The sun had barely risen, casting a pale light over the streets of Lagos, but Amaka was already wide awake. The echoes of the judge's final words from the courtroom still rang in her ears. She had lost—lost everything. Her reputation lay in ruins, her finances drained from the compensation she had been ordered to pay Jidenna, and even her closest friends, including Ngozi, had distanced themselves from her.

  Seated in the small, dimly lit living room of her apartment, Amaka scrolled through her phone, her heart sinking with every headline:

  "Jidenna Okoro Wins Defamation Case: Justice Served!"

  "Amaka Daniels Faces Public Backlash After False Accusation Scandal."

  "The Rise of Jidenna Okoro: A Comeback Story for the Ages."

  Her lips trembled as she read through the comments online.

  "She deserves everything she's getting."

  "How could someone stoop so low? Jidenna is better off without her."

  "She should be in jail!"

  Her hands tightened around the phone, her knuckles whitening. "They don't know me," she muttered under her breath. "They don't know what I've been through. What I've sacrificed for him!"

  Meanwhile, Jidenna sat in his new manager's office, his shoulders relaxed for the first time in months. The walls were adorned with posters of his latest album, Phoenix Rising, a title symbolic of his struggle and triumph over the scandal.

  "Your comeback is going strong," his manager said with a smile. "Streams are up 300%, and we've got three offers for endorsement deals. Everyone loves a redemption story."

  Jidenna nodded, though his mind wandered. Despite the victory, a part of him still felt hollow. He had once loved Amaka deeply, and while he had no intention of rekindling that relationship, the memories lingered, like shadows that refused to fade.

  "You're doing great," his manager added, snapping him back to reality. "This is your time to shine. Don't let anything—or anyone—hold you back."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Jidenna smiled faintly. "I won't."

  As days turned into weeks, Amaka's life became increasingly isolated. She avoided the streets, knowing the whispers and stares that awaited her. Bills began piling up, her once-pristine apartment now a cluttered mess of unopened mail and discarded takeout containers.

  She had tried reaching out to Ngozi, but her calls went unanswered. Even Clara, the coworker who had testified on her behalf, had subtly distanced herself. Amaka was alone.

  But solitude bred something else—a dangerous determination.

  Sitting in front of her vanity mirror, her face bare and her eyes hollow, Amaka stared at her reflection. "He was mine," she whispered. "He was supposed to be mine."

  Her thoughts spiraled. If only she could make him see how much he meant to her. If only she could get him to listen. Maybe... maybe she had gone about it the wrong way before.

  She began jotting down notes in a worn notebook, her handwriting frantic and uneven. She listed out possibilities:

  Find a way to reconnect.Use the media to my advantage.Turn his friends against him.

  Her pen hovered over the last point. She scratched it out and rewrote:

  Make him need me.

  A smile crept across her lips as a new idea began to take shape. She would play the long game this time. She wouldn't rush or make the same mistakes. If Jidenna thought he was free of her, he was sorely mistaken.

  Across town, Jidenna was moving on, or at least trying to. He had bought a new house in a gated community, far from the memories of his old life with Amaka. He spent his days in the studio, pouring his emotions into his music, and his nights surrounded by close friends and trusted colleagues.

  But one evening, as he sat alone on his balcony, sipping a glass of wine, he felt a strange unease. It was as if someone was watching him, though the high walls of his compound made that impossible. He shrugged it off, chalking it up to paranoia left over from the trial.

  Little did he know, Amaka's plan was already in motion.

  In the quiet of her apartment, Amaka stared at her vision board, now cluttered with photos, notes, and timelines. She had researched every detail about Jidenna's new life—his new house, his favorite hangouts, the people he spent time with.

  "He thinks he's moved on," she murmured, her voice steady but laced with a chilling edge. "But he hasn't seen the last of me."

  Amaka pinned a photo of Jidenna to her board, her eyes narrowing as she whispered, "If I can't have you, no one else will."