'I can not do this again, just let me go' I told Daniel as I stood up from the bed that Friday night.

'You can't possibly leave me now, you know how much I love you' He replied

'This is not about if you love me or not, but we can't continue sleeping with each other and keep saying it doesn't matter and that God will forgive us' I responded

'Esther, I know, but we both know you love me, come to think of it, I am satisfying you more than that man you live with' He shouted, and at that moment, I regretted ever telling him about the challenges going on in my home, or even the fact that I found succor in his arms.

With all that going on in my mind, I just kept quiet as I wore my black gown, making a determination that would be the last time I was going to sleep with any man who was not my husband. 

Yes, I am a married woman, my marriage will be eight years in two months and three days time.

I got home that evening to meet my children at home. 

My husband had made a delicious meal of Amala and okoro when I got home that evening, I saw his face lit up when I entered the room, and I wondered yet again what had pushed me into the hands of another man.

I think I know why I went to the hands of another man, although my husband was an extremely handsome man, he lacked the affection I craved, he was one of the men who believed that once a man can provide financially for his home, then everything is well.

There were times he would travel for days and he wouldn't deem it fit to call me. I know he loves me a great deal, but he finds it hard to express it in the ways that matter to me.

When I wear a dress for the first time, Dare wouldn't notice it, he doesn't even notice when I carry a new bag, or worse when I make new hair. I mean how can you stay in the same house with someone, sleep on the same bed, and then not notice when they make their hair, but one man can do that, and that man is my husband.

I have always frowned at infidelity, but mine started subtly, and before I knew it I had gone so deep into it.

Daniel is my colleague at work, he is the kind of man you can say has a word for every season, he was always complimenting me at work whenever I wore a new dress, at some point, there was almost no day he didn't compliment my dressing or choice of shoes.  

He was so different from my husband Dare who only had time to pick up his briefcase every morning every workday but never enough time to tell me how beautiful I look.

My mind went back to the days when we were still courting, Dare seemed to be all over me then, he couldn't stop talking to me, always noticing when I wear a top for the first time, or even when I wore a new shade of lipstick, he used to be very observant, this was in those days when we did more of video calls because ours was a long-distance relationship, but now, even with the fact that we now live under the same roof, he has become less observant.

But I think what they said about romance flying out of the window when the ring gets slipped into the fourth finger is true. This man just seems to have fallen out of love with me.

During our dating years, when we were reading Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages, I discovered that his love language was receiving gifts while mine was words of affirmation. Although he spoke that language well while we were courting, but few months after the wedding day, the love just seemed to die. Do people really fall out of love with each other? 

Maybe. 

Maybe not.

This Friday night, here I am in our room thinking while hearing the voice of my husband playing with the children. There and then I purposed in my heart to tell him what I have been doing for the past six months without his knowledge.

'Babe, why are you not sleeping? I heard Dare's voice when he came into the room, prior to this night, this was me who would have slept immediately my head hit the pillow, but tonight was definitely an exemption.

I have a case to settle...

Episode 2. Next Week Thursday