted?
The dishes.
How did he know I needed help?
The pieces slammed together in my mind. The coincidences. The timing. The way ChefX always knew when I had a bad day.
He had been watching me. He had been listening to me pour my heart out on the app and then walking across the street to act like a stranger.
I felt naked. I felt violated.
I had told ChefX everything. I had told him about my father. I had told him about my fears. I had told him...
I had told him I liked Tunde.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"You read it all," I whispered. "The messages from last night. You read them."
Tunde flinched. "Yes."
"I told you I was falling for you," I said. My voice was shaking. "I told you I was scared of you. And you let me say it. You sat there and let me confess to a stranger while you laughed at me."
"I never laughed," Tunde said. He stood up and reached for my hand. "Amara please. I didn't plan this. I started talking to you on the app before I knew who you were. When I realized it was you... I couldn't stop. It was the only way you would talk to me without fighting."
I snatched my hand away.
"You lied," I said. Tears were streaming down my face now. I didn't care who saw. "You lied every single day. You watched me cry over my generator and you laughed. You watched me stress over the competition and you laughed."
"I bought you the generator!" Tunde shouted. "I lost the competition on purpose! Do you think I couldn't have won? I wanted you to win!"
That hit me harder than anything else.
"You let me win?" I gasped. "You think I am a charity case?"
"No! I think you are brilliant! But I knew you needed the win more than I did!"
"I hate you," I whispered. "I hate you so much."
I grabbed my purse.
"Amara wait.."
"Don't follow me," I screamed. "Stay away from me. Stay away from my shop. Delete the app. If I see you again Tunde I swear I will burn something down."
I turned and ran.
I ran out of the bar. I ran through the fancy lobby of Eko Hotel. People stared. I didn't care.
I ran out into the humid Lagos night. I flagged down a taxi. I jumped in and locked the door.
"Drive!" I yelled at the driver. "Just drive!"
As the taxi pulled away I looked back at the hotel entrance.
Tunde was standing there. He looked devastated.
I sank back into the seat and buried my face in my hands.
ChefX was dead. And he had taken my heart with him.
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