From A Producer To A Global Superstar

Chapter 547: SUPRISE 1

Dayo returned home after a long week of stress.

The discovery that Silas had planted operatives around his executives had consumed almost every waking hour of the past several days. Meetings, investigations, contingency planning, security reviews. It felt as though every screen he looked at carried another problem waiting for him.

He had been angry.

Beyond angry.

He had been genuinely scared.

The thought that people he trusted people he considered family had unknowingly been watched for months was something he could not ignore. The moment the truth came out, he immediately arranged security details for every executive despite their protests.

Valerie complained.

Wayne complained.

Urich complained the loudest.

None of it mattered.

Dayo made it mandatory and when they continued arguing, he simply informed them that they could either accept the protection or take an indefinite leave of absence until the threat was gone.

That ended the discussion faster than how it started after all Deep down, they all knew he wasn’t doing it to control them. He was doing it because he cared.

Originally, Dayo had intended to focus his attention on Michael first. Michael had been the visible threat for months, the one constantly moving pieces around the board, putting his family at risk and even going as far as to try to blame him for the exposing of one of the bosses which he didn’t do.

But everything changed when they uncovered Silas’s network. The moment Dayo learned that Silas had assigned operatives to monitor his executives, his anger shifted. Before reacting, he made sure to verify everything.

Isobel had already warned him that Michael occasionally operated under Silas’s shadow, using Silas’s name to create chaos and accelerate his downfall just like he tried doing the first time.

Dayo wasn’t interested in assumptions. He wanted facts cold hard fact. And after a whole of digging, the investigation confirmed it the operatives belonged to Silas.

Not Michael.

That part still bothered him because Silas was already fighting frozen accounts, regulatory pressure, and collapsing financial structures. By every logical measure, he should have been focused on survival.

Instead, he was still poking into Dayo’s life. Still watching. Still searching. Dayo couldn’t understand it. And honestly, he no longer cared.

The safety of his people came first.

Everything else could wait.

He and Felix were already building plans to dismantle Silas’s network piece by piece. It wouldn’t happen overnight more like couldn’t. Men like Silas never fell overnight that was the mistake Michael made but Dayo understood this Silas was like weed that never really dies and it takes time to weed a place completely.

After all Silas has been in the industry longer than him his connection was not just concentrated in one area he was deep in other countries and had back up upon back up it would be a miracle if he could be caught and brought to justice.

But Dayo was sure of something eventually he would fall. Dayo intended to make sure of that.

The thought followed him all the way home until he finally pushed it aside. Work could stay at work. Home was different

Looking at the front door, Dayo felt a familiar calm settle over him. For years he had lived inside conference rooms, private jets, hotels, and offices.

Work had always come first. Then Luna and Jennifer returned to his life. Everything changed. No matter how important a meeting was, no matter how urgent a problem seemed, home mattered more he had to always come home. After all, he was working for them.

What was the point of building a future for his family if he was never present enough to enjoy it with them?

Over the past months he had reduced his workload significantly and trusted his executives with more responsibility than ever before. Ironically, every single one of those same executives had left work early today claiming they had "important personal matters."

At the time, Dayo had found it strange.

Valerie never left early.

Wayne practically lived in the studio regardless he always had a project that push him late ag night

Urich leaving before sunset was almost a historical event and this was fact. Yet somehow all of them had vanished. He hadn’t thought much about it.

Now, standing outside his house, the memory returned.

Reaching for the handle, Dayo noticed something else. Something odd, Normally, the moment his car entered the compound, Jennifer would already be at the window.

Somehow she had memorized the sound of his engine.

If Jennifer wasn’t there, Luna usually was.One of them always greeted him. Today there was nothing.No movement at all No little face pressed against the glass.

The house seemed unusually quiet.

Dayo frowned slightly.

Maybe Jennifer had fallen asleep.

Maybe Luna was putting her down.

That had to be it.

He opened the door and stepped inside.

Darkness greeted him.

The entire living room was dark.

Before he could process it, the lights exploded on.

"SURPRISE!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Dayo reacted instantly. Years of military training kicked in before his brain could catch up. He took a massive step backward, one hand already moving instinctively as his body prepared to react to a threat.

