Dear Tife
415 Words
Chapter 2: Dear Tife
With trembling fingers, Tife unfolded the letter.
The paper was old, its edges slightly worn, and the handwriting was elegant but unfamiliar.
She took a deep breath and began to read.
Dear Tife
If you are reading this, then the time has finally come for you to know the truth.
Her heart skipped a beat.
The life you have lived is only part of your story. There are secrets about your past that have been hidden from you for many years. The people who loved you believed they were protecting you, but the truth can no longer remain buried.
Tife's breathing grew uneven.
You must come to Lagos immediately. Someone has been waiting for this day. Someone who knows who you truly are.
Do not ignore this letter.
Your future depends on it.
The letter slipped from her fingers and landed softly on the table.
"No..." she whispered, shaking her head. "This can't be real."
Her mind raced with questions.
Who sent this?
What secret had been hidden from her?
Why Lagos?
Unable to calm the storm inside her, Tife walked to the corner of the room where an old wooden box sat beneath her mother's sewing table.
Her mother had forbidden her from opening it.
"Some memories are better left untouched," she had once said.
But tonight felt different.
With a deep breath, Tife lifted the lid.
Inside were neatly folded clothes, faded letters, and several old photographs tied together with a blue ribbon.
She untied the ribbon carefully.
The first few pictures showed her mother smiling.
Then she found one that stole the air from her lungs.
It was her mother—much younger—standing beside a handsome man Tife had never seen before.
In her mother's arms was a baby wrapped in a white blanket.
Tife stared at the tiny face.
"...That's me."
Her eyes shifted to her mother's expression.
She wasn't smiling.
She looked frightened.
A chill ran through Tife's body.
Turning the photograph over, she found a sentence written in faded black ink.
"She must never find out."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Find out... what?
Tife clutched the photograph against her chest as tears filled her eyes.
For the first time in her life, she realized the people she trusted most had been hiding something from her.
She didn't know what awaited her in Lagos.
But she knew one thing.
By sunrise...
She would begin the journey that would change her life forever..
- Writer
