"The most dangerous enemy is the one who knows your dreams and your fears."
The chapter opens under a heavy night sky in Lagos. Tonia stands on the balcony of a high-rise safehouse, staring at the flickering city lights. The city has grown quieter in the past week—not from peace, but from exhaustion. Streets once filled with chaos now lie under curfew, soldiers at every checkpoint. Rumors spread that the President is no longer in control, that shadowy financiers have seized the state's machinery.
Jude, sitting inside the dimly lit apartment, works on an encrypted laptop. His hands move fast, tracking offshore transactions tied to the leaks they'd uncovered. But something's wrong—an account belonging to one of their allies just went dark.
An encrypted message pings: "They know. Get out. Now."
The inciting incident comes when a sudden explosion rocks the safehouse below them. Glass shatters, alarms wail, and the stairwell fills with smoke. Tonia and Jude barely escape through a service elevator before the building is swarmed by armed men in black uniforms—mercenaries, not police.
From here, the chapter expands across multiple beats: their escape through the chaotic night streets, a tense confrontation with a betrayer in their own network, and the appearance of a new antagonist—a charismatic billionaire named Alaric Mbeki, who claims he wants to "save" Nigeria but whose methods make Jude sick. Mbeki is charming, eloquent, and dangerous, immediately establishing himself as a memorable figure.
The romantic tension escalates between Jude and Tonia during a stolen moment in hiding, where they admit—without fully saying it—that they would risk everything for each other. But their quiet is broken by the sound of approaching boots.
The chapter closes with them cornered on the rooftop of an abandoned newspaper building, drones circling overhead. Mbeki's voice comes through a loudspeaker, offering them a deal: betray the revolution, and live. Refuse, and watch the city burn.
Fade out.