I Paid His School Fees For 3 Years, He Blocked Me After Graduation

I did not chase Daniel out of my shop that day. I did something worse. I offered him a chair. "Sit down," I told him. He was sweating. The AC in my small Yaba shop was blowing, but his own sweat was different. Shame sweat. He was wearing the same cheap leather slippers he wore in 200 level. The same one I used my thrift money to buy for him. "Linda, you look... different," he said. His eyes were scanning my shop. My fine wigs on the mannequins. My two sales girls. My small fridge with Coke. My iPhone 13 that I bought from my profit. "I am different," I said. "You blocked different. Life raised different." He started his story. The story all Nigerian boys tell when they are caught. "Linda, that girl was not my girlfriend. Her name is Jennifer. She is my cousin from Port Harcourt, true true. My mother brought her to Lagos to stay with me after graduation because her own mother died. I blocked you because my mother said you are distracting me from God. She said if I continue with you, I will not get a good job. But I never stopped loving you. I was looking for your number. I changed my phone, I lost your contact." If it was 2024 Linda, I would have believed him. I would have cried and hugged him and said "It's okay, your mother is right." But 2026 Linda that has counted ₦2.3 million in her Opay account from selling thrift and hair, that Linda just smiled. "Daniel," I said calmly, "What is Jennifer's surname?" He stammered. "Eh... Jennifer... Um... Okoro." "Okoro? Your own surname is Adeyemi. Your cousin from PH is Okoro? Your mother is Yoruba from Ibadan. Her sister married an Igbo man from PH and gave birth to Jennifer Okoro?" He kept quiet. Lie don catch him. I opened my phone. I showed him his wedding pictures. The same pictures Blessing sent me three months ago. He was in agbada. Jennifer Okoro was in white wedding gown. His mother was spraying them money. It was posted on f*******: on March 16th. Caption: "My son's wedding. God has done it. Welcome to our family Jennifer Adeyemi." Not Okoro again. Adeyemi. So Jennifer changed tribe after marriage. Daniel started crying. Yes. A 26-year-old Nigerian man started crying in my shop. My sales girls were pretending to arrange clothes but their ears were wide open. "Linda, I'm sorry. I was stupid. It was my mother. She forced me. She said you are not from a rich home. You sell thrift. Jennifer's father is a Deacon and has connection in Shell. She said Jennifer will help me get a job. But since I married her, nothing. No job. No happiness. She controls my life. I sleep in the parlor. Her mother insults me daily. I left the house this morning because she said I am useless. Linda, please..." He knelt down. In my shop. In Yaba. With people passing outside. That was the moment I had waited for for two years. The moment where I would have power. But I did not feel happy as I thought I would. I felt pity. I remembered 200 level. Daniel was not always like this. When we met, he was a broke but ambitious boy. He would read all night in the library. He would say "Linda, when I graduate and get a job at Dangote, I will buy you a car." He would hold my hand and pray for us. He was my first love. He was the first boy I ever cooked for. I remember using my last ₦2,000 to buy rice and chicken to cook for him when he had exam. What changed him? Was it his mother? Was it poverty? Was it fear? I told him to stand up. "Daniel, stand up. You are a man. Don't kneel for me." He stood up, tears still in his eyes. "How much did Jennifer's father give you for the wedding?" I asked. He was shocked. "How did you know..." "Tell me." "He gave ₦500,000. But my mother collected it. She said she will use it to do introduction." "And how much did I spend on you for 3 years?" He calculated. "About... maybe... ₦360,000." "Correct. I spent ₦360,000 from selling thrift under hot sun, borrowing wigs, begging my own mother for money, all because I loved you. Your wife's father gave you ₦500,000 and your mother collected it. So you sold me for ₦140,000 difference. Is that not it?" He could not talk. I went to my drawer. I brought out a small black book. It was my old account book from school. I opened it. "See," I said. "January 2022 - Daniel's GST textbook - ₦4,500. February 2022 - Daniel's hostel fee balance - ₦25,000. March 2022 - Daniel's project printing - ₦12,000. April 2022 - Daniel's mother's drugs - ₦8,000. You even made me send money to your mother." He was shaking his head. "Linda, please stop." "I am not stopping. Because you need to see. May 2023 - Daniel's