This chapter is for my darlings Xaharau, hawwa_mm and hawie_a y'all are God sent. God bless you.

Happy Reading.

I keep swallowing the expensive Ben's and Jerry's ice cream we were given as souvenir at the Kamu I attended yesterday. I don't even look Abdul's way, I instead stick my short spoon for another scoop of ice cream.

"Can't you hear me?" I finally raise my eyes to look at him. "What did you say?" I ask stupidly. I pat myself on the back, the acting was superb.

"Don't sit there acting stupid Labeebah. You transferred all that money, even cancelled the account. Why kind of human does that? Ehn? Tell me. How am I supposed to pay for the wedding when you take all the money." I don't say a word, I just keep scooping the chocolatey goodness into the spoon and into my mouth next.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" I lean against the sofa, smiling like I didn't hear a word. He throws his hands up and leaves the room, my face changes immediately he leaves. If he were full of fake apologies, I might have listened, but slapping me over money and a wife he hasn't even married yet? I'll show him how I act on set.

When he came home yesterday night, he came straight to my door banging it over and over, shouting for me to come out. I remember laughing and bolting the door harder, letting him know that I intentionally refused to open the door.

I finally get up from the chair I'm sitting on and go into my room to take a shower, i have an afternoon photoshoot and i need to be there early. People seem to judge popular people harder than regular people due to their popularity, they expect calm in the face of disrespect and expect angel behaviour always.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I walk to the standing wardrobe, its in a brown fine finish wood, I slide the lowest drawer open and frown. Three panties are missing from here, I frown again and walk to the bathroom to my circular plastic panty hanger to find it empty too, meaning five panties have gone missing.

I walk to my bed and find it in spite of the growing dread I feel in my lower belly. It grows like a fire to my throat and I'm soon gasping for air. Who could have stolen my underwear? I walk around the room, opening drawers and shutting them in hopes of misplacement, after pulling on a brand new set I got out from my travel box.

I pick up my phone after I have searched every nook of my room. "Abdul, did you take any underwear from my room?" He says no and asks me why I'm asking.

"I can't find about five of my panties. Did you leave the backdoor open?" I ask again, baffled. "No. You sure you didn't wear them out?" I blink my lashes over and over, i can't believe my ears.

"What do you mean? They are my underwear, I would know if I wore them out." He hisses and ticks his tongue before saying the most ridiculous thing I've heard in the longest while.

"If you don't find them don't bother oo, because Allah has finally let your sins catch up with you. You philandering woman." I scoff and end his call before he tampers with my energy, I do not have time for rubbish.

I quickly put some moisturizing cream on my palms and rub them into my skin, while doing so, I walk to the mirror to check out my skin. The product boasted of helping me enliven my already perpetually dry skin, I look again and nod, at least I won't be looking ashy.

******

"Have you found them?" I stop peeling the yam and shake my head, moving forward to turn down the heat under the pot of sardine stew I'm making. Abdul likes his boiled yam with sardine stew and I've come to like it over time.

"I hope you know what this means," I lift my eyes and ask him what it means. "That you are an adultress. That you are a mini prostitute shrouding yourself with the cloak of marriage. My friends warned me but I refused, I said I loved you." I smile as i finish cutting another slice of yam. Love is too big a word to define what is between us, I don't say so, instead, I shut my mouth and keep peeling more slices.

"Won't you reply me?" I turn to him after turning on the kitchen tap over the pure white yam slices. "Abdul-Mumin, what do you want me to say? You seem to have made up your mind, who am I to change it?" I say in exasperation, I cannot even be angry, I promised Ma I would not get angry, and wallah Abdul is testing that promise.

"Okay. I've said my own sha." With those parting words, he leaves the kitchen. I lean against the kitchen island which serves as countertop and cupboard for plates and pots in thought, I've never lost my underwear, even when I went to Nassarawa to shoot a film, I didn't lose anything. How now?

In silence, I turn off the tap, put the yam slices into the pot and place it on the fire.

*******

"I just found it." Rabiah warns me not to touch it.

"Use a stick to take everything out, and set fire on it. Snap it oo. Ehen. Because that Abdul is a mad man." Over the past few days, I've kept my room locked and the keys with me, so today while i shut the door behind me in the kitchen, Abdul came in to sneak my panties back. I know this because I watched the video on the camera I installed in my room after the underwear theft.

"What would he have needed it for?" The very thought of him carrying my things around is disgusting, but I do as Rabiah says, fetch a box of matches and a Keg of kerosene from the store and take it to burn downstairs near the incinerator.

I cook dinner as usual, his favorite, yam and beans porridge and await his return. The doorman downstairs buzzes him in around eight-thirty. Minutes earlier, I was in my room. The moment I heard the buzzer, I flew to the living room.

"Assalamualaikum Husby." I smile. He smiles back at me and comes to kiss my forehead. I shut my eyes to hide the distaste that follows and let him walk around fhe house, changing into house clothes.

"Would you like your food now?" He nods and I take off to the kitchen, pick up the warmer I had placed the food in and walked back to the dining room.

A few minutes later, he's done with showering, he comes to the dining room and sits at the head of the table, I serve his food and he begins devouring his food.

"Abdul, I've seen my underwear oo." He stops eating and observes my face. "Where did you find it?" He continues to eat, stopping to sip from a chilled glass of water I placed by his hand.

"I found it in my room. In the same place I left it. As though it never went missing." He sips some water to push down his food again, taking his eyes off my intent gaze. "Well, good for you. Especially since you're an actress, you should be a good role model."

I chuckle, mentally rolling my eyes at his audacity and effontery. "So you haven't gone into my room since I moved in?" He turns down his lower lip at me.

"You're crazy to think that I'm that mad about you. Why would I enter your room?" He rolls his eyes and drops his spoon, the chair scrapes as he gets up and drops the napkin on the near empty plate, signalling he is done.

I get up with him, taking my iPhone XR with me. "Abdul, I want you to watch something," We're now in the living room. I press play on my phone, already connected to the television. It shows Abdul, coming into my room, looking back outside to make sure I haven't followed to where he quickly slides my drawer open, setting all five panties into the drawers.

The video continues to where he slinks out of the room. I pause the video. "What do you think?" He looks away from me. I shake my head.

"Abdul, if you hate me so much, you only need to say so. If you don't want me anymore as your wife, say it! Stand up to me and say it! Do not resort to tricks, don't resort to lies, don't even resort to Zina. All so that I may leave. I'll leave before you can open your eyes." He sighs and reluctantly clasps his hands together.

"I'm sorry." I chuckle loudly. "What exactly are you sorry for? For taking my underwear or for lying that they were not with you?" He shakes his head again.

"I'm just sorry for everything." I shake my head, get up, dust my skirt and walk away from the living room. Apologies do nothing to me anymore, they're apologies without action.

*******

So guys, wassup?
How was the chapter? Nice? I tried to reply all the questions y'all asked on my Instagram story yesterday. If you want to read the answers, they're still there. I'm @theomoope on Instagram. If you can't find them because you go late, don't worry, I've left a whole highlight for Misfortunate.

See y'all soon.

TheOmoope 💙