Relationships
Connections and interactions between people, ranging from romantic to familial and platonic
My wife called me heartless because I refused to contribute to her sister’s wedding. The wedding is in six weeks, and her sister and fiancé are struggling financially, so my wife wanted us to pay for the venue decorations. I reminded her that just three months ago, my own brother asked us for help with his rent after losing his job.
Her response back then was simple: “Your brother is a grown man. He needs to figure out his own life.” She even told me that constantly helping him would only make him dependent on us. But now, when it comes to her sister, she suddenly believes family should always show up during important moments.
I pulled out the message from when my brother asked for help. He hadn't demanded anything or insulted anyone. He simply explained that he had lost his job and needed help covering one month’s rent while he searched for another. My wife had replied from my phone after I showed her the message: “If we keep rescuing him, he'll never learn.” She claimed she couldn't remember writing it.
I told her I wasn't against helping her sister. I just couldn't understand why her family's problems were our responsibility while mine were treated like personal failures. I offered to contribute the same amount we had been willing to give my brother, but she called me petty and said her sister deserved to feel celebrated. For the first time, I started wondering whether being a good husband meant supporting my wife's family or accepting that the rules would never be the same for mine.
If you were in my shoes, would you still contribute to your wife’s sister’s wedding, or would you stand your ground and insist that both families should be treated equally?
56
338
I dated a man in Ibadan for over a year, and throughout our relationship, there was one woman abroad who always made me uncomfortable. He insisted they were just friends and that she was helping him with business connections, so I chose to trust him. He eventually proposed, and our families even had an introduction ceremony.
But six months later, there was still no serious plan for the wedding. Whenever I asked questions, he accused me of rushing him and told me I could leave if I wasn't willing to wait. Then one day, he surprised me by offering me ₦3 million to end the relationship. When I asked why, he simply said he didn't want me to become a widow.
Soon after, he started avoiding me, blocked me everywhere and eventually disappeared from my life. I had no choice but to move on. Then, weeks later, I came across his new Instagram account and there he was at the beach with the same woman he had always called “just a friend.” Suddenly, all the unanswered questions started making sense.
If you were in her shoes, would you take the ₦3 million and walk away, or would you demand to know the real reason he ended the relationship?
8
31
My neighbour sponsored his 26-year-old younger brother to the UK in 2024. At first, the young man constantly complained about how boring and lonely life was there, but his brother kept encouraging him to stay, telling him he would eventually adjust. He eventually completed his master’s degree and then asked his brother to help sponsor his girlfriend to the UK.
His brother refused, telling him that his girlfriend's family should handle that. The young man became upset and threatened to leave the UK and return to Nigeria if his brother wouldn't help. His brother stood his ground. Eventually, the young man returned to Nigeria without telling him, rented an apartment and started living with his girlfriend.
He had no job or business and was surviving on the little money he had saved from the UK. Eventually, the money finished, and his girlfriend broke up with him. What made it worse was what she told him: “I thought you had made it already. So people in the UK are suffering too?”
Now he's begging his brother to send him back to the UK, but his brother has refused completely. If you were in the brother's position, would you give him another chance and send him back, or let him face the consequences of his decisions?
14
58
I once had a girlfriend who never called me unless I called her first. It went on for weeks, and eventually, I decided to stop calling her just to see what would happen. That evening, she called and asked, “Why haven't you called me since morning? Is the love bombing already ending?”
I told her that since we had agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, I believed the relationship should be mutual. I wanted to feel like she also had the desire to hear my voice and check on me. She replied that she loved me, but in a different way. She loved the fact that I always called first because it made her feel wanted as a woman.
I told her I also deserved some level of reciprocity, especially after three weeks of always being the one to initiate conversations. She responded, “The only thing I'm willing to reciprocate is the nonchalance you've shown me today.” For the next 24 hours, neither of us called.
That was how the relationship ended. We became nothing more than people who viewed each other's status updates. Then, one month later, she posted her wedding invitation. I couldn't believe it.
Do you think relationships should always have equal effort, or is it okay for one person to naturally put in more effort than the other?
