Chika. I still can’t believe she was at the party last weekend. Almost twenty years have passed since our last conversation—twenty years since she blocked my number and erased me from her social media. The last place I expected to see her was at Ike’s wedding.

To make sense of this story, I need to start from the beginning.

Chika and I were seat partners in our final year at St. Catherine’s High School. We weren’t close friends but we managed to get along since we shared the same desk. Then came my birthday. I hosted a small get-together and she was invited. Looking back now, maybe I shouldn’t have because that day changed everything.

At the party, Chika met my cousin, Odili. It wasn’t love at first sight; it was obsession at first glance. From that day, she seemed to know whenever Odili was home from school. She visited constantly, showered him with gifts and declared her feelings openly. But Odili never reciprocated. He told her plainly that he wasn’t interested.

When all her efforts failed, she turned to me. She wanted me to convince Odili to like her… to put in good word for her but I refused and that was the last real conversation we had. My cousin was an adult capable of making his own decisions and frankly, I was embarrassed for her. Chasing a man who clearly wasn’t interested seemed wrong. That was the breaking point. Chika cut me off completely; she deleted my contact and blocked me on all her social media.

Life moved on. I went to the University, got married, built my life. Every now and then, Odili would mention that Chika still reached out—relentlessly. He blocked her countless times but she always resurfaced with a new number.

Even after he married, she kept sending messages. When his wife passed away, Chika swooned in, trying to position herself as “the next wife.” He ignored her and married someone else.

Later, when his second marriage ended in divorce, she returned yet again, declaring her undying love. Still, he turned her away.

Fast forward to Ike’s wedding. It was like a reunion for all of us. I flew in from the United States excited to reconnect but spotting Chika in the crowd was shocking. She looked good—the years had been kind. We spoke and when I casually asked about her family, she smiled and told me she wasn’t married yet but thankfully, Odili had finally come around and they would be getting married soon.

I froze. Out of curiosity, I asked around but everyone was just as shocked. No one in the family had heard of such a thing. Could Odili really be keeping such an information from us?

We confronted him directly. Odili was baffled. He had no idea what we were talking about. He called Chika over and asked her to explain and with startling confidence, she declared that after all these years, it was time for Odili to man up and marry her. She even boasted that she had turned down several proposals just to wait for him. Then, in front of everyone, she dropped a bomb: if marriage wasn’t on the table, she was willing to have his child.

The air went still.

Odili was enraged and he snapped.

“Chika!” he thundered. “Enough! I have never loved you. I have never promised you anything and I have never led you on. Please, let this go and stop humiliating yourself. You need help.”

But Chika only smiled, pulled out her phone and raised it like a weapon.

“You think you can shame me, Odili? You think you can deny me? I have every message you ever sent—every time you replied when you were lonely after your wife died. Every time you said, ‘I’m not okay, pray for me.’ Every time you asked me not to come over because your family wouldn’t understand. What do you think people will believe when they read those words? It doesn’t take dirt to destroy a man — just perception. And I control the perception. One leak, one headline and your so-called innocence won’t matter anymore. You may not love me but I will ruin you if you continue to pretend that I don’t exist!”

The threat hung in the air like a blade. Odili’s jaw clenched and his face went pale. The messages were harmless but out of context, they could look damning.

He lunged forward to snatch the phone but Chika stepped back, eyes blazing.

“Touch me,” she hissed, “and tomorrow everyone will know you’ve been hiding me all these years.

And then, just as she turned to leave, she paused. Looking him dead in the eye, she said with chilling calm, “Fix a date, Odili. Let me know when we’re making this official. I’ve waited long enough.”

The audacity stunned all of us. But Odili, regaining himself, squared his shoulders and replied, his voice steady with anger:
“Do your worst, Chika. Whatever you think you have, I have the full conversations. Try me and I will match you, madness for madness.”

For a split second, their eyes locked—a silent war raging between them. Then Chika smiled, a slow, unsettling smile that sent chills through me. She leaned closer to him and said, “You may marry whoever you want, Odili. You may block me a thousand times but you will never escape me. One day, you’ll see that I was always meant to be in your life. Whether as your wife or as the mother of your child. You will remember me, then you’ll realise that no woman will ever love you like I have. Not your wives. Not anyone. Just me.”

Then she gave a slow smile and walked out. And in that moment, it was clear—this wasn’t over. Chika’s obsession had turned into war and Odili looked ready for whatever came next.