Ire simmered deep inside his system as searing as a volcanic emission, hot and ferocious. It stirred within, voracious for ruin. Angry snarls left his joined teeth. His body itched. His hand trembled, eyes wide as he stared at the picture in the phone.

She was married. That man had stolen her from him. He had taken her away. Their wedding was nothing special. It had been done so low that no one except her family members and his knew about it. It was a simple court wedding. Nobody important was present.

Joshua Olamiposi Erinoso, that name had never been heard by him. Erinoso does not seem like a wealthy Nigerian family name. The Kola-Daisis are not stupid to marry their daughter out to a man who was not up to their standard. That's what had made him perfect for her. He has the money, the name and class for their daughter's type of man and not to forget, he has the looks.

The force of the storming depths of anger compelled him to roar, sending the iPhone 8 across the room. It smashed against the wall. Nothing was meant to happen so soon. She was his. His woman. She had always been his, his to love, his to take care of, and his to marry. He saw nothing, except red and the will to smash and destroy flowed in his veins.

He did as he willed, smashed the figurines on the table, pushed away flower vases and pots and anything destructible. She was going to pay, pay for the pain of the past and present. How dare she betray him? He shall destroy them, destroy their marriage and ruin her forever that she won't be able to rise again from the ashes. Laughter rolled out from his lips, the kind that was full of revenge and wickedness.

-----

A distressing shrill escaped Haseenah's trembling lips when his hand smashed against her face. The pressure of the slap sent her to the floor. Tears broke free without efforts. Her cheek stung. His fingers left red prints on it.

"What rubbish did you cook?" he threw the plate of food over the room making her scrambled away "Do you want to kill me? Did you not taste it to realise the salt was too much"

"I tasted it. The salt was not too much" He took a step forward. She cried, crawling back.

"So, you mean I am lying. You are calling me a liar!" He sent a kick to her stomach.

"No!" she shrieked to pain. "Wayo Allah na! (Oh my God!)" She wailed, a hand over her stomach.

"Ba kida hankali ne? (Don't you have sense?) Kunlun za giya mi ki abun za kiyi?"

"Ahmad! Dan Allah, ka yi hakuri! (For Allah's sake, I am sorry). It was a mistake!" She cried, her body shaking to every distressed sob. Her head banged from the hit of the night before. He had smashed her head on the wall because the food had not been spicy.

"Shut up! Shut that stupid mouth of yours. See the nonsense you cooked again. After paying so much on you"

"Ba haka bane fa! (It is not like that)" Her wails grew louder. In her heart, she bled without a silver lining in her dark world.

"Keep quiet! The same thing every time. Do I have to keep repeating myself all the time?"

"I am sorry"

"If you ever repeat such mistake again, I will hang you to death. Shagiya! Iskanchi kawai!"

Ahmad snatched his car key from the dining table and left for work. He left her to cry, to nurse her pain. She tried to get up, her body stinging and sore from his beating. Her side hurt. She might have broken a rib from the impact of his kick. She sobbed as she cleaned the mess he created.

Hot tears rolled down her face which was red from weeping. She saw a broken woman in the mirror, a helpless woman. It sent more tears down her cheeks. His prints were still there. Again, she will use makeup to mask it. Lola call came in on her phone. Haseenah looked down at the phone, her heart beating fast. She had avoided her friends because of him. He stopped her from seeing them. He said they were bad influence to her. She wiped her tears, cleared her throat and picked the call.

"Good morning, Haseenah"

"Morning, Lola" she tried to make her voice cheerful.

"Oh my God Haseenah! Good thing you picked my call. What's wrong? Why have you been so distant?"

"I am sorry. I was just busy" Haseenah wiped a stray tear that travelled down her cheek.

"Busy to see your friends"

"I am so sorry. Ahmad and I have been so busy" she lied.

"It's alright. So can we meet? It has been long since we met"

Her heart skipped once, twice then a steady beat. Dread filled her. Ahmad! Her heart stomped to the name. He should not know. He had warned her not to go out without him.

"I am not sure"

"Don't say no this time. I will tell you when to meet"

"Please Lola, I am not free"

"Are you pregnant?"

"No" she squeaked with a gulp.

He wanted babies. He had told her that few days ago. They needed to begin their little family. She was scared to have a family with him. What will be the ordeal of her children when they are born to a father like Ahmad?

"OK. Won't you do this for me just this time?"

"OK"

"Thanks dear. OK, I will be expecting you" the call ended.

Haseenah's hand trembled over the phone. Gleam of sweat rested on her forehead. What had she done? She had to be back before he arrives. Lola sounded happy. She does not know how she met Josh. Are they in love? Her heart tightened. She was. They used to or maybe that was what she thought until he raised his hand against her.

-----

Joshua looked up from his work to the sound of soft footsteps against the floor. Lola walked into the kitchen, earpiece in her ears with her phone tucked in the pocket of the short she had on. Over the rim of the glass of water he held to his lips, his eyes remained on her frame. She shook her head to whatever beat pounded in her ears, moving her body a bit. With that feline movement, she should be a good dancer. She walked past him to the electric kettle pretending not to notice him.

