Sophia's Secre

I did not sleep that night.

Sophia Adeyemi came to my kiosk in Enugu. Sophia Adeyemi, the heiress, the woman Chidi was supposed to marry in Eko Hotel. She knew I was pregnant. She knew Chidi lied to her.

And she said: "In 5 years, that baby will be the reason Chidi Eze loses everything."

What did she mean?

I kept thinking of her face. She was not smiling like a wicked woman. She was smiling like a woman who was also in pain.

The next morning, 6am, I was frying akara when a black Range Rover stopped again in front of my kiosk.

Sophia came down. No hat today. No sunglasses. Just a simple Ankara gown. She looked like a normal woman, not an heiress.

"Amara, can we talk? Not here. In the car. I will not hurt you."

My grandmother, Mama Nnukwu, came out with a broom.

"If you touch my granddaughter, I will beat you with this broom!"

Sophia laughed. "Mama, I am not here to fight. I am here to beg."

I entered the car. My heart was beating like a drum.

6 months pregnant. I was holding my belly.

Sophia drove to a quiet place, near a river in Enugu. She stopped the car. She looked at me. And she started crying.

"Amara, I am sorry. I am so sorry. I did not know. Chidi told me you were his maid. He told me you were trying to trap him with a fake pregnancy. He told me you aborted it. I believed him. I believed him because I loved him."

I was shocked. Sophia Adeyemi, daughter of a Commissioner, crying in front of a pregnant akara seller?

"Sophia, why are you telling me this? You are marrying him next month."

She shook her head. "No. I am NOT marrying him. I cancelled the wedding yesterday."

My mouth opened. "You cancelled? Why?"

"Because I found out the truth, Amara. Chidi Eze is not a billionaire. He is a thief."

She brought out her phone. She showed me documents. Bank statements. Photos.

"My father, Commissioner Adeyemi, gave Chidi N500 million to invest in a real estate project. Chidi said he would double it. Instead, he used the money to buy cars, to buy a mansion in Lekki, to pretend to be a billionaire CEO. He is using my father's money to impress Lagos. And he is using my father's name to get contracts."

I felt my stomach turn. Chidi stole from Sophia's father? The same way he stole from me?

"And there is more," Sophia said, tears falling. "Chidi is not just cheating on me with you. He is cheating on me with three other women in Lagos. One of them is my own cousin. He told my cousin the same story he told you — that he would marry her. He is a liar, Amara. A professional liar."

I held my belly. "So why did you come to Enugu to find me?"

"Because I need your help. And you need my help."

Sophia wiped her tears. Her voice changed. From crying to strong.

"Amara, listen to me. My father is going to arrest Chidi next month for stealing N500 million. If Chidi goes to prison, I will lose everything too — my father's reputation, my family name. But if I can prove that Chidi is a fraud BEFORE the wedding, I can save my family. And you can save your baby."

"How?"

"Give me your proof. Give me the messages where Chidi told you to abort. Give me the voice notes. Give me the proof that you paid his school fees. I will give it to my father. My father will use it to destroy Chidi."

I looked at Sophia. For the first time, I saw not an enemy, but a sister. Two women, both thrown away by the same man.

"Sophia, I sold my mother's gold to pay Chidi's fees. I have the receipts. I have the messages. I kept everything. I kept them because I knew one day, God would ask me to use them."

Sophia held my hand. "Amara, I have a proposal. Don't go back to Onitsha. Don't go back to Lagos yet. Stay in Enugu. Have your baby. I will pay for your hospital. I will pay for your school. I will help you finish your Law degree in Enugu. In exchange, when the time comes, you will come back to Lagos with me, with your son, and we will face Chidi together."

I cried. For the first time in 6 months, I cried not because of pain, but because of hope.

"Sophia, why are you helping me? You are rich. I am poor. You could just leave me."

Sophia smiled, touching my belly.

"Because your son is the only true heir to Chidi's name. And because, Amara, I was also pregnant once. For Chidi. And he made me abort it. He told me I would embarrass him. He gave me N50,000 too."

My heart broke. So Chidi did it to Sophia too. The same N50,000. The same words. The same cruelty.

We sat in that car for 2 hours, crying, holding each other. Two women, broken by one man, deciding to rise together.

That night, Sophia did not go back to Lagos. She slept in my grandmother's house, on a mat on the floor, eating akara and pap like a normal woman.

And before she slept, she said something that changed my life:

"Amara, in 5 years, you will not be an akara seller. You will be a CEO. I will make sure of it. Because Chidi Eze threw away two women, and in 5 years, those two women will throw him away from Lagos."

I held my belly. My son kicked. As if he heard. As if he agreed.