“Yes, after all, isn’t your refusal to have an@l s£x with me the same thing as denying me s£x?”

“I’ll never do it!” I stated firmly.

“Really?” He stared at me with the sinister smile I had seen in his eyes while we were in the car.

“I’m your husband, Victoria…” He said quietly then pointed at me with the folded belt. “And you see that body of yours, it’s mine to do as I please with because I literally bought it. Your parents sold you to me and I’m still paying for it now by footing the tuition fees of your siblings and meeting the financial needs of your parents. I have had enough of your stubbornness and today, first, I’ll find out if another man has entered you and next, you are going to give me that part of your body that you have been denying me whether you like it or not!” He started to come towards me.

I started moving backwards up the stairs. “Don’t come near me…” I said in a feeble voice and I could see the determination in his eyes. “Don’t come near me, Daniel, I’m warning you.” I said, moving away from him. But as he suddenly lunged towards me, I turned to flee but he caught the back of my leg and stopped me and we began to struggle on the stairs. He gave me several resounding slaps to get me to cooperate and stop screaming then forcefully carried me over his shoulder down the stairs before dumping me heavily on the couch.

I looked down and realized that he was hard “Daniel please, don’t do this!” I cried out as he straddled me on the couch to keep me there. “Daniel, please I beg of you, don’t do this…” I begged in a teary voice.

“This is to teach you not to go running off with some other man!” He hissed. He took off his boxers and tossed it on the floor. I realized that there was a bottle of lubricant on the floor beside one of the legs of the couch which meant that he had planned this all along. When he was naked, he tried to go for the shirt I was wearing, trying to unbutton it. When I refused, he struck me on the face again and grabbed the top of the shirt in both hands and pulled it with such force that some of the buttons flew off, exposing the nightgown under it.

He forcefully took what was left of the shirt off me then went for my gown. I tried to fight him off but he was stronger. He pinned my hands together above my head, grabbed the nightgown and ripped it off, tearing it off my body. Leaving my upper body n@ked. He was like a man under an influence. He stared at my p@nties, held the thinner part between my thighs and pulled so hard that the material forced itself and bruised me but he didn’t care, he ripped and t0re the p@nties and left the shreds around my waist.

Then he f0rced my thighhs 0pen and gr0ped me with his fingers. I struggled and tried to squeeze my thiighs to close but he forced them open by punching me on the thigghs making the spot numb. When my thigghs weakly fell open, he sh0ved two fingers inside of me to confirm if Chris had had s£x with me. As if not convinced yet, he forced a third finger into me and I cried out in pain. He let his fingers linger in there for a while and only pulled them out when he was done confirming what he wanted to confirm. He got down the couch, and dragged the lower part of my body to the floor so that the upper part of my body remained on the couch then he flipped me over so that I was on my stomach and I was kneeling in front of him.

I tried to scramble from his hold but he suddenly grabbed my arms and twisted them to my back, making me yelp. With his belt, he tied my wrists together and left them on my back so that I was helpless. He knelt down behind me so that I had no chance of escaping then he grabbed my back. Holding my thigghs apart, he grabbed the lube and squ£eze s0me of it on my @nus and then did the same onto himself before he set the lube aside.

I was shivering now, dreading what was about to happen. “Please…” I managed to say against the couch as a tear slipped down my eye.

“I will stay still if I were you.” He uttered and grabbed me. Then he forced himself on me I stiffened and then squeezed my eyes shut as I felt his pressure on my @nus. I braced myself for what was about to happen and that was when I felt him plunge himself into me. I screamed out in pain and writhed violently, trying to squeeze him out of me as the pain intensified at the invasion. He held my waist firmly and wouldn’t let me go. When he realized that I wouldn’t stop screaming, he yanked off what was left of my panties from around my waist and forced it into my mouth till my screams were muffled. Then he continued with what he was doing and each movement only intensified my pain. I was almost foaming from the mouth now and was sweating profusely and I passed out.

