By the time we arrived at the LYC where Richard's yacht was nosed up to a dock, it was getting dark. Funsho came to open the door for me and I thanked him before getting out of the car and going to get on board.

The boat had a low area that could be climbed on so I had to pull my body hugging corporate dress up my thighs and I was about to hold on to the rail and pull myself up when a hand appeared before me.

"Let me help you up." Richard said and I took his hand hesitantly allowing him to pull me up. Once I was on the yacht, he shifted from me, walking to the grabrail on the other end and leaning against it, his hands hanging over, folded in front of him.

The cool evening breeze was in full force up here and was driving my untamed hair in all directions so I had to look through my bag for a hair band and secure it tightly before dropping my bag on the nearest sitting area to where I was.

I went to join Richard where he stood hoping to get this conversation over with soon and be on my way home safely.

I wondered why he asked that we meet here though, because we never came here on any days other than weekends.

Maybe he wants to make his work easier and throw me into the open sea once he's done with me, a small voice in my head said, after all, this place was more secluded and private than a hotel. However, I shook my thoughts off and voiced my question instead.

"Why did you ask me to meet you here and not at the hotel?" I asked him.

He glanced at me for a brief second, his eyes squinted, before looking back at the water spread out before us as he remained quiet. The engine of the boat wasn't on so I knew that we weren't going anywhere for sure. Otherwise, he would have had it revving.

"It's peaceful out here, isn't it?" He asks sending me a small smirk before looking away again.

"It is." I concur as I go to push away some stray strands of hair trying to enter my mouth.

Richard pushes away from the rail he was leaning against and turned to me. "A reprieve from the chaos my life is fast becoming." He tells me before pausing his lips. "People these days think I'm going into politics, repercussion of having so many friends in government, and now the journalists are everywhere, sniffing for their next big story. The hotels are no longer safe for us so maybe we'll just be meeting here instead. This dock is private so I'm assured that no reporter can get in here."

I'm about to tell him that this would be the last time we meet in private but he moves away before I can even formulate the words, going to the stairway leading to the upper deck. He motions for me to come with so I do, leaving my purse where I kept it.

The upper deck has a bar so that is where he heads to, pulling out glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

For someone whom I thought was mad at me, he is acting entirely too calm right now and it's scary to see. When Richard was this calm, I know from experience that he was calculating every move before he made it. The man's way of thinking was lethal.

When he gave me the glass of the brown liquid, I accepted the drink, hoping that it would give me some courage to speak to him.

"We are grown people here, Ada." He breaks out after downing the content of his glass in one gulp. "Let's speak to each other like such. After our conversation last night, I had thought to come back a day earlier and spend some time with you at your place, so imagine my surprise when I go there and your best friend tells me you went to visit your mother which you and I both know was not true. Meanwhile, you told me that you were spending the night in, why did you lie to me last night, Ada?"

I sipped on my drink slowly before dropping the cup on the bar island. Richard remained unmoving as he stared at me, awaiting my reply. "Did you want me to tell you over the phone that I was going out with another man?" I ask with a tilt of my head.

He smiles before releasing a noise from the back of his throat. "I'm glad you admit it. Damilare Coker, is it?"

My back stiffens. "How did you know who I was out with?"

"I have my ways, my love." He says with a smug grin that annoys me. "Is he the reason you've been pulling away from me recently?"

"No." I bite out. "You are the reason I've been pulling away from you recently."

He looks surprised at my response as he stares at me. "Me?"

I nod. "Yes, you." As I say this, I stand up straighter, drinking the last of my whiskey before dropping the glass on the island once more. At this point I was irritated, likely to act or speak rashly, and ready to go home to my bed. "You're right, Richard, we are grown. Too grown to be playing this game of hide and seek, it's getting really fucking old real quick. I'm almost 25 years old for God's sake. My mother is expecting me to get married and have children and quite frankly, I want that too. You can't give me that and I can't keep wasting my time thinking you'll someday come around because you and I both know that you won't, you care about your reputation too much for that." I pause, taking in a deep breathe. "You know I love you, but this is not going to be one of those times when you'll just do some romantic crap and have me eating out of your palm again, it's not going to happen. I'm done with you, for good this time, and it's no one's fault but yours. Good night." I end, turning to leave but I'm stopped in my steps by his sharp laughter.

