Chapter 5 A Renewed Resolve

Zara's Pov

The first rays of morning sun filtered through the grimy window of my room, casting streaks of muted gold across the dusty floorboards. My body ached from too little sleep and too many worries, but beneath the fatigue, something stronger stirred-urgency. A nervous, electric energy buzzed through me like a current. The flash drive, hidden safely between the pages of my sketchbook, felt like it pulsed with heat. It was no longer just a lost item-it was a chance.

I had to try and return it.

It wasn't just Mama's teachings about honesty echoing in my mind anymore. This felt bigger. A wild hope had taken root-maybe, just maybe, this small thing could be the key to something greater. A way out. A lifeline.

I glanced at Emeka, still fast asleep on the worn mattress beside me. His small chest rose and fell with that familiar wheeze. The image of his empty inhaler flickered through my mind. Then Mama's tired face. Her quiet sighs after long days. Their needs wrapped around my heart like a tight fist. I didn't have the luxury of giving up.

The plan in my head was vague at best. I didn't even know the man's name. I had no number, no real details-just the memory of a powerful figure and the exact spot where we collided. Trying to find him in Ikoyi felt impossible. Like searching for a single raindrop in the ocean.

Still, I had to try.

I'd managed to swap shifts with a coworker, buying myself a few precious hours. It was all I had.

The Keke Napep dropped me off a few blocks from the pharmacy, and the air immediately felt different. Cleaner. Sharper. Morning in Ikoyi didn't hum with life the way my own neighborhood did. No smoky roadside suya stalls or blaring horns. Just silent, glass towers reflecting the sun, pristine lawns, and the quiet confidence of wealth. Luxury cars glided past without a sound. Everyone walked like they had somewhere important to be.

I felt invisible.

My worn jeans and secondhand jacket stood out here like dirt on marble. The glances came quickly-subtle, but unmistakable. A flicker of suspicion from a passing pedestrian. A slight narrowing of the eyes from a uniformed security guard. I was a stain on their perfection, a shadow they didn't want to see.

Still, I pushed forward, heart pounding as I retraced my steps to where the man and I had collided the night before. The sidewalk near the pharmacy was already busy, people hurrying to work or meetings. I scanned every face, but they all blended into the same blur of suits and heels. I tried to remember him-tall, broad shoulders, expensive suit, commanding presence-but in a place like this, he was just one of many.

After nearly an hour of aimless searching, my resolve began to fray. The man could be anyone. He could be anywhere. My chest tightened with frustration. I was wasting time I didn't have.

Then I spotted a security guard standing at the gate of a nearby building. His uniform was crisp, his arms crossed. He looked bored.

I forced my legs forward.

"Excuse me," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

He looked at me slowly, eyebrows raised. I could already feel the judgment in his eyes.

"I'm sorry to bother you," I began. "I was here last night, just outside the pharmacy. Someone dropped something... a flash drive. I picked it up. I'm trying to return it."

He studied me, arms still crossed. "You're looking for someone who lost a flash drive? Here?"

The disbelief in his tone made me bristle, but I nodded. "Yes. I don't know his name. He bumped into me-tall, light-skinned, wearing a suit. Looked important."

The guard gave a dry chuckle. "That describes half the men on this street."

"I know it's a long shot," I said quickly. "But it looked like something important. Something private. I think he might be... someone powerful. Please, if you've seen anyone like that-"

He squinted at me, as if trying to decide whether I was crazy or serious. "I've seen plenty of men like that. But maybe you mean the one with the black Bentley? He sometimes parks across the street. Comes and goes fast. Big guy, real quiet. Always has security close by."

My heart leapt. "That could be him. Do you know where he works?"

"No idea," the guard said with a shrug. "But the pharmacy's got CCTV. If he passed by last night, they might've caught something. You'll need to talk to the manager, though. He doesn't just hand out footage."

"Thank you," I said, already turning to leave.

"Hey," he called after me. I looked back. "This place?" He gestured to the street around us. "It doesn't make room for people like us. Be careful."

His words stayed with me as I walked away.

But I wasn't turning back.

The door might be locked, the path uncertain-but for once in my life, I wasn't knocking for charity. I had something of value. Something they needed.

And I was going to use it.

"Good morning, sir," I said, my voice sounding far too small in the wide, silent space. "I... I think someone might've dropped something important here last night. A small metallic flash drive? Has anyone reported anything missing?"

He looked me over-slowly. His eyes were sharp, unreadable, the kind that had seen too much and trusted too little.

"This is Ikoyi, madam," he said flatly. "People drop things here every day. If it was important, they'd report it to their company's security, not to me. And even if they did"-he shrugged-"it's not my job to share that with you. My duty is to manage this pharmacy."

He dismissed me with a flick of his wrist.

I stood frozen for a second, cheeks burning with humiliation. The rejection wasn't loud or cruel-but it hit deep, carving a clean line between who belonged here and who didn't. And I already knew which side of that line I stood on.

This wasn't my world.

They had their own rules, their own quiet hierarchy. Their own ways of handling problems-and I was a stranger, fumbling with questions no one cared to answer. Each attempt I made felt like shouting into a void, like knocking on steel doors that would never open.

I wandered away from the main road, defeated, my shoulders sagging under the weight of exhaustion and disappointment. Behind one of the gleaming towers, I found a small, forgotten patch of land. A few stunted trees lined its edge, casting thin shadows over a cracked concrete bench. I sat, cradling my worn bag in my lap, the flash drive still hidden within my sketchbook like a secret I didn't know how to use.

The sound of traffic was distant here, a low murmur beneath the thick silence pressing in on me. For a moment, I just breathed-shallow, uneven breaths. My plan had felt fragile from the beginning, but now, sitting here, it felt broken.

What had I expected?

A miracle?

A kind stranger ready to help?

No one in this world had time for girls like me-girls with calloused hands and secondhand clothes and more dreams than sense.

Still, my fingers tightened around my bag. Because even if this world didn't want me... I wasn't done with it yet.