Till Death Do Us Part
Episode 3: Love in the Line of Fire
Enugu Specialist Hospital – 3:15 AM
The emergency ward reeked of antiseptic and blood. Ifeanyi “Togo” Eze lay unconscious on a gurney, oxygen mask strapped to his face, his shoulder bandaged hastily with layers of gauze. Two armed officers stood guard, their fingers twitching near their triggers.
Nkiru sat in a wheelchair down the hallway, flanked by Obinna and SP Ngozi. Her wrists were still red from the ropes. A white blanket clung to her shoulders, but it was her silence that spoke volumes.
“Are you okay?” Obinna whispered, gently touching her arm.
She looked at him. Her eyes said: I’m alive, but I’m not okay.
Ngozi broke the silence. “He’s stable for now. Once he’s conscious, we’ll get his full confession. But from what we’ve gathered, this was never about money.”
Obinna nodded, his jaw tight. “He wanted to destroy her.”
“No,” Nkiru finally said, voice hoarse. “He wanted closure.”
They both turned toward her.
“I owe you the truth.”
Earlier That Day — Two Years Ago | Nsukka
Ifeanyi was a king in the shadows. Every major campus rally had his fingerprints. He made sure students got paid to attend political parades. He could settle a fight, find you housing, or handle “debt issues”—for a price. He didn’t need a degree. His name carried weight.
And then he met Nkiru.
She had fire. A law student, quiet, focused, but not easily impressed.
When cult boys cornered her one evening on her way back from the library, Ifeanyi’s boys intervened.
From then on, he paid her fees, bought her books, even gave her father a job managing one of his “filling stations” that barely sold fuel but washed money.
They were lovers… for a time.
But the deeper she got into school, the more distant she became.
“You’re too deep into all this madness,” she once told him. “I can’t breathe around you anymore.”
“You want one of those Lagos boys, abi?” he’d snapped.
“No. I want peace.”
She ghosted him weeks after her final year. Blocked him. Changed numbers. Moved out.
He found out about her wedding on Instagram.
Present Day – Enugu
Enugu State CID – 9:50 AM
Ngozi watched the morning news on AIT. The headlines screamed:
“ENUGU BRIDE RESCUED FROM KIDNAP! EX-LOVER TURNED POLITICAL ENFORCER IN CUSTODY!”
Beside the anchor was a picture of Nkiru and Obinna holding hands at their engagement party. Below it, a photo of Ifeanyi, shirtless, cigar in hand, surrounded by thugs.
The comments were already trending on Twitter:
- “Na wa o. So na her sugar daddy kidnap am?”
- “She chop belleful, then dump am. Omo.”
- “Lagos girls should take notes.”
Ngozi sighed. “Nigerians love drama.”
Her phone buzzed. It was from someone she wasn’t expecting.
Commissioner of Police, Enugu.
She answered.
“Ngozi… good work. But there’s pressure from above. The accused is… connected. Politicians are already calling. Be careful how you work this.”
She frowned. “You’re telling me to back off sir?”
“I’m telling you to be careful not to lose your job over a case that’s already embarrassing powerful people.”
She hung up slowly.
And then leaned back in her chair, muttering, “hmmmm what is he trying to say?”
Obinna’s Apartment – Evening
The house was quiet. No music. No celebration. No jollof.
Obinna sat on the couch, suit still on, staring blankly at his untouched drink.
Nkiru walked in slowly, dressed in a hoodie and joggers.
“You should be resting,” he said.
“I needed to see you.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him. About my past.”
He looked at her now. “You were in love with him.”
“I was… once. When I didn’t know who I could become.”
Obinna’s jaw clenched. “Do you still love him?”
She hesitated.
“I love you,” she said instead. “But I can’t lie—I never gave you the full version of me. You loved the lawyer, the corporate woman. Not the girl who used to hide her school fees under her mattress and feared walking home at night.”
He stared at her for a long time. Then, finally:
“We’re supposed to be husband and wife, Nkiru. But right now, I feel like I’m married to a stranger.”
Enugu Specialist Hospital – Prison Wing – 11:30 PM
Ifeanyi blinked open one eye.
The room was dim, but clean. Cuffed to the bed, IV drip in one arm. His shoulder throbbed.
Ngozi entered with two officers.
“Good to see you awake, Eze.”
He smirked. “You wan come flog confession from me?”
“No. You’re going down regardless. I just want to know—who backed you?”
His smirk faded.
“What makes you think I didn’t plan this myself?”
Ngozi stepped closer. “Because you’re a dog, but you’re not stupid. Someone gave you the green light—and I’ll find out who and then lock you all up no matter how highly connected or not.”
He stared her down. “be deceiving yourself” he mocked nonchalantly
“If you don’t talk,” she said coolly, “you rot.”
Hmmm the writer tried but the story is boring to read