Game of deception, p.25
Game of Deception, page 25
Peter said weakly, 'Doctor, I am an only child, and I have never had a child.'
'Well, Mr. Matthews, it seems that you indeed have a son.' It turns out that one Jimmy Olatunji, one of our registered patients, shares your DNA.'
'That’s impossible. No, I don't have a child,' Peter cut in. It was just not possible.
'Are you sure?' The doctor asked.
Peter racked his brain hard. Suddenly, he remembered the secret affair he had with his secretary about 25 years ago.
He had warned her not to get pregnant as he was determined not to have children. In spite of his warnings however, she fell pregnant and one day informed him that she was carrying his child. A furious Peter fired her and paid her two hundred thousand naira to get an abortion done immediately.
In a raspy voice, Peter said, 'years ago, I had an affair with a woman who became pregnant for me. I paid for her to abort the baby, but I'm not certain she did.' For him to survive, whoever this Jimmy Olatunji was, he needed him.
‘Please doctor, I need you to get in touch with this person, and explain how critical the situation is. I could die if he doesn't come to my aid,’ Peter said weakly.
'Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes,' the doctor said as he left the ward.
THERE WAS A SHARP KNOCK on the door, and Peter wondered who it was. Almost no one knocked on his door when the doctors and nurses came to check on him, so he figured it must be someone else.
‘Come in,’ Peter managed, trying to sit up slowly to speak with whoever it might be.
Peter stifled a gasp when a young man walked through the door. He felt like he was seeing a younger version of himself.
‘Hello. I’m Jim,’ he announced as he stepped into the room. Jim was currently out on bail and awaiting trial for kidnapping Zainab.
'Welcome,' Peter said weakly, giving a small smile. All was not lost.
‘I was told that you are my father. You can imagine my surprise when they told me that my biological father is here in the hospital and that he needs my help to survive. They said I was the only one who could save you,’ Jim said blankly.
'You’re right, my dear son. It isn't necessary to speak in such a formal manner,' Peter said quietly. As far as he was concerned, he was just grateful to have been given another chance at life.
'Your dear son,' Jim said mockingly. 'Dear son my foot,' he spat. The sudden change in mood caught Peter off guard.
'Listen old man, my mother told me everything you did to her. 'You wanted her to get rid of me, now you expect me to save you?'
'My s-son, please, you're s-scaring me. W-w-what are you talking about?'
‘It's not even worth trying to deny anything. You know it's all true. It would be an absolute mistake for you to lie on that sick bed and lie to yourself, knowing fully well that this may be the last thing you ever say to yourself,' Jim said in an enraged tone.
His eyes blazed with intense anger that seemed to fill the room.
'Listen son, I understand your anger, but I beg you to forgive me for...'
'Old man, get lost. If you weren’t rotting on this bed there would be no reason for you to care about me in the first place.’
Peter whimpered silently and his mouth opened as if to say something, but he could not find the words to utter.
‘That’s right. I am not saving you. In fact, I think I’d rather enjoy watching you die,’ Jim said with a mischievous smile. ‘At least, you deserve that.’
‘Jimmy...My son...please don’t let me die...’ Peter wailed weakly as Jim left the room and did not even spare him a glance.
48
RITA’S DILEMMA
‘Never ruin an apology with an excuse.’ ― Benjamin Franklin
It was Ramsey's day off, and he spent the whole day watching random movies and TV shows. He was watching his third movie of the day when Rita got home from work. As soon as he saw her, he immediately sensed something was amiss. Pausing the movie, he said: ‘What’s wrong, love? Why the long face?’
Rita took a seat beside him and said softly, 'Victor's lawyer called me today. He is asking to see me.' There were angry tears glistening in her eyes as she spoke.
‘Oh my God, no way. What does he want? Come here.’
Ramsey tenderly wrapped his arm around her. He recognized the rawness she still carried from the past traumatic events, understanding the delicacy of the situation.
‘I don’t know what to do,’ she said tearfully. ‘After what he wanted to do to me, what he did to my... our parents...’ her voice trailed off.
Shaking his head, Ramsey said: ‘I honestly cannot fathom what he has to say for himself.'
'Where do I even begin to forgive him? How?’ The tears streamed down Rita's cheeks, anger blazing in her eyes.
'I understand how you must be feeling, babe. But do you think he wants to beg for forgiveness? I mean, no matter what, he’s not getting out, not with all the evidence the police have against him.’
‘I don’t know. His lawyer just called me out of the blue and introduced himself to me as Victor’s lawyer. He then asked if I would be interested in meeting up with Victor, because he is desperate to see me. Honestly, I just couldn't believe it. I was tempted to tell him to get lost, but I said I'd think about it and hung up. What should I do, Ramsey?’
‘It’s a tough one,’ Ramsey said, shaking his head. ‘Had he been my brother, I would have disowned him. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you should, because you're not me. We’re completely different people. It might be worthwhile to listen to him, just to hear what he has to say for himself.’
‘You really think so?’
‘Well, yeah. I mean, despite everything, he’s still your one and only sibling. You might want to meet with him just to hear what he has to say. Having said that, it's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done, because he's hurt you so deeply. Just looking at him or listening to him will be heart-wrenching. But you don't have to forgive him right away.
Ultimately, what's going to matter most is how truly sorry he is for the horrible things he’s done. Who knows, maybe he’s suddenly realized what an asshole he’s been. So, in this first meeting, you're just listening to what he has to say for himself. Nothing more.’
‘You’ll have to come with me Ramsey. There's just no way I can do this alone. It's just not possible, I—’
‘Absolutely babe, relax. There’s no way I would let you do this on your own, you'll be completely overwhelmed by your emotions. But you also need to take your time and think this through. Is this something you really want to do, because you don’t have to if you don’t want to.’
