Rise of a Football God

Abraka, Nigeria…

In one of the biggest hotels in the city, Kayla was in a room with Ian as they discussed certain sensitive topics.

"The rest of your classmates, are they still around?" She looked at Ian.

"I think some of them should be abroad already, but majority of them are still in Nigeria. I'm sure".

Kayla nodded. "Good, we'll need them".

"For?"

"To act as witnesses".

"Like you, they were there when what happened that night happened. No matter how little they know, they would have an idea about what actually happened".

"Besides, that Bryan too, I want to involve him in this".

Ian hesitated. "But…"

"Don't worry, I'm not just a spoilt English brat," Kayla chuckled as her eyes gleamed calculatedly. "I know how the world works, especially in third world countries like Nigeria. Money answereth a lot of things here".

"Don't worry, every single testifier would have an appropriate compensation for me to say the truth".

"And be rest assured, it would not be traced back to me".

"Besides, that Bryan," Kayla rubbed her chin. "With the right amount of money, I think even he would open his mouth to speak". She smirked.

"…"

Ian stared at Kayla, totally speechless. "Sister-in-law…, I never knew you were this scary".

"I'm gentle when it calls for it, scary when it calls for it too".

…

In Nigeria, Kayla became a Detective Conan, scouring through the streets of Abraka and authorities, investigating and searching for evidence.

At some point, realizing that matters already blew out of proportion, panicking, Amaka began releasing a lot more videos on her IG handle more frequently.

And in recent videos, she attacked Kayla, accusing the English woman of being a vixen, stealing her man and still being shameless enough to slander her for it. She dragged Sam and Kayla on social media, adding more flames to the already burning fire.

At first, a lot of people paid attention to her posts but the more she posted, the more people lost interest.

Afterall, she didn't seem like a pained lover recovering from trauma anymore, rather, she seemed more like a desperate opportunist now.

Having learned their lessons, the fans refused to jump to conclusions, watching the drama unfold from the shadows while they waited for 15th September. On that day, everything would be clarified in the court of law in Spain.

While all these happened, FC Barcelona's season continued.

In Sam's absence, amid 2 more La Liga games, the Catalan club finally kickstarted their champions league campaign for this 2025/2026 season.

Imperiously, FC Barcelona dominated, winning the next 2 La Liga games that they played but in their champions league debut game for this new campaign was where they finally stumbled.

They started against Benfica.

Against the infamous club from Portugal, FC Barcelona faltered, Robert Lewandowski's age once again laid bare against a solid and formidable opponent.

Lamine Yamal dazzled this game, eventually winning the man of the match award after an electric dribbling display but in the end, the game ended in a goalless draw as Lewandowski's struggles in front of goal proved costly to the Catalans.

Raphinha had a good game but he was also shut out by the Portuguese team.

Last season, FC Barcelona started their champions league campaign with a loss. This season again, they stumbled, starting the new campaign with a draw against Benfica; the Catalans seemed to have a thing against winning their first champions league games.

After that game, Sam's hearing at court was to commence in 3 days and a day after the Champions League game, he was visited by his friends.

Led by Lamine Yamal, a group from the FC Barcelona squad comprising Yamal, Pedri, Gavi, and Alejandro Balde visited Sam in his confinement home.

There, they spoke with him, trying to cheer him up even as they also cheered themselves up, quickly forgetting the disappointment of yesterday.

"I can't wait for you to get back to the pitch man," Lamine Yamal said in Spanish, smiling.

"I can't wait too". Sam replied back in Spanish.

One advantage of staying in confinement was that after working out, Sam had all the time in the world to himself and since he had nothing better doing, he devoted his time to learning Spanish through the Duolingo app.

Kayla also helped, hiring a local Spanish tutor to help in his studies. In just a few weeks, Sam's Spanish already improved by a lot.

"I wonder if you'll continue playing as an attacking midfielder or a false 9," Gavi commented, scratching his chin in thought.

Sam looked at him, laughing. "You ask that because you want to be the one playing in that attacking midfield spot, right?"

"Of course!" The young Spaniard said in Spanish, laughing.

"Since you arrived, I don't think the coach has ever played us both at the same time in a game. It's always either you or me, that's because this season the coach prefers playing us in the same position". Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

"Of course, I don't like that, I want more playing time". He chuckled. "So if you get to play as a false 9, I get to play with you too!"

"Yeah, I understand you," Sam said, smiling. "But I love playing as a midfielder".

"You bastard," Gavi glared at him. "You can play anywhere on the pitch, play as a striker!"

Pedri and Lamine Yamal laughed.

After spending significant time with him, eating and cheering him up, the 3 young FC Barcelona players finally left him in his confinement building.

Sam was all smiles after they left, he was glad that they visited.

The amount of support that FC Barcelona rendered to him during this difficult period convinced Sam of his decision to choose to play for the Catalans.

'I can't afford to get out of shape!'@@novelbin@@

'I need to keep on working!'

'I need to keep on improving!'

He returned to training.

Like this, time moved fast and in no time, 3 days already passed.

The D-day…, was here.

On 15th September, 2025, Sam was finally carried to the building of the Supreme Court of Spain for his court hearing.