THE LIFE SHE NEVER CHOSE

THE LIFE SHE NEVER CHOSE

CHAPTER ONE

THE LIFE I THOUGHT WAS MINE

At seventeen, Suzan Nifemi Adesina believed that if you chose carefully enough, you could choose your future.

She was young, but she had already started imagining the kind of life she wanted.

An education.

A good career.

A peaceful home.

And, someday, a love that would feel safe.

She didn't know then that sometimes the choices that seem safest are the ones that lead you somewhere you never expected.

Suzan lived with her mother, Adesewa, her two older brothers, Damilare and Kunle, and her younger sister, Morenike.

Their home was rarely quiet.

Someone was always talking, arguing, laughing, or asking for something.

And because their families lived on the same street, there was hardly any difference between relatives and neighbours. Everyone knew everyone.

That was how Suzan had known Oluwafemi Adewale for years.

Oluwafemi was twenty-four, hardworking, respectful, and close friends with her older brother, Kunle. He worked as an electrician and solar installer and was often around their house.

To Suzan, he was simply Bro Femi.

Nothing more.

She respected him the same way she respected Damilare and Kunle.

So when her mother first mentioned his name one evening, Suzan almost laughed.

She was sitting nearby when Adesewa casually brought it up.

“Your mother has something to tell you,” Adesewa began.

Suzan looked up. “What is it?”

Adesewa studied her face for a moment.

“What do you think about Bro Femi?”

Suzan frowned.

“Bro Femi?”

“Yes.”

“What about him?”

Her mother smiled slightly.

“He is a good man.”

Suzan immediately understood where the conversation was going.

“Mummy, please.”

Adesewa laughed.

“I haven't even finished talking.”

“I already know what you're going to say.”

“And what am I going to say?”

“That I should date him.”

Adesewa didn't deny it.

Instead, she nodded.

“Yes.”

Suzan stared at her.

“Mummy, he's too old.”

“He's twenty-four. You are seventeen. Seven years is not the end of the world.”

“To me, it is.”

Adesewa sighed.

“I am not asking you to marry him tomorrow. I'm asking you to look at the kind of person he is.”

Suzan said nothing.

Her mother continued.

“He works hard. He respects people. He doesn't behave like those young men who spend their whole day moving from one person's house to another. He takes responsibility seriously.”

“But I don't see him like that,” Suzan replied.

“I know.”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because sometimes,” Adesewa said gently, “you don't know what is good for you until you give it a chance.”

Suzan looked away.

She didn't agree.

At least, not immediately.

Oluwafemi was someone she trusted, but that was exactly the problem.

How could she suddenly start seeing someone she had always called Bro Femi as a boyfriend?

It didn't make sense.

But her mother kept talking about his character.

Not his money.

Not his appearance.

Not what he owned.

His character.

And slowly, Suzan began to look at him differently.

Not romantically at first.

She simply started noticing things she had ignored before.

The way he helped people without making a big announcement about it.

The way he spoke respectfully to elders.

The way he worked hard even when nobody was watching.

The way he always seemed concerned about Kunle's family.

And somehow, the more she noticed, the less strange her mother's suggestion began to feel.

Eventually, Suzan agreed to give the relationship a chance.

Not because she was already in love.

She agreed because she trusted her mother's judgment.

What began awkwardly soon became something neither of them expected.

Oluwafemi was patient with her.

He didn't rush her.

He treated her with care, and over time, Suzan became comfortable around him in a completely different way.

Weeks became months.

Almost six months passed.

And somewhere along the way, something inside Suzan changed.

She began to look forward to his calls.

She began to miss him when he wasn't around.

She began to realize that the man she had once seen only as Bro Femi had slowly become someone she genuinely cared about.

Then came her admission.

Suzan gained admission into school, and Oluwafemi was one of the people who supported her through the process.

He followed her to the JAMB office.

He helped her check her admission status.

Whenever she became confused about the process, he tried to help.

“Don't worry,” he would tell her. “Just focus on your school. We'll sort the rest out.”

Those words meant more to Suzan than she realized.

For the first time, she began to believe that maybe her mother had been right.

Maybe she had chosen well.

Maybe this was the beginning of the future she had always imagined.

Then school resumed.

The school was far from home, and Suzan couldn't simply decide to go home whenever she wanted. Every trip required planning, transport, and time.

She settled into school life.

Classes.

Assignments.

New faces.

New routines.

And then, not long after she resumed, Oluwafemi travelled to visit her.

Suzan was excited to see him.

They spent time together, talked, laughed, and caught up.

That visit changed something between them.

It was during that period that they had sex for the first time.

Suzan stayed in school afterward.

Life continued.

At least, that was what she thought.

Days passed.

Then weeks.

But gradually, something began to feel different.

She started getting unusually tired.

Sometimes she felt nauseous.

Her appetite changed.

There were moments when she would suddenly feel uncomfortable for no obvious reason.

At first, she blamed school stress.

Maybe she wasn't sleeping enough.

Maybe she was adjusting to her new environment.

Then she realized something.

Her period was late.

Suzan checked the calendar again.

And again.

Her heart skipped.

“No,” she whispered.

She tried to convince herself it was nothing.

Stress could delay a period.

School could affect her body.

She was young.

She was still adjusting.

There had to be another explanation.

But deep down, a small fear had already begun to grow.

What if she was pregnant?

She pushed the thought away.

She wasn't ready to say it aloud.

She wasn't even ready to admit it to herself.

So she continued with school, carrying a secret she didn't yet understand.

And somewhere between the lectures, the phone calls, the assignments, and the quiet moments when she was alone, Suzan began to realize that the future she had imagined might no longer belong to her alone.

She thought she was choosing love.

She thought she was choosing a future.

She thought she knew exactly where her life was going.

She didn't know that a single chapter of her life had already begun changing everything.

And soon, she would have to face the truth.

A truth that would change the meaning of everything she thought she was building.