HIS REGRET HER REVENGE

The sound of the glass shattering against the wall made Amara Okafor jump. She stood frozen in the middle of the luxurious living room, her fingers trembling as she stared at her husband. Alexander Williams was not the man she had married five years ago. The man she had married used to kiss her forehead every morning. He used to hold her hands and promise that no matter how difficult life became, they would face it together. But the man standing before her now looked at her as though she were a stranger. Worse, he looked at her as though he hated her. "Tell me it isn't true, Amara!" His voice thundered through the mansion. Amara swallowed hard. "Alexander, please. I don't understand what you're talking about." He laughed bitterly and threw a brown envelope onto the glass table. "Don't understand?" He pointed at the envelope. "Your signature is on the documents. My company's confidential files were sent to our biggest competitor from an email linked to your account. And you have the audacity to stand there and tell me you don't understand?" Amara stared at him in disbelief. "What?" "Don't play innocent with me!" "I'm not playing anything, Alexander. I have never stolen anything from you. I would never betray you!" "Really?" He pulled out a photograph and threw it at her feet. It showed Amara standing beside a man outside a hotel. Her breath caught in her throat. It was a photograph of her meeting a business associate three weeks earlier. Alexander had sent her to deliver documents during a business emergency. She remembered the meeting clearly because she had rushed back home to prepare his dinner afterward. But the photograph had been taken from an angle that made the meeting look suspicious. "Who is this man?" Alexander demanded. "He's Mr. Johnson. Your business associate! You sent me to meet him!" "Don't lie to me!" "I'm telling you the truth!" Alexander stepped closer. "Do you know what I've lost because of you? Do you have any idea how much money is at stake?" Tears filled Amara's eyes. "Alexander, look at me." He turned away. "Please," she whispered. "Look into my eyes and tell me you truly believe I could do this to you." For one brief moment, silence filled the room. Amara searched his face, hoping to find even a little of the love they had shared. Instead, he picked up his phone. "I'm giving you one chance to tell me everything." "There's nothing to tell!" "Then we're finished." The words struck her harder than a slap. "What?" Alexander looked at her coldly. "I want a divorce." Amara stared at him. For five years, she had been his wife. She had stayed beside him when his business was failing. She had sold her jewellery to help him pay an urgent business debt. She had spent nights awake praying for his success while he worked toward becoming one of the wealthiest businessmen in Lagos. When he had nothing, she had believed in him. When everyone else called him a failure, she had called him her king. And now, because of a photograph and a handful of documents, he wanted to throw her away. "Alexander, you cannot be serious." "I have never been more serious in my life." "At least investigate this! Check the emails. Speak to the people involved. Give me a chance to prove my innocence!" He shook his head. "I trusted you, Amara. That was my mistake." She covered her mouth as a sob escaped her. "No. Your mistake is that you're refusing to listen to your wife." His jaw tightened. "Don't you dare lecture me about marriage." "Then what about the vows we made?" she cried. "What about the day you promised that nothing would ever separate us?" "That was before I discovered who you really are." Amara felt something break inside her. "Who I really am?" Her voice was barely audible. "Alexander, I loved you before you had this house. Before you had these cars. Before people started calling you a billionaire. I loved you when all you had was a dream and a small office with a leaking roof." For a second, something flickered across his face. Then it disappeared. "Love doesn't excuse betrayal." "And neither does money excuse cruelty!" The words escaped before she could stop them. Alexander's eyes narrowed. "Watch your mouth." Amara shook her head, crying openly now. "No. For once, you will listen to me. I have defended you even when my own family thought I was making a mistake. I have stood beside you when you had nothing to offer me. I never asked you to buy me the world. I only asked you to love me." Her voice broke. "And now you won't even give me the chance to explain." Alexander looked away. "Your things will be packed tomorrow morning. You can leave tonight if you want." She stared at him. "You're throwing me out?" "This is my house." "Our house," she whispered. He said nothing. Amara slowly removed the wedding ring from her finger. She looked at it for a long moment, remembering the day he had placed it there. I will never let you suffer, Amara. As long as I live, you will never have to face the world alone. Those had been his exact words. She placed the ring on the table. "One day, Alexander, you will remember this night." He gave a humourless smile. "Is that a threat?" "No." She wiped her tears. "It's a promise to myself. One day, I will stand before you without these tears in my eyes. And when that day comes, I hope you remember that you chose to lose me." Alexander's expression hardened. "Get out." Amara picked up her handbag. Her legs felt weak, but she forced herself to walk toward the door. Every step felt like leaving a piece of her heart behind. She reached the entrance and placed her hand on the doorknob. Then Alexander spoke again. "Amara." Hope rose foolishly in her chest. She turned. For one tiny moment, she thought he might call her back. She thought he might finally say that he was sorry. Instead, he said, "Don't ever come back here." Amara stared at the man she had loved more than herself. Then she nodded. "Don't worry, Alexander. I won't." She opened the door and walked into the cold Lagos night. The rain had started falling. She had no car, no driver, and barely enough money in her handbag to get home to her mother's modest apartment. But none of that hurt as much as knowing that the man she had sacrificed everything for had not even tried to believe her. As she stepped onto the pavement, her phone vibrated. A message appeared from an unknown number. UNKNOWN NUMBER: Amara, you need to leave Lagos immediately. Alexander isn't the only person who wants you out of the way. She stopped walking. Her heart began to race. Another message arrived. UNKNOWN NUMBER: The documents that destroyed your marriage are only the beginning. Vanessa has something much worse planned for you. Amara stared at the screen. Vanessa? Alexander's beautiful business associate? The woman who had visited their home countless times, smiling sweetly and calling Amara sister? Amara's fingers trembled as she typed. AMARA: Who is this? The reply came almost immediately. UNKNOWN NUMBER: Someone who knows you are innocent. But if you want to stay alive and protect yourself, don't trust anyone in that house. A car sped past, splashing water onto her dress. Amara barely noticed. Her marriage had just collapsed. Her husband believed she was a traitor. And now, someone was warning her that her life might be in danger. She looked back at the mansion. Through the glass windows, she could see Alexander standing in the living room, already speaking on his phone as though she had never existed. Then she looked down at her wedding ring, which she had somehow slipped into her handbag instead of leaving on the table. A fresh wave of tears blurred her vision. But beneath the pain, something else began to stir. Anger. Not the kind that made her want to destroy everything around her. The kind that made her determined never to be powerless again. She wiped her face and straightened her shoulders. "God," she whispered into the rain, "You know I didn't do this. You know the truth. Please give me the strength to survive what comes next." She started walking. She did not know that before the sun rose, her husband would discover something that would change everything. She did not know that the woman who had destroyed her marriage was about to make a terrible mistake. And she certainly did not know that three years later, Alexander Williams would fall to his knees before her, begging for a second chance. But by then, Amara Okafor would no longer be the woman he had thrown away. She would be the woman he could never afford to lose.