BOUGHT BY THE BILLIONAIRE

THE CHOICE

*Chapter 5: THE CHOICE*

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The torn paper sat between them like a wound.

“I choose,” Chioma had said. Then silence. Daniel’s thumb still on her jaw. The portrait of Amara watching from the wall.

Daniel didn’t move. “Choose what, Chioma? Freedom or me?”

Chioma stepped back. His hand fell. The air between them went cold again.

“I choose the truth,” she said. “No more lies. No more hidden clauses. You want a kidney? Ask me like a human, not a billionaire.”

Daniel flinched. Like she’d slapped him. “I don’t know how.”

“Learn,” she shot back. “Clause 2 said no questions. Clause 2 is dead. I’m asking now: Does Amara Jr know she’s dying?”

For the first time, the billionaire looked away. “No. She thinks dialysis is temporary. She thinks her uncle Daniel can fix anything.”

Chioma’s chest tightened. 11 years old. Same age she was when her parents died. Same age Ada was when the world got cruel.

“Take me to her,” Chioma said.

Daniel’s head snapped up. “What?”

“Take. Me. To. Her. I’m not donating blind. I’m not signing anything else until I see her. Talk to her. Decide if this girl deserves my kidney more than I deserve my life.”

Daniel studied her. Like he was recalculating everything.

“You could run,” he said. “₦50M in your account. No contract holding you. Why stay?”

Chioma picked up the torn Clause 17. Held it up.

“Because my mother died waiting for a donor that never came. Because if I walk out and that girl dies, I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering ‘what if’. That’s not freedom, Mr. Okoye. That’s guilt.”

She threw the paper in the trash. “So take me to her. Now.”

Daniel stared at her for 10 full seconds. Then nodded once. Sharp.

“Car’s waiting. But two rules, Chioma. New rules.”

“Clause 2 is dead,” she reminded him.

“New rules,” he said, and his voice softened just barely. “Rule 1: You don’t tell her she’s dying. Not my place. Not yours. Rule 2: If you say no after meeting her, I let you go. No threats. No money tricks. I let you go.”

Chioma nodded. Once.

The ride to the hospital was silent. But not the heavy silence from dinner. This was... waiting silence. The kind before a storm breaks.

They stopped at St. Nicholas Hospital, Ikoyi. Private wing. Entire floor blocked off for Okoye family.

A nurse led them down a hall painted with cartoon animals. Room 12.

And there she was. Amara Jr.

Small in the hospital bed. Bald from chemo. IV in her arm. But her eyes... Chioma’s eyes. Defiant. Bright. Alive.

She looked up and grinned when she saw Daniel. “Uncle D! You brought me ice cream?”

Daniel’s whole face changed. The billionaire vanished. Only an uncle remained. He pulled out a small cup of vanilla from behind his back.

“Only if you promise to beat dialysis tomorrow,” he said, voice rough.

Amara Jr took it, then looked at Chioma. Tilted her head.

“You have my eyes,” the girl said simply. Like she was stating the weather.

Chioma couldn’t breathe. “You have my mother’s eyes,” she whispered back.

Amara Jr patted the bed beside her. “Sit. Uncle D says you’re new. Are you gonna be my auntie?”

Chioma glanced at Daniel. He gave the smallest nod. Permission. Choice.

Chioma sat. Took the girl’s cold hand in hers.

“I don’t know about auntie yet,” she said honestly. “But I know about fighting. I’m a nurse. I fight sickness for a living.”

Amara Jr smiled, gap-toothed. “Then you and me. Team Fight.”

Chioma looked up at Daniel over the girl’s head. Tears in her eyes she refused to let fall.

“I choose,” she whispered. But this time, both of them heard what she chose.

*End of Chapter 5*

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