In a dusty backroom of a barbershop in Asaba, Miriam burned another set of fake documents.
Her fingers trembled as the flames rose.
She hadn't felt this afraid in years.
The note had been a message. Not from the police—they wouldn't bother with poetry. No, this was from him. Chief Okonkwo. The man she thought she'd buried with her old life.
Back when she was Amaka Okezie—the sweet-faced daughter of a pastor, who fell in love with the wrong man and paid the ultimate price.
She still had the scar on her ribs from the last time Chief Okonkwo "taught her a lesson." He was powerful, untouchable, and obsessed.
And she had stolen something from him.
Something worth killing for.
She looked in the mirror, barely recognizing herself. Her reflection didn't show a woman. It showed a ghost.
"I can't keep running," she whispered. "But I'm not ready to die."