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Chapter 4: The Room She Wasn't Supposed to Enter
The Agyeman mansion was wide and winding — a maze of hallways, doors, and untouched antiques. Esi wasn't trying to explore. Not really. But she couldn't sleep.
She had wandered past the guest rooms… the prayer room… and then she saw it.
A door at the end of the hallway. Slightly open. Dark inside.
She paused.
Curiosity is dangerous, she told herself.
But her feet moved anyway.
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The room smelled… old. Like memories and dust. Moonlight slipped through the lace curtains, lighting part of a bookshelf. On the wall hung a faded wedding photo — but not of her and Kwabena.
The bride in the picture was beautiful. And familiar.
That's not me, she thought.
Then who…?
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She picked up a journal that lay cracked open on a wooden table. Her eyes scanned the first few lines:
> "I thought marrying into the Agyeman family would make me safe. But no one warned me that golden cages still trap birds."
Esi froze.
The name at the bottom of the page was Ama Agyeman — Kwabena's first wife.
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Her heart raced. No one told her he had been married before.
Why?
Where was Ama now?
She flipped through more pages. They were full of sorrow. Notes of fear. A life of wealth… and something darker underneath.
And then a final, half-written sentence:
> "If something happens to me, tell—"
The ink faded.
Esi stood there, her hands shaking. Her eyes darted to the wedding photo again.
Suddenly, the light in the hallway clicked on behind her. Footsteps.
"Esi?" came Kwabena's voice again.
Her stomach tightened.
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