12
58
A man sent his wife packing after she refused to give their apprentice food for two days. The boy had been living and working with them for five years. According to the wife, he didn't deserve food because he swept the house in the morning but failed to sweep it again in the evening after returning from the shop.
When her husband found out, he took her to the shop and asked her to handle the apprentice's duties for two days. Surprisingly, she spent those two days at the shop without making a single sale. The husband eventually sent her to her parents' house and told her, “The money you've been enjoying was made by the same boy you refused to feed.”
It sounds harsh, but it raises a serious question about how we treat the people whose labour contributes to our success. Do you think the husband was right to send his wife away, or did he overreact?
30
109
I met Emma on a Tuesday evening when neither of us was looking for love.
I was sitting alone in a small café, trying to finish some work, when the chair across from me suddenly moved.
“Is anyone sitting here?”
I looked up.
A girl was standing beside the table, holding a cup of coffee.
“No.”
She smiled. “Good. Everywhere else is full.”
She sat down.
I went back to my laptop, but somehow, I couldn't concentrate anymore.
A few minutes later, she looked at the book beside my laptop.
“You actually read that?”
I smiled. “You say that like it's a bad thing.”
“It isn't. I just didn't expect someone your age to be reading it.”
“And what did you expect?”
She laughed.
“That you'd be scrolling through your phone.”
That was our first conversation.
It lasted almost an hour.
Before she left, she wrote her number on a napkin and pushed it toward me.
“In case you ever want to prove that you're more interesting than you look.”
I laughed.
“I'll call you.”
“You better.”
I did.
And somehow, one phone call became another.
Then another.
Soon, Emma became part of my everyday life.
We went on dates, took long walks, shared stupid jokes, and talked about things we had never told anyone else.
I fell in love with her quietly.
Then one evening, she looked at me and said,
“I think I'm falling for you.”
I smiled.
“I was wondering when you'd admit it.”
She laughed and rested her head on my shoulder.
For the first time in a long time, I felt certain about someone.
I thought she felt the same.
Then, one Friday night, everything changed.
Emma had been unusually quiet all evening.
When I asked if something was wrong, she smiled and said,
“Nothing. I'm just tired.”
She kissed me before leaving.
“Call me when you get home,” I told her.
“I will.”
She never did.
At 1:17 a.m., my phone lit up.
It was a message from Emma.
“I'm sorry. Please don't hate me.”
I immediately called her.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then another message arrived.
“Whatever happens, remember that loving you was the easiest thing I've ever done.”
I sat up in bed.
Something was wrong.
I called her again.
Still nothing.
Then came the final message.
“If you ever wonder why I left without saying goodbye, ask my sister about the blue envelope.”
And that was it.
No more messages.
No calls.
Nothing.
The next morning, I went to Emma's house.
Her sister opened the door.
The moment she saw me, she started crying.
“You don't know yet, do you?”
“Know what?”
She looked at me for a long moment.
Then she disappeared into the house and returned carrying a small blue envelope.
My hands were shaking when I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Emma had written it the night before.
She told me she had been diagnosed with a serious illness months before we met.
She hadn't told me because she didn't want our relationship to begin with pity.
She wanted me to know her as Emma.
Not as someone who was sick.
She wrote about our first meeting.
Our first date.
The first time I made her laugh.
And the first time she realized she loved me.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
She wrote:
“I know you're going to ask why I didn't tell you. The truth is, I was afraid you'd stay because you felt sorry for me. I wanted at least one part of my life to feel normal. You gave me that.”
I couldn't hold back my tears.
Then I read the last line.
“If this is the last message you ever receive from me, please don't remember me for the way I left. Remember me for every moment before it.”
I sat there for a long time with the letter in my hands.
Her sister sat beside me.
“She loved you,” she whispered.
I nodded.
“I know.”
Months passed.
I still kept her number in my phone.
Sometimes, I would open our old conversations just to read the silly things we'd said to each other.
Then, one evening, I received a notification.
My heart stopped.
It was from Emma's number.
For a second, I couldn't breathe.
