"You know, I've always wondered about this night, what I would say or do when things finally came to this. I wondered how I'd take you out, with a gun, or maybe with a knife. I rarely ever use poisons but for you I considered it, toyed with the idea of making this whole thing appear like a suicide." It wasn't Amina who spoke now, Kendrick had a ridiculous flashback, remembering her scent on the glossy business card, a lip print on it and one words scrawled at the back, it wasn't her name and he had thought it silly, had thought the Mancracker was a silly name. This wasn't Amina, this was the Mancracker.

Until she stood right in front of him now, black painted smirk etched on her lips and her voice casual as if they were discussing what to have for dinner and not his own death.

Kendrick swallowed, eyeing the gun on the table, if she noticed his look, she didn't show it, instead she placed both hands on her hips like a scolding mother — even if nobody would mistake her as such in the black leather jumpsuit she wore now, they emphasized the curves of her hips and the generous swell of her chest, the neckline was a deep v, showing an ample amount of cleavage. Her hair was free of the hijab she usually wore, tied in a messy bun and Kendrick was beginning to think that she liked to separate that part of her life from the life ORION had made for her. He wondered if she was just a slave to the organization's biddings too.

He could make a dash for the door, he knew he could but he had never seen Amina in action before, he didn't know how good or bad she was, although he strongly suspected the former. He could run, but there was a chance that she would catch him, and by the glittering look in her eyes, it was a big chance, one he wasn't ready to gamble on.

He settled for talking first, even as his heart pounded a tempo that could make EDM DJs throw jealous fits. Maybe she wasn't here to kill him, maybe he was a fool.

"How did you get in?" He asked, she settled back on the sofa and shook her head. He didn't dare to relax, as long as that gun was in sight, he wasn't safe.

"You are really making this a cliche fest, you could at least try to be a little less predictable." Amina said, she fixed a glance at her manicured nails and flexed her gold painted fingers in the light of the chandelier.

"You could at least try not to look like a teenage boy's action movie fantasy come to life." He pointed out, he was joking, and she knew it.

Amina smiled, her lips stretching into a full grin that almost made him do the same.

"Now we're getting somewhere with this." She said, with a sudden speed that startled him, she lurched forward and clenched the gun in her grip, Kendrick flinched as she caressed the sleek black pistol like it was her favourite thing.

"How do you want it, Kendrick, a bullet to the head or heart? Make no mistake, I didn't come to play."

"It's too late to get rid of me without causing a big wave." Kendrick drawled, forcing a nonchalance he didn't feel into the words. Even as he glanced around the living room, seeking a weapon. There was none, the TV was switched off — it meant that hopefully somebody would hear him scream if it came to it, the coffee table was bare of any object and even if he risked running into the adjoining hallway and into the kitchen to arm himself with a knife, it still wouldn't save him.

Amina arched an eyebrow. "You overestimate yourself, Kendrick."

He forced his hands by his side as the impulse to run his hands through his hair overwhelmed him. It was a telltale sign of nervousness that would only make her smile.

"Actually, I don't, tell me something, Amina, why did Phillips suddenly send you to get rid of me?"

She didn't answer, only sat, listening. Realization dawned on him and he almost let out a laugh, she didn't know, she was acting on orders. Presumably, Joshua knew something, maybe about Kendrick causing the latest scandal or maybe it might have even been nothing at all, maybe he was getting paranoid, snatching up Grace and deciding to end Kendrick on a whim but Amina didn't know this, didn't know anything at all.

"I'll tell you why, it wasn't whoever you think it is that dragged Remilekun Phillips name through the mud, it was me." He said, he expected her to flinch, for her lips to part in surprise or maybe her eyes to narrow in fury but she did none of this, only gave a nod.

"Nothing about you surprises me anymore, Kendrick, I'm afraid to say that I'll still not leave until I have my hands stained with your blood." Amina said easily. He was not fooled.

"Imagine what other things I have stored up here that could ruin The ORION Project, bold of you to assume that I work alone, that I don't have somebody I'm reporting back to. Bold of you to assume they won't rain hell if I suddenly, 'died'" Kendrick said, raising his fingers up to quote the word died.

Still, she didn't lose the easy look on her face but because Kendrick was watching, he saw her grip on the pistol tighten.

"You've become your best friend, how he used to love blackmailing me."

He flinched, her words were a blade, they were the truth. He was becoming the person he was avenging, had Emmanuel really mattered that much that even in death, he was seeping through Kendrick, reincarnating through him? Did Kendrick really not know who he was that it was so easy to become somebody else?

"And you put a bullet through him, let's not forget who the villain is here." Kendrick sneered.

Amina laughed, threw back her head and arching her back that the leather seemed to cling tighter to her flesh. Her laugh was a throaty sound that made him feel foolish all of a sudden.

"This is rich, you still think this is a movie, a superhero movie where we're the villains and you're the chosen one sent to make everything right with the world. You're more stupid than I thought." She said when she stopped laughing at his expense.

"Get out." Kendrick deadpanned, in a quiet tone that would have made Joshua Phillips proud. He didn't care who was with the gun anymore, stupid move, his mind screamed. He was past caring.

