My True Identity

Chapter 4

Troy had lodged in a hotel in Lagos when he first arrived in Nigeria. After spending some time there, he decided to buy a house in his home state so he would have a quiet place to stay while continuing his search. The house was comfortable, but Troy barely noticed its comfort. His mind was occupied by one thing.

“His parents.”

Most evenings, he sat alone in the sitting room with the documents his detective had given him spread across the table. He had read them so many times that he could almost remember every line. Yet one name continued to stand out.

“Dr. Chinonye Joseph.”

Troy picked up the report again. According to the information gathered by his detective, he had been found at Udochukwu hospital in Agulu when he was a baby. He had later been handed over to his foster parents by a doctor known as Dr. Chinny. Troy stared at the name.

“If Dr. Chinny was the doctor who handled me,” he murmured, “then she may be the only person who knew what happened that night.”

He leaned back.

“Who brought me there? Why was I abandoned? Did she know my parents?”

The questions had followed him for years. Now, for the first time, he had a name. The following morning, Troy travelled to Udochukwu Hospital. As he entered the hospital, he looked around carefully. The building had changed over the years, but the thought that he had once been brought there as a helpless baby made his heart heavy. He approached the reception desk.

“Good morning. Please, I need some information about a doctor who used to work here.”

The attendant looked up.

“What doctor?”

“Dr. Chinonye Joseph. People called her Dr. Chinny.”

The attendant’s expression changed slightly.

“Dr. Chinny?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you looking for her?”

Troy hesitated.

“I believe she may have information about me.”

The attendant studied him for a moment.

“I’m afraid you may be too late.”

Troy frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Dr. Chinny is dead.”

For a moment, Troy said nothing.

“Dead?”

“Yes.”

“Are you certain you’re talking about Dr. Chinonye Joseph?”

“Yes. That is the doctor we knew as Dr. Chinny.”

“When did she die?”

The attendant paused.

“About twenty years ago.”

Troy stared at her.

“Twenty years?”

“Yes.”

His heart sank. He had travelled all the way to the hospital believing that the woman who might have held the missing piece of his past could finally answer his questions. Now she was gone.

“Does she have a family?” he asked.

“Yes. She had a family.”

“Can you give me their address?”

The attendant hesitated.

“I don’t have their complete details here, but I can direct you to where you may be able to find them.”

“Please,” Troy said. “I need it.”

She wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to him. Troy looked at the address. Another lead. He folded the paper carefully and put it inside his wallet. As he walked out of the hospital, he stopped at the entrance and looked back. The place where his journey had supposedly begun was standing behind him, but the person who might have explained it all was gone. Troy sighed.

“So this is what I get after coming all this way.”

He looked down at the address.

“Dr. Chinny is gone, but her family is still here.”

He turned away from the hospital.

“I will find them.”

He took a few steps before stopping again. A disturbing thought suddenly crossed his mind.

“If Dr. Chinny died twenty years ago, she died only a few years after I was adopted.”

Troy’s expression changed.

“What if my biological parents are dead too?”

For the first time, doubt began to weaken his determination.

«What if the answers he had spent years searching for no longer existed? What if the people he wanted to find had already disappeared from the world?»

He shook his head.

“No.”

He looked at the address again.

“I don’t know what I will find. I don’t even know whether my parents are alive. But I need the truth.”

He placed the paper safely in his pocket. Then his phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. Troy answered.

“Hello?”

There was silence on the other end.

“Hello?” Troy repeated.

A voice finally spoke.

“Are you Troy Michael?”

Troy’s eyes narrowed.

“Yes. Who is this?”

The caller remained silent for several seconds. Then came the answer.

“If you’re looking for Dr. Chinny, you should stop.”

Troy froze.

“Why?”

The line went dead. Troy immediately called back. The number was unavailable. He stood outside the hospital, staring at his phone. Someone knew about his investigation. But how? And more importantly, “Who was watching him?”