final year clearance - ₦35,000. June 2023 - Daniel's convocation suit - ₦18,000. July 2023 - I borrowed ₦10,000 from my roommate to give you transport to go and do interview." I closed the book. "Daniel, I did not spend money on you. I invested in you. I invested my love, my time, my youth. You were my project. And you graduated and threw me away like failed course." At this point, my two sales girls were crying. One customer who came to buy gown was also crying. Daniel wiped his face. "What can I do to make it right? I will leave Jennifer. I will divorce her. Let's start again. You are now big. You have a shop. We can build together. I have learnt my lesson." This is the part where most girls make mistake. They take him back. I looked at him. I looked at his cheap slippers. I looked at his eyes that once had dreams but now had only regret. "Daniel," I said softly, "I forgave you long ago. The day I decided to use your Master's form money to start business, I forgave you. Because if you did not block me, I would still be that stupid girl waiting for a man to make me. You did not break me. You built me. But I will not take you back. Because I don't love you again. I pity you. And pity is not love. Second, I am in a relationship. His name is Tunde. He met me when I had nothing but one bag of thrift. He followed me to Mile 12 to carry bale. He did not ask me for money. He gave me money to add to my business. He respects me." That was a lie and truth. Tunde existed. He was my supplier. He liked me. But we were not yet dating. But I needed Daniel to hear it. Daniel's face fell. He looked like he wanted to die. "But," I continued, "I will help you. Not as your girlfriend. As a human being. You said you have no job. I need a delivery rider for my business. I pay ₦80,000 per month plus commission. If you are serious, you can start tomorrow. You will use my second hand bike. You will deliver clothes to my customers on the island. Are you interested?" He looked up, shocked. "You... you want to employ me?" "Yes. Because I know you are hardworking when you want to be. And because I want to prove to you that I am not like you. You threw me away when I had nothing. I will lift you when you have nothing." He knelt again. This time I did not stop him. He cried like a baby. My sales girl Uju whispered, "Madam, you too good." But I was not being good. I was being smart. I was being a boss. He left my shop that day with my complimentary card. He said he will think about it. That night, I could not sleep. I kept thinking. Did I do the right thing? Should I have insulted him and chased him out? Would that have given me more followers if I posted it on t****k? By 2am, my phone rang. Unknown number. "Hello?" "Linda, it's Jennifer. Daniel's wife." My heart stopped. "Please," she said, crying, "Don't take my husband. I know he came to your shop today. He told me everything. He said you were his ex that paid his school fees. Please, I beg you. I have a 2-month-old baby for him. Don't collect him. I will do anything." I was silent. Two-month-old baby. So while I was crying in 2023, Daniel was already impregnating Jennifer. "Linda, are you there? Please talk to me. My father has disowned me because Daniel has no job. My mother is threatening to send me back to PH with the baby. Please..." What would you do if you were me? If I take Daniel back, I destroy a baby's family. If I help Daniel with a job, his wife will think I want to snatch him. If I ignore them, my heart will never have peace. That night, I opened my t****k and posted a video. No face. Just my voice over my shop video. "I met a girl today. She begged me not to take her husband. But that husband was once my entire world. What should I do?" By morning, the video had 340,000 views. 4,000 comments. Everyone said different things. Some said "Take him back, show the wife pepper." Some said "Leave them, karma don catch am." Some said "Help the baby, not the man." I decided to do something nobody expected. I called Jennifer. "Jennifer, bring your baby tomorrow. Come to my shop. Let's talk woman to woman. No man." She agreed. Tomorrow is that meeting. And I am scared. Because for the first time, this is not about Daniel. It's about me and another woman that was also lied to. *This story is not over. It has just started.* *WHAT SHOULD LINDA DO?* *A) Give Daniel the rider job and help Jennifer start her own business?* *B) Chase both of them and focus on her own glow-up with Tunde?* *C) Take Daniel back to pepper Jennifer since she knew he had a girlfriend?* *Comment A, B, or C. The highest comment will decide Episode 4.