It all started with a simple "Hello".
Before she responded, she checked his profile page.
He was proudly married.
A father.
It took her days to respond.
When it came, it was a question.
"What do you want?"
Before she could drop her phone on the table.
A message popped up.
It was him.
"Hey, good day. I just want to have a chat with you. But I can only chat with you when you are less free. You tell me when you are a less free, beautiful woman?"
She sent him emojis.
"Here. Use this. Call your wife and chat with her instead."
"And I can see you are married, too. We sure know marriage doesn't limit friendship, my dear."
She sent him a reply.
It was lowbred.
"Please, I'm not interested. I am a married woman. Check my profile. Hellooooo? Get that into your skull."
The next message was calm and simple.
"Okay. Please forgive me. But I actually like you, just want to have a simple chat."
"Not after I screenshot your chat and post it on my wall. I must make sure it gets to your wife. This is how you men keep sneaking into women's inbox deceiving them. Stupid man."
He read the message.
No response.
But he was surprised it got to that.
She did as she said.
When she did, he had already gone offline.
She tagged him in the screenshot with provoking captions.
And it somehow appeared on his timeline.
Comments flew.
That same day, his wife was a little bored with work at the office, she picked up her laptop from the desk, opened it signed in on Facebook.
The first thing she saw was the shame in her husband's timeline.
Shocked.
She swallowed.
No spit, anger gripped her so bad that she had to shut her laptop with a loud bang.
A staggering possessive wife.
A controlling and aggressive wife.
She got back home, unsmiling face as usual.
He was in the living room, in boxers, lounged on the futon.
Watching TV.
She stood behind him, watching him.
Angered.
She spat out.
Stern faced.
"Is that how you disgrace me in public? Married women? Has it gotten to that, for real? Are you nuts?"
He fidgeted and looked behind to see his wife standing there.
In the suit, handbag in hand.
Stern look.
He was confused, trying to figure out what led to all that.
"Hon, what is wrong?"
She ignored him and went straight to the master bedroom.
A timid silence.
He thought, no clue.
He thought, if they had a fight in the morning before she left for work, of course, there was no fight.
He thought to himself as he hesitated.
He was deeply worried for his wife to be so angry this way, there is something wrong.
He had never thought about his chat with a friend on Facebook.
It had never crossed his mind even once. But then he logged in to his Facebook account, to entertain himself.
Boom.
Notification chats popping up.
At first, he was confused.
"What is going on?"
Before he went through the chats from his friends.
Goosebumps.
"Hey, bro. I understand how you feel. I know it's not what she thinks. Do well to untag yourself from the post."
Another chat.
"Bro, you there? Untag yourself quickly before your dear wife sees that post. It will be a disaster."
"Hellooooo. What is this I am seeing on your timeline?"
He went straight to his timeline to see for himself.
He was irate and heartbroken.
Then surprised. He then nearly cried as he read the caption.
"... this is how they deceive naive girls. If this idiot is your husband I'm telling you to leave his house before he brings women into your home. Shameless he-goat. I warned you."
He sent her a private message.
"What did I do to deserve this? It was a simple hello? Why would you do this to a total stranger to destroy his home? Please, kindly delete this from your timeline or untag me."
She saw his messages.
There was no response from her, instead, she blocked him.
He knew his wife had already seen all that before he even saw it.
He thought about what to do to convince her.
The thought hovered him throughout the evening. He loved her with every breath he took, even when she treated him so bad, but would not do anything to hurt her.
What she saw wasn't what she thought, it was not what it looked like. He kept thinking.
From that day malice set in. He tried to talk to her, she wasn't interested in his explanation.
They barely talked to each other, unless it has to do with the children or the in-laws.
Nights of silence, yet they slept on the same bed.
Then one morning he summoned the courage to talk to his wife.
Showing her the innocent chats between him and the lady.
"... I never had anything in mind. It was just an ordinary chat. Ordinary hello to a cyber friend."
His wife looked on.
"Just ordinary hello to a friend and she had to post it on social media? I am so disappointed in you. Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Please, trust me. I don't want this to destroy our home. I can even delete myself from social media if that's what will make you happy."
"A womanizer is always a womanizer, social media or no social media. Please, can you leave me alone, young man?"
"Hon, I owe you an explanation and I am surprised you can't trust me."
"You owe an explanation to your lover that exposed your chats."
He persuaded the tirade he received from her was heartbroken.