I opened the message.
It wasn't from Emma.
It was from her sister.
There was only one sentence.
“She asked me to send this to you when you were ready.”
Then came a photograph.
It was a picture of Emma smiling at the café where we first met.
On the back, her handwriting said:
“Thank you for making the time I had feel like a lifetime.”
I stared at the photograph through tears.
And for the first time since she left, I smiled.
Because I finally understood something.
Some people come into your life for decades.
Others come for only a short while.
But that doesn't make their love any less real.
Emma gave me something I never expected to find.
She taught me that sometimes the greatest love story isn't the one that lasts forever.
It's the one that makes forever feel possible, even when you know it can't be.
THE END.
1
38
After years of toxic relationships, she finally met a man who was calm, loving and respectful.
But instead of enjoying the peace, she became suspicious. She was so used to controlling partners that his kindness felt strange. When he didn't shout or question everything she did, she started thinking he must be hiding something.
She slowly pushed him away until the relationship ended.
Later, she realised she wasn't really running from him she was running from the pain of her past.
Sometimes, we carry old wounds into new relationships and end up hurting someone who never hurt us.
Do you think someone should completely heal from past relationship trauma before dating again, or can healing happen while you're with the right person?
16
61
A guy became suspicious when his girlfriend suddenly started guarding her phone like it contained government secrets.
One day, he jokingly decided to investigate. He checked her Gmail, YouTube history and Notes app. Then he went further blocked contacts, Wi-Fi history, Bluetooth connections and even her Uber history.
At first, everything looked normal.
Then he started finding little things that didn't add up. A few searches, some deleted conversations and certain places she had been visiting suddenly started making sense.
He didn't need a confession anymore. The phone had already told him enough.
But let's be honest…
If you suspect your partner is cheating, would you investigate their phone to find the truth, or would you rather respect their privacy and never look?
16
74
Daniel couldn't stop thinking about the photograph.
The little boy in it was him.
And the little girl beside him was Maya.
But how had they forgotten each other?
The next morning, Maya called.
“Daniel, I need to see you.”
They met at the same café where they had spent so many afternoons together.
Maya placed the old photograph on the table.
“I found this in a box of my childhood things.”
Daniel turned it over.
Their names were written on the back.
Maya and Daniel.
“I remember the house,” Maya said quietly. “The blue gate. The tree in the backyard. You used to sit under it with me.”
Daniel stared at her.
And then the memories came back.
A little girl running through the garden.
Two children sharing ice cream.
A promise they had made beneath the tree.
We will always be friends.
“You were my best friend,” Daniel whispered.
Maya smiled through her tears.
“I think you were mine too.”
But there was one thing neither of them understood.
Why had Maya forgotten him?
They decided to ask their families.
That evening, Maya finally confronted her mother.
“Why didn't you ever tell me about Daniel?”
Her mother went silent.
Then she explained.
Years ago, Maya had been involved in a serious car accident while her family was moving to another city.
She survived, but the trauma affected parts of her childhood memory.
The doctors had warned that some memories might disappear.
Daniel's family had moved away shortly afterward, and because Maya no longer remembered him, the two families never tried to reconnect them.
Her mother had kept the photographs, hoping that one day Maya might remember.
She never expected Daniel to walk back into her life.
Maya listened quietly.
Then she asked the question that mattered most.
“So all these years… I really forgot him?”
Her mother nodded.
“But somehow,” Maya whispered, “I found him again.”
That night, Maya went to Daniel's house.
He was standing outside when she arrived.
She walked toward him slowly.
“I remember something else,” she said.
“What?”
“The promise we made.”
Daniel smiled.
“What promise?”
“That if we ever found each other again, we wouldn't let each other go.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“I think we already broke that promise once.”
Maya stepped closer.
“We were children.”
“And now?”
She looked into his eyes.
“Now I'm choosing you.”
Daniel pulled her into his arms.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
They didn't need to.
The little boy and little girl in that old photograph had been separated by circumstances neither of them understood.
But somehow, years later, they had found their way back to each other.
And this time, they were old enough to choose where their story would go.