It starts off small, slowly getting louder, the sound sending chills up my back before stopping altogether. "You're done with me? And what makes you think you can just be 'done with me'?" He asks making air quotes at the last part as he rounded the bar and began to approach me. "What makes you think, I will let go off you so easily only so you can run off to some little boy, Ada? Whatever gave you that impression?"

I scrunched up my face in distaste at his words. "Did you not hear a word I just said? It's no one's fault but yours so don't blame Damilare for your own mistakes. You're married, Richard, go home to Cassandra. I'm tired of this back and forth and this hide and seek." I said making gestures between the both of us. "I'm tired of being your dirty little secret. So, yes, I'm done with you. What do you want to do about it?" I asked getting in his face. It seems that alcohol was stronger than I thought.

"Don't test me, Ada." He warns in a lethal tone before taking a deep breathe and rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. His voice is softer when he begins to speak again. "So you want a baby? Is that something I can't give you? You want everyone to know you're mine? You want me to leave my wife? Didn't I already ask you to give me time?" He says shocking me.

I couldn't believe my ears right now. This was the closest Richard could get to begging and I found my guard momentarily let down that he was indeed saying this. Did this man love me that much?

I let out an annoyed sigh. Annoyed at life. Annoyed at the fact that love isn't always enough, one of those times being now. "Yes, you can give me a baby. But you can't give me marriage. You can't give me stability. You can't give me a decent title, because being labelled your mistress or even your sugar baby is not decent at all. Don't lie to me that you can. You love your life, your power, hell, you love your wife." I scoff bitterly before taking a deep breathe. "Don't make promises you can't keep. If you truly love me, you'll let me go." I told him through the ball of emotions that seemed to have gotten stuck in my throat, my voice nearly cracking as I said the last part.

I moved to leave again but this time, his hand hand shot out to hold mine firmly in his. "I won't let him have you, that is a promise that I intend to keep." He bit out harshly, his eyes hard and crazed.

I shook my head before tugging my hand out of his grip and making my way downstairs, all the while feeling his eyes glaring daggers at me. I snatched my bag up from where it was and made my way off his boat for the last time. I flinched when I heard the distant sound of glass crashing, and gulped audibly, grateful that I wasn't the one it was thrown at.

I found Funsho lurking around the dock and I had a mind to just order an Uber to take me home so I was about to do that when he offered. Thinking it won't matter, I accepted and got back into the Range Rover.

The traffic was light and in a matter of minutes, I was home. The lights were off indicating that the house was empty and as I made my way in, I didn't bother switching them on, making a beeline straight to my room and collapsing on my bed as I finally let out the tears I was holding in, soft sobs wrecking my body.

I knew I did the right thing. For both myself and for an unsuspecting Cassandra. The woman did nothing to the deserve the actions of her husband, at least not to my knowledge, and even less to deserve mine so part of me was happy I finally ended things with him. Maybe now I could allow myself move on with my life.

But today, let me mourn what could have been, I think to myself as I move to pull out my phone and open my photos. I go to my favorites folder, and click on an image of Richard and I.

That picture was taken on my 24th birthday and he had gone all out and taken me on a trip to Dubai. I had been shocked by the gesture. That day was filled with none stop pampering from bringing me breakfast in bed (room service, I remembered with a fond smile) to the hair, nail, and spa appointments. I was treated like a queen in the best luxuries many can buy. Afterwards, we had a special dinner where he presented me with my birthday presents which included a Audemars Piguet rose gold diamond watch that till this day I have never worn out in Nigeria. The day I do, I would be begging to get robbed.

To show my appreciation for him, I thought it only right to satisfy him, but the man ended up wearing me out instead of the other way around as I had planned. That much showed in the picture, as I was on the verge of passing out.

That night was the first time Richard had told me he loved me, and the euphoria I had felt at those words coming from him had me on cloud nine.

