Depression set in during the weeks following the incident. Esaaba didn’t need to tell Ruby and her mother about the breakup; they figured it out on their own. Ruby was furious.

“This is not the time you leave a woman, not when she’s in immense grief!” Ruby complained.

Esaaba was losing weight rapidly and looked utterly miserable. Ruby decided it was time to take matters into her own hands.

"Are you strong enough to visit him? Let’s go to his place," Ruby suggested.

“We can go. I’m fine,” Esaaba replied weakly.

The two got dressed and made their way to Reuben’s house. When they knocked, the door opened, and there he was.

“Esaaba? How are you? It’s been a while,” Reuben said, sounding almost surprised.

Ruby snapped angrily, “We’re not here to exchange pleasantries! Where’s Reggie?”

Reuben hesitated for a moment, then said, “He moved. Didn’t he tell you?”

“Moved?” Esaaba asked, her voice breaking as her heart sank further.

Feeling disheartened, the two decided to try visiting the place Reggie had claimed was his family home. To their dismay, he wasn’t there either—the family had moved as well.

Ruby tried to console her friend. “He’s gone, Esaaba. Just leave him alone and focus on moving on.”

Esaaba shook her head. “I don’t want us to give up. Our baby is alive, and he has to help me find her.”

Ruby wanted to help, but she had work commitments. The following days, Esaaba was left to go back to Reuben on her own, begging him every night to tell her where Reggie was.

She would cry, "I’m dying inside. Please, help me."

Reuben was beginning to feel immense guilt. “If this girl dies of grief, her blood will be on our hands… especially mine,” he thought.

One night, as Esaaba stood at his door in tears, Reuben finally relented. He let her inside, sat her down, and held her hands.

Looking into her eyes, he asked, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Yes,” Esaaba nodded eagerly, desperate for answers.

Reuben sighed deeply. “I’m telling you this because I see how you come here every night, begging me for Reggie’s location. I will tell you where he is, and I will tell you why he left.”

Esaaba leaned forward, her voice trembling. “Please, talk.”

Reuben looked at her, guilt heavy in his eyes. “Reggie is married. The woman he introduced as his sister… she’s actually his wife.”

Esaaba gasped, her breath catching in her throat.

“That’s not all,” Reuben continued. “They weren’t able to have children. His wife doesn’t have ovaries. Reggie would have had to sleep with another woman if they wanted a baby. There were a few women willing to do it, but Reggie didn’t want to… until he met you.”

“Until he met me?” Esaaba repeated, her voice hollow, disbelief washing over her.

“Yes,” Reuben said quietly.

Esaaba sat frozen, her mind spinning. The words echoed in her head like a haunting refrain. “Until he met me? Until he met me?”

Suddenly, she gasped, the realization hitting her like a punch to the chest. “So you mean… my baby is alive? You mean they used me just for the baby?”

Reuben nodded slowly, his face etched with shame.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked her again.

This time, Esaaba’s face wasn’t filled with sadness. There was a deadly glare in her eyes, and a thin, chilling smile spread across her lips.

“Yes, Reuben,” she said in a voice that was calm but laced with something dark. “I can keep a secret.”

Other Chap: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21