Chapter Twenty-nine: Cleared.
The grand foyer of the Adebayo mansion fell into silence the moment the front doors opened.
No one had expected her to walk in.
Tammy stood at the threshold, her once-glowing skin now ashen, her eyes sunken and rimmed red, her clothes hanging loosely on her frame like they didn't belong. Her bag looked too heavy for her body, and yet she carried it like her life depended on it. Her presence sucked all the air from the room.
Jeremy, Zion, Tobi, and Wale were seated in the main living room, the security footage still replaying in a loop on the mounted TV screen. The atmosphere had been dense with disbelief and rising fury, but when they turned and saw her, everything else melted into a single, sharp focus.
"T-Tammy," Jeremy stammered, pushing up from the couch.
She didn't acknowledge anyone. She didn't have the strength for theatrics. Instead, she took three slow steps into the room and pulled a worn hard drive from her bag.
"I'm not here to argue," her voice cracked, barely a whisper, but it reached all of them. "I'm here to give you the full truth. No assumptions. No rumors. No lies."
Zion jumped to his feet immediately and crossed the room to take the drive from her hand, steadying her gently by the elbow. "Sit," he murmured. "Tammy, you look like—"
"I'm fine," she lied, waving him off. "Just plug it in."
Jeremy's hands were twitching at his sides. His entire body was straining toward her, like he wanted to pick her up and never let her go, but her expression warned him not to.
Zion connected the drive to the TV's port. The screen flickered and a folder titled "FULL TRUTH—WATCH ALL" popped up. He clicked the first file.
The room was silent except for the low hum of the footage. They watched it all: Tony's assistant arriving at the hotel, accessing Jeremy's room with a master key card, planting something beneath the bed, disabling the main hallway cameras, and slipping out like nothing had happened. Another clip showed Tayo receiving a text at the exact same moment Tammy checked into the hotel. The timestamps aligned. Every piece of the puzzle clicked.
Then came the footage from inside the hallway where Tammy, disoriented and clearly drugged, staggered toward the wrong suite—the one Tony's assistant had just left open. She was knocked out and wheeled into a room.
Every man in the room looked visibly ill.
Tammy swayed on her feet.
"I traced every message. Every payment. Every single step," she said, voice trembling. "Tony and Tayo weren't working together. But they each had a motive. They acted alone—yet their actions collided and destroyed my life."
Jeremy's mouth opened, but the words refused to form.
"I was drugged," she continued, blinking fast to stop the tears. "You were drugged. This wasn't an accident. It was designed."
Wale dropped into the armchair, dragging his hands down his face. "My God, Tammy I'm sorry I doubt…"
"I didn't run because I was guilty," Tammy whispered interrupting Wale, her eyes landing on Jeremy. "I ran because I was tired of being punished for existing. Because I was tired of being gaslit by your silence and everyone else's assumptions."
Zion, shoulders tense, looked like he was holding back tears. "You're cleared, Tammy. Completely. I always knew something wasn't right."
She nodded faintly, and for the first time, her knees buckled slightly.
"Tammy—" Jeremy rushed forward just as she collapsed.
Her eyes rolled back slightly. Jeremy caught her mid-fall, cradling her in his arms, his breath escaping in a ragged gasp. "Call the doctor," he barked. "Now."
But Zion was already dialing.
Tammy's fingers twitched weakly against Jeremy's shirt.
"She hasn't eaten," Wale muttered. "Probably barely slept. How long has she been like this?"
Jeremy knelt with her in his arms, brushing damp curls from her face. "Why didn't you tell me you were this sick?"
She gave a faint groan, barely conscious. "Didn't... matter."
"It matters to me," he whispered, his voice cracking.
The others stepped back, giving them space, but their expressions were somber. No one had words. Only guilt and a thick fog of regret.
Tammy had returned not to plead, not to be forgiven—but to bring justice, to prove her worth when everyone else had thrown her to the wolves.
And now she lay unconscious, right in the arms of the man who once swore to protect her.
Jeremy's jaw clenched.
"Never again," he murmured. "Never again will anyone touch you."
This time, there would be war.