Chapter 3 - The Ghost of the PastDaniel turned sharply at the sudden hitch in my breath. He crossed the room in two strides, kneeling beside my chair, his dark eyes wide with alarm.
“Kaima? What is it? What does it say?”
I handed him the note with trembling fingers.
As Daniel read the lines, the color drained completely from his face. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched violently along his cheek.
“My family? What does he mean, your family?” Daniel asked, his voice dropping to a harsh, urgent whisper. “My mother knew your parents. Your father was a civil engineer, and your mother was her caregiver. How could Victor possibly have crossed paths with them?”
“My father didn't just die in a construction accident twelve years ago, Daniel,” I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes as I pulled the second document from the wooden box—a yellowed newspaper clipping from 2014.
TRAGIC COLLAPSE AT LEKKI PHASE 1 SITE: CHIEF ENGINEER NWOSU DECLARED RESPONSIBLE FOR SUBSTANDARD MATERIALS.
Daniel stared at the headline, his eyes widening in horrified disbelief. “The Lekki Phase 1 structural failure... That was one of the earliest major projects overseen by the Okafor Development expansion wing. Uncle Victor was the vice president of operations back then.”
“And my father was the lead structural engineer who refused to sign off on substandard concrete mix,” I said, my voice hardening as the grief melted into an icy, unyielding fury. “He threatened to blow the whistle. Twenty-four hours later, his brake lines were cut on the highway. The official report blamed human error. And my mother and I were left with nothing, forced to scrape by until your mother—full of guilt and secret knowledge—hired me as a caregiver years later.”
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Daniel stood up abruptly, pacing across the room, his fists clenched at his sides. “She knew. All these years, my mother knew Victor murdered your father and blamed it on him to cover up his embezzlement.”
“That,” I said, picking up the black USB flash drive, “is why she made you marry me. She didn't just give you a wife, Daniel. She armed us with an executioner’s sword.”