AT KIRI KIRI PRISON, Ramsey and Rita were in the visitor centre, waiting for Victor to arrive. This was Rita's first visit to the prison, and she had scheduled it for very early in the morning. There were no other visitors in the spacious visiting room.
As Victor stepped into the room and settled down at the table in his blue prison jumpsuit, Rita began to tremble uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. She felt lightheaded and clung tightly to Ramsey, sobbing into his shoulder. Ramsey began to wonder if Rita made the right choice by agreeing to meet with her brother.
In a gentle voice, he asked Rita if she would like to leave. She shook her head to indicate that she wanted to stay.
‘Hello Rita,’ Victor said, but she didn't reply or look at him.
As he extended his hand to Ramsey, he said: ‘Hello, I’m Victor, I don’t believe we’ve met.’
Rather than shaking hands with him, Ramsey simply said ‘Hello. You asked to see Rita. She's very upset right now, as you can see. What is it that you want to say to her?’
‘It's understandable why Rita might be upset with me. But she’s my only sister, and right now, I need her help. I swear, I didn’t do anything. It was lawyer Matthews who planned everything and he is now trying to frame me. I—’
Rita suddenly leaped to her feet and screamed at him: ‘Shut up Victor, you bloody cowardly liar! We know exactly what happened. We recorded your conversations with Mr Matthews, and what you wanted to do to me. He was the one who contacted the Commissioner of Police that you had hired an assassin to kill me.’
Victor had never witnessed such a reaction from his sister before, and his jaw dropped in shock as he observed her response with a stunned expression on his face.
‘I thought you wanted to apologize and ask for forgiveness but I should have known better. You’re a shameless coward and an evil psychopath, and you’re exactly where you deserve to be. Go to hell, Victor.’
Getting up, she turned to Ramsey and said, 'let's go.'
As he turned to walk out of the room with Rita, Ramsey, shaking his head at Victor, said: 'you're not right in the head, man.’
49
ON BENDED KNEE
‘Every day is a gift. But some days are packaged better.’―Sanhita Baruah
It was Rita's birthday, and she was at work. Ramsey was supposed to take her out to lunch at 2 PM, but he hadn't shown up. When she tried to call him, his phone was switched off.
Growing tired of waiting, she asked around the store if anyone had seen him.
‘I’m sure I saw him leave about fifteen minutes ago,’ Zubby said.
She tried Ramsey’s number again—still switched off. Frustrated, Rita returned to her post at the customer service desk after failing to locate him.
She waited, hoping he would appear, but he never did. And she didn’t want to have lunch without him.
At exactly 2:55 p.m., a delivery person approached her desk and handed her a gift-wrapped box with her name on it. When she opened it, she found a beautiful birthday cake. Written in frosting were the words:
Rita, will you marry me?
She turned around and froze.
Ramsey stood there, smiling, surrounded by Zubby, Zainab, Osufia, and her co-workers. A surge of joy rushed through her as Ramsey stepped forward. Her excitement overflowed when he knelt gracefully on one knee.
‘Rita, from the first day I met you, it was love at first sight. Despite the bumps along the way, our journey together has shown me that I can’t live without you. Will you make me the happiest man in the world by agreeing to be my wife?’
‘Yes, Ramsey. I will marry you,’ she said, her voice trembling as her face broke into a beaming smile and applause erupted around her. She watched as he slipped the gold band onto her finger.
In the midst of it all, Zubby filmed the entire moment and sent it to Genevieve. The cheering continued as Rita and Ramsey embraced in a long, passionate hug.
50
MURDER WAS THE CASE
‘Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.’ ―Cornel West
The High Court in Igbosere division, Lagos Island, buzzed with activity as Godson, accompanied by Zainab and his aunt Ebele, took their seats. Genevieve, Rita, Zubby, Ramsey, and Chief Adenuga were also present.
Jim, Victor, Omotola and Michael had all been found guilty of various crimes, and were due to be sentenced today.
Michael was the first to be sentenced. Having been convicted of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy, he was sentenced to death by hanging.
Omotola was called next. Having turned state’s evidence, she testified in full against Michael in exchange for prosecutorial leniency. The court sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment in a medium-security facility in Kaduna State.
As the clerk read out the judgment, the courtroom stirred. Zainab reached for Godson, pulling him into a tight embrace, while his aunt placed a steadying arm around his shoulders. Godson did not speak. He stared straight ahead, absorbing each word as though it were being carved into him.
Jim was then convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to three years in prison. He received the verdict without visible protest. Three years was survivable. When the sentence was complete, he would walk free—unlike his co-accused, Michael, whose fate had already been sealed by a death sentence.
Victor was the final defendant to stand before the court. The dying confession of Peter Matthews proved decisive. On its strength, Victor was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and of the murders of Clement and Tamara Agwu. The courtroom fell silent as the judge continued. He was further convicted of conspiring to murder his own sister, Rita Agwu, and committed him to life imprisonment.
THE END
About the Author
Olajide A. Smith writes from lived experience.
Raised between Nigeria and the United States, his stories are forged at the intersection of ambition and survival—where trauma leaves scars, power corrupts quietly, and deception wears familiar faces. A law graduate of the University of Jos, Olajide brings psychological precision to his thrillers, crafting worlds where trust is dangerous and consequences are permanent.
Outside writing, he is a dedicated fitness enthusiast and aspiring gym owner who rebuilt himself through discipline after profound personal challenges. That transformation shapes the emotional grit of his work—stories driven by resilience, obsession, and the relentless pursuit of control.
His fiction doesn't offer comfort.
It tells the truth.
Olajide A. Smith, Game of Deception
