26/10/2025
TEARS OF IFESINACHI
Chapter 31
The night after the failed capture was quiet in Emeka’s compound, but the silence carried a strange weight. Ifesinachi lay awake, staring at the ceiling, her mind replaying the events Emeka had narrated.
Obinna had slipped through their hands. The thought of him out there, wounded yet burning with vengeance, made her chest tighten with dread.
Beside her, Adaeze stirred in her crib. Ifesinachi rose quietly, lifted the child, and pressed her cheek to the baby’s soft hair.
“My little one,” she whispered. “Your uncle has sworn to destroy us, but I will not let him touch you.”
Her words were firm, but deep inside, fear gnawed at her.
Across the city, Obinna’s rage boiled like fire in an iron pot. He sat in his hideout with his closest men, the bandage on his arm soaked through with blood. The woman he had used as a shield had been dumped on the roadside, alive but trembling.
Obinna slammed his fist on the table. “They came for me in my own territory! They thought they could disgrace me before my men. If I let this go, I am finished.”
One of his lieutenants, Nnamdi, shifted uneasily. “Boss, maybe we should lie low for a while. The police are sniffing around after that raid. If we make noise now”
Obinna’s glare silenced him instantly.
“Coward! You think fear will protect us? Fear is for those who bow. I do not bow. I burn.”
He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with malice. “If they want war, I will show them war. We will not strike Emeka directly that is what he expects. We will strike where it hurts most. His woman. His child. His peace.”
The room fell silent. Every man there knew Obinna meant Ifesinachi.
At dawn, Emeka gathered his household. Chief D**e had doubled the guards, checkpoints were set at every entrance, and armored vehicles now patrolled the streets around the mansion.
“We wounded his pride,” Chief D**e said grimly. “That makes him dangerous. Expect retaliation.”
Emeka turned to Ifesinachi. “I’ll move you and Adaeze to a safer house for a while.”
But Ifesinachi shook her head, her eyes defiant. “Running won’t end this. Obinna will chase me wherever I go. If I keep hiding, I’ll live my whole life in fear. No. I’ll stay here.”
Emeka studied her for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly. “Then we’ll protect this place like a fortress.”
But Obinna was already moving.
That evening, as dusk painted the sky in shades of red, one of Chief D**e’s patrol vehicles was ambushed on the road. Gunfire erupted, glass shattered, and two guards were left dead before backup arrived.
The message was clear: Obinna was watching, waiting, bleeding the household slowly.
Then came the second blow.
A truck carrying supplies to the compound exploded just meters from the main gate, flames tearing into the night. The blast shook the ground, shattered windows, and sent smoke curling into the sky.
Ifesinachi clutched Adaeze to her chest as debris rained down. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it would burst.
Emeka pulled her into his arms, shielding them both. “He’s testing us,” he said through gritted teeth. “He wants us afraid before he makes his real move.”
And the real move came swiftly.
Two nights later, while the compound was still reeling from the attacks, Obinna struck with precision.
A blackout swept through the neighborhood. The compound’s floodlights flickered and died. The hum of generators faltered, then stopped. Silence fell, broken only by the distant croak of night frogs.
“Ifesinachi, get down!” Emeka shouted as he pulled his pistol free.
Gunfire shattered the silence. Obinna’s men stormed the outer walls, tossing grenades, blasting through gates, their shouts echoing like war cries.
Chief D**e’s guards fought back fiercely, bullets tearing through the darkness, sparks flying from ricochets. The compound turned into a battlefield.
Inside, Ifesinachi crouched behind a sofa, Adaeze wailing in her arms. Every sound the crash of glass, the boom of gunfire felt like death closing in.
She whispered frantic prayers, her tears soaking her daughter’s tiny clothes. “God, don’t let him reach us. Don’t let him take her.”
Through the chaos, Emeka’s voice roared like thunder, commanding his men, returning fire, standing firm like a wall. But even he knew Obinna had managed to breach the first line of defense.
In the middle of the battle, Obinna himself emerged, his figure dark against the flames of the burning gate. His voice cut through the night like a blade.
“Ifesinachi!” he shouted. “You can hide behind a man’s gun, but you will still hear me! You belong to me. And if I cannot have you, then you will watch everything you love burn!”
Ifesinachi froze, her blood running cold.
Emeka, panting with rage, lifted his weapon. “You will not touch her, Obinna. Not while I live.”
The two men locked eyes across the battlefield, brothers by fate but enemies by choice.
The war had fully begun.
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