"Are you going to carry me out if I refuse to leave?" Amina said, batting her lashes at him in a flirtatious manner.

"If you won't, I'll leave myself." He said.

"Bold of you to assume I'll let you leave either." She said. When she stood, gun still in hand, Kendrick didn't flinch. Amina might like to toy with her prey but if she wanted to kill him, she would have by now. She was here for something else.

"What is it that you really want, Amina?" asked Kendrick.

"God, I hate wearing this suit, and I'm guessing you know now, I didn't come to kill you, it would be too messy like you said, for someone who claimed to be a hero — you do know how to negotiate." She said, tugging at her sleeves with a pout on her lips. She looked up at him and again, he was impressed with her ability to make a taller person feel inferior. To Grace, it might have appeared to her like Amina could do that because she was wealthy but it wasn't. She had spent years mastering a confidence that he could never have even if he was far from insecure about himself.

"I came to make you a deal."

His answer was instantaneous. "There's nothing you can give me."

"I put a bullet through your friend, like you know, why does an entire organization need to suffer for it?"

The question took him aback because he had never thought of it that way, why wasn't he actively going after Emmanuel's murderer? Why did he want to make all of them pay? Emmanuel hadn't been a child, he had known very well what he was getting to, he was far from innocent — although this did not excuse his death.

As soon as the thought occurred to Kendrick, he shook it away, he didn't want to think he had uprooted his life for nothing, bloodthirsting for nothing. He wanted to avenge his dead best friend, but he wasn't going to kill for it, he wanted to dismantle ORION, tear them from skin to bones. Maybe he'd save a few more Emmanuels in the process too.

Sensing his hesitation, Amina pressed. "Why not enact your revenge on me instead?"

He stood as she walked to where she stood, right in front of him and took his hand with her free hand. He let her press the cold barrel of the gun into his grip.

"A life for a life, Kendrick."

He let the gun clatter to the ground and took several steps away from her until he was almost leaning against the wall.

"No." It was strange that for all his hate for ORION, he couldn't do it, hurt any of them. He wasn't even sure he hated Amina, not when he looked at her and saw nothing that was remotely evil. Joshua he might hate, but only because everything always circled back to him, he gave the order for the kill. He was the killer, Amina was just his weapon.

Amina shrugged, but she didn't look surprised, in fact, a pleased smile spread on her lips.

"Don't say The ORION Project isn't fair, you've drawn the line, Kendrick. Who knows, you might win, who knows, we might." She said.

Kendrick knew what was coming next, the threat.

"Your father's in Delta for a business trip, there might be someone tailing him, waiting for the right moment to put a bullet in his back, who knows, you might get him out in time if you hurry there."

For the first time, Kendrick felt hate swell in his chest, how he hated her in that moment, she might be a weapon, but she was not a reluctant one. Something told Kendrick that nothing could make Amina do what she didn't want to do.

Kendrick pushed past her, heart thudding in fear. It's a bluff, he told himself  but he wasn't so sure anymore.

He headed into the hallway, straight for his bedroom, he heard her call out to him from the living room and he paused to listen, waiting for the final threat to drop.

"By the time you're back, all our enemies will be beneath my feet, maybe I'll even let you watch the execution."

***

September, 2019, The Vice. Dehinde Adetunde.

Exclusive first look at the lost long daughter and heir to the Kingston Conglomerate.

Despite all the scandals surrounding vice president, Remilekun Phillips, the man continues to come out on top, after denying the allegations of foul play regarding the death of Senator Abayomi during a press conference this morning — his exact statement quoted as "This country has had her fair share of conspiracy theories, this is nothing but one of them." — he revealed that he had found the thought lost daughter of Toluwanimi Kingston and the late Tamika Kingston.

Toluwanimi Kingston, business mogul is a long time friend of Remilekun Phillips and is well loved by the general public for his constant philantropism. Just a year ago, the billionaire helped raise eighty million Naira that went to over a thousand scholarships for secondary school graduates. The friendship between Tolu Kingston and Remilekun Phillips began in their college days and after the death of the former's wife, both friends were rarely ever seen together in public and Mr. Kingston strayed away from public events. However, Remilekun Phillips has only ever said the kindest things about his friends, publicly expressing his condolences almost twenty years ago after the death of Tamika Kingston.

Toluwanimi Kingston has always kept his private life out of the media but released a statement about his missing daughter twenty years ago, briefly offering a reward for the then missing child.

"I have been actively searching for Tolu's daughter all these years, imagine my surprise when my son, Joshua discovered her himself in his university." says Phillips.

It is hard to phantom a man who looks so diligently for a lost child as a murderer. The vice president also allowed questions surrounding the late senator's death at the conference, stating at one point that a suspect for the senator's death had been detained. He also thanked Nigerians for keeping the flame of justice burning.

At the end, the president introduced Grace Kingston, who is a spitting image of her mother, if there was ever any doubt about it. Although reporters were denied asking her any questions.

