Chapter Five — Old Wounds
1467 Words
Amara didn't sleep.
She tried.
She turned off the lights, closed the curtains, placed her phone on the bedside table, and forced herself to lie still.
Nothing worked.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Daniel standing on the balcony.
Your father and mine had a dispute.
A dispute.
That was the word he had chosen.
As though twelve years of her family's suffering could be reduced to a disagreement between two men.
She opened her eyes.
Her father had never talked about the Asare family.
Not once.
After his death, Amara had spent years trying to understand why he had become so bitter during the final years of his life.
She remembered the way he used to stare at old documents late at night.
The way he would suddenly become quiet whenever someone mentioned business.
The way he had once told her:
"Never trust a powerful man who tells you that everything is under control."
At seventeen, she hadn't understood.
Now she wondered whether he had been trying to warn her.
A soft knock came at the door.
Amara sat up.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
Daniel.
She didn't answer immediately.
"What do you want?"
"I brought you something."
She walked to the door but didn't open it.
"What?"
"Breakfast."
She frowned.
"At six in the morning?"
"I know you're awake."
Her eyes widened.
"How?"
"Your light has been on for hours."
Amara looked toward the lamp.
She had forgotten to turn it off.
She opened the door slightly.
Daniel stood outside holding a tray.
He looked tired.
His hair was slightly disheveled, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up.
For some reason, he looked less intimidating like this.
More human.
"I don't want breakfast."
"You need to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Amara."
She stared at him.
"What?"
"You can be angry with me after breakfast."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Instead, she stepped aside.
He placed the tray on the small table.
"Tea?"
"No."
"Coffee?"
"No."
"Toast?"
"No."
"Then what do you want?"
"Answers."
Daniel sighed.
"I knew you were going to say that."
"Then give them to me."
He pulled out a chair.
"Sit."
She sat across from him.
He remained standing.
"My father and yours were business partners."
Amara's eyes widened.
"Partners?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Several years."
"What business?"
"Property development."
She stared at him.
"So my father worked with your family?"
"Yes."
"Then what happened?"
Daniel looked down.
"There was a property in Kumasi."
"The one from the article?"
"Yes."
"Whose property was it?"
"Your father's."
Amara felt a chill.
"But the article said your father acquired it legally."
"That's what the court decided."
"Did he?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Daniel."
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I was nineteen."
"So?"
"So I wasn't involved."
"But you must have heard something."
"I heard both sides."
"And?"
He looked at her.
"I never believed my father was completely innocent."
Amara's breath caught.
She had expected him to defend his family.
Instead, he had admitted doubt.
"Why?"
Daniel walked toward the window.
"Because my father changed after that case."
"How?"
"He became paranoid."
"About what?"
"People."
Amara waited.
"He thought everyone wanted to take what belonged to him."
"And your mother?"
"She disagreed with him."
"What happened to her?"
"She's alive."
Amara nodded.
"Do you love your parents?"
Daniel looked at her.
"What kind of question is that?"
"A simple one."
He smiled faintly.
"My mother, yes."
"And your father?"
Silence.
"I loved him."
The past tense was deliberate.
"He's dead?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Six years ago."
"I'm sorry."
Daniel nodded.
"He died believing he'd protected the family."
Amara looked down at her hands.
"My father died believing someone had destroyed his."
Daniel's eyes met hers.
Neither spoke.
For the first time, they weren't boss and employee.
They were two people connected by a past neither had chosen.
A past that had hurt both of them.
Daniel finally broke the silence.
"There is something else."
Amara looked up.
"What?"
"Your father kept something."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
"Because my father spent years trying to find it."
"What was it?"
Daniel hesitated.
"A document."
"What document?"
"We don't know."
Amara stood.
"How can you not know what you're looking for?"
"Because your father never told anyone."
"Maybe he left it behind."
"Maybe."
"Where?"
Daniel looked at her.
"In the old family house."
Amara's heart began to race.
"What house?"
"The house your family lost."
She stared at him.
"You know where it is?"
"Yes."
"Take me there."
"No."
"Why?"
"It's abandoned."
"I don't care."
