Lust in Ecstasy: Love, Lies and Revenge
Chapter 72: Mandate.

Chapter 72: Mandate.

I exhaled, still staring at the screen. "I want in," I said, "but I don’t want them to know it’s my game. Not yet."

Eric raised a brow. "You wanna be in control but stay in the shadows at the same time?"

I nodded. "I need to see how they work first. Get a feel for them. If they’re not the right fit, I can pull the plug without them ever knowing I was the one calling the shots."

Eric smirked. "You really are a paranoid bastard, huh?"

"I just don’t want to mess this up."

He leaned back, thinking. "Alright, I’ve got an idea. I’ll keep handling the direct talks. To them, I’m still the one running point. But I’ll introduce you as an associate—someone sent to help out and keep things running smoothly."

I considered it. That meant I’d be close enough to see everything but not exposed. No pressure. No expectations. And if things went south, I could walk away clean.

"That could work..." I said slowly.

"It will work," Eric corrected. "But that also means you’ll have to move sooner than you planned. They’re starting in a couple of weeks, and you need to be there when they do."

I paused. Damn. I thought I had more time. But if I wanted this, I had to move now.

That meant wrapping up everything at home.

Faith. Abby. Joyce.

And whatever fallout was waiting for me.

These next few days were about to get complicated.

I looked up Eric and asked "What do you think I should do man, About the girls?"

Eric leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So, what’s on your mind, man? What do you want to do?"

I let out a dry laugh, shaking my head. "Honestly? If I could just run off with one of the sisters and disappear, that’d be ideal."

That sent Eric into a fit of laughter. "Man, you really are in deep. Imagine that—’Ladi, the runaway lover.’"

I smirked, but the weight of reality settled in fast. "No, but seriously... I don’t know. I just wish I could leave things in a less complicated mess."

Eric’s laughter died down as he studied me for a moment. Then, he leaned back. "Alright, let me give you some real advice. Just this once."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, so all the other times were jokes?"

"Exactly." He grinned before continuing, "Listen, you’re about to step into something bigger than this small-town drama. And the only thing that should matter right now is you—your future, your goals, your escape plan. The moment you start worrying about how everyone else feels, you lose. You’re not here to fix everything, Ladi. You’re here to leave everything."

I stared at him, mulling over his words.

"Forget the guilt, forget tying up loose ends," he went on. "Just make sure that when you walk out that door, there’s nothing holding you back. No regrets. No ’what ifs.’"

I sighed, rubbing my jaw. "That’s... a cold way to look at it."

Eric shrugged. "Yeah, well, sometimes cold is what gets you through."

I exhaled deeply, running a hand over his face. "Alright... so let’s say I do this. What’s the next step?"

Eric leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "First things first, you need a passport. Do you even have one?"

I shook my head. "Nah. Never needed one before."

"Figures," Eric muttered. "Well, you’ll need to get that sorted ASAP. I know a guy who can help speed up the process. If we move quickly, you could have it in a few days."

I nodded, my mind already racing ahead. "And after that?"

Eric smirked. "Then you book your ticket and get the hell out of here."

I let out a dry laugh. "Just like that, huh?"

"Yeah, just like that." Eric shrugged. "You’re not running from the cops, man. You’re just relocating for work. The only thing making this complicated is you."

He wasn’t wrong. Things would have been so easy if I didn’t make things complicated.

"Where exactly am I going?"

Eric tapped his phone, pulling up an email. "The team’s based in Canada. Vancouver, to be exact. That work for you?"

Leaning back, processing that. I hadn’t even considered where i’d be going, just that I had to go. Vancouver... cold weather, new city, fresh start.

"Yeah," I said finally. "That should work, not like I have a choice."

"Good." Eric stretched his arms. "Next up—money. You got a plan for that?"

I hesitated. "No, I haven’t even spent a dime, it’s all in the Crypto wallet. I still need to send some money back home."

