Poisoned By Love – Story By: Florinuke
The first time Ademola told loveth he loved her, she believed him.
The second time he said it, she discovered he had been secretly recording their conversations.
The third time, she woke up in a hospital with no memory of how she had got there.
Beside her bed was a divorce agreement.
And Daniel was standing at the door.
“Sign it,” he said.
Loveth stared at him.
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“Why?”
“Because if you stay married to me, they will kill you.”
She looked at the man she had once trusted with her life.
“Who?”
Ademola’s eyes filled with fear.
“My family.”
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CHAPTER ONE: THE CONTRACT
Loveth had never imagined that desperation could make a woman marry a stranger.
But when her younger brother’s heart surgery was suddenly brought forward, she needed money immediately.
She had exhausted every source.
Then AdemolaGeorge arrived.
Thirty-five.
Rich.
Handsome.
Widely known as one of Lagos’ most untouchable businessmen.
He placed a contract on the table.
“Marry me for twelve months.”
Loveth stared at him.
“Why me?”
“Because I need a wife.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Ademola leaned forward.
“Thirty million naira.”
Her throat tightened.
“What are the conditions?”
“Live in my house. Attend family functions. Don’t embarrass me. Don’t ask questions about my business.”
“And after twelve months?”
“You walk away with the money.”
Loveth looked at the contract.
“Do you expect me to fall in love with you?”
Ademola smiled.
“No.”
She signed.
She didn’t know that Ademola had already known her name for years.
CHAPTER TWO: THE HUSBAND WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Ademola was not what Loveth expected.
He was cold in public but strangely gentle with her privately.
He remembered everything.
Her favourite meal.
Her mother’s birthday.
The name of the teacher who had encouraged her when she was a child.
One evening, Loveth stared at him.
“How do you know all these things about me?”
Ademola’s expression changed.
“I pay attention.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You investigate.”
He laughed.
“Maybe.”
She didn’t think much of it.
Until she discovered the photograph.
It was hidden inside Ademola’s study.
A photograph of her father.
Standing beside Ademola’s father.
Loveth’s smile disappeared.
Her father had supposedly never met the George family.
So why was he in their photograph?
CHAPTER THREE: THE FIRST LIE
“Who is this man?”
Ademola looked at the photograph.
“My father.”
“And mine?”
Ademola remained silent.
“You knew my father?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“It’s complicated.”
Loveth stepped closer.
“Then explain.”
Ademola’s voice became hard.
“Forget about it.”
She stared at him.
“You married me, brought me into your house and somehow knew details about my childhood. Now I find my father in your study and you tell me to forget it?”
Ademola walked away.
“Some things are better left buried.”
Loveth watched him disappear.
She should have been afraid.
Instead, she became curious.
That was her second mistake.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE MAN SHE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO LOVE
The contract said they were not supposed to develop feelings.
But Ademola began breaking his own rules.
When Loveth became sick, he stayed beside her all night.
When a member of his family insulted her, he defended her.
When her brother needed another medical procedure, Daniel paid without telling her.
“Why are you doing all this?”
Ademola looked at her.
“Because I care about you.”
Her heart skipped.
“That’s not part of the contract.”
“I know.”
Then he kissed her.
And Loveth forgot every warning she had ever received.
She fell in love.
So did he.
Or at least, that was what she believed.
CHAPTER FIVE: THE RECORDING
One night, Loveth entered Ademola’s study looking for a document.
She found a small recording device.
She pressed play.
Her own voice filled the room.
Her private conversations.
Her conversations with Ademola.
Things she had said when she thought nobody was listening.
She found dozens of recordings.
Then she heard Ademola’s voice.
“She trusts me now.”
Another man’s voice replied:
“How long before she signs?”
Ademola answered:
“She will sign when the time is right.”
Loveth’s blood ran cold.
She searched the desk.
And found another contract.
This one had a clause she had never seen.
Loveth would transfer all rights to her father’s estate to Ademola upon completion of the marriage.
Her hands began shaking.
The thirty million was not payment for being his wife.
It was payment for access to her inheritance.
CHAPTER SIX: THE WOMAN WHO DISCOVERED TOO MUCH
Loveth confronted him.
“You never loved me.”
Ademola froze.
She threw the contract at him.
“You wanted my father’s estate.”
He didn’t deny it.
That hurt more than anything.
“How long?”
Ademola looked away.
“From the beginning.”
She laughed through her tears.
“And every time you told me you loved me?”
Ademola’s voice cracked.
“Those feelings became real.”
“Real?”
She stepped closer.
“You recorded me.”
“I was trying to protect myself.”