A few months later, Daniel took Maya back to the old house.
The blue gate was still there.
The tree was still standing.
They sat beneath it together, just like they had as children.
Maya rested her head on his shoulder.
“Do you think we were always supposed to find each other again?”
Daniel looked at her and smiled.
“Maybe.”
She smiled back.
“Then I'm glad I forgot.”
Daniel laughed.
“Why?”
“Because now I get to fall in love with you twice.”
He kissed her forehead.
And beneath the same tree where two children had once promised never to forget each other, two adults began a new chapter of the same love story.
Sometimes, love doesn't disappear.
Sometimes, life simply makes you forget where you left it.
THE END.
0
19
Daniel had forgotten what it felt like to be excited about meeting someone.
Then he met her at a bookstore on a quiet Saturday afternoon.
She was standing in front of the romance section, holding a book in one hand and reading the back cover with a small smile.
Daniel reached for the same book.
Their hands touched.
“Sorry,” she said, pulling hers away.
Daniel smiled. “You can have it.”
She looked at him.
“You were reaching for it first.”
“I wasn't in a hurry.”
She studied him for a second before handing him the book.
“Then I suppose we're both being polite for no reason.”
Daniel laughed.
That was how it started.
A book neither of them bought.
A conversation neither of them planned.
And a smile Daniel found himself thinking about long after he left the bookstore.
They exchanged numbers before going their separate ways.
That evening, Daniel received a message.
“I hope you eventually found something worth reading.”
He smiled.
“I did.”
She replied almost immediately.
“What?”
Daniel stared at the screen for a moment before typing:
“You.”
There was a long pause.
Then her reply came.
“That was smooth.”
Daniel laughed.
From that night, their conversations became almost effortless.
Her name was Maya.
She loved old songs, hated crowded places, and had a habit of going quiet whenever something was bothering her.
Daniel liked the way she listened.
He liked the way she laughed.
Most of all, he liked how quickly being around her stopped feeling like being around a stranger.
Within weeks, their casual conversations had become late-night calls.
Their occasional outings became something they both looked forward to.
And somewhere between the coffee dates and long walks home, Daniel realized he was falling in love.
Maya was falling too.
Neither of them said it at first.
They didn't need to.
It was in the way she looked at him.
The way his face changed whenever her name appeared on his phone.
One evening, they sat together in the car after dinner.
Neither wanted to leave.
Maya rested her head against his shoulder.
Daniel gently held her hand.
“I don't know when this happened,” he whispered.
Maya smiled.
“Neither do I.”
Daniel turned toward her.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, the world outside the car seemed to disappear.
He leaned closer.
So did she.
Then Maya suddenly pulled back.
Her expression changed.
“Daniel…”
“What's wrong?”
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then she asked something he wasn't expecting.
“Have we met before?”
Daniel smiled.
“I don't think so.”
Maya looked away.
“I thought so too.”
She paused.
“But sometimes when I'm with you…”
Her voice faded.
Daniel waited.
She looked back at him.
“It feels like I've loved you before.”
Daniel didn't know what to say.
He simply held her hand.
Neither of them noticed the old photograph lying inside Maya's handbag.
A photograph she had carried for years.
A photograph of a little girl standing beside a young boy.
And on the back, written in faded ink, were two names:
Maya and Daniel.
To be continued...
1
30
You scroll through Instagram and suddenly see a picture you never expected.
Your best friend is smiling beside your ex.
At first, you think it's an old picture.
Then you notice the caption:
“Finally found my happiness.”
Your heart drops.
You and your ex broke up six months ago. You thought you had moved on.
But what hurts more is that your best friend knew everything about that relationship the fights, the tears, and how badly the breakup affected you.
You call your friend.
They answer casually:
“I was going to tell you…”
You don't let them finish.
Would you forgive your best friend?
Or would you end the friendship?
What would YOU do?
21
139
Sofia's words stayed in Anthony's mind long after she walked away.
“They know about us.”
He didn't chase after her.
For the first time since they met, Anthony understood that whatever Sofia had been hiding wasn't something she could simply explain over coffee.
