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Trust me, I know it is not right. I know it is not cool to do something like that, but I had to do it. I deserve to know the truth. Everyone deserves to know the truth.
Three years ago, Selena and I got married. We had a court wedding; it was nice and perfect. Three months later, we had our first child, Kelvin. Before we got married, Selena told me her salary was just twenty thousand naira($50) . I didn’t care about that, I loved her deeply, I was really blinded by her love. Our marriage seemed perfect, even though my wife has never spent her money to buy anything in the house, she depended solely on my money. I paid kelvin’s school fees, I bought appliances, I repaired the car when it was faulty, I bought food and beautiful dresses for my child and my wife. It didn’t bother me, I mean, she is my wife. One day things will get better.
I work as a manager in a very big bank, I was paid one hundred and fifty thousand naira monthly. I divided my salary into three; 30 for my mum, 70 for my wife, kid and any other things they needed, I kept the remaining 50 for my basic needs. To tell the truth, I didn’t find things easy. I was unable to change my clothes, buy things for my siblings, I also felt I didn’t give my mom enough money to take care of herself. I told Selena how I felt and asked her if she could help a little with the kelvin fees. “You know I don’t have enough, let’s just pray things get better” she said in a very low voice.
Last year, my wife told me she got promoted at work and they increased her salary. When I asked her about her salary she said “Rubbish, they only added two thousand naira($5), it is still very small” I didn’t complain. The salary was just too small and she probably needs it for her self-care.
About four months ago, kelvin just got promoted to a new class. He needed a new school uniform, textbooks, notebooks, his school fees also got increased. I couldn’t afford all these as I have pent a lot of my money to repair our car. “Don’t worry too much, I have a little savings, I can borrow you some and you’ll pay me back when you get your salary” my wife said. I didn’t have any other choice, I had to accept her offer. I paid everything. For the next two months, my wife didn’t allow me to rest, she kept reminding me about the money. She would wake up around 5.a.m and asked me to pay what I owed her.
I couldn’t bear it any longer, I got tired and gave her the money I didn’t have much left in my account. My younger brother has been asking me to buy him a pair of Nike sneakers. I promised him to buy it when I collect my salary, but I still postponed it, again.
One hot afternoon, I wasn’t feeling too well. I had to go home to rest. When I got home, my wife wasn’t at home, but she left her phone on the couch. Trust me, I didn’t want to go through it, I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, not until a messaged from her brother came in “What about the fifty thousand naira you promised” it read. I saw the notification. It caught my attention. I couldn’t resist it. I knew her password. I opened her phone and went straight to her emails. I saw an email with the subject “March Pay slip” I opened it and was shocked with what I saw. “Shit” I cursed. Two hundred thousand naira ($470). Yes! You read it right. Her salary was more than mine and she has been pretending all this while.
We dated for about two years before we got married. We’ve been married for three years and Selena has been playing the role of a poor wife all this while. Oh, she’s a very good actress. One day, she’d probably win an academy award for the best actress.
All my life, I’ve held the idea that it is not right to go through your partner’s phone, that is invasion of privacy. But now, I just had to do it. I went straight to her WhatsApp. I checked her chat with her best friend; there was nothing much there, just a bunch of girly stuffs. Her family had a WhatsApp group chat. I clicked on it and read the messages there. I got few hints. I went through her chat with her dad and that was when my heart shattered. My wife had bought a piece of land and stated building. She also bought a Toyota Camry for her elder brother and was giving her dad thirty thousand naira ($70) every month.
Selena is such a cruel woman. She was doing well, buying good things for her brother, her mum and her dad while she acted like a poor wife so she could spend my own money. I’ve always wanted my wife to be proud of the man she married, that was why I never complained.
I didn’t talk to her throughout that day, I pretended to be sick. The next morning, I confronted her. “Why did you lie to me? Why you started a building, you didn’t tell me, you bought a car for your brother, you lied about your salary, you are so heartless” I said harshly. She kept quiet for few seconds before finally talking. “Who told you?” she asked. I didn’t say anything, I stormed off and went to the bar. Her parents kept calling me, sending apology texts, they even tried using different numbers to call me.
Two days later, her family came to apologize. They said all sort of silly things like, “we weren’t aware that you didn’t know about the building, we were about to tell you, we are sorry, consider your kid.” I told them to leave that I wanted to be alone. Since then, my wife has changed totally. She buys things for our kid, she now buys her own things with her own money and she doesn’t ask me for money.
Selena taught me a very big lesson; in everything you do, look out for yourself and your family first. Last night, she asked me if I was going to leave her. “No, but if you want a divorce, I’ll give you. Just give me some time” I said. They say time is supposed to heal. I hope it does.