I looked up at the ceiling and wept profusely Two things are bothering my mind seriously And this has caused me sleepless nights so many times I have been married for 6 years now without an issue Not even half talk less of one I have never even gotten pregnant let alone having miscarriage My husband and I have gone to several test and nothing was found wrong I have gone to series of deliverance but still no positive result I am sick and tired of going about seeking for fruit of the womb and have decided to stay and pray to God Its so painful to see my friends that I got married before with two to three kids but here I am childless People were beginning to call me barren and my husband impotent but neither me nor my husband knows the reason behind our predicament I don’t lack anything in my home My husband is a well to do business man and I am also doing very well in my fabrics business but whenever I remember I have no child to call my own, I shed tears sadly Its really eating me up emotionally but my husband seems not to be much concerned about it that much The second thing bothering my mind is my sister Ella my sister have been staying with me ever since I got married cos our parents left us at a very young age She moved in with me and she school from home cos our house is very close to her school She is now in her third year and still very humble and obedient She is 24 years old and respects me a lot but my husband is beginning to change towards her He now complains of everything she does He find fault in all she does and always accuse her wrongly But whenever I suggest we get a room for her so she can give us space, he refuses and insist she stay but should try talking sense to her I am yet to see any error about Ella but my husband keeps complaining I threatened to leave him if he dare complains of my sister again cos his complain is getting out of hand My sister is my all in all I love her so much cos it was just the both of us The both of us struggled through thick and thins together before our life got better My parents left us at a very young age and the both of us hustled and cater for ourselves We never misbehaved I met my husband a virgin and married him a virgin and I am very sure my sister is still a virgin My husband stopped complaining of her but after a while he started again Ella was aware that my husband hates her but she don’t give a d–n about it This whole issues seems to be disturbing me alone Ella, I am so concerned about this whole issue honestly My husband used to like you before How come he developed this hatred for you overnight I sad sadly You don’t have too worry about that sister Life is full of ups and down you know If people don’t hate you, you won’t find love Forget about your husband attitude towards me Its a part of life experience. She said lackadaisically Ella, I don’t like the way he yells at you sometimes You are a grown up girl for Christ sake and he shouldn’t treat you like a slave You are my blood One blood and he should know that Why treating you bad? Why? I think I should just rent a house for you somewhere so you can come visit once in a while. I said and she refused immediately No no no no sister Why should you do that? You shouldn’t do that at all Don’t waste your money for my sake I have told you this is not bothering me Your husband has every right to treat me however he wish cos I am in his house and he pays all my school fees So why shouldn’t he do that? Sister forget about this please We should think of solution to your childlessness not me biko. She said holding my hands and I nodded Okay If you say so As for a solution to my childlessness, I have left that for God to solve I have gone to series hospital, different church but no solution So I believe God will do it for me at His due time. I said and she nodded Amen! I prepared fried plantain and sauce Let me get some for you to eat With this your look, I don’t think you have eaten today Its so delicious Ella said and left while I bowed my head sadly To Be Continued….. . . .

So the next day, I forgot taking my booklet to shop so I decided to call Ella to bring it for me but she didn’t pick up I was about going home to bring it myself when one of my very good customer came She bought a lot of goods for me worth almost 200k so it took a lot of my time I called Ella over and over again to bring it while coming or come help me stay in the shop while I go home go get my booklet cos I don’t trust Alice my sales girl but she didn’t pick So after rounding up with my customer, it was around 1.pm and I decided to go get my booklet cos there a lot of important things jotted down in the book and since my house is not that far from shop, I will go get it I got home and climbing the stairs, I heard Ella and my husband James laughing out loudly Is this for real? I asked myself happily Did my husband change overnight and what is he