After my husband threw me out of the house after our divorce, I took the old bank card my father had left behind and used it at a branch in the U.S., sending the whole bank lobby into a stir as the staff hurriedly called the manager over, and the words “Look at the name on this account!” revealed a family secret I had never known.

“Debt?”

Mr. Zuberi let out a nervous chuckle.

“No, ma’am. Far from it.”

He turned his computer monitor toward Zelica. Kofi, who was standing in the room, pointed at the screen, holding his breath.

“Ma’am, look at this quickly.”

The screen didn’t show a balance in dollars. The screen showed an ownership structure diagram.

“Ma’am,” Mr. Zuberi said, his voice low with astonishment, “this account is not a normal savings account. This is a master account connected to a limited liability company—a corporation.”

“A corporation?” Zelica frowned.

“Yes. An LLC, correct. Called Okafor Legacy Holdings LLC. This company was founded by your father, Tendai Okafor, in 1998 and was left inactive exactly twenty years ago.”

“But my father was just a tobacco salesman.”

“That is what he wanted people to know, ma’am,” Mr. Zuberi interrupted gently. “Your father… it seems he wasn’t just a salesman. He was a land broker. A genius one at that.”