“Thank you for having me,” Hannah starts, her voice steady despite the emotional weight of her words. “I was married for three years. We had two children, and my husband, though he was a drunkard, and my mum lived with us most of the time.”
Hannah’s story is one of deep betrayal and the strength to rebuild a life shattered by those she trusted the most. Sitting across from Tamima, Hannah begins to unravel the events that led to the most devastating day of her life.
“They saw me, I asked my husband, ‘Jack, what is going on?’ He just looked at me without any shame.”
Tamima, gently guiding the conversation, asks, “So, you lived with your mother in your matrimonial home?”
“Yes,” Hannah confirms. The arrangement seemed unusual but was part of their daily life.
One Sunday, Hannah decided to take her children to church, leaving her husband and mother at home. “I left my husband at home and went to church with my kids,” she recalls. “After church, I decided to go back home. When I entered the house, I found my husband and my mum in the bedroom, making love.”
Tamima’s voice is soft, urging Hannah to take her time. “What happened when they saw you?”
“They saw me,” Hannah says, her eyes filled with remembered pain. “I asked my husband, ‘Jack, what is going on?’ He just looked at me without any shame. Then I turned to my mum and asked, ‘Mum, is it you?’ It was a moment of disbelief.”
The betrayal was compounded by the presence of her four-year-old daughter. “My daughter was beside me, standing there,” Hannah says, her voice breaking. “The pain was unbearable. I didn’t know what to do.”
Hannah’s world crumbled. She thought of ending her life, unable to fathom the betrayal by the two people she trusted most. “I wanted to kill myself,” she admits. “But God is faithful. A friend came to my rescue. She took me and my kids to her house, and we spent the whole Sunday and Monday there. She talked to me, and slowly, I started to see a glimmer of hope.”
Jack left their home, and for months, Hannah heard nothing from him. “I was jobless and didn’t know how to move forward. Six months later, Jack called me, asking for forgiveness. He wanted to come back, but I was done. I needed to move on with my life.”
Five months later, Jack showed up at Hannah’s doorstep. “He came to my house, unannounced. He collapsed on my doorstep and was pronounced dead. It was another shock.”
Hannah called her neighbours, who helped her through this new trauma. “We rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. He was pronounced dead an hour later. I collapsed from the stress and was also hospitalized.”
Despite the betrayal and heartbreak, Hannah found the strength to move forward for the sake of her children and herself.