We've reached out to Toluwanimi Kingston's estate and a source told us that he is out of the country and is somewhere that cannot be disclosed yet.

The whole country looks forward to Toluwanimi Kingston coming out of his long hiatus to reconcile with his daughter.

On other news, Yong Enterprises suffer big blow in the stock market.

***

Ewatomi Ilori looked at Grace different. It had been what Grace had dreaded the most. And they had never looked so different from each other, Ewa wearing yesterday's clothes, her floral crop top and Levi jeans that she had kept as a souvenir from her last relationship, Grace was wearing a dress, if someone had told her a few months ago that she would be wearing a sparkly Saint Laurent mini dress, she would have laughed and then punched them in the face. 

"No wonder." Ewa said. Grace flinched, but there was no malice in her words, only a small smile on her lips.

"No wonder?" She asked in a small voice, touching the locket Dinah Phillips had forced on her. The woman was a stunning beauty that punctuated her every word with a smile that was genuine. Joshua was nothing like her and it had made Grace warm up to the woman in the slightest.

After she had handed Grace the gold chain with the locket, she had patted Grace on the shoulder.

"You look so much like your mother," Dinah had said. "But you are your own person too, don't let them make you forget."

Now, it was hard to remember, who was Grace Ilori? Or Grace Kingston like the media had dubbed her?

"You've always been better than us." Ewa said, snapping Grace from her trance. "I just wish this new world were good for you."

Her sister might not know everything, but she knew enough.

Grace swallowed, blinking back foolish tears.

"I'm still your sister." She said.

Ewa smiled, lips like Sanmi's. A pang went through as she thought of the brother she had cast away without hearing him out, because nothing mattered now, she just wanted the family she had always known, because she only knew how to be Grace Ilori.

"Yes, you are." was all Ewa said.

"I'm sorry." Grace said, thinking that if she was slowly breaking, it was only right that she made her wrongs right. "I don't deserve to be your sister, sisters have each others backs, I didn't."

Ewa furrowed her brows and patted down the space between them on the queen sized bed and Grace shifted closer, feeling like she was a child again,  running into Ewa's laps when anything was wrong. The rift between them had widened after Ewa refused to tell anyone about what their filthy neighbor had done to her, she had lived with it for years until the man had moved. Grace had been lost, a child herself.

"That bastard told you, didn't he?" She asked, she looked up at the chandeliers as if she was praying for patience ans when she looked back at Grace, her eyes were angry.

"I don't blame for whatever you did, or whatever you didn't. I resented you for so long, then Joshua took advantage of that, then he left too because he was too cowardly to be his own person, I learnt to be my own anchor, even if having someone could have helped."

"I am not 'cured'." Ewa said, quoting her sentence with her fingers. "But I recently started taking therapy sessions every Saturday, it's a small group of students and the sessions take place on campus at the Faculty of Arts, it is headed by a lecturer and a professional therapist."

"I write my fate — with my decisions , you don't write it for me. Just like you can do the same for yourself."

Grace wanted to snort but remembered that it would be condescending, it wasn't Ewa's fault that she didn't know everything.

"I'll try." She said, at the same time she said it, they heard a crash from the adjoining living room and they shared an exasperated look, Rafe was breaking something.

Good, Grace thought, let the room match my insides.

***

Jié Yong wasn't in Delta State, he was licking his wounds in Abuja, Kendrick stood in the airport, staring at one of the televisions in the airport lounge, he didn't even register that his flight details were being called in the intercom.

Yong Enterprises suffer big blow in the stock market.

He shook his head and took out his phone, dialling the one number he never called. Almost immediately, his father answered, another irregularity.

"Hello father, I'm coming home. And for God's sake, do not sell out any property to anybody until I return, there is something you might want to know."

It is time to play my trump card, he thought.

***

Joshua came for her right after Ewa was asked to leave and Grace knew —even before he tried to tell her — and raised a hand up, telling him to save it.

Toluwanimi Kingston wasn't anything like her and Grace was too tired to laugh as her eyes met his. She had met her own father before and she hadn't even known it. He wasn't surprised to see her either, after all, he had known of her existence even before she knew of his.

Dinah Phillips had told Grace of the presidential suite this morning before the press conference as several make up artists fused over her, plucking eyebrows and even going as far as trying to strip her down if Grace hadn't firmly refused, blushing like a schoolgirl.

Grace might have been blown away by how the room felt like she was underwater, inside the fishbowl, the walls were made of glass that curved up into a domed ceiling and there was the animation of the ocean flickering on them, creating the illusion of being under the ocean.

Remilekun Phillips was standing behind the bar and he raised a tumbler glass in salute. But father and daughter only had eyes for each other.

Toluwanimi Kingston broke the silence first, his voice colder than the chill in the air, "Hello Grace."

"Hello. . . Father."

***

The family reunion we've all been waiting for, lol. Kendrick is always plotting something, maybe this time, he'll succeed, or die, who knows?

Like I said in the previous chapter, this book ends in less than ten chapters, I might want to update them all at once, or in twos, either way, I'll let you know.

Now, the real partying begins, drinks on me.