It was bigger than both of them.
The next morning, Sofia called.
Her voice was quiet.
“Anthony, we need to talk.”
They met that evening at the same place where they had shared their first coffee.
But this time, neither of them smiled.
Sofia sat across from him with tears already in her eyes.
“Seven years ago,” she began, “our families were close.”
Anthony listened.
“Your father and mine were business partners. They trusted each other completely.”
She paused.
“Until money disappeared.”
Anthony frowned.
“My father said your father took it.”
Sofia nodded.
“My father said he didn't.”
Anthony suddenly understood.
The two families had spent years blaming each other.
The partnership ended.
Friendships disappeared.
And both families made a decision.
Their children would never have anything to do with each other.
“But what happened seven years ago?” Anthony asked.
Sofia looked down.
“That night, my father discovered that the money hadn't been taken by either of them.”
Anthony stared at her.
“Then who took it?”
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
“Someone they both trusted.”
Anthony slowly leaned forward.
“Who?”
Sofia looked directly at him.
“Your uncle.”
Silence.
Anthony couldn't speak.
His uncle had disappeared from the family shortly after the business collapsed. His father had always refused to talk about him.
Sofia continued.
“He took the money and left both families believing the other had betrayed them.”
Anthony sat back.
All those years of anger.
All those years of separation.
All because of a lie.
“But why didn't anyone tell us?”
“Because by the time the truth came out, the damage was already done. Your father and mine had become enemies.”
Sofia wiped her tears.
“They made a promise that their families would never become connected again.”
Anthony reached across the table and took her hand.
“So all this time... we were being punished for something we didn't do?”
Sofia nodded.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I tried to stay away from you.”
Anthony looked at her.
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
She smiled through her tears.
“Because I couldn't.”
Anthony squeezed her hand.
“Neither could I.”
For the first time that evening, Sofia smiled.
But it didn't last.
Her phone began ringing.
She looked at the screen.
Dad.
She answered.
She listened silently.
Then her face changed.
“What happened?” Anthony asked.
Sofia ended the call.
“My father knows everything.”
Anthony stood.
“About us?”
She nodded.
“And?”
Sofia looked at him.
“He wants me to come home.”
Anthony felt his chest tighten.
“Are you going?”
Sofia didn't answer.
Instead, she stepped closer to him.
“I spent weeks trying to convince myself that loving you was a mistake.”
She reached for his hand.
“But every time I tried to walk away, my heart brought me back.”
Anthony pulled her into his arms.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Sofia whispered:
“I don't know what happens after tonight.”
Anthony held her tighter.
“Neither do I.”
She looked up at him.
“But I know I don't want to lose you.”
Anthony smiled.
“You won't.”
Three weeks later, Anthony stood outside Sofia's family home.
He wasn't there to fight.
He wasn't there to blame anyone.
He was there to tell the truth.
Sofia's father opened the door.
For several seconds, the two men simply stared at each other.
Then Anthony spoke.
“Your daughter isn't the person who betrayed your family.”
Sofia's father looked away.
“And neither was mine.”
The truth had already destroyed enough.
It didn't need to destroy their children too.
For the first time in seven years, the two families finally sat down and spoke about what had happened.
There were apologies.
There were tears.
And there were things that could never be completely repaired.
But some wounds begin to heal when the truth finally replaces the lie.
Months later, Anthony and Sofia returned to the same café where their first real date had taken place.
Sofia smiled across the table.
“Do you remember the first day we met?”
Anthony laughed.
“The broken umbrella?”
She nodded.
“You know, I almost didn't give you my number.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow.
“Then I guess I should thank that umbrella.”
Sofia laughed.
Anthony reached across the table and held her hand.
They had no idea what the future would bring.
But they had learned something neither of their families understood seven years earlier.
Sometimes people inherit the mistakes of the past.
But they don't have to inherit the hatred.
Anthony looked at Sofia.
The girl he was never supposed to love.
The girl he almost lost because of a secret that wasn't theirs.
And smiled.
Some love stories begin with a perfect plan.
