Yes, my friend earned big as a web developer, raking in cash from many clients and living a lavish lifestyle. Vanessa loved him deeply, but he thought she was the only one who could tolerate his excesses. Twice I had caught him physically abu$ing her, and the outcome of one such alt£rcation left her wearing eyeglasses to this day.
Vanessa deserved better. But the cruel irony was that her golden heart was drawn to his toxic charm, like a moth to a d£structive flame. Watching them, I felt a heavy sadne$s, knowing that sometimes, love can be the cru£lest illusion of all.
“Bro, you are grooming a devil if you continue to treat this lady like this.”
I admonished him. He brushed it off. Just two days before their engagement in Anambra State, he caught Vanessa talking with her male friend near the hotel where we were staying. Furious, he dashed out of the car and dragged Vanessa away.
Can you imagine? He thought that just because she was about to marry him, she should cut off all the men she ever knew. This brother was living in a delusion.
When I got upstairs, I saw people d£sperately trying to stop him from k!cking her. He held Vanessa’s hand, placed it at the edge of the door, and slammed the door against it. It was pure evil.
I urged Vanessa to run for her life, but she r£fused.
“I love Melvin. I can’t start over again. I can’t leave him,” she cried out. When she noticed I wouldn’t back down, she snapped at me. I clung to that moment of defiance.
The devil had begun to grow wings, but he didn’t know it yet.
The wedding came and went. They returned to Lagos, and everything seemed perfect on the surface. My guy just wanted a woman at home to cook for him, to be there when he returned, to satisfy his s£xual needs.
When she had her first pregnancy, he vi0lently ended it, nearly costing her life. I had distanced myself from the family; there was little I could contribute since they were now husband and wife.
I wasn’t ignorant of his extramarital affairs with multiple women. You can’t change someone who r£fuses to be taught.
Then one morning, I heard he had an accident. He was on his way to work when he noticed his brakes had failed. The a¢¢ident was ¢atastrophic.
After spending more than four months in the hospital, he was paralyz£d from the waist down.
Suddenly, I heard he had been discharged and they had relocated to another part of Lagos. For four long months, we didn’t hear from him, but his wife kept flaunting his wealth on her social media.
One day, I ran into one of the nurses who had cared for him in the hospital. She begged me not to tell Vanessa that she had given me their new address.
The day I visited, I found him drinking garri, looking so pale and unkempt, he was literally $tinking. But guess what? Vanessa was at home with her friends, living it up.
“Bros, what’s wrong? Why are you drinking garri? Is Vanessa not at home to cook and clean for you?” I asked, incredulous.
He looked at me, his eyes heavy with a despair that seemed to darken his very soul. His hair was matted, and his face was ob$cured by a wild beard that told tales of neglect and sorrow. Each time he tried to speak, he dissolved into t£ars, his sobs cutting through the silence like a kn!fe. Finally, he gathered enough strength to utter a few heart-wrenching words.
“Bro, Vanessa is doing me shege. Don’t trust any woman. They are vipers hiding in the grass. Vanessa, whom I cared for, cared for her family and everything. Look at how she’s treating me now. I haven’t bathed in a week. She comes here, sprinkles Dettol on me, and asks the houseboy to soak a bucket of water. This garri you see me eating is my first meal in two days. She has transformed into a stranger.”
His t£ars were like rivers of angui$h, each drop heavier than the last. I couldn’t help but feel a profound p!ty for him. She had not only isolated him but had exiled him from the world and his own family.
“I made her the signatory to my account. She thr£atened me to sell my house. That’s why we ended up here. If I had known she would change, I would never have married her.”
As his voice trailed off, Vanessa appeared behind him. I had hoped she might respect my presence and hold back, but she had other plans. She pulled out a belt, the iron edge glinting m£nacingly, and began to whip him m£rcilessly. I intervened, catching some blows on my head.
“Vanessa! You shouldn’t do this! He is your husband, not just any person.”
I tried to calm her, but she was a storm beyond control.
“The only reason I let you in was because you’re the only s£nsible friend he has. I haven’t done anything to this f00l. He has lived his tenure, and the memories are still fresh. Now it’s my time. I won’t k!ll him, but he will beg for d£ath.”
She hissed and walked away, leaving a trail of venom in her wake.
I looked at my friend and managed a sad smile.
“Bros, I warned you. I told you that you were nurturing a b£ast. She was w£ak and d£sperate, and you took advantage of her. She had no power then, but now it’s too late to clip her wings. I’ll try to talk to her, but you brought this upon yourself. I pray you come out of this alive.”
I met with Vanessa, and our conversation was an emotional rollercoaster. I pleaded with her to div0rce him so he could return to his family and find solace. With a heavy heart, she revealed that my friend owed her a considerable sum, some millions stashed away. I negotiated fervently, and we settled on 5 million before she agreed to leave.
This was how my friend was able to return to his family, where he received the proper care he desperately needed.
At the time of writing this story, Vanessa had left the country with another man, and my friend had just been discharged after a harr0wing overdose attempt.
For every wrong you inflict upon your wife when she is vuln£rable and madly in love, remember that one day you too will be w£ak and d£fenseless. Pray for a kind wife who can forgive and forget, or you might as well start digging your own grav£.
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