CHAPTER TWENTY “CONVINCED”

© Opeyemi Akintunde

Inspired by the Holy One

Imade’s POV

I slept like someone who had been running for years and finally collapsed.

Blame it on the change in weather.
Blame it on the strange bed.
Blame it on the emotional roller coaster that had dragged me from wedding vows to marital disagreement to moral interrogations in less than forty-eight hours.

I woke up at 11:30 p.m.

My body felt heavy.
My head felt foggy.
My stomach was growling like it had been neglected on purpose.

I sat up slowly and reached for my phone.

That was when I saw it.

Missed calls….Many.
Teju.
My mum.
My dad.
My sister.
Teju’s mum.
And the strangest one of all…

Mummy’s Pastor.
The same prophet.
The one who had seen a “storm.”

I scoffed….I actually considered calling him back just to unload everything in my chest. To tell him to stop frightening my mother with half-baked prophecies just to keep her dependent… just to keep the offerings flowing.
My mum was too gullible.
But I didn’t call.

Instead, my mind betrayed me.

It drifted… gently…dangerously… to Daniel.

Daniel.

Where had he been all my life?

Just the kind of man I had always fantasized about.

I liked men who spoke intelligently… not emotionally. Men who could name attraction without being ruled by it. Men who could say this is how I feel and still say this is why it can’t work.

That, to me, was attractive.

Teju was always too soft.
Too patient…Too lovey-dovey….Always trying to make things work.
Always absorbing blows with silence.

I wanted a man who stood firm in himself.

Not height without backbone.
Not smiles without direction.
Not someone tossed around by his parents and my parents like a golf ball on the golf course my parents belonged to.

Gosh!

I rubbed my face hard.
But could I actually do something about it?

Could I leave the marriage?

Could I walk away and damn the consequences?

The family fortune would move neatly to my sister…

The same sister who got the guy I had crushed on.

Life had a sense of humour.

I sat back against the headboard.

Daniel looked like a rich man…Spoke like one…..Moved like one.

If I followed my happiness with a man like Daniel, I would be fine.

Well taken care of.

That was the truth… wasn’t it?

Beauty’s voice surfaced again.
“Imade, live your truth.”
And immediately, my own followed.

My truth is simple. Teju is not the man for me. Staying with him will make me miserable.

I nodded to myself.

Yes.

That was it.

I needed to tell Daniel.
I needed to tell him I was choosing truth.

That I was ready to end the marriage.

That it wasn’t even consummated yet.

There was still time.

We had exchanged numbers earlier. My hands moved before my fear could catch up.

I dialled.

The call dropped. I dialled again….Dropped.

My heart beat faster.

I typed a message… deleted it… typed again… deleted.

Then my phone vibrated.
A text….From Daniel.
I opened it.

Slowly.

“I don’t know what to call what’s happening.
I haven’t had a decent sleep since we parted after the walk. You’ve been invading my thoughts.
I have never fallen quickly for a woman like this.
It’s not fair… especially since you’re married.

I’m too morally upright to let this linger. I’m leaving the country.
It was nice meeting you.
Daniel K.”

My breath caught.

What??? Leaving? Just like that?

I stared at the screen like the words might rearrange themselves into something else. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to wait.
Listen.Understand.Not run.

My chest tightened.

To be continued…

www.deepthoughtsintl.org
📘 Facebook: @Opeyemi Akintunde
📸 Instagram: @OpeyemiAkintunde
🎥 YouTube: @DeepThoughtsTV
✍️ DEEP THOUGHTS NOVELS
Inspired by the TRUTH REVEALER
Written by Opeyemi Akintunde
📞 +234-8151103646