doing home by this time? You are so sweet. I heard Ella said laughing I got to my door mouth and opened the door when they suddenly went dumb I have told you times without number that I am not happy having you here Go get married you are of age Are you not ashamed at yourself? My husband yelled at her angrily and Ella frowned Brother why are you treating me this way? This is getting too much. Ella said shedding tears and I was more than confused What exactly is going on? I just heard the both of you laughing out loud some seconds ago How come you changed the topic immediately you saw me? I asked confusedly Sister I don’t think you are right I was on call just few seconds ago I was on call with Tricia my friend. Ella said and I looked at her confusedly Lies was written all over her face and my husband kept straight face to the television And what about my husband? He was on call too? I asked and she was shocked Sister please you are getting it all wrong Maybe it was an imagination Your husband have been yelling at me since he returned home and here you are saying you heard us laughing together. I am out of here biko. She said and walked out on me Ella, you are walking out on me? By the way, hubby what are you doing home by this time of the day? You are putting on shorts unlike you! You are watching romantic movies unlike you What is going on Is there something you are not telling me? I asked him and he stood up angrily Tell your sister to get married before I lose my temper on her I am getting tired of her presence here. He said and attempted to walk into the bedroom That does not answer my question Jimmy What are you doing home by this time and why are you putting on shorts unlike you and at the same time watching romantic movie which is also unlike you What is going on? I asked as my voice was beginning to choke So its now a crime for me to come home at will and wear whatever suites me at home because of your witch sister right? Don’t worry I am leaving! He said, went inside, put on his clothes and walked out right before me Tears dropped down my cheeks I am totally down, confused, angry and speechless What exactly is going on? Is Ella telling the truth? Are they pretending to be fighting? But I am sure of what I heard I know my husband voice and I heard Ella voice too clearly I heard her said “you are so sweet” Was she referring to the person she was calling Oh God, please let it not be what I am thinking! I said and wiped my tears and heard Ella laughing again This time louder You are so sweet! I heard her say again and my mind became at rest again Hmmm Let me believe nothing is wrong or going on between them Let me believe my instinct is deceiving me God forgive me for ever letting such thought come across my mind. I said and walked into Ella’s room Ella, I have been calling you for over 2 hours now but you aren’t picking up my call You didn’t even bother to call back after you saw my missed call What happened? I asked her and she frowned I am sorry sister! My phone wasn’t with me and when I saw your missed call, I didn’t had airtime to call back I am sorry about that So what brought you home by this time? She asked and I smiled I forgot my booklet and you know it can be very important to me on daily basis Even the few hours I spent without the book affected me a lot Go get it for me inside. I said and she’s stood up and went inside my room I sat on her bed and noticed the place I sat was wet I touched it and it was thick like discharge or sperm My heart skipped 10 times beat What is this? Oh my God! This is c-m This is sperm! What happened here? Ella, it shouldn’t be what I am thinking. What do I do? What do I do? I need to think fast before she returns I think there is nothing I can do now cos I don’t have any evidence Or maybe she’s having discharges. I said and walked out immediately We both went to the shop but I kept flashing back all what happened at home I am so confused God! What is this? Why did I even went home at the first place? I really don’t understand Let me just believe my instinct is deceiving me. I said and wiped it off my head I got home in the night and when my husband slept off, I took his phone and noticed he pass worded it I tried taking his finger to unlock his finger prints but he woke up and slept back again This is unlike jimmy Jimmy hates passwording phone How come he passworded this one? How do I make him unlock it? How do I get to know his password? I tried my name but it didn’t unlock I tired his name it didn’t unlock I tried his account numbers, phone numbers, everything I could think of but it didn’t unlock A thought came into my mind that I should use Ella But my husband hate Ella so much He can’t use her name as his password I said and continued trying everything I knew but none worked I finally decided to use Ella and to my greatest surprise, it unlocked To Be Continued…. . . .

