Chapter 25

The piano keys gleamed under the chandelier’s soft glow, but Samantha’s fingers faltered mid-melody. Her voice, usually a vibrant thread weaving through her music, was a hollow whisper tonight, each note heavy with an unspoken burden. She sat in the music room of their Lagos home, the grand piano a silent witness to her turmoil.

Beyond the arched doorway, the clink of cutlery and the hum of conversation drifted from the dining room, where her mother, Helen, and their housekeeper, Aggie, set the table for dinner. Samantha’s gaze flicked toward the dining room as her father, Gabriel Omoshola, descended the staircase, his polished loafers tapping against the marble floor. He carried an air of quiet authority, softened by the warmth he reserved for his family.