“How long?”
“Four years.”
Nkiru waited.
“Four years.”
“Yes.”
“You never mentioned a four-year relationship with the woman who became your executive director?”
“It ended before I met you.”
“How long before?”
“Two years.”
“And you thought five years of marriage contained no appropriate evening for mentioning this?”
“There was nothing between us anymore.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because I knew exactly how it would sound.”
Nkiru shook her head.
“No.”
“You knew how it would feel.”
Toby reached across the table.
She moved her hand.
“Do not.”
He withdrew.
“Were you only dating?”
His silence answered.
Nkiru’s stomach tightened.
“Toby.”
“We were engaged.”
She stood.
For a few seconds, she could not hear him.
Not because he stopped speaking.
Because something inside her had become too loud.
“Engaged.”
“Yes.”
“You were engaged to the woman who later recommended you for the job that destroyed us.”
“Yes.”
“You broke procedure because she asked you to approve four point two million.”
“Yes.”
“And when they blamed you for forty-two million, you told me only that a company destroyed you.”
“I made a professional mistake.”
“I did not steal.”
“You also made a marital decision.”
“What?”
“Every single day you decided I did not need to know who she was.”
Toby stood.
“Nkiru, please.”
“Not tonight.”
She walked into the bedroom.
Locked the door.
The financial investigation accelerated.
The forensic team confirmed that Toby’s authorization originated as 4.2 million naira.
Twenty-three minutes later, the amount had been changed to 42 million.
The modification came through credentials linked to Chief Kunle Balogun’s executive terminal.
Kunle denied changing anything.
“My credentials were shared with finance staff.”
Fari stared at him across the boardroom.
“They were not supposed to be.”
“People use terminals.”
“Not executive credentials.”
Kunle’s expression hardened.
“This is becoming ridiculous.”
Dapo sat at the head of the table.
“Sit down.”
Kunle remained standing.
Fari opened another folder.
“The excess thirty-seven point eight million moved through three shell vendors.”
“Investigate procurement.”
“We did.”
He pushed documents across the table.
“One vendor transferred eleven million into an investment vehicle.”
Kunle did not move.
Fari continued.
“That investment vehicle funded RB House.”
Kunle’s face changed.
“My daughter’s company has legitimate investors.”
“Yes.”
“Leave Renée out of this.”
Dapo spoke for the first time.
“Your daughter humiliated me in my restaurant while wearing a watch partly purchased with money stolen from my company.”
Kunle stared at him.
“You cannot prove Renée knew.”
“No.”
Dapo’s voice remained calm.
“And if she did not know, I will not pretend she did.”
“But you knew enough.”
Kunle looked toward Tami.
“Ask your daughter what this family considers acceptable.”
Dapo’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Kunle laughed bitterly.
“You people enjoy pretending the Akinwales are clean.”
Fari stood.
“Be careful.”
Kunle looked directly at Dapo.
“Tell your son why you begged me not to report Tami seven years ago.”
Tami went pale.
“Kunle.”
Dapo said nothing.
Fari looked at his father.
“Dad?”
Tami whispered:
“Not here.”
Fari ignored her.
“What happened seven years ago?”
Dapo’s face seemed to age.
“Tami authorized company funds for a private investment without proper board approval.”