The living room air seemed to thicken as the two men stepped inside. Kunle looked from them to Ella, his brows furrowed.
What is this about?" he asked, his voice carrying that edge he used whenever strangers crossed into his family's space.
What is this about?" he asked, his voice carrying that edge he used whenever strangers crossed into his family's space.
The taller detective with the badge that read Inspector Dolapo shifted his gaze back to Ella. "It concerns your stepfather, Madam. His disappearance, some years ago."
Ella's lungs locked. For a second, she forgot how to breathe. The very word stepfatherwas enough to unravel the years she had spent stitching herself back together.
Kunle turned sharply to her. "Ella… what is he talking about?"
Her lips parted, but no sound came. She fought to mask the storm inside her chest, to appear calm, unbothered, ordinary. "It was… long ago," she managed, her voice thin. "I was a teenager. He left, and we never heard from him again.
Inspector Durojaiye's partner, a younger officer with restless eyes, leaned forward. "That's just it. We've recovered remains at a construction site near your old home. Forensics suggest the body was buried there over fifteen years ago." He paused, studying her face carefully. "We believe it might be your stepfather."
The words dropped like stones into the silence.
Ella's daughter tugged at her gown, her little voice innocent and curious. "Mummy, who are they?"
Ella forced a smile, stroking her daughter's hair with shaking hands. "Nothing, sweetheart. Go upstairs with your brother. Now."
The children obeyed, padding up the staircase, their whispers fading into the upper floor. Kunle's eyes never left Ella, suspicion blooming where trust had always lived.
"I don't understand," he said quietly. "Remains? What is going on, Ella?"
She felt her throat tighten, the taste of iron rising at the back of her mouth. The room seemed to shrink around her, the walls closing in with the weight of a secret she had sworn never to let out.
Inspector Dolapo closed his notebook. "We'll need you to come down to the station tomorrow. Just a few formal questions." His tone was polite, but Ella heard the steel underneath.
They left with a nod, the door clicking shut behind them.
Silence followed. A silence heavier than any Ella had known. Kunle stood there, towel still in his hands, staring at her as though she were a stranger.
And for the first time in years, Ella felt the monster of her past clawing its way out of the grave.