Chapter 219

“Do you remember the first time we kissed?”

The question hung in the air between Yemi and me, both of us standing in the middle of our bedroom, a soft light spilling through the window. His gaze was intense, his eyes never leaving mine as he stepped closer, his presence enveloping me. I could feel the electricity between us, that same spark that had ignited everything all those years ago. That passion that had once been so fierce, so consuming.

I nodded, a smile tugging at my lips. “How could I forget?” The memory of that kiss, unexpected and wild, flooded my mind—an explosion of emotion that had started everything. A moment of pure, unadulterated connection that neither of us had seen coming, yet had changed the course of both our lives forever.

Yemi’s smile softened as he reached out, his fingers grazing the side of my face. “I never wanted to stop kissing you after that.”

The words were simple, but they carried the weight of everything we had been through. Everything we had fought for. It felt like a lifetime ago that we had been strangers, hesitant and unsure, before we became something more—before we became a family.

But as much as the past had shaped us, it was the present, the here and now, that mattered. We had fought so hard for this moment, for this peace, and I could feel it—feel us—shifting back to where we had started. To the love we had once shared, the love that had always been there beneath the surface.

“I never wanted to stop either,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. I could feel the pull of him, the intensity in his touch, the way his presence seemed to consume every inch of my being. It felt like we were both on the edge of something we had forgotten—a passion, a fire that had never truly gone out.

I stepped closer to him, my breath quickening as I felt his warmth envelop me. His hands found my waist, pulling me to him with a gentleness that spoke of everything we had built together. I felt my heart race, my body responding to him the way it always had. The way it always would.

The moment our lips met, it was like a spark had been lit, igniting a fire that spread through every part of me. His kiss was soft, tender at first, but it deepened quickly, and I felt myself losing control, losing myself in him the way I always did. The world outside of us disappeared, leaving only the two of us—our hearts, our love, our connection.

But just as quickly as it started, the kiss broke. Yemi pulled back, his forehead resting against mine. His breath was as ragged as mine, and I could feel the unspoken words hanging between us.

“Dee... there’s something I need to tell you.” His voice was low, almost hesitant, and it pulled me out of the daze of the kiss. I looked up at him, my brow furrowing slightly, sensing a shift in the air, a change in the dynamic.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my pulse quickening. I could feel the tension building between us, and my mind raced with a hundred possibilities of what he might be about to say. But nothing could have prepared me for the words that came next.

“I’ve been keeping something from you,” he said, his voice steady but his eyes betraying a hint of guilt. My heart skipped a beat, and I pulled away from him slightly, suddenly feeling the distance between us grow, even if it was just a fraction.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. My mind was already starting to race, the thoughts spiraling in a way I couldn’t control. Had I missed something? Had I overlooked something that was hiding right in front of me?

Yemi looked away for a moment, running a hand through his hair, as if searching for the right words. When he looked back at me, there was a deep sorrow in his eyes, a sadness I hadn’t seen there before.

“Before we got married... before everything changed...” He hesitated again, his voice faltering slightly. “I had another offer. Someone else wanted me... to be with them. They wanted me to choose them over you. And... for a moment, I almost did.”

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the wind out of me. My chest tightened, and I could feel the weight of his confession settling on my shoulders, suffocating me. My mind went blank, everything else fading into the background as I tried to process what he was saying.

“You... you almost chose someone else?” I couldn’t keep the hurt from my voice, the disbelief. He nodded, his face filled with remorse, but it only made the pain deeper.

“I was lost, Dee,” he said softly. “I was confused. There were things about us, about me, that I didn’t understand at the time. I didn’t know what I wanted. And then, when everything came crashing down—when I thought I had lost you for good—I realized that it was you. It was always you.”

I took a step back, my mind whirling. The man I had loved, the man who had always made me feel safe, had almost walked away from me for someone else? The thought was incomprehensible, and it felt like the ground beneath me was crumbling.

“Why are you telling me this now?” My voice was sharp, laced with emotion I couldn’t contain. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Yemi’s expression faltered. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted to protect what we had. But I can’t keep this from you anymore. I love you, Dee. And I need you to know everything. Even the things I’m not proud of.”

I stood there, frozen. My heart was torn between the love I felt for him and the anger that swelled inside me. How could he have kept something like this from me? How could he have almost chosen someone else?

But as I looked at him, I saw the vulnerability in his eyes, the raw honesty in his voice. He was scared, not just of losing me, but of the consequences of his actions. He had made a mistake—a huge one—but it was clear that he had learned from it.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I needed time to process all of this. To understand how I felt and what it meant for us.

“I don’t know, Yemi,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I don’t know if I can just forget that.”

His face twisted in regret, but before he could say anything more, I heard a soft knock on the door. I froze. Yemi and I both turned, the moment suspended in time. Whoever was on the other side of that door would change everything.

The door creaked open slowly, and standing there, with wide eyes, was our daughter.

And in her small hands, she was holding something.

“Mommy... Daddy... I found this... in the kitchen,” she said, her voice trembling. The object she held out to me was a small, folded piece of paper.

It was the same handwriting. And my heart dropped into my stomach.

“Who sent this?”