My first love ended up being my worst nightmare. I never knew that Cletus would ever betray me in such a way. The love I had for Cletus blinded me in such a way that I ran away from my father's house to stay with him. He had no money to pay my dowry, but that wasn't a problem for me, for I was willing to stay with him as his wife against all odds. I ended up being an unmarried wife for months. My beauty was the talk of the Town, for no man sets his eyes on me and won't approach me. I left the wealth of my father to the house of a commoner, all because I loved him. But I regretted that one mistake I made, for it ruined my life completely, and gave me a bitter scar that I would never forget in a hurry.

Chapter 1 1

Loving Cletus has actually turned out to be the greatest mistake I have ever made in my entire life.

My name is Jordah, a remarkable, respectful and a very beautiful African woman who came from a well respected, reputable and wealthy family. Cletus my fiancée wasn't known by people.

People wondered why I agreed to date him and how I even met him in the first place. I met Cletus at the market place on a very festive occasion where young men and women would come out to show off what they had gotten from their harvest. Many ladies use it as an opportunity to look for their life partners. And there Cletus caught my eyes.

Cletus was a very handsome, hardworking man, but he had no money. His farm harvest wasn't amongst the best, but it wasn't all that bad. We saw each other often and ended up falling madly in love with each other. I kept him a secret from my family. They weren't even aware that I was into a serious relationship, talk more of who it was; for I only meet up with him at night.

On our 5th night date, Cletus went down on his knees and proposed to me, and I agreed to marry him. Although he had no money to pay for my dowry.

He told me not to bother about my dowry, that we were going to pay it when the money comes, but first he was afraid of loosing me to other suitors that were coming to ask for my hand in marriage. So he told me to come and live with him as his wife in his house;then when he was able to save enough money, we shall go and pay my dowry.

The amount of love I had for him didn't make me think twice, so I ended up considering his request.

One beautiful night, Cletus and I were discussing about our lives and happiness. Then I confessed my undying love to him.

Cletus did the same, he even told me that he worshipped the sand on which I walked on. We were now ready to live as husband and wife, so we planned my escape from my father's house to his house.

"You will flee from your father's house 4 days from now, because am sure that your father must have gone to the river to catch some fishes by then. And remember, when coming, take your clothes with you and come to me. Perhaps after we must have settled down as husband and wife, we shall now talk about the dowry", Cletus said.

Fleeing from my father's house would be quite difficult. But because of the amount of love I had for him, I agreed to his arrangement and went home feeling extremely happy. When I got home, my cousin sister Julia was already sitting outside the compound waiting for me to come back home.

"Where are you coming from by this time of the night jordah? Julia my cousin asked me as she was opening the gate for me to come in.

I didn't know what to say to her at the moment, but I was still able to think of something.

"And who told you that it's late. By the way I was discussing with my friends", I replied.

"And is that enough reason for you to be outside at this time of the night. A young beautiful lady like you shouldn't stay out this late", Julia yelled.

" Enough Julia. Since when did you become my mother to guide me. Am old enough to decide what's good or bad for me", I yelled back at her and found my way into the house.

"Jordah!!!!!"

I jumped up form the bed, it was early morning; so who could be shouting my name this early.

" Jordah!!!, come down stairs this minute" the voice came again.

It was actually my father's voice, so I ran down stairs to know what had happened.

When I got down stairs, I saw Julia standing beside my father; and I quickly remembered last night's incident, and that this parrot most have told father about it.

As I walk down the stairs, I realized that they weren't the only ones there, my elder cousin brother was there as well. My father scolded and reprimanded me, but I just didn't want to be rude to him.

As I decided defending myself, I began sounding disrespectful. And at that moment, my elder brother rushed to beat me up, but my cousin Julia held his hands and I ran back to my room.

"This is not the first time am noticing something like this. I have noticed for days now that Jordah keeps coming home late for quite some days now, but whenever I tried asking her where she was or who she had gone out to see, she behaves rudely towards me. If only her Mum was still alive, she would surely know the perfect way to handle her", Julia said.

They began suspecting that I was seeing a boy.

"I think she has a boy in her life. But if the man wants to marry her, then there is nothing wrong with that. He should come and see her parents, and make his intentions clear. But from the look of things, I don't think the man in question is looking forward to marrying her, and that might be a bit risky; what if Jordah takes in for him", Julia said.

My father and brother weren't happy with the behavior I had displayed with them, so they left the house annoyed.