The Fourth Time

Lagos broke Nwoke Ugwu three times.

Two contracts. One betrayal. Then three years hiding in Enugu, watching his dream rot on a dead laptop.

Now his best friend is gone---and he left Nwoke two things: an unfinished song, and a promise no sane man would keep.

So Nwoke goes back. Back to the city that ate him alive. No money. No name. One rule: this time, he doesn't run.

Then a girl laughs at him from the back seat of an Uber in traffic.

Then her family hands him everything he ever wanted.

Then he meets the one person he was never supposed to want---at the worst possible dinner table in Lagos.

They say third time's the charm.

Charm is how he lost everything.

This is not a love story.

This is a confession.