Jerry swallowed hard. His legs felt weak, but his mind finally shouted one thing.
Move.
He wrapped an arm around her, not like a romantic embrace, but like a man shielding something precious from thieves. He led her through the crowd.
Some women stepped back in shock. Some followed. One woman even shouted, “Ah! Is this a film trick?”
Tunde’s eyes widened as they approached the SUV.
“Sir, that is—”
“Open the door,” Jerry said sharply.
Tunde obeyed immediately.
Mirabel climbed in quickly, pulling her headscarf lower over her face. Jerry got in beside her. The door slammed shut.
Outside, the world felt distant, like a noisy radio left in another room.
Inside the SUV, there was only breathing.
Jerry stared at Mirabel. His hands were still shaking. His voice came out small, almost like a child’s.
“Mirabel… talk to me.”
Mirabel looked down at her hands.
“I didn’t plan for you to see me like that,” she said softly.
Jerry’s eyes burned.
“How else would I see you?” he asked. “I have attended meetings with a dead heart for one week. I have not slept. I have been going to that mortuary like a madman, asking them to open the drawer again and again because I kept thinking maybe they made a mistake.”
Mirabel squeezed her eyes shut. A tear escaped.
Jerry leaned closer, his voice rising without permission.
“And then today, I come to the market trying to act like a normal man. Trying to pretend life can still move forward. And I see you standing there as if nothing happened.”
His breath hitched. He pressed a palm against his forehead.
He was a billionaire. He owned glass office towers on Victoria Island. He controlled boardrooms. People feared him.
But right now, he felt like a lost boy who had misplaced the only thing that ever made home feel like home.
“Mirabel,” he whispered, “please tell me I’m not dreaming.”
Mirabel turned her face to the window and wiped her tears quickly, almost as if she were ashamed.
“I’m not dead.”
Jerry let out one short, painful laugh.
“Then who is dead?” he asked. “Because there is a body in the mortuary, and everyone says it is you.”
Mirabel’s jaw tightened.
“Jerry,” she said. “Drive.”
“Drive where?”
“A quiet place,” she said quickly. “Not your house. Not the office. Not anywhere your mother’s people can reach quickly.”
That word—mother—sent a cold current through Jerry’s chest.
“Madam Hannah?” he asked slowly.
Mirabel finally looked at him.
The fear in her eyes answered him before her mouth did.
“Please,” she said. “Just drive.”