They went silent on each other.
Their marriage began to sour.
She packed a few things and walked away from him.
To a new apartment.
So the month that followed in which she pursued a divorce.
When he realized what she was doing, he was dying in panic.
He called, she never picked.
Text messages flew.
"Hon, please, please, no, no, no. Don't do this to me. I am so sorry. Please, give me the chance to prove myself for you."
She sent him a message.
"Please, move on. I can't do this anymore. I am sorry."
"What about the kids?"
No response.
The divorce finally came through. It was a hard pill for him to swallow.
On the other hand.
His cyber friend had forgotten what she had done.
Never had a clue that what she had done, had broken his home.
She had forgotten she had blocked a fellow of such, and life had rolled on for her.
So one day, while the house slept, she picked her phone and logged on her Facebook. She saw a suggestion of friends.
She went through absently and saw a handsome young man. She went through his profile and liked what she saw.
But he was married.
He was a charming young man.
She clicked on the message in a bid to send him a message.
Without a friendship request.
There were messages from him already.
She was surprised. It was a simple and charming message.
"Hello, stranger, I just saw you on suggestion and I was overwhelmed by your beauty. You are such a beautiful woman."
The messages had been there for months.
She read them then sent him a simple message.
"Hi."
And he responded immediately.
"Oh. Wow. There you are."
It took her by surprise. She didn't expect him to be online at that hour.
And so he introduced himself.
They chatted.
She, a bit self-conscious chatting with him. But he has been making her smile.
He was open and real and she was charmed by it.
She never believed such a fine young man would come to her inbox before she even did.
And so she typed her number to him.
"Call me."
She was surprised as he called immediately that night.
She never expected him to call so early.
Her phone ring tone was loud, she silenced it, worried to wake her husband up from his sleep.
Worried he could ask who is calling her at that ungodly hour.
Then she stood up and walked to the bathroom.
Over the call, he made her smile and laugh over and over again.
He was humorous.
She, covering her mouth not to wake her husband. He, making her laugh even more.
And gradually she began to get comfortable with him.
The day broke, in her office, all her thoughts were about him.
Calls and text messages began.
From him.
They begin to date even before they knew they were dating and then they met.
It was in his apartment. She was shocked to see him naked.
He realized she was shocked.
He said.
"Ooh sorry. You know, this is my house, I'm always like this alone. Totally forgotten I am having a guest."
She responded with a smile.
"It's okay. But what about your wife and kids?"
"They traveled."
Silence.
He made her comfortable, then walked straight to the kitchen and poured one for himself.
"Want a drink?"
"No, thanks. I'm okay."
And when he emerged, she kept accessing him, smiling.
Her look was direct and the attraction was there.
He felt it, too and deflected.
Nodding toward a large photomural of snowcapped mountains.
She watched him lead her to the room, removing every bit of clothing she had on.
He had her lie down on the bed, their faces close. Eyes locked. They lingered.
She smiled.
He came toward her lips, finally, but just before he made to kiss her. She said.
"Kiss me someplace I have never been kissed."
Unsure of what to do. He started slowly towards her ear, but she shook her head. Her smile deepened. He took her hand and turned it over, going for the soft flesh on the underside of her forearm, and she closed her eyes. He kissed her there softly, and slowly and expertly made love to her.
Climaxed.
They lay there.
Silence.
He had stood up with tears pooling in his eyes as he grabbed his phone by the window.
He had been recording their lovemaking, he avoiding his face to not be captured by the camera all through.
He played it for her.
Her heart jumped, as she sat in surprise.
"Why did you record it?"
He sniveled to stop his tears and then asked her.
"Why did you choose to destroy my brother's home? Took away his most treasured. Because of you, his wife left him."
She was confused.
"Hon, what are you talking about?"
He never said a word, instead, he clicked on his phone.
She strolled his WhatsApp and sent the video to her husband.
She was shocked.
"What did you just do?! Heeeey. Are you okay? Do you know my husband?
It delivered.
And her husband watched.
Surprised.
Beyond shocked.
She cried.
And cried.
Quivering.
She couldn't believe her eyes and couldn't understand why he chose to treat her this way.
Then he showed her a screenshot.
It was a screenshot of her post with provoking captions several months ago.
Shocked.
She remembered.
He simply said.
"Now face your own divorce, and watch yourself on porn sites. By the way, this is not my house."
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credit: Kyrian