Jimmy had been in Canada for a couple of years. The quest for a better life had driven him there, but although he was doing well financially, he hadn’t been lucky in love. It had always been his desire to marry a fellow Kenyan. He met a few people living close to him over the years, but it didn’t work out.
On one of his visits to Kenya, he met Stella. He liked her instantly. She was an acquaintance of one of his old friends. Jimmy was in the country for a couple of weeks, and he made sure to maximise that time with Stella. The romance caught Stella by surprise. She had two children from previous relationships and was constantly fighting with their fathers over their maintenance. At first, she wasn’t too keen on Jimmy because she knew he would leave but he charmed her.
Jimmy was one of those hopelessly optimistic people, and he assured her that they would find a way to make it work. By the time he left for Canada, they were in a serious relationship. After over a year of video and phone calls and another visit from Jimmy, they got married. The eventual relocation of Stella and her children to join Jimmy took longer than they expected because of legal issues, but almost a year later, they all lived under one roof in Canada.
The first couple of months were filled with excitement. They were the embodiment of a honeymoon phase. The kids also adored Jimmy, and he spoiled them rotten. Despite not being his biological kids, he was more of a father to them than their biological dads. All was well until six months later when the disconnect begun. Jimmy was working more because he had been promoted, and Stella was struggling with fitting in.
Eight months after Stella and her children moved in, Jimmy was up at 4 a.m. He had a quick 30-minute workout, then logged in to Facebook. It was the only social media platform that he used because most of his older relatives were on there. Many of them were active at night, so given the time difference between them, this was the best time to catch them.
He quickly sifted through many messages that either asked how he was faring abroad or asked for handouts. As he was scrolling through, he saw a message request from an unknown person. It was a black woman on the profile, but they lived in the same area.
He accepted the message. The message contained a video. He hesitated opening it in case it was a malicious file. As he debated on whether to watch it, the same profile sent another message that persuaded him to open it.
Jimmy couldn’t watch the whole video. It made him feel sick. He rushed to the bedroom where Stella was still asleep and woke her up.
“What? What is it, hun?” Stella asked as she rubbed her eyes.
“Watch this!” Jimmy said, his voice slightly elevated.
It took Stella less than a minute to figure out what was going on. Jimmy saw the look on her face.
“Where did you get this?” Stella asked.
“So that’s you? I hoped that you would deny and blame it on AI,” Jimmy said, walking away from her.
“I can explain, babe,” said Stella.
“You can explain why you were recorded hooking up with another guy?” Jimmy asked her sarcastically.
There was dead silence between them for a few minutes. They were both in shock. That wasn’t the kind of stuff you deal with at 4 a.m. Jimmy sat on the carpet, unable to rewatch the video, but couldn’t stop staring at its thumbnail.
Stella, on the other hand, was confused. It had been a month since the incident occurred, and she’d done a good job of putting it behind her. She thought she’d gotten away with it. “Where had he gotten the video from?”
“Babe, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. It was a one-time thing, and it will never happen again,” Stella begged Jimmy, in tears.
“Don’t touch me. So you’re telling me you had a one-night stand?”
“No. It was an accident,” Stella said.
“You accidentally had sex with someone?” Jimmy asked furiously.
“It was a mistake, Jimmy.”
“Additionally, you got caught on video, and the man’s wife or girlfriend sent me the video. You don’t know what kind of people you’re messing with, and that’s in addition to breaking your vows to me,” Jimmy said.
“What did the woman want? How did she find you?” Stella asked him.
He shot her a look and left to prepare for work. Stella had to wash her face before preparing the kids for school. Later, she reached out to her friend who had been with her when the infidelity happened. As she struggled with Jimmy and her fitting-in issues, she met Charles, who made her feel better. He was married, but they were having problems, and they found comfort in each other for a short while.
“Charles’ wife found Jimmy on Facebook and sent him a video of him and me,” Stella told the friend.
“Damn! I thought you were done seeing him?” The friend asked.
“I haven’t seen or talked to him in over a month. I don’t know how she got a video of us being intimate at a parking lot,” said Stella.
“Have you asked him? What did Jimmy say?”
“I don’t want to talk to Charles,” Stella said.
“What will you do about Jimmy? Will he forgive you?” The friend asked.
“I don’t think he will. I was so stupid. I wouldn’t even be in this country with my children if he hadn’t married me and moved us here, and this is how I’ve repaid him,” Stella said. She was sobbing uncontrollably.
The friend met her later for lunch. She talked to Charles on Stella’s behalf. He confessed that one of his wife’s friends had taken the video. They had been out having fun and had grown careless about their business. They thought they were sneaky, but apparently, they were not. The wife’s friend only showed her the video weeks later when they met, and she expressed her frustrations.
“How could I have been so reckless? How did I let it get to this?” Stella said.
“I warned you about it. What will you do?” The friend asked.
“Beg and hope Jimmy doesn’t throw me out with my kids,” Stella said.
Unfortunately for Stella, Jimmy couldn’t forgive her. He was kind enough to give her some time to look for a house, but that was because he cared about her kids but her attempts to reconcile with him failed. Stella struggled for a few months and then decided to move back to Kenya.
Check out more stories from The Singlehood Series:
I Didn’t Find Out Until It Was Too Late That Prince Charming Was A Homeless Hottie
He Was Prince Charming Until An Incident Revealed Something That Became A Deal Breaker
He Abandoned His New Family For A Life Abroad, Then Came Back Begging When Things Went Wrong
After 2 Years Of Raising My Daughter, I Found Out I Wasn’t Her Father
He Told Me That He Got A Job Abroad But He Went To Live With Another Girl In Another City
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