HEART OF GOLD
EPISODE 1
“I Stacey do take you Declan to be my lawfully wedded husband , to love and cherish, for better for worse, in sickness and health, for richer, for poorer, until death do us part” the cheerful and cute bride exchanged marital vows with her heartthrob.
Declan: “Stacey, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit” the tall and handsome groom ,said and slide the silver coloured wedding ring with rare stones on the fourth finger of his wife.
She said the same words and inserted the ring on his finger, to the cheering of family, friends and well wishers as well as foes that had come to witness the solemnization of holy matrimony between the two love birds.
Pastor: “by the powers vested on me as a minister of the most high God in this Church, I hereby declare you Declan and Stacey as man and wife. What God has joined together therefore let no man put asunder. You may now k!ss your bride” he said and Declan proceeded to kissing his wife for the first time as a couple.
Stacey woke up that morning feeling rejuvenated. It was exactly two weeks after their wedding and they had spent the past two weeks having a swell honeymoon. Her husband Declan had resumed work for the first time after their wedding and so he left the house early in the morning after planting a kiss on his wife’s forehead even though she was fast asleep.
She got up and went into the bathroom and had a quick shower. Then she settled to breakfast of green tea and crackers, she was not one to eat breakfast but the fact that she had made love with her husband all night had made her hungry.
She thought of her husband and a smile escaped her lips, albeit unconsciously. He was her dream man, her most handsome, he was a dream come true for her.
Her mind travelled to how they had met and she rolled her tongue over the nvde coloured mug that contained that green tea she was sipping.
They had met at a friend’s wedding where she was the maid of honour and Declan the groom’s man. When she caught the bouquet that the bride threw at the end of the reception, her friends who were a part of the bridal train had reminded her that catching the bouquet meant that she was the next to get married and there was no better man than the groom’s man, and so their friendship had started.
As the months progressed, he took her home to meet his family and his father, who was in his early sixties had done all within his power to bring her home as a daughter in-law in few months despite the fact that she was an orphan and his family was rich.
Their wedding was one of the most glamorous weddings in the state as her father in law who was a top notch business tycoon made sure that his first son’s wedding was nothing short of the best.
She touched her stomach fondly and prayed in her heart that the two weeks of wild love they had would produce a baby in a short time because she could not wait to carry her husband’s child. She looked at the time, it was almost 10am, time to dress up the bedroom, and she sat up from the table and went into the bedroom, humming one of her favourite Withney Houstons songs.
At the bedroom, she settled down to dressing the bed and folding the clothes her husband had scattered while he was hurrying away to meet up with work that morning.
She saw that his box was opened, she was sure that he had forgotten to close it because there was no way he would have left it opened for he never did that. Out of curiosity, she opened the box and picked out a brown envelop. She saw the address of a hospital in India written on it and her heart began to pound furiously while she read the content of the letter.
“What! No, this is not possible. I must be dreaming” she said as tears began to well up in her eyes.
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Liza sat up from the bed abruptly when her campus boyfriend of over one year attempted to k!ss her. She had met Frank who was a year ahead of her when she came in for her registration after she was offered admission. At first, she had been skeptical about accepting to date him because her parents had cautioned her to be weary of boys and concentrate on her studies. But at the end, her heart gave way and she fell helplessly in love with him. But she had made it a point of note never to indulge in any immoral activity with him until they were married.
She had visited Frank that day to collect an assignment that he had helped her write and was relaxing on his mattress with a bottle of coke in her hands when he drew close to k!ss her.
Liza: “what is it, why are you drawing close to me?” she asked him.
Frank: “baby, please it is just a k!ss, that is not a sin, is it?” he asked, getting worked up.
Liza: “of course it is a sin. You don’t know that immorality starts that way? Before you know now you will start touching me and then we end up having s*x”
Frank: “I don’t get it. Just what is wrong with us having s*x? We have been dating for more than one year now and I have been waiting for you all these while. Haven’t I tried? Do you know how many girls are dying for me in this campus?”
Liza: “I thought we already agreed that there will not be s*x before marriage?”
Frank: “we agreed or you made me agree? Common babe, let’s just do it once and I would never disturb you about it again. I promise” he said coming close to her again but she pushed him away.
Liza: “get thee behind me, satan! I am a v!rgin and I must remain so until I get married. Get used to that or go get yourself a w—e”
“That was harsh. Every other person on this campus is doing it, how are you different or better than them? What do you hope to achieve with this your holier than thou attitude?” he asked her.
Liza: “that everyone is doing it does not make it right” she said.
“Baby now” he said coming close but she pushed him hard and he fell back and hit his head on the wall beside the bed. He slumped and fell on the bed with a thump.
Liza ignored him and continued sipping her drink, thinking that it was a ploy by him to get her to plead with him. When she observed that he was not moving, she called out to him.
“Will you stop this prank and get up? I am not in the mood for all these o” she said.
There was no response from him and so she spoke to him again.
“Frank! Okay, you don’t want to get up abi? Alright, I am going. Won’t you come and see me off? Okay, I don’t blame you, shebi it is me that carried myself here, let us see if I will visit you again before this semester runs out” she said and stood up to go.
A closer look at him and she felt he could not be joking even after she had threatened to leave. She dropped her bag and went to him and touched him but he was still.
“Oh my God, what have I done?” she asked rhetorically when she discovered that he was not pretending.
“Please get up; I was only joking with you. Get up please” she said shaking him.
Liza: “Liza, you are finished, you have killed somebody and you will spend the rest of your life in jail” she said hysterically.
“what do I do now, where do I run to for help? How do I explain myself to the police that I didn’t intend to kill him? Who will believe me? What will my parents who have warned me to stay away from men say? No, I have to run away. Nobody saw me when I came in and so nobody would suspect me” she resolved.
She picked up her bag, wore her brown leather slippers with silver design on it and went out of the room and the compound, careful not to attract the attention of other students who were in their rooms at that hour.
Question: Is Liza doing the right thing by running away?
What did Stacey discover about her newly wedded husband?
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