Chapter 1: The Unspoken Loneliness
For eleven years, Adaora and Emeka had been married. Their wedding was a grand affair in Enugu—family, friends, and church elders had blessed their union, confident that it was built to last. And for the first few years, it was. They had two children, a comfortable home in Abuja, and on the surface, everything looked perfect.
But inside, Adaora felt hollow.
Emeka had become a shadow in their marriage, more focused on his business than their relationship. He traveled constantly, and when he was home, their conversations revolved around bills, the children’s school fees, and his exhaustion. The warmth had faded, replaced by routine and duty.
Then came David.
Chapter 2: The Stranger Who Saw Her
David was 29—eight years younger than Adaora. She met him at a friend’s art gallery opening in Wuse. He wasn’t the type she usually noticed—lean, boyish, with an infectious energy that made people gravitate toward him. But it was his attention to detail that struck her.
“You look like someone who used to love art but forgot why,” he had said, tilting his head as he observed her lingering in front of a painting.
She had laughed, dismissing it. But later that night, alone in her bed, the words haunted her. He had seen her. Really seen her.
A week later, they met again—this time at a book café in Garki. She had gone in for coffee and found him seated by the window, scribbling in a notebook. He waved her over, and against her better judgment, she sat.
That was how it started—small, stolen moments that turned into hours. Conversations that reignited parts of her she thought had died. He made her feel desired, not just as a mother or a wife, but as Adaora—the woman she had been before marriage swallowed her whole.
Chapter 3: The Guilt & The Escape
She tried to fight it. She told herself it was wrong, that she had made vows, that Emeka was not a bad man—just distant. But the truth was, she had been alone in her marriage for years. And David offered her a way out, a version of love that felt like freedom rather than obligation.
The first time she kissed him, it was in his car, parked outside the supermarket. It was reckless, impulsive, but it felt inevitable. He cupped her face like she was something fragile, something precious.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered.
She wanted him.
She wanted a life where she didn’t feel invisible.
She wanted to stop pretending.
Chapter 4: The Decision
The affair had been going on for four months when Emeka finally noticed something was different. She no longer waited for him to return home late at night. She had started going to the gym, dressing differently, even smiling more.
One evening, as they sat at the dining table in silence, he finally spoke.
“Are you seeing someone?”
She looked at him, at the man she had once loved with every fiber of her being. She thought of the years they had spent together, the memories, the children, the life they had built.
And then she thought of David—the way he made her feel alive again.
“Yes,” she said, voice steady. “And I want a divorce.”
Emeka blinked, the weight of her words sinking in. “Just like that?” His voice cracked.
She exhaled. “It wasn’t ‘just like that.’ It’s been happening for years—you just never noticed.”
Chapter 5: The Aftermath
The divorce was messy. Family members called, friends begged, her mother wept. Emeka didn’t fight her; he was hurt but not surprised. He had known something was broken between them but had been too busy—or too afraid—to fix it.
David was patient, waiting for her to untangle herself from the life she had lived for over a decade. He wasn’t perfect, and neither was she, but what they had was real. It was terrifying and uncertain, but it was hers.
For the first time in years, Adaora felt like she was breathing again.
She wasn’t running away.
She was running toward something.
Herself.