I felt like I was struck with a rod in my head I felt dizzy for minutes and I dropped the phone on my leg so my head can cool off I felt serious dizzy for almost 20 minutes and that was when I picked the phone up and it fell from my hand to the floor I picked it up and noticed the screen is already crashed Aah! Oh my! I said as tears dropped down my cheeks What is this? I didn’t get to see what I was searching for Jimmy is gonna be mad with me I won’t tell him I touched his phone Let me just put the phone inside his pocket so when he wake up in the morning, I will tell him he slept on it. I said and put the phone in his pocket and laid down in the bed I tried to sleep but it seems sleep was far away from my eyes. I went to Ella’s room and she was fast asleep I took her phone and unlocked it cos I knew her password I went to her call log but didn’t see my husband call there Went to message but found nothing Went to WhatsApp but found nothing I know Ella can be smart enough to delete all these things If truly she is having affair with my husband, then I will kill her with my own hands How will she want to repay me with evil after all the sacrifices I made for her? My instincts don’t lie to me Ella is having affair with my husband I saw sperm on her bed earlier today Ella Hope is not what I am thinking Ella, hope this is not true I asked myself shedding tears as I kept staring at Ella I went back to the room and laid back on the bed ****** FLASH BACK ****** Sister Miranda, tomorrow is the final day for our junior WAEC form Honestly I don’t know what I am going to do How will I sit and watch my fellow classmates write the JSCE while I sit at home? Ella said crying and I held her on the shoulder Stop crying sweetheart I will find a way don’t worry! You must join those sitting for JSCE I will see what I can do Just go to schools tomorrow Once they ask you of the fee, tell them your sister is bringing it Remember I dropped out of my JSS2 just to make sure you finish your own education Just make sure you don’t follow men no matter what Some of them will offer you silver and gold if you agree to sleep with them but please, don’t fall for their tricks okay I will pay the fee for you 2600 right? I asked and she nodded Yes sister Thank you I won’t sleep with men I promise you Thank you for the sacrifices! She said wiping her tears and I nodded Anything for you Ella Our parents left us all alone to cater for ourselves and I promised them that we will make them proud Don’t forget to pray in their grave tomorrow before going to school. I said and she nodded We went to bed and I kept thinking of how to get that huge amount of money from! I remembered our neighbor He always leaves his door open and go for hunting around 1.00am I will sneak into his room to check if I can steal some money from him. I said and kept checking the time Ella is fast asleep already When it was ten minutes past one, I sneaked into Obiozor’s hut and searched all through Luckily I saw some money in his pocket Counted it and it was 8,000 I removed 3000 and returned the other one to his pocket I sneaked out and went back home Knelt down before my parents grave and cried out Father, mother, please provide for us Don’t let any cause laid on us to affect us We are only trying to put food on our table. I said and went inside The next morning, Ella woke up and I gave her the money Ella, this is 3000 naira here Please make sure you return the 400 naira change so we can use it to buy some garri, rice and maggi At least it will help us for days. I said and she nodded happily Thanks sister How did you manage to get the money? She asked and I smiled I stole it from Obiozor but listen to me That doesn’t give you the right to steal Stealing is bad and is against God’s commandment I only did this cos I have no choice Yeah I have an idea Yepeeeeeee Thank God this idea came We are going to use that 400 to buy 6 bags of sachet water and hawk around the street Then the remaining 80 naira change, we will use it to buy garri and sugar and drink it once in a while so we won’t die of hunger And remember we are doing this together We re doing it because we have no choice Let’s hustle together and put food on our table. We can also get to pay your other school bill through it I said and she nodded happily Good idea sister Perfect idea I support you 100 times You are my backbone What would I have done without you? Ella said and hugged me happily Remember you are all I have left in this world All our relatives left us to cater for ourself We will put them both to shame With this 400 naira, God will wipe our tears Once we buy the sachet water today, I will start hawking around and immediately you come back from school, you join me. You get it,? I asked and she nodded Sure sister Miranda! She said and jumped happily and waved me good bye. I waved back and smiled Ella, you are my happiness and I promise I will make sure to see you have a bright future I don’t mind sacrificing my own future for yours I promised mother that I will take care of you and I will sure fulfill that promise. I soliloquized and went inside ****** END OF FLASH BACK ****** Tears flowed down my cheeks and I wiped it off. Ella please don’t pay me back evil with good after everything I won’t bear it I will just kill you I promise you Oh my! After everything I never went to school cos of you! Is this how you want to repay me? I just wish all these are imagination I remembered the day I was beaten black and blue cos I was fighting for Ella FLASH BACK Ella why are you crying? I asked her running close to her Sister, I was on my way coming back from school when I passed by 3 girls and they called me witch They said I killed my parents and I told them I will kill their parents same way I killed mine since they are calling me a killer and the three of them beat me up. She said crying and I raged angrily Whaaaat! Take me to where they are. I said angrily and she walked after me and I followed her Sister, here they are! She said pointing at them So you are the fools that called my sister a witch and still beat her up hun? I will teach you guys lesson I said, walked towards them and pushed one of them and they fought me back I was beaten up by them mercilessly and Ella stood looking at me She didn’t even retaliate nor call for help They left me there before Ella came and held my hand Sister I am sorry Next time, make sure you are strong before you indulge in a fight! She said and I was shocked ****** END OF FLASH BACK ****** That her statement alone is enough proof to know Ella is ungrateful I won’t confront you nor my husband now until I get enough proof but I just hope this is not true! I said as tears flowed down my cheeks again I kept remembering a lot of things I passed through cos of Ella and I couldn’t help it but cried I checked the time and it was past 3.00am and I closes my eyes to enable me sleep I didn’t even know when I fell asleep. To Be Continued….. . . .