Weekly Story Writing Contest – Week 5 / The Day Everything Changed
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I bear the Miss Alex Iwobi. For about five years now I have been a personal assistant to Mrs. Biola Adeyemi, wife of Nigeria's most powerful oil magnate. My world was immaculate schedules private jets and the invisible labor that kept high society running. My job was to be paid to be perfect anticipate needs before people spoke. Also to exist in the background of a life most Nigerians could only dream of.
On fateful Tuesday I began as usual I arrived at Banana Island at exactly 6:00AM with my uniform crisp my mind running through that day's activity. Mrs. Adeyemi was hosting a lunch for the wife of a minister who's from Ghana. The imported peonies had arrived from Holland.
A chef who cooks privately for someone was busy making a rich, baked lobster dish was there also
I was in charge of the walk-in closet arranging Mrs. Adeyemi's custom Zashadu gown when my phone rang. An unknown number. Something made me answer.
"Miss Alex Iwobi?" a calm, official voice asked.
"Speaking."
"This is Barrister Okafor from Chase Bank. There's been a significant transaction flagged on an account in your name. I think you should come to the bank."
I froze. "I don't have any account with significant funds."
There was a pause. "Miss Iwobi, there is an account in your name with a balance of Two Hundred And Forty Million Naira. Transferred from an offshore company linked to Chief Adeyemi."
Two Hundred And Forty Million Naira. My monthly salary was four hundred thousand. I sent money home to my mother in Enugu. I had never had a million naira in my in my entire life.
I didn't tell Mrs. Adeyemi. I smiled through the lunch poured champagne greeted guests. But my mind was elsewhere.
That evening I was at Barrister Okafor's office in Victoria Island. He pick a file across his desk.
The account was opened fifteen years ago he said. By your father.
My father left when I was seven moving in and out of our lives always chasing deals. He died when I was in university leaving behind nothing but debts.
My father was a driver I said slowly. He didn't have two hundred million naira.
Barrister Okafor adjusted his glasses. Your father was Chief Adeyemi's personal chauffeur and most trusted confidant for twenty years. In 2008 the Chief entrusted him with certain assets for safekeeping. The funds were to be released to your father's beneficiary upon his death. He named you.
I stared at him. My father who died in a modest rented apartment in Surulere had been holding a fortune for one of Nigeria's richest men. And he had never told me.
Perhaps he wanted to protect you. The barrister said gently. Or perhaps he was waiting for the right time. Unfortunately, time ran out.
That was the moment. A phone call on Tuesday shattering everything I knew about my life my father and my place in the world. I was no nonsense person.
The next morning I arrived at the Banana Island mansion one last time. I walked into Mrs Adeyemi's house my boss sitting room and placed a sealed envelope on a table.
What is this? she asked her eyebrow lifting.
My resignation ma.
She laughed surprisingly. Miss Alex, if this is about a salary increase
It's not about salary. I looked at this woman who had never once asked about my family my dreams. It is about knowing my worth realizing I don't have to be invisible anymore.
My time was now because everything had changed.
Her eyes narrowed. She knew. Of course she knew about the account. And for fifteen years, she had said nothing while I served her, knowing I was sitting on a fortune.
Today I run and own a foundation I called my own. I use that money wisely supporting young women from humble backgrounds just like I was.In addition to thati have built a wonderful house in Enugu just for my house. A house my dad liking promising my mom.
That ordinary morning, when my phone rang with a strange number I was a ghost in someone else's story. By evening I became the author of my own. My father's greatest gift wasn't the wealth he left behind but it was the unshakeable belief that I was meant for more than standing in the shadows.
The End
I invite @ngoenyi @bossj23 @ninapenda to participate
I am sincerely sorry that you could not publish the post on time because the contest announcement post has already expired. Of course, you will participate in the next competition and pay close attention to the rules.