I could not sleep.
Even with the ocean's lullaby outside the window, my mind kept circling back to the photograph and that woman beside my father.
Who was she?
Why had my mother ever mentioned her?
And why did my father keep that photo hidden?
By morning, I had made up my mind.
I needed answers.
Chinedu and I returned to the local market to ask around. It was a quiet town people noticed newcomers maybe someone remembered my father, maybe someone knew the woman.
We approached an old woman selling dried fish. Her face wrinkled like an old map, eyes sharp beneath her scarf.
"Excuse me, ma," I said gently, holding up the photo. "Do you know these people?"
She squinted, then gasped softly.
"Michael?" she whispered "and Chika?"
I felt my heartbeat skip.
"Chika?" I repeated. "That is her name?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes. She was his well, his partner, I think people talked said they had a child together once but they left Badagry years ago after something terrible happened."
I leaned in. "What happened?"
She shook her head. "Nobody ever said. But after that, Michael came back alone and broken."
I thanked her and walked away slowly, brain spinning.
Chinedu caught up. "So he did have another life, a woman maybe another child."
"But why did he hide it? And what happened that broke them apart?"
Back at the house, I searched through the notebooks in the chest.
One of them had entries in shaky handwriting my father's journal.
Most of it was rambling, half formed thoughts, unfinished sentences.
But then, in one entry dated August 18th, I found this:
"If Chika had just told me the truth maybe I would not have left maybe Tomiwa would have grown up differently i failed them both."
"They will come after her one day and she won't even know why."
I stared at the words until they blurred.
He had known.
He had known danger would come.
He had known someone would come looking for me.
Later that evening, i called Ifeoma.
"I found her name," I said. "Chika. Do you know her?"
A pause.
"Yes," she said slowly. "I saw her name in one of the hospital files but i did not mention it because well, she been missing for years."
"Missing?" I echoed.
"Last known location was Lagos worked as a nurse then disappeared, no records since."
When I hung up, I turned to Chinedu.
"I have to go back to Lagos."
He blinked. "Now?"
"Soon. If Chika is alive, she knows what happened she might even know why Mrs. Odu is after me."
"But what if it is dangerous?"
I took a breath. "Then i will be careful but i won't run anymore."
That night, as we packed a small bag, Chinedu touched my hand.
"You have changed," he said softly.
I looked up. "How?"
"You are stronger, bolder and you are not afraid of the truth anymore."
I smiled faintly. "Maybe I'm tired of being afraid."
He stepped closer. "I'm proud of you."
And just like that for the second time i kissed him under a sky full of questions.
The next morning, as we boarded a bus to Lagos, I carried more than a bag.
I carried a photo.
A journal.
And a name that refused to fade: Chika.
Somewhere out there, a woman knew the truth.
And I was ready to find her.