The drive back to Abuja in the BMW was smooth and reflective. The familiar highway signs marking the transition from Ondo State back towards the Federal Capital Territory felt like crossing a boundary, leaving the student persona temporarily behind in Akure and stepping back fully into the role of Daniel Adekunle, the architect of a rapidly expanding, secret fortune.
Pulling into the driveway of the Wuse II bungalow felt like returning to base camp.
The reunion with Sarah and Elizabeth was warm. The house felt comfortable. Sarah updated him on the PeDan Mart, showing him sales figures that indicated a thriving business, thanks to her management and the prime location.
Elizabeth, free from the immediate pressure of exams, was bubbly, talking non-stop about her holiday plans with friends. It felt good to be home, to see the tangible results of the security he had provided.
A few days into the break marked Elizabeth's 17th birthday. Daniel, wanting to make it memorable, planned a day of celebration. He started by taking her and Sarah for a special brunch at an upscale cafe in Maitama known for its pastries and ambiance.
Afterwards, he took Elizabeth on a shopping spree at the Jabi Lake Mall. He set no budget, simply telling her to pick out whatever clothes, shoes, or accessories caught her eye. Elizabeth, initially hesitant, quickly got into the spirit, excitedly trying on outfits, her eyes sparkling with delight. Daniel watched her, swiping his personal debit card (funded by PeDan 'dividends') at each store with a straight face. It felt good to provide this carefree experience for her.
That evening, they had a small family dinner at home, Sarah cooking Elizabeth's favorite jollof rice. Afterwards, Daniel presented his main gift – the iPhone 16 Pro he had set aside for her. Her reaction was pure joy. She hugged him tightly, nearly knocking him over, prompting him to painstakingly extricate himself with a helpless expression.
"Daniel! Oh my God! Thank you, thank you!" She immediately started setting it up. He then transferred N100,000 to her OPay account. "For birthday doings," he said with a wink. "Don't spend it all in one place."
For Sarah, he gave her a beautifully crafted designer handbag he'd noticed her admiring in an online store catalogue. Simple, elegant, expensive. Seeing their genuine happiness was his primary reward.
The break wasn't solely for family, however. Daniel dedicated significant time to his operations. He held several secure video calls with Mrs. Chukwuma, reviewing PeDan's administrative setup, finalizing bank mandates, and discussing potential office spaces (though they agreed a virtual office was sufficient for now).
He monitored Rocket Funds remotely, ensuring the Commander system was functioning smoothly and withdrawal requests were being handled promptly by the automated system linked to the dedicated OPay fund.
One evening, while conducting a deep system diagnostic within the MH app – a routine check he performed weekly now – another anomaly flag appeared. It was different from the previous bank flag or the access attempt alert. This was logged under 'External Signal Analysis':
MH Anomaly Log: Intermittent, low-power, encrypted data bursts detected correlating with user withdrawal events originating from [Nigerian Telco IP Range]. Bursts contain non-standard identifiers. Analysis suggests passive data sniffing attempt, potentially targeting transaction metadata. Originator highly obfuscated via layered proxies. Threat Level: Moderate (Information Gathering). Counter-Surveillance Protocol Activated. Recommend diversifying withdrawal funding sources.
Daniel read the alert carefully. Passive data sniffing. Someone wasn't trying to hack MH, but to intercept and analyze data related to its transactions, specifically user withdrawals, likely hoping to trace the source of the funds or identify patterns. The sophistication ("non-standard identifiers," "layered proxies") again pointed away from casual hackers. Could it be the same group as before, Nightshade? Or someone else entirely attracted by RF's growing buzz?
MH had already activated countermeasures, likely further randomizing transaction identifiers or routing withdrawals through even more complex paths. But the alert was clear: someone was watching the money flow out of the system. This added a new dimension to the threat. It wasn't just about protecting MH's core; it was about protecting the entire financial ecosystem he was building around it, including the RF network and its users (whose transaction data could potentially lead back to the source).
He immediately followed MH's recommendation, setting up three additional, separate OPay and bank accounts under different nominee names, dedicated solely to funding RF withdrawals.
He programmed MH to randomly distribute withdrawal payments across these accounts, making it much harder to correlate transactions or establish a pattern linked to a single source. He also increased the frequency of moving funds between his core MH balance and these withdrawal accounts, keeping the balances relatively low but constantly replenished, avoiding large, single top-ups. It was another layer of complexity, another drain on his time, but absolutely necessary. Looking at his happy mother and sister, he silently vowed.
'No one will take this happiness away from me!'