Kelechi didn't return to her room after the meeting.
She couldn't.
It wasn't that she feared them. She'd made her decision: no more being led around by the nose. No more playing their games.
And the thing was—she wasn't alone in this anymore. She had a weapon. The files. And she had the one thing they all underestimated: her sister.
The door shut behind her with a heavy click.
The hallway was eerily quiet. Too quiet. She slipped into the shadows, staying to the edges of the lights as she moved toward the back of the compound.
There were no guards here.
But the presence of them lingered.
⸻
The office was on the far side. It used to belong to the lead of the medical department. Now it was just a space for the shadow games. Empty except for the records no one dared touch, except for the people who did.
And there it was—her first real move.
Kelechi flipped open the file she'd taken from the suit's desk.
Oba Eze.
The name kept staring at her, as if daring her to make it mean something.
The file held more than just documents. It had a key—one that would get her into the restricted archives in the bowels of the building. The place they hid the real files. The secrets no one was supposed to know.
She ran her fingers over the embossed symbol on the key. It felt heavier than any of the paperwork. Almost like a trigger.
⸻
She didn't waste time.
At 4:30 a.m., Kelechi was standing in front of the cold, steel door. She hadn't heard a sound, but she knew someone was watching.
The air was too thick, as though every inch of this building was watching her, waiting for her to slip.
But the door unlocked on the first try.
She stepped in.
Inside, rows of metal cabinets filled the space. Rows of files, each one containing something someone else didn't want her to know.
But she wasn't after just anything. She was after the answers she knew were buried deep.
A few clicks of the lock later, she found them.
Names. Dates. Locations. Seyi's diagnosis. Her real diagnosis. The chemical exposure. How they'd poisoned her, how they'd manipulated everything. All traced back to Oba Eze.
The pieces began to fall into place.
⸻
She was about to leave when the door behind her slammed open.
She didn't turn fast enough. The shadow of a man filled the doorway.
"You thought we wouldn't find you?" His voice was low, tinged with disgust. "Foolish."
Kelechi's pulse raced. But she didn't drop the file. Instead, she stood tall, turning to face him.
"You think you have control? You think you're special because you've seen something you shouldn't have?" He stepped closer, hands outstretched, ready to grab her.
But she wasn't backing down.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with,"
Kelechi said coldly.
Before he could react, she slammed the file against the desk—loud enough for the whole floor to hear. "You're not the only one who can break a system."
The man froze.
Kelechi's eyes met his, daring him to make the first move.
"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered. "And neither is Seyi."