Elena decided to go home for the holidays.
She told herself maybe home would heal her, maybe peace could be found where love once began.
But the very first day she arrived, everything turned dark.
Three Amuroba attacked her on her way back from the junction.
It happened in seconds — rough hands, loud voices, and fear that froze her legs. They grabbed her, took her phone, and pushed her aside like she was nothing.
She was left standing there, trembling, too shocked to even scream.
Her phone was gone — every message, every photo, every little piece of Nathan she still had left… all gone.
That night, she didn't sleep.
She just sat there staring into space, her mind replaying everything — the fear, the pain, the helplessness.
For four days straight, she couldn't eat. Couldn't talk. Couldn't breathe properly.
She was already going through heartbreak, but now trauma came to sit beside her.
It was like her whole world decided to fall apart at once.
And then, the second day after the attack, her mother and her little sister both fell sick.
Her sister was still writing exams and needed to be in school, but she could barely stand. Her mother's cough grew worse each night.
So Elena became the strength everyone needed — even when she had none left.
She woke up early every morning to cook, cleaned the house, and made sure her sister got to her exam hall on time. Then she'd come back home to give her mother medicine, wipe her sweat, and whisper prayers in the quiet of the room.
She was still bleeding inside, but she had no time to heal.
Sometimes, she'd break down at night, crying silently so her mother wouldn't hear.
She kept remembering the day her father died — how that loss taught her to hide pain behind responsibility.
Being the firstborn meant she had no choice.
Bills needed to be paid. Things had to keep moving.
Her mother tried her best, but there was only so much she could do.
So Elena carried it all — the fear, the heartbreak, the burden.
Weeks passed. She didn't have a phone anymore, and she didn't care to replace it.
When she finally retrieved her SIM card, it was only because of her small business. She borrowed her mother's phone, hoping her customers might reach out.
But nobody did.
Not Chioma.
Not Daniel.
Not even Nathan.
Nobody called. Nobody checked on her.
She was completely alone.
Every day felt the same — silence, chores, exhaustion.
She'd wake up, take her sister to her exams, come back home, cook, clean, pray, and sleep.
It was like her life was stuck on repeat.
Sometimes, she would sit by the window after everyone had gone to bed, staring into the dark sky.
She would whisper to herself,
"I'm trying, Daddy. I'm trying to be strong."
And then one afternoon — exactly a month after everything — her mother's phone buzzed.
Elena picked it up, thinking it was one of her customers.
But when she saw the name on the screen, her hand froze.
Nathan.
For a few seconds, she couldn't move.
Her chest felt tight. Her mind went blank.
She had blocked him everywhere — on Snapchat, on her own phone before it was stolen.
But somehow, this message found her.
Her fingers shook as she stared at his name, the past month flashing before her eyes — the silence, the loneliness, the nights she cried until her body gave up.
She didn't open the message.
She just stared at it.
After all this time, after all that pain…
he was finally reaching out.
And for the first time in a long while, her heart didn't know whether to hope — or to break again.