chapter 2 my ex's billonaira boss

I entered Knight Enterprises at 7:59 AM with a borrowed blazer, borrowed shoes, and a heart that was beating like a drum.

The building in Victoria Island was not a building. It was glass and steel and power. The kind of place that makes poor people feel small. The security at the gate looked at my Ghana-Must-Go box and frowned.

"Interview? Drop your box at reception."

I hid my box behind a flower pot and entered the elevator. My reflection shocked me. My hair was roughly packed in a ponytail, my lips were dry, my borrowed blazer was too big. I had slept in a church in Ojota last night after begging the driver to let me enter his bus for 1000 naira promise.

On the 32nd floor, 20 girls were waiting. All of them looked like I*******m models. Straight bone-straight hair to their waist, fine makeup, designer bags, iPhone 15 Pro Max, speaking polished English with British accent. I heard one say, "My father is a friend to Mr. Knight."

I sat at the corner and hid my cracked phone.

Then the double doors opened and the whole room went silent.

He walked in.

Damian Knight.

I had seen him in Business Day newspaper, but newspaper does not do justice. He was tall, at least 6ft 3, in a black tailored suit that must cost more than my four years school fees. His hair was cut low, his jaw was sharp, his eyes were dark brown but cold. Like he could see your lies.

Behind him was his secretary, a strict woman in glasses, and... Michael.

My Michael.

My ex Michael Obi, wearing a cheap blue suit that looked new, holding a file like a houseboy. He was smiling, trying to look important next to his billionaire boss.

Our eyes met.

His smile vanished. His mouth opened. "L-Lena?"

The whole interview room turned to look at me.

Damian Knight noticed Michael's shock. He looked at Michael, then at me. His eyes stayed on me for a long second.

"You know her?" Damian asked Michael, his voice deep and calm. The kind of calm that is more dangerous than shouting.

Michael quickly recovered and laughed, that fake laugh he uses when he is lying. "Sir, this is... this is my ex-girlfriend from the village. Lena. She is... she was disturbing me, sir. She is obsessed. I told her not to come here but she followed me to Lagos. I am sorry, sir. I will chase her out."

The girls in the room giggled. One whispered, "Village girl following man to Lagos? Shameless."

My face burned with shame. My hands were shaking. This was his plan - to humiliate me before I even speak.

The secretary said, "Security -"

But Damian raised his hand and security stopped.

He was still looking at me. Not with pity. With interest.

"You are Lena Adeyemi?" He picked up my CV from the table. "First Class, Ahmadu Bello University, Economics. You speak English, Hausa, and French. You were Student Union Vice President. You managed a small POS business to pay your fees."

"Yes, sir," I said, my voice small but I forced myself to look at him.

"Why did you apply for this job? You have no experience in a big company. You have no Lagos connection. Why should I hire you over these other 19 ladies who have masters from UK?"

This was my moment. If I cry, I lose. If I beg, I lose. I remembered what Tasha said. "No man wants you."

I took a deep breath. My eyes were still on his.

"Because, sir, everyone here wants your money or wants to marry you. I just want a job to eat. And because your company is failing in Northern Nigeria and you don't know why. You have no one in this 32nd floor who understands how Kaduna market women think. I do. I am one of them. I can help you make money there. And I am not afraid to tell you when you are wrong, sir. Because I have nothing to lose."

The whole room gasped. One girl said, "She's mad!"

Michael hissed, "Lena, keep quiet! You will make him angry!"

But Damian Knight did something nobody expected.

He smiled. A small, slow, dangerous smile.

"Everyone out," he said quietly.

"Sir?" The secretary was confused.

"I said, everyone out except her."

The 19 girls stood up, shocked, carrying their designer bags, glaring at me with hate. Michael was the last to leave. He looked at me and mouthed, "You will regret this."

The door closed. Now it was just me and him in the big office. The air condition was too cold.

He walked around his desk and sat on the edge, very close to me. I could smell his cologne. Expensive. Clean. Nothing like Michael's cheap spray.

"You have guts, Lena Adeyemi," he said. "My last assistant started crying because I told her her report was rubbish. Will you cry if I shout at you?"

"I cried yesterday, sir. I finished my crying," I said.

He laughed. This time a real laugh. "Good. I like you. You are hired. Salary is 400,000 naira per month. Plus accommodation allowance. You start now."

400,000? I almost fainted. My POS business never gave me 30k a month.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"

"But," he said, and his face became serious again. "One condition."

My heart stopped.

"My junior manager, Michael Obi. He told me before you came that you are his obsessed ex who is stalking him. He said you are a trouble maker. Is that true?"

My fists clenched. So this was Michael's new lie.

"No, sir. He cheated on me yesterday with my roommate on my birthday. I caught them in my bed. I left him. I did not follow him here. I applied for this job three weeks before he even got his job here."

Damian's jaw tightened. His eyes became dark. I saw anger, real anger.

"He did what?"

"He cheated on me, sir."

Damian stood up and went to his window. He looked at Lagos.

"I hate cheats," he said quietly. "My father cheated on my mother when I was 10. He left us with nothing. My mother cried for two years. So I hate men who make women cry."

He turned back to me.

"Michael will not disturb you again. I promise. But I need you to do something for me in return for this job."

"Anything, sir."

"I have a family dinner tonight in Banana Island. My mother keeps forcing me to marry fake girls who only want my money. I need a girl who doesn't want my money to pretend to be my girlfriend for one night. Just tonight. To make my mother stop worrying and to make my stupid ex who will be there jealous."

He walked back to me and brought out a black card.

"I will buy you a dress, hair, makeup, everything. You just need to act like you love me. One night. I will pay you 500,000 naira extra."

500,000 for one night?

My rent, my food, my revenge...

He stretched his hand. "So, will you be loved by your ex's billionaire boss, Lena?"

The door suddenly opened and Michael entered again without knocking, holding a file.

"Sir, the board is waiting -" He stopped when he saw how close Damian was standing to me.

I looked at Michael. Yesterday I was crying at a bus stop because of him. Today his billionaire boss was offering me half a million to pretend to be his girlfriend.

Should I take his hand?