Jomiloju's POV
The compound loomed ahead—an eerie monument wrapped in marble and secrets.
Koleosho's estate was exactly what I expected of a man who dressed murder in diplomacy: grand, guarded, and filled with ghosts.
We parked two blocks down, our car tucked into a crumbling alley that reeked of petrol and old sins. Steve hadn't said much during the drive. But his grip on the steering wheel spoke volumes.
Tunde handed me a com-link. "If anything goes south, you press here and run north. Don't wait. Don't look back."
I nodded, slipping it into my ear.
Ada checked her knife. "There's a blind spot near the west fence. Two minutes between rotations. That's your way in."
And then we moved—silent as dusk.
Steve's POV
Getting inside was easy.
I'd studied these walls years ago, back when I was nothing more than a loyal shadow in Koleosho's army.
Now I was the ghost he never thought would return.
We slipped through the blind spot, past two guards and into the dark heart of the house. The place hadn't changed.
Same marble floors. Same chandelier dripping with blood money.
But the stench of decay was stronger.
And betrayal? Closer.
We moved like smoke, Jomi pressed to my side. Her hand in mine wasn't just reassurance—it was a reminder. I had someone to fight for now. Someone worth dying—and killing—for.
Jomiloju's POV
We found the records room tucked behind a bookshelf—a classic cliché, but somehow still effective.
Steve disabled the alarm in less than thirty seconds.
Tunde and Ada stayed behind to cover the hallway.
Inside, the room was colder than the rest of the house. A low hum buzzed from rows of servers and encrypted safes.
He moved with purpose, eyes scanning files, photos, ledgers.
Until he stopped.
Pulled one folder.
Opened it.
And froze.
"What is it?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
So I looked.
And saw my mother's face.
Steve's POV
The dossier was thick.
Photos. Surveillance notes. Letters.
Most addressed from Koleosho himself.
"Your mother," I muttered, voice strangled. "She wasn't just Dorotoye's wife."
Jomi shook her head slowly. "What are you saying?"
"She was working with Koleosho," I said, flipping through more pages. "Passing him intel. Personal. Political. Even financial transfers."
"No," she whispered. "That's impossible. She loved my father."
"Maybe," I replied bitterly. "But she helped his enemy anyway."
I dropped the folder.
And stared at the one beneath it.
Labeled 'Project Rose.'
Jomiloju's POV
My throat went dry.
Steve opened the file and pulled out a single photo.
A baby. Wrapped in a hospital blanket.
Me.
On the back: Daughter of D. Dorotoye and O. Koleosho. Confirmed via DNA. Keep monitored.
The world spun.
"No," I whispered, backing away. "This can't be real."
Steve tried to steady me. "Jomi—"
But I was already shaking. "My mother… slept with Koleosho? I'm his—?"
"No," Steve said firmly. "You're your own. You don't belong to him."
But I wasn't sure anymore.
Steve's POV
The sound of boots in the hallway ripped us out of the moment.
Ada's voice crackled through the com-link. "We've got movement. They're onto us. You have one minute, max."
I shoved the files into my bag, grabbed Jomi's hand, and ran.
We barely made it back to the corridor before the alarm blared.
Jomiloju's POV
Gunfire.
Screams.
Tunde shouted from behind us—"Left! Go left!"
The walls blurred as we ran through the mansion's maze.
I couldn't stop shaking. The words from the file echoing in my head like a curse:
"Daughter of Koleosho."
I didn't know who I was anymore.
But I knew who I wasn't.
His.
Outside the Compound
We burst into the courtyard as headlights flickered on.
Backup was here—Steve's crew. Armed. Ready.
A bullet grazed Ada's arm. She didn't even flinch.
Tunde tossed a smoke grenade, shielding our escape as the compound erupted behind us.
Steve's POV
We made it out.
Barely.
But something in Jomi had cracked.
Not just fear.
But identity.
She sat in the back of the van, shaking, staring at nothing.
When I tried to touch her hand, she pulled away.
"I need time," she whispered.
And I felt my heart break all over again.
Back at the Safehouse — Hours Later
The silence was worse than the gunfire.
Jomi locked herself in the bedroom.
I could hear her pacing.
Whispering.
Maybe to herself.
Maybe to the girl she was before.
Tunde patched Ada up in the kitchen. No one spoke about what we found. Not yet.
But everyone knew it changed everything.
Because Jomi wasn't just caught in this war.
She was born of it.
Jomiloju's POV
I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
The same eyes. Same mouth.
But the woman looking back wasn't the same.
She was made from lies.
Crafted in secrets.
Born of enemies.
And yet…
The memory of Steve's hand in mine still burned like truth.
When I finally opened the door, he was waiting.
Sitting on the floor like a man who'd lost the only thing that made sense.
"I don't know who I am anymore," I whispered.
His eyes met mine.
"But I do," he said.
"You're the only person in this world who made me want to live."
Steve's POV
I stood.
Walked to her.
Held her hand.
"If blood makes you his," I said, "then love makes you mine."
She leaned into my chest.
And for the first time since the raid, she let herself cry.
Final Scene – Elsewhere
In a dark room across the city, Koleosho watched the security footage.
The cleaner, Bako, stood beside him.
"She knows now," Bako said.
Koleosho smiled.
"Good. Then she'll finally understand what it means to be a daughter of war."