Lola came into the world through pain. Her mother, Fatima, gave Lola life in place of her own. The doctor had said only one could survive. Her father, poor and helpless, had to choose between his dear wife and his beautiful daughter. Both parents chose her. When it was over, Yemi was left with a beauty in one arm and shame in the other. To clear the hospital debt, he worked himself to stupor, enduring humiliation that made him weaker each day.

They moved back to the village when the city could no longer afford to have them in it. Poverty became home. At night, the same uncles who mocked her father's crippled limb would barge in, beat him to the ground, and take turns in abusing her. Yemi would scream, beg and cry. Then one day it stopped. He died from a fall. An uncle had taken away the ladder after he climbed into the roof to patch it.

Lola ran. Lagos wasn't friendly though. She survived under a bridge, begging for even just a penny of mercy. That was when Teni found her. A man too kind for her reality. He gave her a small shop and a reason to smile. He eventually gave her a ring too. She begged him not to meet her family, not to revive old memories. He listened. Love had finally chosen her. Or so she thought.

For people like Lola, happiness never overstays it's welcome. Two miscarriages first, then her first child Lina was electrocuted. The second Jason was  abducted and later found dead after weeks. Teni, who was completely broken, tried to remain hopeful. He assumed that maybe going back home would have a healing effect. He wanted their last child Tina to know her mother's origin. Lola was afraid, but after Teni persisted, she followed.

The journey back took everything that was left of her. A stray bullet ended Teni’s life, and another tore through her final child. The police was after criminals who sped away uncaught. By the time the sirens faded, she was alone again. Just the same way she started.

Lola returned to Lagos with nothing, only to find out that even Teni’s will was never hers. It was written for someone else. An ex, someone who never knew his love. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe not. But the papers said it all. That night, she didn’t cry. She silently sat in solitude. Days later she was found lifeless. A woman who had carried  pain that was too much even for three lifetimes.