Chapter 21: Whispers in the Shadows
The days that followed were quiet too quiet. For the first time in years, Ezinne felt like her world was balanced. She laughed more. Slept better. The weight she had carried on her shoulders for years was finally loosening its grip. Her relationship with her family had begun to bloom, her mother called often, Chinedu visited every weekend, and even Adaora, though still stubborn, no longer spat venom with every word.
But peace, Ezinne would soon learn, has a way of warning you before it slips away.
Unbeknownst to her, far away in Enugu, whispers were spreading like wildfire in the dark corners of the city. Somto's men had started asking questions, casual at first, then with a sharper tone. They were ruthless, and they had begun to trace every thread tied to Somto's past, desperate to find the missing piece their boss obsessed over: the child he never knew he had.
And then came Ogechi.
She had been Ezinne's anchor for years her friend, her confidante, the only one who knew nearly everything. When Somto's men stumbled across an old photograph of Ezinne and Ogechi during a social media sweep, one of them, a man with eyes too cold for his young age, paused.
"She's close to her," he murmured, zooming in on the photo. "If we can't find the girl directly, maybe her friend will lead us there."
Ogechi, oblivious to the storm gathering around her, had just come out of a boutique when she noticed two men across the street. She wouldn't have thought much of it, except they weren't just watching—they were following.
She walked faster. So did they.
She ducked into a small supermarket and watched through a security mirror. One of them loitered near the entrance. The other pretended to buy airtime but never made the call.
Her heart thudded. Something was off.
Later that evening, she called Ezinne. "Babe, I don't want to scare you… but I think someone is following me."
Ezinne froze on the other end of the line. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. I think they've been watching me for a while now… and they seem like they're looking for something. Or someone."
The silence between them was thick.
"Ogechi… be careful. Please. I'll talk to someone. Just… don't go anywhere alone."
But even as Ezinne tried to calm her voice, her mind was spiraling. Had her past finally found her? Had Somto discovered something?
Meanwhile, in Nsukka, Somto sat at the edge of his mother's old wooden bed, staring at the small picture she had pulled from her wrapper a blurry image of a much younger Ezinne.
"She came here," his mother said. "Told me she was pregnant. I sent her away… I thought she was lying."
Somto didn't speak. His jaw tightened.
"Find her, Somto," she added. "Do whatever it takes."
He stood slowly. And nodded.
"Whatever it takes."