LOGINI heard the car horn outside our small Kumasi house. A loud, expensive horn. Not the kind you hear in Kumasi.
Kwame was in the kitchen, shirtless, making tea for me. His bandaged hand still healing from cutting himself for me on the virgin test night. "Who is that?" I asked. Kwame froze. His face went hard. Cold. The billionaire face he used for everyone except me. "Stay inside," he said quietly. "Don't come out." But I already saw her through the window. Tall. Beautiful. Light-skinned. Long Brazilian hair. Wearing a short red dress and high heels that cost more than my father's hospital bill. Standing next to a white Range Rover with Accra plates. East Legon. Of course. She saw Kwame and ran to him. Jumped on him. "Kwame baby! I missed you!" she screamed, hugging him tight, kissing his neck. "Grandfather told me you married some village girl as a joke! I came to take you home to Accra!" I stood in the doorway, my old dress, my bare feet, my cheap hair bonnet. My heart dropped to my stomach. Kwame did not hug her back. He pulled her hands off him. "Vanessa, what are you doing here? I told you we are done," he said coldly. Vanessa laughed. "Done? Baby, we were together 3 years! You think you can marry a Kumasi bush girl and I will let you? Come, let's go to our apartment in East Legon. Leave her." She looked at me then, up and down, with disgust. "So this is Ama? The poor girl? Eii, Kwame, you downgraded oo. Does she even know how to use a fork? Can she speak English well?" My hands were shaking. Tears coming. I wanted to run inside and hide. Kwame's jaw tightened. He stepped in front of me. Like a wall. "Don't talk about my wife like that," he said, his voice low, dangerous. "Ever." Wife. He called me wife. Not fake wife. My wife. Vanessa's eyes went wide. "Your wife? You are serious? For this girl you are leaving me? A billionaire leaving me for a-" "For a woman who is worth ten of you," Kwame cut her. "Ama has never asked me for money, for Range Rover, for hair. You only love my wallet. She... she liked it when I held her. Even when I had nothing but this small house." He turned, looked at me. His eyes soft again, only for me. "Ama, go inside. I will handle this." But I didn't go. I walked forward. My legs shaking but I walked. I stood next to Kwame. I took his hand. His big, warm, bandaged hand. "Madam Vanessa," I said, my voice small but clear, in my Kumasi accent, proud. "This bush girl knows how to use fork. But she also knows how to keep a man happy at 6AM when his grandfather calls. Does East Legon girl know how to do that? Or you only know how to spend his money?" Vanessa gasped. Kwame stared at me, shocked, then a slow, proud smile spread on his face. "My wife has spoken," he said, wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me into his bare chest, in front of her. "Vanessa, leave my house. Now. And don't come back to Kumasi again. This is my home now. With her." Vanessa screamed, cried, got into her Range Rover and drove off, dust everywhere. Silence. Only me and Kwame in the dusty yard. His arm still around me. His chest still bare. "You called me your wife," I whispered, looking up at him. "In front of her." "You ARE my wife, Ama," he said softly, his thumb wiping the tear on my cheek I didn't know fell. "And today you acted like a real billionaire's wife. My jealous, possessive, Kumasi queen." He leaned down, his forehead on mine. "Thank you for not hiding inside. Thank you for fighting for me." My heart was beating fast. He called me his queen. "Are you jealous, Ama? Because I felt you shaking." "Maybe small," I admitted. "She is beautiful. Rich. From East Legon." "And you are beautiful. Real. From Kumasi. And you are the only woman I want to wake up at 6AM with." He kissed my forehead, long, in the middle of the yard, where all the neighbors could see. Let them see. Let them know Kwame Asare belongs to Kumasi now. --- 💔 MY LOVES... SHE FOUGHT FOR HIM!!! 😭🔥❤️ Vanessa came! But Ama did NOT hide! She held his hand and said "My husband!" Eii, this girl is becoming a real billionaire wife! ❤️ LIKE if you shouted "YES AMA!" when she spoke! 👁️ FOLLOW — Chapter 13 TOMORROW: Kwame Is Jealous Because Her Ex From Kejetia Comes! 👀 💬 COMMENT: Team Ama forever or Team Vanessa should leave? Tell me! We need 150 LIKES for Chapter 13 — The Ex Returns! Love, Your Ghana Girl ❤️The Sterling vineyard in Malibu doesn't look like a vineyard. It looks like a country that decided to be a vineyard.120 acres. No fences. Because Eleanor says fences are for people who are scared someone will steal their grapes. She has laser tripwires and ex-IDF snipers in the hills instead. Cheaper than fences, she says, and more entertaining.The Escalade didn't drive. It floated. Three black sharks up PCH, rain now gone as fast as it came in LA, sky bruised purple. Isabella fell asleep in my jacket in the backseat, head on my shoulder, breathing soft. For the first time in 72 hours, she wasn't shaking.Tyler was in front, on phone with LAPD forensics."Yes, I have boot print. Size 11 Salomon XA Forces. Yes, wet. Yes, V-Crown logo on SIM tool. No, I didn't contaminate. Yes, Eleanor Sterling took custody of the press. Yes, THAT Eleanor Sterling. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I'll file tonight."He hung up and looked back at us. "They found Alexei Volkov's file. Russian. 42. Ex-Spetsnaz
