The price of A broken dream episode 1

My name is Fredick, and I am writing this from behind cold iron bars, where time no longer moves forward it only circles around my regrets. Prison teaches you one thing very well: how to remember. Every night, I remember the man I used to be, the dreams I carried, and the mistake that ended everything.

Before prison, I was not poor. I had ₦1.3 million saved from years of hustling, failed businesses, and small wins. But I was tired of small wins. I wanted the kind of breakthrough that would change my name, my family, my future. Then the deal came.

It was a business opportunity that promised millions clean, legal, and solid. Importation and distribution. I had seen the numbers. I knew it would work. But I needed ₦3 million to start. I was short of ₦1.7 million. Just that.

Only one person came to my mind: Olanshile.

Olanshile was my friend at least, that’s what I believed. We had known each other for years. We went to clubs together, laughed together, drank together. Olanshile was rich-rich. Not “doing okay” rich. I mean the kind of rich that sprays money like water. In one night at the club, he could spend ₦5 million on drinks without blinking. He liked to be seen. He liked power.

So when I approached him, I was confident.

I explained everything to him the deal, the profit, the timeline. I told him I wasn’t asking for charity. I would return his money with profit. I begged, because this deal felt like my destiny.

Olanshile listened quietly. Then he said something that broke something inside me.

“I don’t have ₦1.7 million,” he said.

“I can only help you with ₦300k.”

I laughed at first, thinking it was a joke. But he was serious.

Anger rose in my chest. How could a man who wasted millions in clubs tell me he didn’t have money? I begged again. I humbled myself. I explained what losing this deal would mean to me.

He refused.

I left his house feeling small. Betrayed. Humiliated.

The deal collapsed. Someone else took my place. The profit I calculated became someone else’s success. Every time I saw Olanshile posting his lifestyle online, something dark grew inside me.

That was when my dream turned into bitterness.

And bitterness began whispering dangerous thoughts.

Continue reading Episode 2