“Mummy what happened to John,” I asked.

“John is fine. He is alive,” she informed me.

“But why did you shout?”

“Don’t worry, Pastor is coming back soon.”

Tears kept flowing from my eyes because I thought that Our pastor’s wife was just trying to comfort me. After few minutes, our Pastor came in. He tried to smile for me but I was not in the mood. I just wanted to hear from John .

Pastor dialled a particular phone number and handed it over to me. I felt like flying through without wings when I heard John’s voice.

“What happened? Where are you? Thank God that you are fine. Ha! I have been crying,” I ranted continuously in joy.

“Don’t worry, I am fine. I will be back tomorrow,” John promised.

“But you have not told me what happened,” I asked.

“When I come tomorrow , I will tell you.”

“Does it mean that the journey slated for tomorrow will no longer hold?” I asked

“Yes,”John said firmly.

I was actually disappointed that our journey was cancelled. Through out the night I could not sleep. It was one of the longest nights for me. My imagination ran far and wide and I thought about many things. Negative thoughts kept flowing in but I rebuked it.

When John came back, he came to my house. I was happy to see him. I was also eager to know what happened.

“My dear just thank God for me. I met armed robbers on the way. They beat me mercilessly.” He showed me some bruises on his body and I was alarmed.

“What!”

“Hmm! it was terrible. They took over my car and was driving me to an unknown place. One the way , my fuel miraculously finished. They became angry and started beating me. They collected everything I had, including my phone. The worst was that they blew a powder on my face that made me unconcious. That is the only thing I can remember,”John narrated.

I knelt down and started worshipping God. I decided to allow him recover fully before we could start talking of visiting my parents. Later in the day, pastor invited me to his office.

“Judy I know that you might be wondering why I invited you. I am interested in your matter because I know what you have passed through. When John came to ask for your hand in marriage, I told you to go and pray. You came back to say that you have prayed. I had no choice that to allow you to continue with him. But today, I am forced to tell you to pray again. I am praying for you. But I want you to pray for yourself too”

“Daddy, I will pray. Thank you sir”

Pastor didn’t know that I have passed the stage of asking questions concerning the marriage. As far as I was concerned, I was already Mrs. John.

However, few weeks later, everything changed. John ceased to be the affectionate person I used to know. The worst was that he was carefully avoiding me. He stopped calling me on phone.

Even when I call his own phone, He hardly responds. I was wondering what went wrong until he decided to open up to me.

“Judy you are a nice person. I really wanted to spend the rest of my life with you; the problem is your past deeds. My friends are mocking me that I want to marry a thief. They even showed me some video clips. It pains me to hurt you but I have no choice. It is better we end it now than to put ourselves in eternal bondage. I am so sorry.”

“John please, don’t do this to me. Everything you saw of heard belong to my past. I am a changed person,” I cried.

“Judy there is no need for us to start it because it will not last. Nothing will make me to marry a thief. I am happy that I discovered this before I married you. If this has happened after marriage, I will still leave you.”

“Please have mercy on me. I will die, if you leave.”

“My dear, this decision is the best for us. I don’t want to hurt you but I have no choice.I have done lots of things to cover up. I have told you lots of lies because I was afraid to tell you that I am no longer interested in you. But at this point we have to face the fact,” John said firmly.
I tried to kneel and beg but he left me and walked away.

I wished it was a dream. I couldn’t believe that it was all over. I have almost concluded that I have escaped, not knowing that my past will catch up with me.

I thought that talking with his parents would help so I decided to visit then. When I got to the gate of the house. The security personnel didn’t allow me to go inside. I felt that he didn’t recognize me . So I told him who I was looking for. After a while John’s mother came out.

” Mummy , good afternoon ma. I have been standing out here for a long while”

” Yes, how may I help you?”

” Mummy, it is me Judy, John’s fiancee.”

“Shut up your mouth. How dare you exalt yourself to such position. Who gave you that title. Imagine the audacity to declare yourself as a fiancee to my son”

The security personnel busted out laughing.

I stood, and was staring at her in confusion, ” Could this be the woman that I met the last time I visited or another woman?” I thought to myself.

” And you” she turned to the security, ” Next time that I see this lady near this gate, you will loose your job,”she threatened.

I saw John’s father coming so I quickly turned to go but he beckoned on me to come.

“My daughter.John told us that he is not interested in marrying you again. He said you steal . He also showed us a video which I told him that I don’t think that it is real”

“Daddy it is real ,” I answered in tears

” Whatever it is, there is no problem. Don’t force yourself on John. Don’t judge yourself and don’t allow anyone to judge you with your past. I tried my best to talk to him. I even told him to bring you for discussion but he refused. What is happening now is for your own good. If you marry a man that believes that he is doing you a favour by marrying you, the future of that marriage is bleak. Endure the pain and move on”

“Yes o let her move on. My son cannot marry a thief” John’s mother mocked.

Pastor also tried his best to console me. He told me that it is better that it happened then than after marriage.

“No daddy. It would have been better it happened after marriage. Let it just be that I answered a Mrs. for a day. I will be satisfied. Let it just be said that a man paid my bride price,”

“That will not be your portion. Give will give you a man that will love you for who you are. Just wait on God” pastor advised.

When I left Pastor office , I entered the church auditorium to pour out my heart to God. As I was there, mourning my predicament, Mrs. Grace Jackson walked in and noticed that I was crying.

“Judy, my daughter. Why are you crying?”

It was not easy for me to talk. But when I considered that Mrs. Jackson was a good woman, I decided to open up to her.

“Mummy, I am heart broken. Bro John proposed marriage to me and I accepted. We have even visited his parents and they loved me so much. All of a sudden, he informed me that he is no longer interested in the relationship.”

“Why will he do that?”

“He said that his friends and some church members were mocking him that he is getting married to a thief.”

“So he abandoned you because of people’s mockery. That means that he is not man enough. He does not deserve you. Is he a perfect man that he should be expecting to marry a perfect woman? Anyway, wipe your tears. Any disappointment leads to another appointment. That young man does not deserve you. God will send you your husband.”

When she said that, I became elated.

“Mummy, do you mean that God will bring another person my way?”

“Yes, someone better than him, mark my words. I will be praying for you. Soonest, you will be celebrated.”

It was not easy for me to forget about John. I tried my best to reunite with him but he ignored me. I even sent people to beg him but nothing came out of it. At a point, I decided to summon courage and move on. 6 months after John left me, I met Greg.

Watch out for the next episode.