Lost Once, Forbidden Now, Episode 5
By Adebanke Abel
Adaeze’s hands shook as she dropped the phone.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the couch, her heartbeat roaring in her ears. "No… no, God, please no!" Her mind screamed, but her body was frozen. Her daughter. Her only daughter. Lying in a hospital bed, fighting for her life all because of a truth she couldn’t handle. She grabbed her car keys with trembling hands and ran out of the house.
The drive to Divine Mercy Hospital felt like the longest of her life. Her fingers clenched the steering wheel as she whispered desperate prayers. "Take everything from me, but don’t take my child!" She was still pleading with heaven when she screeched into the hospital parking lot and ran inside.The smell of antiseptic filled her nose as she rushed to the reception.
"My daughter—Ifunanya! The accident victim! Where is she?!" The nurse looked up, her expression blank.
"Are you her mother?"
"Yes, I am! Please, where is she?"
The nurse’s face softened.
"She’s in surgery. She lost a lot of blood."
Adaeze gasped for air. Surgery. Blood loss. Her legs gave way, and she sank into the waiting chair. Chidi arrived minutes later, his face pale with worry.
He didn’t need to ask—one look at Adaeze’s tear-streaked face told him everything. Neither of them spoke.They just sat there, staring at the closed doors of the operating room, where Ifunanya was fighting for her life. Waiting. Drowning in guilt and prayers.
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Three hours passed.Then four. Finally, the doctor emerged, removing his gloves.
"She’s stable now," he said.
Adaeze let out a sob of relief.
"Can I see her?"
"She’s still unconscious, but you can stay with her."
Adaeze rushed into the room, her heart breaking at the sight of her daughter lying in the hospital bed, pale and motionless.
She reached for Ifunanya’s hand and held it tightly.
"Baby, I’m so sorry," she whispered, "please, wake up."
Chidi stood at the door, his chest rising and falling with emotions too heavy to express. He had almost lost the woman he loved. And if Ifunanya didn’t wake up...he didn’t know what he would do.
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The beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the hospital room. Adaeze had not left Ifunanya’s side since she was wheeled in after surgery. Chidi had spent the night standing by the window, staring at the city lights, lost in thoughts.The weight of everything crashed down on them. The truth had been told, but at what cost?
Then, movement.
A soft groan. Adaeze’s head snapped up.
"Ifunanya?"
Her daughter’s eyelids fluttered open. Her gaze was weak, unfocused—but she was awake. Adaeze burst into tears.
"Oh, my baby! Thank you, Jesus!"
Chidi stepped forward.
"Ifunanya… can you hear me?"
She turned her head toward him, her expression unreadable.Then, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"I should have died." The room went still.
Adaeze’s heart shattered.
"Don’t say that! Don’t you ever say that!"
But Ifunanya looked past her mother—straight at Chidi.
"Do you love me?" her voice was hoarse.
Chidi’s throat tightened.
"With everything in me," he said softly.
A pause.
"Did you ever love my mother?"
Adaeze squeezed her daughter’s hand, silently begging her not to go there but Ifunanya’s gaze never wavered.
"Yes," Chidi admitted. "I did."
Ifunanya closed her eyes.
"Then I was never meant to be yours."
Chidi froze.
Adaeze held her breath.
"If you could love two people at the same time, then you were never really mine." Ifunanya whispered.
"I loved you, Chidi. With my whole heart. And it’s killing me to say this, but…"
She swallowed hard.
"I can't marry you."
Silence.
Then, Chidi exhaled—a long, painful exhale.
"Ifunanya—"
"No." She cut him off.
"I will heal from this. But you and my mother? That’s a scar I will never recover from."
Tears streamed down Adaeze’s face.
"Baby, please…"
Ifunanya turned to her.
"Mom, I love you. But this broke me."
"I never meant to hurt you." Adaeze sobbed.
"But you did."
Another long silence.
Then, Ifunanya took a deep breath and whispered the words that ended everything.
"Chidi, please leave." Chidi’s face fell. But he nodded.
He walked to the door, then paused, looking back one last time.
"I will always love you, Ifunanya," he said.
Then, he was gone.
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Ifunanya recovered and got discharged quickly but something in her had changed forever. She couldn’t stay. She needed peace—needed to breathe, to heal.
So she booked a vacation abroad. "I need time, Mom," she said softly when Adaeze asked why she was leaving so soon.
Adaeze nodded.
She understood.
