CHAPTER THREE :CRACKS IN THE GLASS
856 Words
The rain poured outside like the sky itself was grieving.
Elena sat beneath the leaky roof of their small sitting room, a thin woolen shawl clutched around her shoulders. Maria paced back and forth, her lips tight with anger and confusion. The words from Shosho Tabitha still echoed in her ears like a curse.
“That’s not your daughter, Maria. I know what happened. You didn’t come out of that hospital with your own child.”
Maria wanted to slap her. Scream. Tear out her grey hair. But something inside her froze. Because deep down, there was a seed of doubt she had buried and never dared to water. Not until now.
Elena watched her mother in silence, her heart pounding like thunder. “Mum, tell me the truth. Is there something you’re not saying?”
Maria stopped and looked at her daughter — the girl she’d raised, laughed with, suffered with.
“I gave birth to you, Elena,” she said. But her voice trembled.
Elena stood. “Then why would she say something like that? Why do people say I don’t look like you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe... maybe God made you look different.”
Elena turned to the mirror hanging on the cracked wall. Her reflection stared back — sharp cheekbones, long lashes, skin smoother than any girl in the slum.
And it wasn’t pride she saw. It was a haunting resemblance... to someone else.
At the Montenegro Mansion...
Sofia’s hand hovered over the drawer in her father’s office. Something about that room always drew her in its untouched tidiness, its strange coldness. Tonight, her curiosity outweighed her caution.
She opened the drawer slowly.
Inside were old photographs, files, and a leather-bound journal. She flipped through it, pages filled with sharp writing and precise words. Her father had written about everything investments, employees, even household routines.
But one thing stood out a hospital receipt.
Nairobi West Hospital – 2005 – Neonatal Ward – Twin B, Ward 7.
Her birth year.
She dug deeper, pulling out a yellowed newspaper clipping tucked at the back.
> “Nurse accused of negligence in maternity ward mix-up. Investigation ongoing.”
Her heart dropped. “No... no, this is not about me.”
Her mother’s voice called from the hallway, “Sofia? What are you doing in your father’s office?”
Sofia slammed the drawer shut, shoved everything back, and turned. “Nothing, Mum. Just looking for a pen.”
Clara stepped into the room, her expression unreadable. But Sofia noticed the flicker of panic in her mother’s eyes just for a moment.
Ramil’s Guilt Deepens
Ramil sat in the back of his one-room flat, the light flickering above him. Dozens of newspaper clippings and torn photos littered the floor. The truth he had carried for seventeen years now burned in his hands.
His brother, Enzo, had made him do it.
“Switch them,” Enzo had whispered with eyes dark like sin. “Make sure that woman leaves with the other baby. She broke me. Her daughter will pay.”
Back then, Ramil had obeyed.
Back then, he was young, afraid, and foolish.
But as he looked at the photo of Elena the girl with innocence in her eyes and strength in her voice he knew he couldn’t stay silent anymore.
“Forgive me,” he whispered, gripping the envelope in his hand. “You deserve your name, your truth.”
The School Connection Begins
The following week, Elena got a rare opportunity one that could change everything.
A scholarship to a weekend mentorship program at Nairobi Academy Sofia's school.
Maria urged her to go. “Even if just for one day, you’ll walk where the rich walk.”
Elena arrived in a faded sweater and ironed jeans, her eyes wide as she took in the pristine gardens and stone walls. She felt like an intruder like a rose growing among glass statues.
Inside the library, a group of girls whispered and giggled. She ignored them, focusing on the presentation. But then, she saw her Sofia.
The room spun.
They locked eyes.
And for a moment, everything paused. Neither of them understood why their chests tightened or why the air between them felt... mirrored.
“Who’s that?” Sofia whispered to her friend, Ariana, her usual mean-girl sidekick.
“Some charity case, probably. But... she kinda looks like you. Weird.”
Sofia stood, walking past Elena with casual cruelty, but their shoulders brushed and both flinched.
It was like touching a truth neither of them knew existed yet.
The Warning
That evening, as Elena waited for her matatu home, a man approached her from the shadows.
It was Ramil.
“You don’t know me,” he said gently. “But I know you. And I know your real father... isn’t who you think he is.”
Elena stepped back. “Who are you?”
“A mistake. But I’m here to fix it.”
He handed her the envelope.
“Read it when you’re alone. But be strong, Elena. Because your world is about to change.”
And with that, he disappeared into the night.
- Writer