Then he actually looked.

And froze.

The room was packed.

Absolutely packed.

His family.

His friends.

His executives.

Artists.

Producers.

Managers.

People from different stages of his life.

For a second, Dayo simply stood there speechless.

His brain completely refused to catch up with what his eyes were seeing. Then he spotted Jennifer.

Standing proudly near the center of the room. Luna was beside her supporting her.

Jennifer held a large cardboard sign that looked like it had been made by a very determined child.The letters were uneven. Some were backwards.Several colors had been used. But the message was clear.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY

Jennifer grinned the moment she saw him.

Janet his you her sis said "We got you!"

The entire room laughed.

Dayo looked from the sign to Jennifer.

Then to Luna.

Then back to Jennifer again.

His throat tightened unexpectedly.

Jennifer immediately noticed.

"Daddy?"

Without saying a word, Dayo crossed the room and scooped her into his arms.

Jennifer squealed happily.

The cardboard sign nearly hit somebody in the face.

Luna laughed.

"Daddy," it seems like that was the only word she could conjure.

"I’m sorry," Dayo said while holding both Jennifer and the sign. "I’m still trying to understand what’s happening."

Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck.

"..."

She pointed toward Luna her meaning was clear that Luna also needed a hug.

The room laughed again.

Dayo smiled walked up to her and whisper "Thank you"

To which Luna blushed like a little girl I love and nodded.

Dayo finally looked around properly. Now he understood why everybody had left work early.

Valerie was standing near the dining area trying—and failing—not to smile.

Wayne had a camera in his hand.

Urich looked entirely too pleased with himself.

Alice waved.

Felix raised his coffee cup.

Ali stood beside several others, grinning.

For the first time in years, Dayo genuinely didn’t know what to say.

"You all did this?"

"Obviously," Valerie replied.

"You thought we actually had personal business?"

Wayne laughed. "The man believed all of us."

"Every single one of us," Alice added.

Urich shook his head dramatically. "For someone who’s supposed to be smart, you’re surprisingly easy to fool."

Dayo pointed at him. "I’m firing you tomorrow."

"You say that every month."

The room erupted into laughter.

Then another familiar voice appeared from behind the crowd.

"Bro!"

Dayo turned.

His eyes widened.

"Min-Jae"

Before Dayo could react, Min-Jae pulled him into a hug.

A real one.

The kind that came from years of friendship.

"What are you doing here?"

Min-Jae looked offended.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?"

"You flew from Korea."

"So?"

"So that’s a fourteen-hour flight."

Min-Jae shrugged.

"And?"

Dayo stared at him.

Minja started laughing.

"Seriously? For three years you’ve been flying to Korea for my birthdays."

"That’s different I am your boss and I come because of other reasons."

"No it isn’t."

"It absolutely is."

"It absolutely isn’t."

The room listened as they argued.

Both smiling.

Both knowing neither actually meant it.

Min-Jae shook his head.

"You know what annoys me the most?"

Dayo narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"You remember everybody’s birthday."

The room immediately agreed.

Several people nodded.

Min-Jae pointed directly at him.

"Everybody."

Then he poked Dayo’s chest.

"But somehow you keep forgetting your own."

A few people laughed.

Dayo scratched the back of his neck.

"My birthday usually lands during busy periods."

"Excuses."

"Not excuses." Tried defining it. Though it was true all his birthday came with one issue or the other during the period so he mostly forgets.

"Excuses."

Dayo sighed.

"Okay. Maybe excuses."

"There we go."

Min-Jae threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Seriously though, brother. Compared to everything you’ve done for me, flying here is nothing."

For a moment neither spoke. Dayo simply smiled then he pulled him into another quick hug.

"I’m glad you’re here."

Minja’s grin softened.

"Yeah. Me too."

Only then did Dayo notice another group standing slightly behind the others.

The Nigerian artists.

Kazeem.

Amara.

Faye.

Frosh.

Tunde

A/N: THANK YOU "Khalid97" FOR THE GOLDEN TICKET 🎟.