CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Aisha had just finished a meeting at work when Amaka appeared beside her desk with a grin that immediately made her suspicious.
"Don't tell me you're busy this evening."
"I am."
"You haven't even heard what I want."
"And yet I already know my answer."
Amaka pulled a chair closer. "There's a charity dinner tonight. My cousin invited me, and I need someone to accompany me."
"Then go with your cousin."
"She won't be there until later. Besides, you need to leave that office sometimes."
Aisha sighed. "Amaka, I have things to do."
"And Daniel?"
Aisha's fingers stopped moving over her keyboard.
"What about him?"
"Nothing. I just noticed you've been mentioning his name a lot lately."
"I'm investigating something with him. That's all."
Amaka raised an eyebrow but wisely said nothing more.
Eventually, Aisha agreed to attend the dinner for just one hour.
She arrived at the hotel in a simple but elegant black dress. The hall was filled with guests, soft music and conversations about business and charity.
She was looking for Amaka when she spotted Daniel.
He stood near the entrance, talking to a beautiful woman in a red dress. The woman laughed at something he said and touched his arm.
Aisha's stomach tightened.
She hated that she noticed.
She hated even more that it reminded her of graduation night.
Daniel looked up and saw her. His face brightened, and he immediately excused himself from the woman.
"Aisha! You came."
"Apparently."
He studied her expression. "Is something wrong?"
"No."
Before he could ask another question, the woman in red approached them.
"Daniel, you disappeared on me," she said playfully.
Then she turned to Aisha.
"Hello. I'm Sophie."
"Aisha."
Sophie smiled. "I've heard about you."
Aisha glanced at Daniel. "Really?"
Daniel cleared his throat. "Sophie is a business associate. We're discussing a project."
"Of course," Aisha replied.
Sophie seemed to notice the tension and smiled politely before walking away.
Daniel waited until she was out of earshot.
"You're doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
"Pretending you don't care when something bothers you."
Aisha folded her arms. "You seem to know a lot about what bothers me."
"Because I used to know you better than anyone."
The words struck deeper than she wanted to admit.
"Used to," she reminded him.
Daniel's smile faded.
Before he could respond, Vanessa appeared beside them.
"Aisha? I didn't expect to see you here!"
Aisha greeted her, surprised.
Vanessa looked between them and immediately understood the awkward atmosphere.
"Please tell me you two aren't still making things difficult for yourselves."
"Vanessa," Daniel warned.
"What? I'm just saying."
Aisha gave a small laugh despite herself.
Vanessa lowered her voice. "For the record, Daniel and Sophie aren't together. And I don't think he's interested in anyone the way he's interested in you."
"That's none of my business," Aisha replied quickly.
"Then why do you look like you want to throw a glass at the wall?"
Aisha stared at her.
Vanessa burst out laughing.
"Relax. I'm not judging you. I just think you both deserve a chance to talk honestly."
Across the room, Daniel watched Aisha speaking with Vanessa. When their eyes met, he gave her a small, hopeful smile.
Aisha looked away first.
She wasn't ready to admit she was jealous.
But the truth was becoming harder to ignore: the idea of Daniel moving on hurt more than she wanted it to.
And that frightened her almost as much as the secrets surrounding their families.