Chapter 1 - The Daughter Who Came Home BrokenThe sun was sinking behind the palm trees when Ebere returned home, exhausted, angry, and humiliated.
Another day had ended with an empty cash register.
Her boutique had been open from morning until evening, yet not a single serious customer had bought anything. Two of her sales girls had demanded their unpaid wages before she left. Her landlord had sent another threatening message. Three creditors had called.
And there was only one reason Ebere was still able to pretend that her life was comfortable.
Donald.
Her billionaire son-in-law.
For years, Ebere had built her entire sense of security around the money Donald sent to her daughter, Chioma. New furniture appeared in her house. Her boutique had received fresh stock. Her roof had been repaired. Even the small generator humming beside the kitchen had been paid for by Donald.
Ebere had always told herself it was simply the reward for raising a beautiful daughter.
But deep down, she knew better.
She had become addicted to Donald's money.
That evening, she pushed open the gate and stepped into the compound.
Something felt wrong.
The house was unusually quiet.
“Chioma?” she called.
No answer.
She dropped her handbag on the table and switched on the light in the parlor.
Then she froze.
Someone was crying.
A woman sat on a wooden stool near the wall.
Two dusty travel bags lay beside her.
Her head was buried in her hands.
“Who are you?” Ebere demanded.
The woman slowly lifted her face.
Ebere gasped.
“Chioma!”
Her daughter tried to stand but almost collapsed.
One eye was swollen nearly shut. Her lips were split. A dark bruise covered one cheek. Another streak of purple ran down the side of her neck.
Ebere's heart jumped.
“Who did this to you?”
Chioma began sobbing.
“Mama…”
Ebere rushed toward her.
“Who did this?”
“Donald.”
The name fell into the room like a stone.
Ebere stared.
“What?”
“Donald beat me.”
“What happened?”
Chioma trembled so badly she could barely speak.
“He brought another woman into the house.”
Ebere's mouth fell open.
“I confronted them. I asked him how he could do such a thing to me after everything I had sacrificed for that marriage. He laughed.”
Chioma touched her swollen cheek.
“When I started shouting, he slapped me. Then he punched me. I fell down. He kept hitting me.”
Her voice broke.
“He told me I was nothing without him.”
Ebere swallowed.
“What happened after that?”
“He ordered the gateman to drag my luggage outside.”
Chioma looked at her mother with desperate eyes.
“Then he told me I had twenty minutes to leave his house.”
Ebere was silent.
“Mama…”
Chioma wiped her tears.
“Donald has divorced me.”
For several seconds, Ebere simply stared at her daughter.
Then something changed in her face.
The concern disappeared.
The anger came.
“You mean to tell me a billionaire threw you out…”
Chioma blinked.
“Mama?”
“…and you simply came back here?”
Chioma stared at her.
“He almost killed me.”
“And so what?”
The words struck harder than a slap.
Chioma's lips parted.
Ebere continued.
“Are you the first woman whose husband has beaten her? You were living in a mansion! You had drivers! You had security! You were married to a billionaire!”
“I don't care about the mansion!”
“You don't?”
Ebere laughed bitterly.
“Then what do you care about? Because when you were there, did you remember this house?”
Chioma's eyes filled with tears.
“Mama, please.”
“Do you remember how you used to speak to me?”
“I was wrong.”
“You were.”
“I know.”
“You sent me away from Donald's house.”
“I said I'm sorry.”
“You told me this house was too small for your new life.”
Chioma sank to her knees.
“I made a mistake.”
Ebere stepped back.
“Then live with it.”
“Mama, please let me stay.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“You are going back to Lagos.”
Chioma stared at her in horror.
“Lagos?”
“Yes.”
“He will kill me.”
“Beg him to forgive you.”
“Mama…”
“I said no!”
A voice came from the veranda.
“Ebere.”
She ignored it.
The voice came again.
“Ebere!”
Mr. Nwosu sat beneath the mango tree outside, staring toward the open door.
Dubem stood on the veranda.
He had heard everything.
“Mama,” Dubem said quietly. “This is your daughter.”
Ebere turned.
“And?”
Dubem's jaw tightened.
“She has nowhere to go.”
“She should have thought of that before she insulted this family.”
Chioma looked toward her brother.
“Dubem…”
He looked away, ashamed.
Ebere crossed her arms.
“Donald is rich. He can take care of her.”
“He kicked her out.”
“Then she must make him take her back.”
Chioma began crying again.
That night, while rain hammered the roof, Chioma lay on a thin mattress in the corner of the parlor.
She could hear her mother moving around in the next room.
No one came to comfort her.
No one brought her food.
No one asked whether she needed a doctor.
For the first time in her life, she felt completely alone.
Then, sometime after midnight, her phone vibrated.
Chioma slowly opened her eyes.
There was a message from an unknown number.
YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE COME BACK TO YOUR MOTHER.
She stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
BECAUSE SHE KNOWS WHAT DONALD IS HIDING.
Chioma sat upright.
Her hands began to shake.
A third message appeared.
AND SHE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO EMEKA.
Chioma stopped breathing.
Emeka.
The man she had abandoned.
The man everyone believed had disappeared from her life forever.
She stared at the message until the screen went dark.
Then another text arrived.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO RECEIVED DONALD'S MONEY THE NIGHT EMEKA DISAPPEARED.
Chioma slowly looked toward the hallway.
May you like
For the first time that night, she was no longer afraid of Donald.
She was afraid of her own mother.
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