Jomiloju's POV
The room felt too small.
Like the walls were whispering things I didn't want to hear.
Daughter of Koleosho.
Daughter of Dorotoye.
Daughter of war.
I sat on the edge of the bed, fingers tangled in my hair, trying to make sense of a truth that had shattered everything I thought I knew.
They had used me.
My mother.
My real father.
Even the name I carried—Jomiloju Dorotoye—was a lie built on someone else's feud.
I didn't know what I was anymore.
But I knew who I needed to see.
Steve's POV
I found her on the rooftop.
Barefoot.
Wrapped in a blanket and shadows.
Lagos stretched below us—loud, messy, unbothered by the war that was brewing beneath its skin.
"I thought you were sleeping," I said softly.
She didn't look at me. "I tried. My dreams argued too much."
I sat beside her. Not touching her. Just there.
Breathing with her.
Being still.
"Did you love him?" she asked after a long pause.
"Koleosho?"
She nodded.
"No," I said. "But I feared him. Back then, that was enough to confuse the two."
She turned to me.
Eyes red. Voice trembling.
"Do you fear me now?"
I shook my head. "No. But I think he does."
Jomiloju's POV
That made me smile.
Barely.
But it was something.
"He made me," I whispered. "He stained my blood."
Steve reached for my hand.
"You're not the sin," he said. "You're the story after."
That broke me.
I leaned into his shoulder, and for the first time since finding the file, I let myself be held—not as a broken thing, but as someone who could still be loved.
Later That Morning — Safehouse Strategy Room
Ada threw a file onto the table.
"New intel. Koleosho's hosting a private banquet tomorrow night. Secret location. But we have the guest list."
Tunde raised an eyebrow. "And the address?"
She smirked. "Only one person has it."
We all looked at her.
She rolled her eyes. "His daughter."
Steve went still.
"Tolani."
I leaned forward. "The same daughter who tried to poison you last year?"
Steve nodded slowly. "She's in Lagos. Confirmed?"
Tunde handed him a tablet. "Photo from the port. She landed two nights ago."
"She's Koleosho's real heir," Ada added. "The one he chose. Not the one he accidentally made."
The room went quiet.
I stood.
"I want to talk to her."
They all turned to me.
Steve was the first to speak. "Jomi, no."
"I'm not asking," I said. "She's my sister. Half-sister. Whatever. If she knows who I am now, then I want her to look me in the face and decide what that means."
Steve's POV
I hated it.
But I also knew she was right.
This wasn't just about revenge anymore.
This was blood answering blood.
And Jomi had earned the right to speak for hers.
Still, I looked her in the eye. "If anything feels wrong, you walk. No hesitations."
She gave a soft smile.
"You taught me how to survive, remember?"
I kissed her forehead.
"Then survive this. And come back to me."
Jomiloju's POV
We met Tolani Koleosho in a private art gallery—neutral ground arranged through one of Steve's old contacts.
She arrived dressed like royalty: tailored black dress, diamond-studded sunglasses, bodyguards trailing like shadows.
She dismissed them with a flick of her hand when she saw me.
"So," she said, circling me slowly, "you're the rumor."
"And you're the reminder," I replied, "of what I might've become."
She tilted her head. "Brave. Or stupid."
"Depends on what you do next."
Tolani smiled, slow and cold.
"Father said you were a soft-hearted accident."
"I was."
"And now?"
"Now I'm a problem you can't kill quietly."
Tolani Koleosho's POV
Jomiloju Dorotoye was supposed to be a myth.
An embarrassment swept under the carpet of politics and power.
But the girl standing in front of me wasn't fragile.
She was fire dressed in grace.
I could see it in her eyes.
She had Steve's loyalty.
And she had his fury, too.
Interesting.
"You want something from me," I said.
She nodded. "The banquet. The location."
I chuckled. "That's not a request. That's a suicide note."
She stepped closer.
"I'm not afraid of dying. But I want to choose what I die for."
I stared at her for a long moment.
Then… I handed her a card.
She looked down at it.
It read:
Casa D'Obsidian. Midnight. Wear red.
Jomiloju's POV
Back at the safehouse, Steve wasn't pleased.
"Why would she help you?" he asked.
"She didn't," I said. "She just wants to see what I'll do next."
He rubbed his face. "This could be a trap."
"I know."
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then sighed.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Final Scene — Elsewhere
In a dim-lit office, Koleosho watched the same footage Tolani had sent.
He leaned back in his chair, lips curling in amusement.
"She wants to wear red," he murmured.
Bako stood nearby, silent.
"She thinks she's ready to bleed," Koleosho said, pouring a drink. "Let's see how deep she'll cut."
He raised his glass.
"To the girl who dared to be mine."