"It's dangerous."
"I'm not afraid."
"You should be."
Amara stepped closer.
"Why?"
Daniel looked at her for a long moment.
"Because if the document is still there, someone else may be looking for it."
She froze.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
"Because someone has been asking questions."
Her stomach tightened.
"About me?"
"About your family."
"Who?"
Daniel's expression hardened.
"I don't know yet."
A knock sounded at the door.
They both turned.
Lydia's voice came from outside.
"Mr. Asare?"
Daniel opened the door.
Lydia stood there holding her phone.
"Sorry to interrupt."
"What happened?"
"We have a problem."
Daniel's expression changed.
"What kind?"
"The regional partner cancelled the meeting."
"Why?"
"He won't say."
Daniel frowned.
"Call him again."
"I already did."
"And?"
"He said he won't meet with you."
"Why?"
Lydia looked at Amara.
Then back at Daniel.
"He said the Mensah name is too dangerous."
Amara's heart stopped.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Who told him that?"
"He wouldn't say."
"Get me the address."
"Of the partner?"
"Yes."
Lydia nodded and left.
Amara looked at Daniel.
"What is happening?"
"I don't know."
"You do."
"I don't."
"Daniel."
He looked at her.
"Believe me."
"Why should I?"
His expression softened.
"Because if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have brought you this far."
The words stayed with her.
She didn't know whether to trust them.
Before she could respond, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
"Hello?"
His face changed.
"Where?"
He listened.
"Are you sure?"
Another pause.
Then he looked at Amara.
"Don't move."
He ended the call.
"What happened?"
"The old house."
"What about it?"
"Someone broke in last night."
Amara's blood ran cold.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
"Was anything stolen?"
Daniel stared at her.
"That's what we're going to find out."
Twenty minutes later, they were driving toward the outskirts of Kumasi.
The road became quieter.
The buildings thinner.
Trees replaced shops.
Amara watched the scenery through the window.
She had never been here before.
Yet something about the place felt strangely familiar.
Daniel drove in silence.
Finally, he spoke.
"If you find anything inside, don't touch it."
"Why?"
"Because we don't know who was there."
"Are you expecting someone?"
"No."
"Then why are you nervous?"
"I'm not."
She looked at him.
His hands were gripping the steering wheel too tightly.
"You are."
Daniel said nothing.
A few minutes later, the SUV turned onto a narrow road.
Then Amara saw it.
An old house.
Large.
Beautiful once.
Now abandoned.
The paint had faded.
Several windows were broken.
The garden had become overgrown.
Amara stared.
"That's it?"
Daniel nodded.
"Your family lived here."
She stepped out of the car.
Her heart was pounding.
She didn't remember the house.
But the moment she looked at the front door, something inside her stirred.
A memory.
A little girl running through a hallway.
Her father's voice.
A woman's laughter.
Then darkness.
Amara touched her forehead.
"What is it?"
Daniel came closer.
"I..."
She closed her eyes.
"I think I've been here."
Daniel froze.
"Impossible."
"My father brought me here."
"When?"
"I don't remember."
She opened her eyes.
Then looked toward one of the upstairs windows.
For a moment, she saw the image of a little girl standing there.
Her.
A small hand pressed against the glass.
And behind her...
Someone else.
A man.
Amara's breathing stopped.
"Daniel."
"What?"
"Someone was standing behind me."
His face changed.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know."
She looked at the window again.
There was nothing there.
Daniel reached for her arm.
"Stay close to me."
She looked down at his hand.
He immediately released her.
"Sorry."
Amara didn't answer.
Together, they walked toward the house.
Neither noticed the figure watching them from behind the trees.
The stranger raised a phone.
"They found the house."
A voice answered.
"Let them search."
"And the girl?"
"Don't touch her."
"Why?"
A pause.
Then:
"Because she may be the only person who can lead us to the document."
The call ended.
Inside the abandoned house, Amara stepped across the threshold.
And somewhere beneath the floorboards...
something shifted.
Something that had been hidden for twelve years.
Something her father had died protecting.
And something Daniel's family would do almost anything to keep buried.
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