TWO MOTHERS

THE TRUTH COMES OUT

Zahra slammed the door shut.

`Mrs. Ade can’t know,` she whispered. `If the estate finds out…`

Her hands shook. Daniel was her son. Her shame. Her secret.

The next morning, rumors were already spreading.

`Did you hear? Zahra had a man at her door last night.`

`He looked just like her.`

`I heard he’s from that rich family on the hill.`

Zahra hid at work. But by noon, her boss called her in.

`Zahra,` he said, sliding his phone across the table. `Is this your son?`

On the screen: A blurry photo. Daniel. Standing at her door in the rain.

And the caption: `Who is this mystery man?`

Zahra’s world collapsed.

Because if they kept digging… they would find the DNA test too.Zahra grabbed the phone. Her fingers went numb.

`No,` she whispered. `That’s not…`

But her boss was already staring. Waiting.

`My son?` she choked out. `He… he’s not my son.`

The Zahra grabbed the phone from her boss. Her hands shook so hard she almost dropped it.

`That’s not my son,` she lied. Her voice broke.

The office went silent.

Her boss leaned Zahra ran out of the office. Her chest burned.

`He’s not my son,` she kept repeating in her head. But no one believed her.

Her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number:

`We know who he is. Pay us, or the whole estate sees the photo.`

Blackmail.

Zahra stopped