Chapter 16

At 3:00 p.m., Chief Okoro called an emergency meeting with all department heads. The conference room was full, the air thick with tension and rumors."Ladies and gentlemen," Chief Okoro began, his voice sounding tired. "You are aware of the situation. I need to know the real impact on our operations."The head of human resources spoke first. "Sir, we have received twenty resignations just this morning. Employees say they don't want to work for someone who treats children like this."The head of sales continued. "We lost the contract with Garcia Distributors: 30 million naira annually. They said they cannot associate with our current image."The marketing director added, "Social media is completely against us. Hashtags like #JusticeForEmeka and #ChiefOkoroTheCruel are trending nationally. Some brands are removing our products from their catalogs."Every report was like a physical blow to Chief Okoro. He observed the faces around the table: some showed barely disguised satisfaction, others genuine concern; none showed the respect they used to have for him.Aisha, who had been silently taking notes, finally spoke. "Chief Okoro, with all due respect, there is an obvious solution to all of this: publicly fulfilling your promise with humility, turning this into a story of redemption instead of one of cruelty."Chief Okoro looked at her for a long time. "Are you telling me to humiliate myself publicly?""I'm telling you to do the right thing," Aisha responded without lowering her gaze. "Pride is not worth what you're losing."Malam Abubakar stood up. "Obinna, I'm going to tell you something that perhaps no one else has the courage to say. Your mother cleaned houses so you could study. She worked on her knees scrubbing floors so you could wear a suit and tie. And now you are despising a woman who does exactly the same for her son."The silence in the room was absolute; no one dared to breathe."Adanna is your mother thirty years ago," Malam Abubakar continued. "Emeka... you are yourself at eleven years old, with a talent that needs opportunity. The difference is that your mother found people who respected her. Are you going to be the one to take that opportunity away from another child?"Chief Okoro felt as if the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He had never made that connection, but now that Malam Abubakar put it into words, it was impossible to ignore."I need time to think," he finally said. His voice was barely a whisper."You don't have time," the head of finance intervened. "Tomorrow is the deadline for three important contracts. All said they expect to see how you resolve this before signing. We are talking about 200 million naira at stake."

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