Theirs began with a broken umbrella, a family secret, and a love they were never supposed to find.
THE END.
0
8
Anthony barely slept that night.
The message kept replaying in his mind.
“Ask her what happened seven years ago.”
He had no idea what it meant.
But whoever sent it clearly knew Sofia.
By morning, Anthony had made up his mind.
He would ask her.
Not through a message.
Not over the phone.
He wanted to see her face when he did.
That afternoon, Sofia met him at their usual café.
She smiled when she saw him, but Anthony noticed that her smile didn't reach her eyes.
They sat together, and for a while, neither mentioned anything unusual.
Anthony reached across the table and held her hand.
Sofia looked down at their hands and smiled.
For a moment, the message disappeared from his mind.
This was the woman he was falling for.
The woman who made ordinary days feel different.
The woman whose messages had become the first thing he looked forward to every morning.
He didn't want a secret to come between them.
“Sofia.”
She looked up.
“Hmm?”
“There is something I want to ask you.”
Her expression changed slightly.
Anthony noticed.
“Seven years ago... what happened?”
Sofia went completely still.
The color slowly disappeared from her face.
Anthony didn't say another word.
He simply waited.
For several seconds, she stared at him.
Then she looked away.
“Why are you asking me that?”
Anthony felt his heart sink.
“Because I need to know.”
Sofia swallowed hard.
“Who told you?”
Anthony froze.
That wasn't the answer he expected.
He leaned closer.
“Why does it matter who told me?”
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was hoping you'd never have to know.”
Anthony's chest tightened.
“Know what?”
She looked at him.
There was fear in her eyes.
And something else.
Guilt.
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen.
This time, Anthony saw the name.
Dad.
Sofia stood up immediately.
“I have to take this.”
She walked outside.
Anthony watched through the window.
He couldn't hear the conversation, but he could see the fear returning to her face.
A few minutes later, Sofia came back.
She sat down quietly.
Anthony reached for her hand again.
“You don't have to tell me everything today.”
She looked at him.
“Why are you being so kind to me?”
Anthony smiled sadly.
“Because I love the person I know.”
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
“And what if you don't love the person you don't know?”
Anthony didn't answer.
Sofia lowered her eyes.
Then, very quietly, she said,
“Anthony... before I met you, my family made a promise.”
He waited.
“What promise?”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“A promise that was supposed to keep us apart.”
Anthony's heart sank.
“Why?”
Sofia opened her mouth.
But before she could say another word, her phone vibrated.
A new message.
She looked at it.
Then immediately stood up.
Anthony watched her face change.
“What happened?”
Sofia looked at him.
This time, there were tears running down her cheeks.
She whispered:
“They know about us.”
Then she walked away.
Anthony remained seated, staring after her.
For the first time, he realized that whatever stood between him and Sofia...
wasn't just a secret.
It was something their families had been trying to prevent for years.
And now that they were falling in love...
someone was finally ready to stop them.
TO BE CONTINUED...
0
20
The next morning, Anthony woke up to a message from Sofia.
“Good morning.”
He smiled before replying.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
She took a little longer than usual to answer.
“Not really.”
Anthony noticed the difference immediately.
Something was wrong.
They had spoken almost every day since they met, and he had already learned that Sofia was not good at hiding her emotions.
He asked if she was okay.
She said she was.
Anthony didn't believe her.
Later that afternoon, they met again.
Sofia looked beautiful, but there was something different about her. She smiled when she saw him, yet her eyes seemed somewhere else.
Anthony reached for her hand.
She held it.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
They walked together, laughing about the little things they usually talked about.
But every now and then, Anthony caught Sofia staring at him.
Not the way she normally did.
This time, it felt like she was trying to memorize his face.
“What?” Anthony asked with a smile.
“Nothing.”
She looked away.
Anthony squeezed her hand.
“You've been saying ‘nothing’ a lot lately.”
Sofia smiled faintly.
“Maybe there's just nothing to say.”
But there was.
She knew it.
And Anthony could feel it.
They eventually sat together beneath a tree as the evening breeze moved gently around them.
