Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Knew Too MuchLolo sat alone in her bedroom.
Her hands trembled.
For six months, she had kept a secret.
Now the secret was collapsing.
Chief entered quietly.
“You called him.”
“Yes.”
“You told him?”
“I had to.”
Chief closed the door.
“He found the file.”
Lolo looked up.
“Then we have little time.”
Chief sat down.
“The fire changed everything.”
Lolo wiped her eyes.
“Did they get the second recording?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Chief looked at her.
“Where is it?”
Lolo remained silent.
“Lolo.”
She whispered.
“Maxwell has it.”
Chief stiffened.
“What?”
“I gave it to him years ago.”
“When?”
“When he was twelve.”
Chief shook his head.
“He doesn't remember.”
“He will.”
Suddenly, a knock came.
Both turned.
A maid stood at the door.
“Madam?”
“Yes?”
“There is a woman downstairs asking for you.”
“Who?”
“She says her name is Mrs. Eze.”
Lolo froze.
Chief stood.
“Send her away.”
The maid hesitated.
“She says she knows Samuel Adeyemi.”
Lolo's face went pale.
“Bring her upstairs.”
The maid left.
Chief stared at his wife.
“Why would she come now?”
“I don't know.”
A few minutes later, the woman entered.
She was elderly.
Elegant.
And carried a small leather handbag.
She looked directly at Chief.
“You haven't changed.”
Chief stared.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“You've forgotten me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She opened her handbag.
She removed an old photograph.
Chief took it.
His face changed.
It showed four people.
Chief.
Samuel.
Lolo.
And another woman.
Chief whispered:
“Grace.”
The woman smiled.
“That was my name before I disappeared.”
Lolo stepped forward.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
Chief's voice tightened.
“Where have you been?”
“Running.”
“From whom?”
Grace looked at him.
“From the same people you should have been running from.”
She opened her handbag again.
She removed a small cassette recorder.
“Samuel gave this to me before he died.”
Chief's eyes widened.
“The second recording?”
Grace nodded.
“He told me not to release it unless Maxwell was old enough to understand it.”
Lolo began crying.
“Play it.”
Grace pressed the button.
Static.
Then Samuel's voice.
“If you're hearing this, I failed.”
Chief closed his eyes.
Samuel continued.
“Chief, don't trust the board.”
A pause.
“There is a member among them who has been stealing from us.”
Another pause.
“And he knows about the children.”
Maxwell's name was mentioned.
Then Clara's.
Lolo covered her mouth.
Samuel's voice continued.
“If something happens to me, the trust must remain untouched.”
Then he said something that made everyone freeze.
“The real danger is not the company.”
Static.
“The real danger is the bloodline.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Grace looked at Chief.
“You understand now?”
Chief shook his head.
“No.”
Grace's face hardened.
“Then look at your family tree.”
She placed a folded document on the table.
Chief opened it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then he stepped backward.
Lolo saw his face.
“What?”
Chief whispered:
“Clara…”
“What?”
“She isn't Samuel's daughter.”
Lolo stared at him.
Grace nodded.
“She was adopted.”
Lolo's voice shook.
“By Samuel?”
“No.”
“Then by whom?”
Grace looked at them.
“By the woman who disappeared twenty-five years ago.”
Chief's face went pale.
“Who?”
Grace answered:
“Your mother.”
The room went silent.
Because suddenly Maxwell and Clara were connected in a way none of them had imagined.
And somewhere across the city, Maxwell was holding a second recording.
He pressed play.
A woman's voice came through.
A voice he recognized immediately.
His grandmother.
“If my grandson ever learns the truth, tell him this…”
The recording crackled.
“He is not the heir of Onochie Holdings.”
Maxwell stared at Clara.
May you like
The voice continued.
“He is the key to taking it back.”
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