Missy

Missy and Darlington had been married for eighteen years, Darlington worked with a foremost oil and gas servicing company in Nigeria, he earned a six figure salary and life was good. He was the bread winner in the real sense of it; he provided every single thing for his family and was also quite generous to extended family members.

Darlington made sure that Missy and their three beautiful daughters never lacked anything, they had the very best always. Missy had a full beauty care business which was set up for her by her husband and although the business was successful, she did not have to contribute to the house upkeep, and Darlington still gave her a certain amount of money as monthly allowance to run the home.

Missy definitely had a lot of money on her hands, she decided to invest in a business secretly, and so delved into the real estate industry. In little time, the business started to bud and Missy had several buildings and empty lands all over the state, still she kept this business away from Darlington.

At some point, during an economic meltdown, the company that Darlington worked called for the resignation of some of its Management staff and Darlington was affected by the development; he had worked all his life and so it was difficult for him to adjust. Thankfully, Darlington had some savings to last him a few more years.

He found it hard to adjust to not having to wake up early in the morning, to staying at home after 7am and had to learn to keep himself busy during the day. He started to gain weight and also started to be unhappy, in no time, Darlington changed from the cheerful generous man that he was to a grumpy old man. He put a stop to personal grooming and left his hair to grow into an afro; this would have been cool, only that he never combed it.  

He became easily agitated and shouted at the slightest provocation that even his own children became wary of him. His wife Missy thought that it was a good time to tell him about her secret business but was scared that with his new behaviour, he could take it badly. She tried her best to hold the fort and close all gaps yet, the more she tried, the more agitated Darlington became.

Their once happy home gradually turned into a tensed one and nobody knew on what side of the bed Darlington would wake up from each day. The funds were getting lower as he started to cut down on all his obligations and after two years, it was obvious that Darlington had run completely out of money.

Missy could no longer keep the real estate business away from Darlington, she knew that he couldn’t set up a business by himself even if he tried; he belonged to the nine to five job. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, kneeling down in front Darlington, she confessed to owning and running another business successfully for over five years. She told her husband everything about the business and how she ran it with her cousin who was her lawyer and her younger brother who was the civil engineer. Darlington did not say a word even after Missy begged him to just say something.

By the next day, he had a lot to tell Missy, he accused her of infidelity, and he said that there was no reason to have hidden the business from him if Missy wasn’t guilty of infidelity. He asked his wife to leave their home and to leave his children with him, he practically pushed her out and threw a few belongings at her, Missy had to return later to pack the rest of her things. After a few weeks of staying with the girls, he asked their mother to come for them, Missy took her girls and lived with them in the flat that she rented for herself. 

She called him three times a week for as long as they were separated; she also made food which she took with other food items to him every month. She always met him at home but he never said anything to her and never even responded to her greetings. 

On one of her trips to her former house to drop the usual items, she met him shivering on the couch, she managed to get him to her car and to the hospital, Darlington was admitted and he spent two weeks, he was diagnosed with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. 

Missy and her daughters moved back into the house as soon as Darlington was discharged from the hospital, she did not ask his permission. She nursed her husband back to good health and has continually helped him manage the diabetes. The real estate business is still booming and she got a decent office for Darlington where he operates from as the Managing Director.

Missy never gave up on her husband Darlington and things are gradually getting back to normal home front and Darlington smiles more. This the description of a virtuous woman! She may not be perfect but she is a very good woman indeed!

(Please note that real names were not used in this story)