Her scent, hot yet spicy went along with her. It jumbled his senses. He had nearly choked while drinking water. How could a woman smell so nice and tempting? She sang along with the artiste. He had woken up before her. Since their conversation on their wedding night a day ago, they had not exchanged any words. Lola had turned deaf hears to him when he speaks.

The day before which was Sunday, he had wanted to take her to church but she refused and stayed back home saying she would do her church service at home rather than do it with low class people. That night, she went out and came back some minutes past one in the morning. Her Snapchat made him know she had gone to the club.

Despite her warning that they won't be sharing bedrooms, he still slept in the room on the same bed. It displeased her. He noticed but had turned a blind eye to it. She had not complained so it meant she was okay with it. The following night, he had woken up in the middle of the night to find pillows in between them. She had demarcated the bed, a way to tell him he should not cross over to her side. He won't and he was never going to until he had the permission from her. So there was nothing for her to worry about. His eyes were on her back which was against him as she did something on the other side of the kitchen.

His eyes trailed her figure until they ended on her legs. He felt it. The familiar feeling he had when he had stared at her hands. This time it was stronger than before. She was tall with long satiny legs that captivated him. For a woman of her height, she was bound to have such legs but he had not expected them to be as enticing as they were. They were wrapped in gleaming spotless russet skin she had pampered so much.

Every night she tortured his sensed with her fragrance, sweet and flowery, when she prepares for bed. She moved around, indulged herself in one or two things, talk on phone and laughed like she was all alone in the house. It was as if he does not exist. When she turned around, he snapped his eyes from the pair of silky legs to the papers in front of him.

She leaned against the counter waiting for the water to boil. Her actions sent an ache through his chest, an ache he knew he was not meant to feel because he had great hope. He was not used to be ignored and it seemed she was good at it. He was very sure they would have more than what they had. He wanted them to be a normal couple, friends and talk like there was no one in the world. He wanted the cold-hearted egoistic woman in his arms.

"Since my car is yet to arrive from my parents' home, you will drive me to work" he heard her speak.

That alone jolted a happiness he had never felt. Her eyes, full of pride, rested on him. She threw back her head, allowing her hair to sweep back as she removed the earpiece. That gesture was something that could turn the engine of a man which it did to his. His eyes for a very brief moment fell on her exposed neck. He wondered how it would be to kiss a part of her neck.

Joshua straightened his spine before speaking. "Well, I don't mind" he was surprised his voice sounded normal not after what just happened to him.

"Good" She returned the earpiece into her ears ready to reply the continuous annoying congratulatory messages on her marriage from her followers on Instagram and friends.

Lola had expected him to look back at his work instead she felt his gaze on her. She chose to ignore it but it stayed more than she expected making her feel uncomfortable. Is something wrong with the way she looked? Her eyes caught something on his arm, a tattoo. Mentally she snickered. So the good boy has a tattoo running from his left arm into his back. It was a spitting dragon and like a band around his wrist was the dark imprint of a chain below the dragon. Her eyes trailed the black ink. She would really like to know where that tattoo ends.

"Why are you staring at me?" She removed her earpiece "Do I have something on me?"

"We do not know why this had happened" he spoke allowing her to look at him over the kitchen island "We do not know why fate had brought us together in this matrimony? I thought about it. There is nothing we can do to change this. It is destiny. We are strangers to one another. You dislike me. I like you"

"Will you halt the lecture and just go straight to the point?" her reply was brusque and snappy. She lacks manners, he thought.

"We can make this thing between us work out" Her eyebrows went up. "We can't keep living like this all our lives" he got up. "Even though we want to change this, it is only through one way. A divorce" the words flustered the interior of her stomach but it churned his. Had he be thinking about what she had been thinking? A divorce sounded so pleasant to her ears. The reason she had not smiled was because of her pride. He, on the other hand, was not ready to divorce her. Never was he going to. She would end up liking him.

"Stop hoping Josh. Wake up from your dream. Nothing will work out between us"

"Why don't you give us a try?" It was a dare which her heart skipped to. A try? That's one hell of a risk. "We should see what happens. If we would be more than what we are or worse than this"

Where was the man from the night before? The man who was so happy. The man whose eyes gleamed. Before her was a man who pled for a chance. She smiled. At the end of the day, he will find himself exploding with shock because she was dropping a bomb.

"I have no intention of having anything to do with you"

"I am giving you an offer Lola. Think about it. I am not asking you to do your wifely duties. We can start gradually like from being friends. I don't know why but I just have a feeling we can make this work"

"I have no intent or whatsoever to become friends with you or make anything work between you and I" This time, her voice was thick with egotism, eyes glazed with annoyance.

"You can start reconsidering that. I expect a reply when you have one. A chance is what I ask for" he gathered his papers "I will leave for work by eight" with that, he left the kitchen.

The guy has some gut and she hates his gut. Lola made up her mind. There was no chance to be given. This was their fate and they bear it. He won't be asking for that chance after she slams the divorce paper on his face. Just few hours and she would be a free woman. The kettle whistled and she proceeded to make her morning tea.