Eric nodded. "Alright, we’ll break it down. First, you’ll need to open an account over there. I’ll help you find a good bank when you land. Until then, we’ll move some of your cash through transfers. The rest? You carry with you in cash."

"How much can I carry without raising flags?"

"Around 10K should be fine. Anything above that gets tricky."

"Alright, so I’ll take ten with me and move the rest in bits."

"Exactly." Eric clapped his hands together. "Now, about your parents... what do you wanna do there?"

I remained silent for a moment. I hadn’t told them anything. Not about the game, not about leaving.

I hadn’t even spoken to them in a while, The thought of just vanishing without a word made my stomach twist.

"I want to leave them something," he said. "Some money, and a letter explaining everything. Can you handle that for me?"

Eric’s smirk faded slightly. He nodded. "Yeah, man. I got you."

I swallowed the lump in my Eric looked at me, clearly taking his time to process everything before saying anything else.

Eric checked his watch. "Alright, that about covers everything. Passport, tickets, money, letter for your folks. Anything else?"

I sighed rubbing my temples. "Just one thing..."

Eric raised an eyebrow.

I exhaled. "How the hell do I survive my last few days here without everything blowing up?"

Eric burst out laughing. "Now that is a whole other problem."

"We should start by selling off some of that crypto first," he said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Right. Right. I reached for my phone and opened my crypto wallet. The plan was simple: I’d convert a chunk of my holdings into fiat currency—some into Canadian dollars since that was where I was headed, and the rest into naira to send to my parents.

First, I moved a portion of my Bitcoin into a stablecoin—USDT. That way, I wouldn’t lose value from sudden market dips. Then, using a peer-to-peer exchange, I found a buyer offering a decent rate and locked in the trade. The USDT was transferred, and within minutes, I received the equivalent in Canadian dollars, straight into my Wise account.

For the naira, I did the same but used a Nigerian exchange. The rates were ridiculous, but I wasn’t about to leave my family empty-handed. Within moments, a few million naira landed in my local bank account, ready to be sent to them.

Eric, who had been watching the process, suddenly smirked. "Wait... did you ever try converting everything into naira? Just to see how much you actually have?"

I paused, my fingers hovering over the screen. That wasn’t something I had considered, but now that he mentioned it, I was curious.

I did a quick conversion—$1 million to naira.

The number that popped up made my eyes widen.

Over 1.5 billion naira.

"Holy shit." I let out a low whistle.

Eric burst into laughter, shaking his head. "Bro, you’re a fucking billionaire in Nigeria."

I chuckled, still staring at the screen. "Man, that’s crazy. It doesn’t even feel real."

Eric leaned forward. "So tell me... you still thinking about flying economy?"

I grinned, locking my phone. "Hell no."

This was really happening.

Eric was still laughing, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe it. "Damn, Ladi. You went from being the dude stressing over family drama to being a silent billionaire in this country. Life’s funny, huh?"

I leaned back, exhaling. "Yeah... but you know what’s even crazier? It doesn’t feel like I’ve ’made it’ yet. Like, I have the money, but it’s just numbers on a screen. I don’t feel successful. Not yet."

Eric nodded, his smirk fading slightly. "That’s ’cause money isn’t the goal. It just gives you the freedom to chase what you really want." He tapped his temple. "Figure that part out, and the rest will follow."

I thought about that for a second before shaking my head. "You sound like an old man."

"Wisdom, my guy," he said, grinning. "Now, back to business—how are we handling your cash? How much are you sending to your folks?"

I pulled up the transfer page on my banking app. "I was thinking of sending them 10 million naira first. Just enough to help out without making them suspiciou-"

I paused and chuckled. "Did I just say sending them 10 million wouldn’t make them suspicious? Yeah that’s definitely suspicious but I’m doing it anyway,"

Eric raised a brow. "Fair. And the letter?"

I sighed. "I’ll write it tonight. Something simple. Just to let them know I’m okay."

He nodded. "Alright. Then all that’s left is booking your flight."