The day I stole from my company and got away with it

It was 2021, I was working at this fintech startup in Yaba, salary was ₦180,000 and my rent was ₦150,000. The math was not mathing. I was handling vendor payments and I noticed a loophole in the approval system. One invoice, duplicate payment, nobody checks. I did it once. ₦85,000 just appeared in my account.

The guilt was heavy. I could not sleep for weeks. But the next month the rent was due and I did it again. By the time I stopped I had taken about ₦420,000 over six months. I told myself it was a loan. I would pay it back when I got a raise. The raise never came. I left the company in 2022 and nobody ever asked me about it.

Seven years later I still think about it. I am doing well now, consulting for bigger companies. But that version of me who was scared and broke and made that choice, he is still there. The money is long gone but the memory is still fresh. I have never told anyone this before.