Troy returned home with the address of Dr. Chinny’s family and the mysterious phone call constantly running through his mind. He placed the detective’s report on the table. The warning had changed everything. Until that moment, he had believed that his biggest problem was finding information. Now he had another problem. Someone apparently wanted him to stop searching. Troy sat down.

“Who are you?” he asked the empty room.

He picked up his phone and looked at the unknown number again. There was no name. No message. Nothing. He tried calling it once more, but it was unavailable. Troy leaned back and exhaled.

“Someone knows I’m looking for Dr. Chinny.”

He opened the report again. The more he looked at it, the more questions appeared. He had spent years believing that his past was simply lost. Now he was beginning to wonder whether someone had deliberately kept it hidden. His phone suddenly reminded him of something else.

“Ella.”

Troy had not spoken to her properly in a long time. He hesitated before dialing her number. After several rings, she answered.

“Hello?”

“Ella.”

There was a brief silence.

“Troy?”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Her voice immediately changed.

“How are you?”

“I’m fine. Are you still in Nigeria?”

“Yes. I have some business to finish in Lagos before I return to Canada.”

“How long will you stay?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Another silence followed. Ella had clearly been waiting for an opportunity to say something.

“Troy, I want to apologize.”

Troy said nothing.

“For everything that happened between us,” she continued. “We were young. We didn’t understand life the way we do now.”

Troy listened quietly.

“I have thought about it many times,” Ella said. “I know I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

“I forgave you a long time ago,” Troy replied.

Ella’s voice softened.

“Then maybe we can start again.”

Troy looked away.

“Ella, forgiveness doesn’t mean I want to return to the past.”

“I understand.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

She became silent.

“I don’t want another relationship,” Troy continued. “I’ve made that decision.”

“Because of what happened between us?”

“Because I don’t want to go through that kind of pain again.”

Ella sighed.

“Maybe people change, Troy.”

“Maybe.”

“And maybe you should give yourself another chance.”

Troy shook his head even though she couldn’t see him.

“There won’t be another chance between us.”

The words hurt Ella.

“So that’s it?”

“I only called to check on you.”

There was a long silence.

“Take care of yourself, Ella.”

“You too.”

Troy ended the call. Ella remained seated, staring at her phone. Tears slowly filled her eyes. She remembered the Troy she had known years ago, the young man who had cared about her even when she was too concerned about what other people thought. She remembered how she had allowed Tonia’s words to influence her. At the time, Ella had believed Tonia was her closest friend. She had been wrong. Tonia had constantly discouraged her from getting close to Troy, while secretly trying to get closer to him herself. By the time Ella realized what was happening, the damage had already been done. Ella wiped her face.

“I lost a good friend because I listened to the wrong person.”

The door opened. Her grandmother entered the room. She immediately noticed Ella’s expression.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, Mama. I’m fine.”

Her grandmother looked at her carefully.

“If you are fine, why are you crying?”

Ella quickly wiped her face.

“It’s nothing.”

Her grandmother sat beside her.

“My daughter, you may hide your tears from other people, but you cannot hide them from someone who knows you.”

Ella lowered her head. Her grandmother sighed.

“Whatever happened between you and Troy belongs to the past. Learn from it, but don’t allow it to control the rest of your life.”

Ella nodded.

“I understand.”

“Good.”

Her grandmother stood up.

“And remember something else. Not everyone who calls themselves your friend truly wishes you well.”

Ella looked up.

The words immediately reminded her of Tonia. Her grandmother walked toward the door.

“Some mistakes teach us lessons that we should never forget.”

She left the room. Ella remained silent. Then one thought entered her mind. There was something she had never told Troy. Something about Tonia. Something that had happened years ago. Something she had always been too ashamed to explain. Ella looked toward the door.

“Maybe one day,” she whispered.

But she did not know that Troy’s search for his parents was about to uncover secrets that would bring their past back into his life. And somewhere else, a person who knew about Troy’s investigation was already becoming afraid.