Ifunanya had lived her entire life avoiding love because of her mother’s past. And when she finally opened her heart, fate dealt her a cruel hand. Now, she needed to figure out what she truly wanted and the only way to do that was to leave everything behind.
Chidi never called. Adaeze never reached out. Not because they didn’t care but because some "loves" are better left in the past. She cried some nights, missing her only daughter. But what could she do? This was the price of love. So, she focused on her businesses. She poured herself into her art gallery, expanding it, making it her legacy. She refused to let her pain destroy her.
*********
The humid Lagos air felt different as Ifunanya stepped out of the airport terminal.
Lighter. Freer.
Like she had left her baggage of pain and resentment on a foreign shore and was returning home as a different woman. She took a deep breath, letting the familiar scent of her homeland fill her lungs.
"Nigeria, I’m home."
It's been 2 months. And yes, for the past two months, she had wandered through the cobblestone streets of Paris, sat alone in Italian cafés, and stared at the ocean waves in Santorini, seeking the answer to one question—
"Who am I when I’m not shaped by my mother’s past?" Now, she finally had the answer. She was Ifunanya. A woman no longer afraid of love. A woman who had finally forgiven. A woman ready to live again.
She had barely dragged her suitcase toward the exit when a familiar voice called her name.
"Ifunanya?"
She turned, her heart skipping a beat. Standing there, grinning like he had just found a lost treasure, was Ralph. Her old university friend.
"Ralph?! Oh my God!" she gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief.
He laughed and closed the distance between them, pulling her into a warm embrace.
"Look at you! You haven’t changed a bit!"
She pulled back and playfully smacked his arm.
"Liar! I know I’ve changed."
They exchanged numbers, promising to meet soon, but neither of them knew that this simple reunion would change everything. What started as casual conversations quickly turned into longer calls, shared dinners, and stolen moments of laughter. And before she even realized it, she had fallen. But this time, on her own terms. Not because she was afraid of being alone. Not because she was trying to prove anything. But because love had found her naturally, without complications.
Adaeze was still without love. Not because she didn’t want it. Not because she wasn’t approached but because none of the men who came her way was what she truly wanted. She spent her days immersed in her businesses, expanding her art gallery into a space where young artists could find a voice. She kept her hands busy. She kept her heart locked away.
Until one evening, as they sat watching the sunset from their balcony, Ifunanya turned to her and said, "Mom, if you ever choose to be with someone… even if it’s Chidi, you are free to be happy."
Adaeze’s breath hitched. She turned to look at her daughter, searching her face.
"You have forgiven me?" she whispered.
Ifunanya smiled, reaching for her mother’s hand.
"A long time ago, Mom. I was just waiting for you to forgive yourself."
Tears burned behind Adaeze’s eyes as she squeezed her daughter’s hand. For the first time in months, she allowed herself to breathe. They had walked through fire, through betrayal, through heartbreak—but they had made it out whole. And now, they were standing on the other side of pain.
The day Ifunanya introduced Ralph to her mother, Adaeze knew. She saw it in the way her daughter’s eyes sparkled. In the way she smiled without hesitation. Ifunanya had found what she was searching for and Adaeze supported their love completely. Wedding preparations began in earnest. And Adaeze busied herself with the joy of watching her daughter step into a new life. She never thought about Chidi. Not even once. Until fate brought them together one last time.
It was a gathering of creative minds. Entrepreneurs. Artists. Visionaries. Adaeze had been invited to speak on her journey as an artist. She arrived at the venue confident and composed, ready to inspire young minds. But then, her heart stopped. There, across the room, standing in deep conversation with another speaker, was Chidi. The world tilted. Their eyes met. And suddenly, the years melted away. The restaurant confrontation. The hospital room.
The months of silence. It all came crashing back. Chidi inhaled sharply.
"Adaeze." Her name on his lips felt like a whispered secret. She swallowed, steadying herself.
"Chidi." It was awkward at first. But not for long.
They started talking and as the conversation flowed, something unexpected happened.
The love they thought had died… came alive again. Stronger. Unbreakable. And this time, they knew. This time, they weren’t going to let anything separate them. Not fate. Not guilt. Not fear. They chose each other. The day Ifunanya got married to Ralph, Adaeze also stood at the altar beside Chidi. Two love stories. Two second chances.
A mother and daughter, once torn apart by fate, now finding love on the same day. When the priest said, “You may kiss the bride,” Ifunanya turned and saw her mother laughing joyfully as she leaned into Chidi’s kiss. And for the first time in her life, Ifunanya truly believed that love, no matter how twisted, no matter how broken, always finds its way home.
THE END!
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