CHAPTER THIRTEEN: “The Wedding Planner”
523 Words
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: “The Wedding Planner”
POV: Akin Olumide
Akin drove with both hands gripping the wheel like the car might fall apart if he loosened up. Rain splattered the windshield in quick, angry drops. He hadn’t slept. He hadn’t eaten. All he had was the envelope in the glovebox and the buzzing guilt in his chest.
The bag of money under his seat didn’t help either.
He should’ve known Adanna would dig too deep. She was always curious. Always bold. Too bold. She asked questions no one else had the guts to ask—and worse, she found the answers.
He wasn’t supposed to be part of this.
He planned weddings, not coverups.
---
It started with a phone call. Three weeks before the wedding.
Chief Okoye.
> “I need a favor. There’s something in Adanna’s possession. A flash drive. She won’t give it to me. She keeps it in her room. I want you to retrieve it. Quietly.”
Akin asked the obvious: Why me?
> “Because you’re already in the house. And no one suspects the planner.”
He told himself he wasn’t doing anything illegal. Just taking back what belonged to the family. No one said anything about hurting Adanna.
But then… the day of the wedding.
He snuck into her suite early. She wasn’t there yet.
He searched her drawers. Her bags. He found one flash drive and hid it in his jacket.
Then she walked in.
---
She caught him.
> “What are you doing?” she’d asked.
He panicked. Lied. Said he was checking the lighting.
She didn’t buy it.
> “Give it back.”
He didn’t. He ran.
Ten minutes later, she was dead.
---
Akin pulled the car into an empty lot behind an old church. He needed to think. Maybe run. Maybe fly. He had the money, fake ID, a burner phone. But his mind kept circling one image:
Adanna’s eyes when she realized he’d betrayed her.
She didn’t scream. Didn’t attack. She just looked… disappointed.
That was worse than any slap.
---
He pulled the glovebox open. Inside, a second flash drive.
The real one.
The one he hadn’t handed to the Chief.
He knew it was dangerous. But he also knew something was off. Adanna wouldn’t put everything on one copy. She was smarter than that.
And what he found on it chilled him to the bone.
It wasn’t just about the Chief. Or Chuka. Or Lola.
There was another name.
Bigger. Higher. Hidden behind layers of fake companies and untraceable accounts.
Senator F. Lawal.
If Adanna had leaked this—
It wouldn’t have been just a scandal.
It would’ve brought governments down.
---
His phone rang. Unknown number.
He didn’t answer.
Then a message came in:
> “You have one hour before they find you.
Burn it. Or join her.”
Akin stared at the message.
His hands were shaking now.
He looked at the flash drive. Looked at his bag of cash.
Looked at the sky.
Then he made a choice.
He started the engine—and drove.
---
End of Chapter 13.
- Writer
