Contracts were signed under a large tree. The wind moved gently through the forest nearby, as if whispering secrets only nature understood.
When everything was done, the chief smiled. “Feel free to admire our land.”
Kenneth looked toward the forest—green, deep, alive. Something in it called quietly.
He turned slightly. “I will walk alone for a moment.”
Ada stepped forward immediately. “Sir, that area is—”
“I will be fine.”
His tone ended the conversation.
The bodyguards wanted to follow. He raised a hand. “No.”
And just like that, Kenneth walked into the forest alone.
The forest where everything changes.
The deeper he walked, the quieter the world became. No phones, no city noise, no voices—just breath and trees and unfamiliar peace.
Kenneth inhaled.
“This air,” he murmured, “feels like life that forgot stress exists.”
He smiled slightly. For a man who owned everything, this felt rare.
He looked around.
Too peaceful. Too beautiful. Too quiet.
And that was when it happened.
Crack.
His foot hit a broken branch.
“Ah!”
He stumbled. The ground betrayed him. He fell hard. His head hit a rock.
Silence.
No movement. No sound. Only the forest watching.
Kenneth Chik, the man who never lost control, had fallen unconscious.
And then chaos walked in.
“Grandma, emergency!”
Oluchi appeared at the edge of the forest like a storm in human form. She stopped abruptly, eyes wide, her basket swinging.
“Oh no.”
She slowly approached, then screamed, “He is too handsome to be dead! This is a waste of good looks!”
She knelt immediately and touched his face.
“Sir, sir, don’t do this. Rich people are not supposed to faint without permission.”
No response.
She gasped dramatically. “Grandma warned me. This is why I don’t trust well-dressed men in forests.”
She looked around, then pointed at the sky. “If he dies, I will sue nature.”
And just like that, a billionaire lay unconscious in the forest, a village girl screamed at the universe, and destiny quietly smiled because nothing in Umuaka would ever remain the same again.
Oluchi stood over Kenneth like a commander about to fight a war she had already decided she would win. She placed both hands on her waist.
“All right,” she announced loudly, as if the trees were her assistants. “Nobody panic.”
She looked around. Nobody was there.
She nodded anyway. “Good cooperation.”
She bent closer to Kenneth, studying his face carefully.
“Expensive eyebrows. Smooth skin. This one is not an ordinary broke person.”
She gently tapped his cheek. “Sir, oh God of money, wake up before your bank account starts missing you.”
No response.
Oluchi gasped and staggered back dramatically. “He has gone just like that without even saying goodbye.”
She wiped imaginary tears, then suddenly snapped back. “No. Not on my watch. I refuse. I did not wake up this morning to lose a handsome patient.”
“Operation Save the Rich Man.”
Oluchi dropped her basket and began working like a one-woman emergency unit with unnecessary commentary.
She leaned closer to his chest, placed her ear there, paused, then jumped back.
“Heart is beating. Thank God. If it stopped, I would have resigned from medicine.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, Oluchi, think. What did Grandma say?”
She mimicked her grandmother’s voice. “If a person faints, don’t shout like a market woman. Act with sense.”
She blinked. “I have already failed the first instruction.”
She quickly tore a piece of her wrapper, paused, and looked at it.
“Sigh. This cloth was new. Sir, you will pay for this later.”
She pressed leaves together, crushing them with serious focus.
“This leaf—strong. Last time I used it, a goat stood up and insulted me immediately. Very effective.”
She applied the crushed herbs to his bleeding head.
“Stay alive,” she ordered. “I don’t like defeat.”
Still nothing.
She froze, then whispered dramatically, “Okay. Time for plan B.”
Oluchi grabbed her calabash and ran toward the stream. As she ran, she shouted behind her, “Don’t die before I come back! Wait for me!”
She reached the stream, panting, scooped water quickly, and ran back as if her future depended on it.
She knelt beside him again.
“Sir, if you don’t wake up now, I will personally drag your spirit back.”
She squeezed the herbs into the water. The mixture looked questionable. Even she hesitated.
“If I drink this, I might see my ancestors.”
She shrugged. “But you are already going to see yours if I don’t act.”
She opened his mouth carefully. “Forgive me in advance,” and poured the mixture in.
Oluchi sat beside him, watching closely.
Seconds passed.
Nothing.
She leaned closer. “Sir, don’t embarrass me. I have already used my best leaves.”
Still nothing.
She folded her arms. “Wow. So after all my effort, you want to die. That’s how you treat your doctor.”
She stood up angrily. “Fine. Die. Let me go and treat my goat.”
She took two steps away, then stopped, turned back, and sighed deeply.
“See my life.”
She walked back and sat again. “I can’t leave you. Your face is too valuable.”
And then—movement.
A cough.
Small, weak, but real.
Her eyes widened slowly.
Then he coughed again.
She jumped up. “He is coming back from the dead! I knew my medicine was powerful!”
Kenneth’s fingers moved slightly. His eyes fluttered open.
Blurred vision. Light. Then a face. Close. Very close. Big eyes. Excited expression. Talking too fast.
“Welcome back! How was the other side? Did you see anybody you know?”
Kenneth blinked slowly. “Where am I?”
Oluchi gasped dramatically. “He is asking questions. Full recovery!”
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