They say a father’s love is priceless.Mine had a price tag: thirty thousand naira and a crate of malt.I was fifteen years old when my father looked me in the eye and sold me.I survived the Lagos nights that tried to destroy me by learning how to bury my feelings and keep breathing. Years later, I thought I had finally suffered enough. A powerful man offered me safety, wealth, and protection, and I gave him everything in return.I rescued my siblings from poverty.Paid their school fees.Built the future I never had.Convinced myself that every scar, every humiliation, every sacrifice had finally meant something.Then I made one mistake.I fell in love.I let myself believe that someone could see me beyond my past.But love came with a price I never expected.Now my body is failing me.My strength disappears a little more each day.The woman staring back at me in expensive mirrors looks nothing like the girl who once dreamed of being loved.And the people I sacrificed everything for have already started walking away.The siblings I raised now look at me with embarrassment.The man who promised me forever vanished without a goodbye.And the only person who truly understood my pain is gone.Everyone I carried on my broken back abandoned me the moment I needed them most.Now I am dying alone in a beautiful cage, asking myself one question:After sacrificing my innocence, my body, and my future for the people I loved…How much does a woman’s life truly cost?And why was mine always so cheap to the people who claimed to love me?WHAT A WOMAN COSTS : is a heartbreaking story of survival, sacrifice, betrayal, forbidden love, and the devastating loneliness that comes from giving everything away to family.