I’ve been married for two years now. I’m married to a good man. Sometimes I lack the right words to describe how good my husband is. He provides everything and even provides for my fears. Ike senses my fears and strives to make things right for me.

Before I met him, there was Sam. Sam is short for Samuel. He insisted I called him Sam because he couldn’t connect to the Samuel. I didn’t know why that was but that was the explanation he gave me.

Sam was my kind of man. Physically, he had everything I wanted in a man; Tall, well-spoken, handsome and broad chested. He had a way of making a woman fall for him so deeply that you would do whatever he asked you to do without thinking twice. He was cunningly manipulative. It’s so subtle you wouldn’t know he’s manipulating you to serve his purpose.

We had plans of getting married. He talked about it often but did very little to back his claim. His goal every year was to marry me the next year. Just when the year was about to end, he would start changing his plans. That didn’t bother me until he did it for far too long. I got the impression he was just playing tricks on me or it was one of his usual ways of manipulating people.

We fought about it a lot of times. He kept giving me the same excuse of not having enough money to settle down. Not as though I wanted to marry him by all means. He was my man and I deserved to know the goals for our relationship. I deserved to believe the relationship was worth my investment. We kept seeing each other but nothing changed.

Four years into our relationship, nothing had changed. Same old promises and fail. I opened up my options and started meeting new people. I thought of getting him jealous so he would saddle up and be a man who kept his word. That was when I met Ike. Ike is the man I’m living with now. We dated for two years and got married. Talk about a man who knows what he wants.

You see, when I realized Ike and I were getting serious, I told Sam about it. I let him know I’ve met a man who was serious about me and wanted to marry me as soon as possible. Sam didn’t attach any seriousness to what I said. It was a joke to him until the day I told him it was over. I packed the things I had in his house and walked away. He didn’t pursue or even tried to stop me. For a whole week, he didn’t call. Usually, when we had a fight, I was the first to call so I guessed he took this to be one of those usual fights.

I didn’t call. He didn’t call. Then he called. That was nine days after the fight. He didn’t call with an apology. He called to flex his ego. I cut the line and didn’t pick any of his calls and didn’t answer any of his numerous messages. He started using threats to get my attention. That didn’t work, too. I was so deeply in love with Ike and nothing could scare me.

I moved on and settled fast with Ike. He got word of my new relationship with Ike and started talk-thrashing me. He told friends that I left him because he didn’t have money and even called me a gold digger in front of many others when we attended a wedding of one of our mutual friends. His bitterness surprised me because I thought he’d moved on after a year and half of our breakup. He didn’t move on. He harbored ill intentions towards me, but who was I to care?

The day I posted my wedding invitation on Facebook, he was the first to like it. He sent me a congratulatory message right afterward and I responded; “Thank you.” I thought he’d moved on but I was lying…

The day after our wedding, I was going through the gifts people sent to us with my husband. Somehow, one of the envelopes caught my attention. It was different from all the envelopes. We received white envelopes but this envelope was brown. Instinctively, I got drawn to it. I opened it up and what I saw still traumatizes me; printed photos of me and Sam having sex! Somehow, his face didn’t show in any of the photos. It was only me sprawled naked across the bed with that his small dick either in my hand or in me. It came with a note; “I hope whoever sees this don’t get mad. This is only the beginning.”

I excused myself and quickly dashed off to the washroom with the envelope. I stayed there thinking of every option available to me amid tears. My head started aching. I started feeling dizzy. I thought I saw my world crumbling down. My husband came knocking; “Dear are you ok?” “Yeah, I’m ok. Just felt a pinch in my stomach,” I lied.

I needed to put up a Hollywood act on to be able to go through the day without my husband knowing I was in trouble. Yeah, I remember when Sam recorded the video. We both watched it and laughed about it. I was so in love and somehow, I thought he was the one I was going to marry. For once, I thought Sam could not do that to me, a woman he once loved.

I gathered courage and scheduled a meeting with him, I played sober when I met him because I wanted him to see reasons with me. I pleaded with him to stop before destroying everything for me. He said; “I loved you but you played me for a fool. This is payback and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.” I shivered. It was like negotiating with the devil. I told him; “There should be something I should do to make you stop. Just tell me, what do I give or do for you to stop?” “Sleep with me,” he retorted. “I miss having sex with you. Let’s do it one more time and you won’t hear from me again.”

He gave me one week to think about it. He warned; “If I don’t get a positive answer from you, this time it won’t be just photos. I would send the whole video to your husband.” He left. I called him to reconsider but he wouldn’t mind me.

For the next one week, I lived in fear. I didn’t know what to do or who to speak to about it. I started counting the days. Oh, how I wish I could stop the time from running. Soon, the week was over. He called; “So what do you say?” I asked, “Where do you want me to meet you?” He asked, “Where do you think would be comfortable for you.” I didn’t answer that. He suggested a hotel I knew too well. I declined. He suggested another hotel. That was very far from home so I accepted to meet him there.

The next day, I set off to meet him at the hotel. It was a Saturday—one dull Saturday. He got to the hotel first and sent me a message; “When you get here come straight to room 547. You don’t need to knock.”

I got there, Knocked and he asked me to come in. He was in his boxer shorts and playing this loud music. He didn’t want to waste time I guessed. I sat on the bed, looked him in the eye and asked; “I hope after this, you won’t seek to blackmail me again?” He answered; “It depends. if you become a good girl, I would leave you in peace.” I started taking off my shirt. He didn’t have to take anything off. All was off already.

Just when I took my shirt off, we heard a knock on the door. We didn’t say a word. The second knock came. He looked at me. I looked at him too. “Are you expecting somebody?” he asked. I only shook my head. He went to open the door to see who that was.

Guess what? My husband walked right through the door and came to sit on the bed. He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and said; “You are right on time.” Sam didn’t know what was going on. He felt lost. He was expecting a certain reaction from me but he didn’t get it. My husband addressed him calmly; “Sam, I know you are surprised to see me here. Well, my wife told me about it. She even showed me the photos. I’m not here to fight but to tell you to stay off my wife. She’s the reason this case didn’t end up with the police. She pleaded to settle it gentlemanly with you. So let everything end here or things will get worse for you.”

I picked up my shirt and followed my husband out of the door. I didn’t look back. He looked dead to me. The mixture of shame and fear on his face was enough for me. He underestimated my courage and I was happy to prove him wrong.

Ultimately, I’m thankful to God for an amazing husband. His heart and willingness to forgive make me humble all the time.