Sofia rested her head on his shoulder.
Anthony looked down at her.
He wanted to tell her how much he had started to care about her.
Instead, he simply held her closer.
Sofia closed her eyes.
For a few quiet moments, neither of them spoke.
Then she whispered,
“Anthony…”
“Hmm?”
“If you ever found out something about me that you didn't like, would you leave?”
Anthony turned toward her.
“Why would I?”
She lifted her head.
“I don't know. Just answer me.”
Anthony looked into her eyes.
“I'd want to hear the truth first.”
Sofia's eyes became wet.
She quickly looked away.
Anthony noticed.
“Sofia…”
She shook her head.
“I'm fine.”
But she wasn't.
There was something she wanted to tell him.
Something she had been carrying long before the night they met in the rain.
She opened her mouth.
“Anthony, there's something about—”
Her phone rang.
Sofia froze.
She looked at the screen.
The same unknown number.
Her expression changed instantly.
Anthony noticed.
“Who is it?”
She rejected the call.
“No one.”
A second later, a message arrived.
Sofia opened it.
Her hands began to tremble.
Anthony gently reached for her hand.
“What happened?”
She locked her phone.
“Nothing.”
But this time, Anthony didn't smile.
He knew she was hiding something.
That evening, after they said goodbye, Anthony watched Sofia walk away.
She turned around once.
Their eyes met.
Then she disappeared around the corner.
Anthony stood there for a moment before heading home.
When he got into his car, his phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
He opened the message.
There was only one sentence.
“You really think Sofia met you by accident?”
Anthony stared at the screen.
His heart began to race.
He read the message again.
“Ask her what happened seven years ago.”
He didn't understand what it meant.
But one thing was certain.
Whoever sent that message knew something about Sofia that she wasn't ready to tell him.
TO BE CONTINUED...
0
10
At exactly 4 p.m., Anthony was already waiting.
He had arrived early, though he would never admit it.
He checked his phone again.
Then the door opened.
Sofia walked in.
For a moment, Anthony forgot what he was about to say.
She wasn't dressed to impress anyone. She simply looked beautiful.
Sofia noticed him staring and smiled.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Anthony smiled back.
“I was just wondering how I'm supposed to concentrate on coffee now.”
She laughed and took the seat opposite him.
The afternoon passed more quickly than either expected.
They talked, laughed, teased each other, and discovered little things they hadn't learned from their late-night conversations.
Anthony found himself watching her whenever she wasn't looking.
Sofia noticed.
She pretended not to.
When they finally left the café, neither wanted the evening to end.
So they walked.
No particular destination.
Just the two of them, talking beneath the evening sky.
At one point, Sofia stopped.
“Anthony?”
“Hmm?”
She looked at him for a moment.
“Do you ever feel like you've known someone longer than you actually have?”
Anthony smiled.
“I'm starting to.”
She looked away, hiding a smile of her own.
They continued walking.
When they reached her street, Sofia stopped again.
“This is me.”
Anthony nodded.
For a few seconds, neither of them moved.
There was something different in the silence.
Something neither of them wanted to name yet.
Anthony stepped a little closer.
Sofia didn't move away.
Their eyes met.
Then Sofia smiled softly.
“Goodnight, Anthony.”
“Goodnight.”
She turned and walked toward her house.
After a few steps, she turned around.
Anthony was still standing there.
She smiled.
He smiled back.
Then she disappeared through the gate.
Anthony walked away with a strange feeling in his chest.
He knew he was beginning to fall for her.
What he didn't know was that Sofia had stopped at the other side of the gate, leaning against it with her hand over her heart.
She was smiling too.
But the smile didn't last.
Her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
The number was unknown.
She answered.
She didn't say a word.
Neither did the person on the other end.
After a few seconds, the caller finally spoke.
“You need to end this before Anthony finds out.”
Sofia's smile disappeared.
She looked back toward the road.
Anthony was already gone.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“He can't find out.”
The call ended.
Sofia stood there in silence.
Because whatever she was hiding from Anthony...
was the one thing that could destroy everything between them.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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