“You investigated my family.”
“I had to.”
“You married me for revenge.”
Ademola looked at her.
“Not revenge.”
“Then what?”
His answer changed everything.
“I married you because I believed your father killed my mother.”
Silence.
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE REAL REASON
Ademola’s mother had died twenty years earlier.
The official story was suicide.
Ademola had never believed it.
Before her death, she had been investigating a financial scandal involving Loveth’s father.
Ademola believed Loveth’s father had threatened her.
Then she died.
Years later, Ademola discovered documents suggesting that Loveth’s father had been involved.
He spent years building a plan.
He would marry Loveth.
Take control of her father’s estate.
Find the evidence.
Then destroy the family that had destroyed his.
But something had gone wrong.
He had fallen in love with the daughter.
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE SECOND TWIST
Loveth left him.
She returned to her family home and began investigating her father’s past.
Then she discovered something terrifying.
Her father had not killed Ademola’s mother.
He had been trying to save her.
The documents Ademola had found had been deliberately altered.
Someone had wanted Ademola to believe Loveth’s father was responsible.
Loveth followed the trail.
It led back to Ademola’s family.
Specifically…
Ademola’s uncle, Richard.
Richard had been Ademola’s mother’s business partner.
He was the man who had benefited from her death.
And he was still running part of the family empire.
CHAPTER NINE: THE COUNTERATTACK
Richard discovered that Loveth knew the truth.
He attacked first.
Loveth’s brother was kidnapped.
She received a message.
Bring the documents. Come alone.
She went.
But someone was already waiting for her.
Ademola.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
She stared at him.
“You followed me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Ademola looked at her.
“Because I know what my uncle is capable of.”
Richard’s men surrounded them.
A gunshot exploded.
Ademola pushed Loveth to the ground.
He was hit.
“Ademola!”
He collapsed.
Loveth screamed.
CHAPTER TEN: THE TRUTH
Ademola survived.
But Richard disappeared.
The police began investigating.
Then Loveth discovered the final piece.
The recording she had found in Ademola’s study had been edited.
Someone had deliberately removed parts of the conversation.
The full recording revealed the truth.
Ademola had discovered Richard’s involvement months earlier.
He had been secretly investigating him.
The contract marriage had started as revenge.
But Ademola had eventually realised that his own family was responsible for the tragedy.
He had been trying to protect Loveth without telling her.
He had failed.
Because his lies had made him look exactly like the enemy.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE DIVORCE
Lovetj visited Ademola in hospital.
He looked at her.
“You came.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To give you this.”
She placed divorce papers beside him.
Ademola stared at them.
“You’re leaving.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I understand.”
She expected him to fight.
He didn’t.
That hurt more.
“Why aren’t you stopping me?”
Ademola looked at her.
“Because loving you doesn’t give me the right to keep you.”
Loveth’s eyes filled with tears.
“You poisoned everything.”
“I know.”
“You made me doubt every good thing between us.”
“I know.”
She turned to leave.
Then Daniel spoke.
“Loveth.”
She stopped.
“I loved you before I knew how to love you properly.”
She looked back.
“And I’m sorry you had to pay for my mistakes.”
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE FINAL REVELATION
Six months later, Richard was arrested.
The truth about Ademola’s mother finally came out.
She had been murdered because she discovered Richard’s financial crimes.
Loveth’s father had tried to expose him.
Richard framed him.
Ademola had spent twenty years hating the wrong family.
And Loveth had spent months hating the wrong man.
But the damage had already been done.
Some wounds don’t disappear when the truth arrives.
EPILOGUE
A year later, Loveth stood outside the hospital where her brother had completed his final treatment.
Ademola was waiting across the road.
He didn’t approach.
He simply watched.
Loveth walked toward him.
“You still love me?”
Ademola smiled faintly.
“Every day.”
“Do you still have the contract?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She stood quietly.
“I don’t want the man who married me because of revenge.”
Ademola nodded.
“I understand.”
“I want the man who learned to tell the truth.”
He looked at her.
“And if I can’t become that man?”
“Then I’ll walk away.”
Ademola smiled.
“That sounds fair.”
Loveth reached for his hand.
This time there was no contract.
No money.
No revenge.
No hidden motive.
Only two people who had hurt each other badly enough to know that love alone was not enough.
They would have to rebuild everything.
Slowly.
Honestly.
Together.
Ademola had poisoned their love with secrets, but the greatest punishment was discovering that the woman he had married for revenge had become the only person he could never bear to lose.
MORAL
A lie may protect you from the truth for a while, but it can destroy the very love you were trying to protect.
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