NOT MY WILL — CHAPTER ONE“The Silence Nobody Heard”Amara was only nineteen, but life in Abuja had already taught her more about

NOT MY WILL — CHAPTER ONE“The Silence Nobody Heard”Amara was only nineteen, but life in Abuja had already taught her more about pain than she ever imagined. She looked like a normal girl on the outside — she smiled when expected, greeted politely, and blended into crowds. But inside, she was carrying a storm that had no name.The people she trusted the most had hurt her in ways she didn’t know how to explain. Every time she tried to talk about what she had been through, her words collapsed inside her throat. She would stand in front of someone she loved, ready to speak, only for the person to be too busy, too distracted, or too uninterested.One afternoon she approached her aunt, hoping for a moment of attention.“Aunty… I need to talk to you,” she whispered.“Hmm? Talk, I’m listening,” her aunt said, eyes fixed on her phone.But she wasn’t listening.Amara felt her courage shrink again.“Never mind,” she said softly.Her aunt nodded without looking up. “Okay.”That was the problem. Everyone heard her voice, but nobody listened to her heart.She tried again with a friend, but her friend dismissed her pain with a playful, “Babe you worry too much. You’ll be fine.”Will I? Amara wondered.She carried her silence like a wound she had to protect. She began questioning her worth, her existence, and the value of her voice. Each unanswered cry for help pushed her deeper into herself. Nights became heavy, mornings felt pointless, and hope seemed too far away to reach.But even in her darkest moments, something kept her going — a tiny whisper in her spirit that said, Hold on.She didn’t know God was already preparing a turning point.