HIS LAST SECRET

HIS LAST SECRET Chapter 8: The Email That Changed Everything

Chapter 8: The Email That Changed Everything

**Part 1: The DM**

It was 11:43 PM.

I was in bed.

Face mask on.

Binge-watching something dumb to quiet my brain.

Then my phone lit up.

Instagram DM.

From: @luminapress_books

Verified account.

My heart did that stupid thing again.

The thing it used to do when he texted.

But this time?

This time it was different.

I opened it.

---

"Hi,

We came across your Stary Spa series - 'The Truth and The Glow'.

We’re a publishing house in Lagos and we’re obsessed.

Your writing is raw, healing, and so needed.

We’d love to discuss turning your story into a published book.

Are you available for a call this week?

- Tolu, Editorial Lead @ Lumina Press"

---

I read it.

Closed the app.

Opened it again.

Read it again.

Then I screamed.

Into my pillow.

So my neighbors wouldn’t hear.

A book deal.

ME.

The girl who cried at Tarkwa Bay.

The girl who got "one night" and "eight months".

The girl who wrote through the pain.

---

**Part 2: The Call**

Friday. 2PM.

Zoom call.

I wore lipstick.

Not for them.

For the girl in Chapter 5 who thought she was nothing.

"Hi, I’m Tolu," the woman on screen smiled.

"We’ve been following your series. The comments. The shares.

People are healing through your words.

We want to publish it. As a memoir.

'The Truth and The Glow: A Story of Heartbreak, Healing, and Choosing Yourself'."

I nodded.

Because if I spoke I would cry.

"We’re offering an advance.

And royalties.

And a launch.

We want you to finish the manuscript. 15 chapters.

We can assign an editor to help you."

An advance.

Royalties.

My words. In bookstores.

"Yes," I whispered.

Then louder: "Yes. I want that."

---

**Part 3: Writing Through The Win**

The next 30 days were crazy.

Work in the morning.

Writing at night.

Interviews with myself.

Chapter 9: What I Learned

Chapter 10: The Red Flags I Ignored

Chapter 11: Therapy Sessions

Chapter 12: My Girls Who Held Me

Chapter 13: Forgiving Myself

Chapter 14: The Day I Stopped Waiting

Chapter 15: The Glow

Every chapter hurt to write.

And healed me to write.

Tolu sent edits.

"Make this part sharper."

"Add more here."

"Girl, this line right here? This is the one."

For the first time, my pain had purpose.

---

**Part 4: The Plot Twist**

Two weeks before the manuscript was due...

He found out.

Mutual friend told him.

"She’s publishing a book. About you."

He emailed me.

From a new new address.

"I saw the cover reveal.

Is it about me?

I’m sorry.

Can we talk before it comes out?

I don’t want my name dragged."

I forwarded it to Tolu.

Tolu replied: "You don’t owe him anything.

Change the names.

Tell your truth."

So I did.

His name became "D".

Halima became "H".

But the story?

The story stayed mine.

---

**Part 5: The Launch**

6 months later.

Roving Heights, Ikeja.

My book.

On a shelf.

With my name on it.

'The Truth and The Glow'

By [Your Name]

People were buying it.

Taking pictures.

Crying in the aisles.

A girl came to me.

Eyes red.

"This book saved me," she said.

"I was going to go back to him.

But Chapter 6 stopped me."

I hugged her.

And in that moment I understood.

It wasn’t about him.

It was never about him.

It was about every girl at 2:47 AM.

Thinking she was alone.

Thinking she was unlovable.

Thinking she had to stay.

---

That night I went home.

Made tea.

Sat by the window.

And opened my book.

To Chapter 1.

And I read the first line I ever wrote:

"The silence was louder than any fight we could’ve had."

And I smiled.

Because the silence was over.

And my voice?

My voice was everywhere now.

The war was over.

And I didn’t just win.

I got published.