CHAPTER EIGHT: THE OFFER
Two days after the pitch, the email came.
Subject: Investment Proposal — BEC Holdings
Amara opened it slowly, trying to stay calm.
₦100 million.
That’s what they were offering — for 45% of her company.
The email was polite, strategic, and shiny. Too shiny. It came with all the usual buzzwords: “growth potential,” “market scaling,” “structural expansion,” “positioning you as the face of the brand.”
But what they were really saying was:
We’ll fund you — if you give up control.
She closed the laptop and stared out the window. Lagos was buzzing like it always did — noisy, alive, chaotic. Just like her thoughts.
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Later that afternoon, she met Darius at a rooftop lounge overlooking the lagoon. Casual. Just juice and jollof.
He didn’t bring up the pitch or the offer — not until she did.
“I got an offer. Big one. But... 45%. That’s almost half my company.”
“That’s more than just investment,” Darius said quietly. “That’s leverage.”
She nodded. “They want me to be the face. But not the voice.”
“And what do you want?”
That question hit harder than the numbers.
Amara had built her business from scraps. Her name, her clients, her campaigns — they were hers. Could she hand it over for cash? Could she watch her dream become someone else's product?
“I want to grow,” she said slowly. “But I want to grow on my terms. I don’t want to wake up in two years and realize I sold my power for speed.”
Darius smiled. “Then don’t. You're the brand. They can’t buy you unless you let them.”
That night, Amara sat in her apartment, surrounded by invoices, sticky notes, and Malia’s crayon drawings taped to the fridge. She remembered the woman she was six months ago — scared, broken, nearly invisible.
And she remembered the moment she chose herself.
She drafted a reply to BEC Holdings.
Subject: Re: Investment Proposal
Thank you for believing in my company’s potential. I believe in it too — enough to know it’s worth more than speed. I’m willing to negotiate for growth. But ownership isn’t on the table.
Best,
Amara Cole, CEO
Two days later, another email came. This one from the female VC who stood during her pitch.
“Heard about the BEC deal. That’s not the only table in town. Let’s talk. Over wine. My treat.”
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