Richard, being the extremely private person he was, didn't like taking photographs. Especially intimate ones with me. So, I was mildly surprised when he instigated this picture which I hold dearly along with the memories it brought.

I closed my eyes shut as tears rolled down my cheeks. Sniffing, I moved up the bed and grabbed a pillow, spooning it and allowing myself this brief moment to feel sorry and pitiful about myself with the promise that tomorrow will be a better day and come with a new opportunity to make better decisions.

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Nnamdi adjusted the lens of his long-range camera, looking down at it before positioning it properly once more in front of his eyes and snapping multiple shots in quick succession.

The moment he heard what sounded like someone approaching, he quickly shoved the camera into his book bag and looked around him. No one was there, but Nnamdi knew he wasn't in the clear yet so, deciding that he had gotten enough pictures for that day, he made his way out of the mainframe of the dock, sending a wink to the lady at the front desk on his way out whose name he didn't remember but whose number he had received. The only reason she allowed him enter was because he promised to take her out for drinks, something he had absolutely no plans to do.

Nnamdi was easily a good looking man with his light chocolate complexion and his slim but muscular build. He often used his looks to his advantage, so it was easy to convince the desk girl to allow him in.

As soon as he was out of the building, he hurried down the steps of the building for fear of being caught. He knew that the LYC was a very exclusive place where a lot of wealthy people in the city lounged on their fancy yachts and although he had a great distaste for them and their lifestyle, he didn't want to be caught because he knew the power they could wield. Especially the man he came there to spy on in the first place, Richard Bamidele.

Nnamdi got into his beat up, faded red camero which was inconspicuously parked at a distance away from the dock. Starting up the car with a little struggle, Nnamdi wondered who the woman he saw Richard with was and why she was meeting him privately.

As a journalist, his job was to ask questions and questions, he asked. Even the ones he had entirely no business asking.

His job here was to follow Richard around for a bit, nothing personal, just trail him in hopes to confirm if the question of his rumored involvement with politics was true.

With Richard Bamidele being one of the richest men in Nigeria, this topic was currently on everyone's mind for fear that he would wield more power than he already had. The man gave back to his society and his community but even that never satisfied people. They felt like him giving to charity was to compensate for the guilt he felt from the dirty dealings he was rumored to be having with some other powerful names. Most people feared, namely his business enemies, that if he went into politics, he would be unstoppable and they didn't want that to happen so they wanted to expose his shady dealings to the public.

But like Nnamdi's boss, Bright, had said: they would need to find out if it is even true first before they can expose him. So, The Nigerian Herald, the newspaper Nnamdi worked for sent him on this fool's errand that he didn't care for. Richard Bamidele was known to be as slippery as an eel and nothing bad that was ever said about him could be proven as his actions were always carefully thought out, precisely calculated. Nnamdi, however, had no choice but to pursue the story regardless after having been demoted.

Nnamdi wasn't one to follow the rules or protocol and had nearly found himself in jail for that very reason when he had started stalking a popular celebrity three months ago simply because he smelt smoke around the person. It was futile at the end of the day because the celebrity had found out who he was, and who he worked for and had proceeded to sue the newspaper. The only reason Nnamdi was retained was because his boss, the editor in chief, was his brother-in-law, otherwise, he would have been sent packing for his unethical behavior.

However, he didn't learn his lesson.

Nnamdi found gossip and entertainment news more fun and interesting to divulge than politics so he found himself intrigued by the woman.

Who was she? Why was she meeting Richard Bamidele privately? Things between them looked heated, perhaps they are lovers? He wondered as he sat in his studio apartment later that evening, stroking his goatee as he scrolled through the images he had taken, zooming in on some occasionally.

There and then, his curiosity once again got the better of him and he decided that he would find out who that woman was even if it cost him his job. Or, if all went well, it could just be his big break.

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A new character! How are you guys enjoying this story? This chapter was kind of hard to write cause I genuinely love Richard. But it was necessary because Ada couldn't really grow, and not just as a person, with him in her life whether she realized it or not.

Please don't forget to show your girl some love by voting, commenting your thoughts and SHARING. Thank you!

Until next time, stay safe.