The rain in the alley was not normal LA rain. It was cold, biblical, like Surah Al-Haqqah — the sky splitting.I had Isabella's hand in my left, Luis's baseball bat in my right, and Tyler behind us with his gun half-drawn. The reporters' chanting — "KILLER! KILLER!" — was muffled now by the steel shutter, but I could still hear their phones pinging with Vanessa's leaked photo.She had posted it. On a burner account called @VCrownTruth. 40,000 views in 6 minutes. Caption: "Billionaire's new toy? While Edward's body is still warm in the freezer? #JusticeForEdward"She was not just trying to kill us. She was trying to bury Isabella in public opinion so no court would believe her."My car is two blocks down," Tyler hissed. "We can't stay here. V-Crown has drones. I saw one last week over ChenCorp.""Drones?" Isabella choked. She was soaked, mascara running, burger long forgotten."Vanessa bought two DJI Matrice 300s for 'building inspection'," I said. "They have thermal. She can find us t
The burger joint's glass doors exploded inward before the police sirens even faded.Not with a bomb. With cameras."ISABELLA MARTINEZ! IS THIS YOUR NEW BOYFRIEND? DID YOU KILL EDWARD CHEN FOR HIS MONEY? DID YOU HIDE THE BODY IN THE STERLING BUILDING FREEZER?"A wall of white flashes. Ten reporters. Three live-streamers with phones already on TikTok Live with 12,000 viewers. Two men with professional DSLR lenses that cost more than Luis's entire restaurant. Someone had tipped them off the second Tyler's cruiser pulled up. Someone who wanted this messy.Isabella froze, burger half in her hand. Ketchup on her thumb. Mustard on her lip. She looked like a child caught stealing, not a billionaire suspect.I moved on pure military instinct — the kind you don't lose even after five years out of active duty. I flipped our steel table onto its side, the legs screeching against the tile, shielding her from the lenses."GET BACK!" I roared, not at the reporters, at the kitchen staff. "LUIS! CLOSE
It is Saturday. 8 PM on the clock.I look at clock. 7:55 PM. 5 minutes to 8 PM.I am ready at my small table.My small apartment is warm tonight. Outside it is cold and dark. Inside it is warm and light.I cleaned table one hour ago. I washed it two times. It must be very clean for work.On table I have two white plates. Two forks. Two cups. Two cups of hot tea. I made tea at 7:50 PM so it is hot at 8 PM.I have my notebook open. My pen ready. My small folder with yesterday notes ready.I have big folder space ready for new folder. Page 81 to 100.I wait.Knock knock.Exactly 8 PM. I look at clock. 8:00 PM sharp. Nathan is never late. Every night exactly 8 PM. Monday 8 PM, Tuesday 8 PM, Wednesday 8 PM, Thursday 8 PM, Friday 8 PM, now Saturday 8 PM.Same time, every night.I open door. It is Nathan.Tonight he wears blue shirt and black jeans. No suit. No tie. Weekend clothes. Blue shirt looks good on him. Black jeans casual. He looks younger in jeans, not billionaire, just normal man.
Friday 8 PM. Rain is falling.Knock knock.I open. Nathan is wet. His hair is wet from rain. He holds folder tight to chest so it does not get wet."Rain is heavy," he says."Come in quick!"He comes in. He puts folder on table. But folder is not normal. It is open and one page is empty."Isabella, we have problem," he says. His face is serious. No smile today."What problem?"He shows me folder. Pages 61 to 80 are there, but page 73 is missing. Cut out with scissors. Clean cut."Someone cut page 73," he says. "I found it like this in my office this morning. I locked folder in drawer. Someone opened my drawer.""Who?"He sits down. Water drips from his jacket."I think Vanessa. She came to my office yesterday at 5 PM when I was in bathroom. My assistant saw her near my desk. She left fast."My heart beats fast. "What was on page 73?""Page 73 was the signature page for second building. Without page 73, second building budget 15 million cannot be approved. Bank will not release money."
It is 8 PM on Friday.I am in my small apartment.I clean the table very well. I make two cups of hot tea. One for me, one for Nathan.I put the big folder on the table. The folder has 200 pages. We finished 60 pages. Today we do page 61 to 80.I wait for knock.Knock knock.Exactly 8 PM. Nathan is always on time. Never late.I open the door. It is Nathan.Today he wears a green shirt and black pants. No suit. No tie. He looks happy today.He has two bags. One big folder with papers. One paper bag with food."Hi," he says with smile."Hi. Come in."We sit at my small table. The table is small, so our knees touch under table. Same every night.He opens the paper bag. Two boxes of soup and two breads."Today soup and bread. Yesterday pasta, today soup. It is cold outside, so soup is good," he says."Thank you. Soup is good for cold night," I say.We eat soup and bread. The soup is hot and good. Chicken soup."How is your day today?" I ask."My day is very good. Quiet. No Vanessa. She is







