There is a saying that we never really know how we would react in a situation until we find ourselves in that exact situation. Imagine you find out your fiancé goes behind your back, and gets married to someone else, barely one week before your marriage. What will be your reaction be? Will you match down to the residence of your run-away husband to be with his/her new partner and rain fire and brimstone on them, or will you quietly retreat and let dear Mother Nature judge them as she sees fit? Below is the story of a young lady who has found herself in a similar situation.
Disclaimer: Names of people and places have been changed to protect the privacy of the persons involved.
“I am Vivian, a 30-year-old lady. I am heartbroken at the moment and I am constantly praying to God to keep me from doing something stupid. Imagine dating a man for four years and planning for your marriage for the past six months, only for the man to go and get married to another woman barely a week to your supposed wedding. This is what has happened to me, and now, I am desperately trying not to take laws into my own hands and deal with Emeka and his new wife for putting me through such pain, shame and disgrace.
I met Emeka during my service year in Kogi state. I had just come out of a very bad relationship and was not ready to go into another one but after Emeka kept assuring me that he would try his best to be an ideal husband to me, I decided to give him a chance.
In the beginning, he was very patient with me and supportive. Doing all he could to get my mind off the pains I was going through after my just ended bad relationship. Emeka worked in Kaduna at the time, and only came to see me once every month. The relationship soon took a better turn and became very strong. In no time he introduced me to his family members and his friends who all seemed very fond of me and to accepted me. With time, I also introduced him to my family members as well, as my fiancé and my parents, like most other parents would be, were very happy with me. After I finished my youth service, I got a Job in Abuja and Emeka asked me to marry him. Everything was going very fine and I believe that was the happiest I had ever been in my life. The only issues we had were very minor ones like how he wanted me to come and live with him in Kaduna, his reason being that when we got married, I should after all have to move in with him. In the meantime, I visited him as often as I could, and he did the same. Everything seemed to be going very fine and I never noticed him with any other woman or even suspected he could be seeing someone else besides me. He was very smooth. Then in late 2016, we fixed our wedding for May 2017 and we began making our big plans. Everybody, my parents, friends and well-wishers were filled with joy for me and I was happy myself. I felt very lucky. My mother went ahead and bought ‘Aso Ebi’ for all her friends and club members. I extended invitation cards to my friends and colleagues too, who were all very happy for me and promised to spare no expenses to make sure they attend my well prepared grand wedding, and all was going well.
When it’s almost our supposed wedding month which is month of May my dear Emeka became very evasive and withdrawn. When I asked him what the problem was, he said the pressure of work and tight schedules where taking their toll on him, and it had nothing to do with me at all, and that all was well with us. He promised. The frequency of his visits reduced but he kept promising me that everything will be okay. His visits became more and more infrequent until he stayed away for more than two months and was always evasive when I called. A few days to the wedding I decided to pay him a visit in Kaduna so that we could put finishing touches to our preparations. I arrived at his house in the evening, around 6:45pm. When I knocked, a pregnant woman answered the door. At the sight of the pregnant woman, I thought I was at the wrong apartment and apologised, explaining to the lady that I was looking for Emeka. She just looked at me with as much disdain as she could muster and without uttering a word to me, went back inside. Shortly after, my Emeka came out and was shocked to see me.
He immediately began to bombard me with questions, asking me what I was doing at his place without calling first. In reply I asked him if it was a crime to pay my husband a visit without calling him. Besides, he hadn’t exactly been answering my calls so I decided to come see him. It was at this point that the woman came out again and asked who I was calling my husband. I was shocked. I looked at my Emeka to answer that question, and also offer me an explanation as to what was going on. But I soon realised that I was very alone. He then told me I should go to a hotel to spend the night and he would come the next day to explain everything to me. I told him I rather hear the explanation then. It was not the woman who spoke out and told me they got married at a registry a few days earlier and showed me the ring on her finger, and poked her stomach out towards me, showing me her pregnant stomach and saying my Emeka was the father of the child. My Emeka then began to tell me how sorry he was and the next thing I know, I’m waking up in a hospital bed alone, guess it was hours later.
Some months have passed since the incident and while my family and friends have been trying all they can to help me get over this heart-breaking and embarrassing experience, I still feel hot tears well up in my eyes whenever I think of Emeka and his pregnant wife. I keep praying for the strength to forgive them and move on”.
By: Akaomachi B.
