— Her Turning Point
(POV: Kirah Evans)
The taxi pulled to a quiet stop at the front of their newly rented apartment complex—Maple Crest Residences, tucked in a serene part of Woki Phase 1, Ardenner, Velandria. The fresh air held the faint scent of blooming hibiscus from the garden bed near the gate. Kirah stepped out, her heels clicking against the smooth pavement as the evening breeze teased strands of her hair loose from her bun.
It still felt surreal.
From the cramped two-room flat they used to squeeze into at the edge of south Brexton, to this spacious, three-bedroom apartment with gleaming floors and wide windows—this place was more than just a home. It was proof of how far she'd come. She paid for it with the sweat of her ambition and every dime from her now-emptied savings.
As soon as she stepped into the house, warm voices filled the air.
"K-Kirah!" her younger sister Mayowa squealed, bolting from the living room. She wrapped her arms around her waist like a koala. "You're late again. I almost called the cops."
Her mother chuckled from the dining table, where she and her brother Denzel were dishing out dinner.
"Leave her alone, Mayowa. Working woman like your sister should be appreciated, not interrogated."
Kirah gave her usual bright smile, even if her chest still felt heavy from the evening's storm with Dominic.
"Traffic," she murmured and hugged everyone in turn. She went to her room, dropped her bag, slipped off her clothes, and changed into one of her favorite oversized T-shirts. Then she rejoined the family at the dinner table, forcing a chuckle here and there while sipping water to hide her silence.
Just as she started to feel a small sense of peace, her mother dropped the bomb.
"You're 24, Kirah," she said calmly, dishing extra rice onto her plate. "By your age, I was already five months pregnant with you."
Kirah's spoon froze mid-air.
She tried to laugh it off, but the knot in her chest tightened.
"Mom—please."
"I'm not saying you should rush. I just don't want you to get so carried away with work that you forget life is also waiting for you outside Vierra Holdings."
Mayowa giggled. "Translation: she wants grandbabies."
Kirah forced a grin, but inside, she was crumbling. After dinner, she retreated to her room and lay on her bed in the dim glow of her bedside lamp. Her mother's words kept echoing in her mind.
And so did his.
Dominic's voice—the softness in it as he said he was sorry. As he tried to explain himself. As he begged her to believe he wasn't playing games with her.
And then Naya's voice rang in, bubbly and insistent:
". Perhaps you two have done it."
Kirah let her eyes close as a single tear slipped down the side of her face.
Maybe she'd been too hard on him.
Maybe she'd let her pride do all the talking.
Maybe… he was really serious....
One truth she couldn't run from was simple,
She had fallen for Dominic Vierra.
The first man to touch her. To see parts of her that no one else had. To gift her not just the regular things but luxurious heels and of course it's melts her heart too perhaps she's human and a woman at that..
Maybe she owed it to herself to let him in. A little.
---
The Next Day — Monday
Kirah's alarm buzzed at 6:00 a.m. She got up with a new resolve. Her heart still guarded, her head still sharp—but her walls? A little lower.
She dressed in a sleek navy skirt suit with pearl earrings and a soft pink blouse—no heels today, just the comfortable black pumps she'd had forever. No extra makeup. No seductive eyes. Just… soft.
Professional. Gentle. Her.
She looked at her reflection before leaving and said quietly,
"Let's start from here."
Today wasn't about flirtation.
But it wasn't about war either.
Maybe she'd smile when she saw him.
Maybe she'd give him that one chance to show her this wasn't just another game.
"And I've forgiven him too, she chuckled softly , goshh why the hell are you blushing Kirah?"
She asked the question asif she wasn't referring to herself as she blushes more hard....