Chapter 5 - The Grand EntranceThe heavy oak doors swung wide open with a slow, dramatic creak.
Every head in the boardroom snapped toward the entrance.
Standing in the doorway was not a confused old woman in a village wrapper, nor was it the humble cleaner named “Mama Grace.”
I stepped into the boardroom wearing a sharp, custom-tailored charcoal-grey pantsuit, my silver hair styled in a regal crown braid, draped in the heavy diamond-and-sapphire brooch that signified the supreme matriarchal holding stake of the empire.
Emeka stood up so fast his leather chair crashed backward onto the carpet. His face turned the color of curdled milk.
“C-Chief... Chief Mrs. Ngozi?!” Emeka choked out, his jaw slackening in absolute disbelief. “How... you’re supposed to be in Abuja! You’re—you’re mentally unfit—!”
Chinedu jumped out of his chair, staring at me as if he had just seen a ghost rise from the grave. “Mama? But... Vanessa said... the papers... how are you here?!”
I didn't look at Chinedu. Not yet.
I walkedown the center aisle with the absolute, unshakeable grace of a queen who had built an empire with her bare hands. I stopped right beside Emeka’s seat at the head of the table, resting my fingertips on the polished wood.
“Unfit, Emeka?” I asked, my voice carrying a quiet, lethal authority that made the seasoned directors hold their breath. “Is that what you told the board while you conspired to steal four billion naira through fake consulting contracts?”
Emeka’s knees buckled slightly. He gripped the edge of the table. “That’s... that’s a lie! You’re senile! You don't know what you’re saying!”
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I turned my gaze slowly toward my son. Chinedu looked smaller than he ever had in his life, shaking from head to toe.
“And you, my son,” I said softly, the words cutting through the silent room like a razor. “You traded your mother’s dignity and your own birthright for a quiet life with a woman who wanted your inheritance before the ink on your marriage certificate was even dry.”
