CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: “Forty-Two Hours”POV:
398 Words
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: “Forty-Two Hours”
POV: Ify Okoye
The hotel room was quiet, but Ify’s mind was a war zone.
It had been 6 hours since Inspector Alabi told her about the auto-upload.
6 hours since she learned her sister wasn’t just brave—she was a storm in heels.
And now, Ify was part of the fallout.
She stared at the laptop screen. Countdown ticking in the corner:
36:02:18
36:02:17
36:02:16
The world had less than two days before the entire video went public.
And whoever killed Adanna?
They knew it.
---
Across the city, people were panicking.
Senator Lawal had deployed every tech expert he could find. Cyber mercenaries. Hackers. Even a guy from Russia with a shady passport. Nothing worked.
Every second, the video file bounced between servers in Iceland, Malaysia, and Berlin.
Adanna had built a digital labyrinth.
She didn’t just want the truth known.
She wanted it to be unerasable.
---
At the hospital, Akin finally opened his eyes.
Alabi was there.
“You were supposed to be dead,” he said.
Akin chuckled weakly. “Guess she’s still watching over me.”
“Who attacked you?”
“Men in suits. Black cars. I didn’t see faces. Just hands. And fire.”
Alabi leaned in.
“Where’s your copy of the drive?”
“I mailed it. International courier. Same time I mailed Lawal his. Just like Adanna told me to.”
“To who?”
Akin grinned. “Someone she trusted. Someone not in Nigeria.”
---
Ify’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She answered, heart thumping.
A voice. Calm. Female. British accent.
> “Hello, Miss Ify. I’m calling on behalf of Adanna Okoye. She left something for you.”
Ify sat up.
“What is it?”
> “Access.”
The voice sent a link. Password protected.
Then hung up.
The message under the link simply read:
“She knew you'd be the last one standing.”
---
Ify clicked the link.
A login screen appeared.
She typed the password from Adanna’s childhood diary.
"QueenOfAshes01"
Access granted.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Names. Contracts. Videos.
And a final document titled:
“My Story.”
---
Meanwhile…
In Senator Lawal’s compound, alarms blared.
A second countdown had begun.
Not 42 hours.
Now 18.
The files were accelerating.
Someone had triggered the emergency upload.
Someone close.
---
End of Chapter 18.
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