I started to come to life when he finished satisfying himself, he untied my hands and removed his belt, picked his clothes and went up the stairs leaving me there. I remained in the position for a while. I couldn’t feel my arms any more. I collapsed to the floor, wrapping my arms around myself with my face almost pressed against the lower part of the couch. I cried helplessly, regretting all the decisions I had made. At that moment, I hated my parents but I hated Daniel more. I felt like going into the kitchen, grabbing a knife and stabbing him to death but I was too scared of ending up in prison. I wasn’t going to shorten and live my life behind bars for his sake.

After half an hour later, I heard him come down the stairs and from the fresh smell of his perfume, I knew that he had had his bath, dressed up and was going out. Even though I was backing him, I felt his eyes on my back.

“You had better had gotten off that floor cleaned yourself up before I return, I’m bringing a guest home tonight.” He told me and I heard him walk out of the house. After I heard his car pull away and drive off, I slowly got up, and I could hardly walk. My stomach hurt and my @nus hurt worse. I managed to go up the stairs, I entered the bathroom and wept profusely while I had my bath and when I was done, I realized that there were small stains of blood on my white towel after I wiped between my @ss crack. Limping back into the room, I grabbed my smartphone and ordered an Uber then walked to the closet and began to select and pack up some of my clothes into a bag. I took everything I’d need, went to my husband’s wardrobe and grabbed some bundles of money where he stacked some of them. Before, I had never been so bold to take his money but today, I was going to steal it. I have had enough and to hell with this marriage. I made sure that I took up to a million naira and stuffed them into my big handbag.

When I was done, I glanced around to see if I had forgotten anything. When I was sure that I had taken virtually everything I needed, I walked into the bathroom, removed my wedding ring and tossed it into the sink. It clinked, went in several circles before settling down and vibrating to a stop. I heard a honk outside and I knew that the Uber had arrived. Grabbing my luggage and handbag, I walked out of the house, never to return again. I didn’t know where I would go to just yet, all that mattered was that I wanted to be as far away as possible from the beast I called a husband. As soon as I sat in the cab and it pulled away, I removed my SIM cards, broke them half and tossed them outside the window. I was going to start a new life afresh and I was going to do that without Daniel and Chris in it but unknown to me, Chris’ car turned into my street from the other end and stopped in front of my gate while the Uber turned into the main road and joined the traffic, taking me far away from what was now my past.

CHRIS’ POV

I stopped my car in front of Victoria’s house, got down and walked to the gate. I knocked on it and on the second knock, the gate man who was rolling a feather in his ear, opened the gate and stepped out with his shirt slung over his shoulder and he made a face as the feather tickled inside his ear. “Oga, good morning, na who you dey find? (Boss, good morning, who are you looking for?)” He asked me, leaning his back against the gate.

“Good morning.” I answered then pointed at the house with my car key. “This is where Victoria lives right?” I asked.

“Shey my madam? (Do you mean my madam?)” He asked.

“Yes, of course, your madam.”

He hesitated then pulled the feather off to check then clean the end of it by dragging it upward between his thumb and index finger. “Madam don commot o… She just commot now now. (Madam has left. She just left now.)”

I took off my sunshades and glanced down the empty street. “What do you mean by she just left now?” I asked.

“Madam dress fine, carry her bag commot from here. The bag big as if she dey travel but me from the way wey I see am, e be like say madam no go come back this house again o… She even dash me 15k kon tell me say make I take care of myself. (Madam dressed fine and took her bag out of this house. The bag is big as if she’s travelling but as for me, I don’t think she’s coming back to this house anymore… She even gifted me fifteen thousand naira then told me to take care of myself.” He explained.

I glanced down the street now, not believing that I had just missed her. “Did she tell you where she was going to?”

“No… She no talk anything. (She didn’t say anything).” He shook his head then returned the feather into his ear.

“What car did she leave in?”

“Na Uber.”

“Thank you.” I said and dashed to my car. Started it and sped down the street hoping to catch up with her. Well, I couldn’t find her and went back home feeling very dejected.

