Chapter 1

I knew Kola was a married man the first day I met him.

I was at my POS stand that afternoon when he walked up to me to withdraw some money. He wasn’t alone—his wife was with him. They had just bought some things from a nearby shop but were having problems with their transfer, so Kola decided to use my POS instead.

From the way they stood apart, I could already sense something was off. The woman wasn’t smiling at all. The tension between them was almost visible.

They didn’t even look compatible.

His wife looked like someone in her early 40s, while Kola himself didn’t look a day older than 28. He was tall, dark, and handsome—the kind of man you’d turn twice to look at. At first, I actually thought the woman was his mother, but a closer look told me otherwise. She was his wife.

When they left that day, I couldn’t stop thinking.

Where did he meet someone like that?

Why would a young, fine man like him marry such an older woman?

Could it be jazz? Or maybe money was involved?

I kept wondering. She didn’t even look happy, and her body language screamed frustration. Was the man treating her badly? Or was it that she just didn’t know how to take care of herself anymore?

I shook my head and smiled to myself.

“Hmm… that man must be trying,” I thought.

Three days later, Kola came back.

This time, he was smiling—different from the first day. He withdrew some money, then looked at me with this charming grin.

“Do you still remember me?” he asked.

At first, I pretended not to. “Hmm… not really.”

He chuckled and started explaining.

“Oh! I remember,” I said finally. “You came with that woman the other day.”

He sighed deeply. “Yeah… that’s my wife.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Your wife? Oh, okay o.” I said, handing him the money.

He hesitated a bit, then said quietly, “It’s a long story.”

I just nodded. I didn’t want to push further. But then he surprised me.