As I slumped on my couch, Uju who must have heard my car, came down the stairs dressed provocatively again.

“Obim?” She called and I glared at her. She had succeeded in driving the one woman that mattered to me out and she still had that mouth to call me Obim.

“See, Uju, I’m not in the mood for your nonsense today, so just leave me alone.” I said tersely.

“Is it because of the aunty? Is that why you are behaving like this? What happened last night? You were almost inside my Jerusalem. I had already thrown open the garden of Eden for you, why didn’t you enter?” She asked.

“I’m not interested in your garden of Eden or whatever you call it. If you know what’s good for you, you had better pack your things and go back to the village!” I snapped.

She remained undaunted. “Me, I’m not going anywhere o. Obianuju is here to stay? What do you want me to go and do in that village? Only me in your father’s house so that those stupid elders can be paying me unnecessary visits all in the name of coming to check on their brother’s wife? Do you know that I caught one of them peeping on me when I was in the bathroom and the other one, the short one with white beard was busy pressing my chest in the night bus we took while I was asleep. I only pretended not to notice because I didn’t want trouble as for the third one, whenever he’s talking, he will stand so close as if he wants to put his mouth inside my own. All those men, they are old perverts! Serious ones!”

“And why are you telling me this?”

“I’m telling you so that you will know that I’m hot cake. If I should return to that village, I’ll get pregnant within the space of a week.”

“You were married to my father for two years.” I said with a serious tone now. “How come you never conceived for him?”

She began to scratch the back of her neck and head now as she evasively replied, “Eh? Pregnant? Ehen… Well… Let’s just say that your father wasn’t interested in a child yet.”

“That’s a lie!” I spat. “My father married you only because he wanted children since I was the only child from my mother.”

“Why are you bringing up your father na? He’s dead so please let his soul rest in peace. But wait, not that I’m barren o. If you want me to get pregnant now now now now, I’ll. All you have to do is tell me that you are ready.”

I gave her scornful look. “So I’m the one who’s interested in having kids with you, right?”

“You need children na. This house is too big for the two of us. Small noise from eleven children will be enough… It’s supposed to be ten but let’s just say that the eleventh one will be by mistake…” She chuckled, “We didn’t plan it but it entered.”

“Eleven what?!” I asked in surprise. “What are you trying to do, start a football team? Don’t you know anything about family planning? What do you need eleven children for?”

“What? You can take care of them. Don’t you know that a man is respected by how large his family is?”

“That’s nonsense!” I said then narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized her dressing, recognizing it now. “Isn’t that Victoria’s gown?” I slowly rose, realizing that it was actually the gown Victoria had worn to the club where I had met her.

She smiled and glanced down at herself. “E fit me abi? It’s too tight but I forced myself into it.”

“Where did you get it from?”

“Outside on the rope. The thing has been there since and sun was killing it so I decided to use it. It’s sexy, right?”

“Something must be very wrong with you, will you go upstairs now and take it off?!” I snapped.

“Why?” She gave me a confused look.

“Because it’s not yours? What happened to the clothes I bought you?!” I inquired..

She pouted now and grumbled. “Obim, me I didn’t come so that you’ll be shouting at me o. I came to make love.” She pulled closer to me.

“What could you possibly know about making love?” I stared at her in disgust
Then she started narrating all the adult films she had watched and different things they did and that was when I know what she meant.

“You must be out of your sense if you think I’ll go down on you.” I stated and shrugged her arm away as she tried to touch me. “Uju, get your heads out of the cloud, I have told you before and I’ll repeat it now. Nothing is ever going to happen between us, never! Not now, not ever! I have had a long tiring day and I need a bath, excuse me!” I angrily brushed her aside and went up the stairs to my room.

Tossing my phone and car keys on the bed, I began to undress. As soon as I was done undressing, I walked into the bathroom. While I was in the shower, Uju, crept into my room, locked my door and threw the key under the bed then she quietly undressed and headed for the bathroom too.

To Be Continued…… You don’t want to miss Episode 14….