“Princess?” he asked in shock.

She gave him a small but snarky smirk as she stood before him.

“You? Princess? You did this to Kirania? You?? Herh, what has gotten into you?”

She simply gave a scornful ‘hmph’ and moved across the room.

“OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND RESPOND TO ME, WOMAN!” he roared.

No sooner had he finished bellowing at her, than he felt a foot dig deep into his ribs. He screamed at the searing impact.

“Fool! Our Madam you dey talk to like that?” his aggressor barked at him as he winced and writhed. “Watch yourself, you hear!”

Goodness, what the hell was I thinking? He asked himself as the stinging sensation held him in a chokehold. He should have known these goons were like her bodyguards, the way they moved toward her when she entered.

“Boys!” he heard Princess call out. “Take the blades out.”

Ferdinand felt a pit open up in his belly at the sound of the word ‘blade’. He looked up, and his pupils dilated in terror as he saw the men around her each take out a box of blades.

“So here’s the deal, Mr. Danso: each one of these men are nicely equipped with a blade. For each time you talk to me like I’ve got the brains of a diabetic sheep, they’ll leave a long line on your face. Got it?”

He nodded in terror. He knew she was all too aware of his phobia of blades, which had been triggered by an earlier incident in his life where a ‘kwashey’ boy tried to rob him of his phone, and his resistance earned him some traumatizing cuts on his face. The scars had healed a long time ago, but certainly not the memories.

She walked back and forth for a couple of seconds, then faced him.

“You know, I need to talk to you for a few minutes. I dunno what I ever did to you. But whatever it is, it must be the worst thing to do to a human being, coz good Christ, Ferdinand, you have made my life a living hell. Not even the flames of hell could scald me as badly as you have. All I ever wanted was to be your wife. To be loved and adored by you as you claimed I ought to be. Yet… I was like the scum of the earth in your eyes. From the moment the wedding was over, it was almost like you were done being nice to me. You’ve treated me like I’m not worthy of respect, dignity, affection, or even the slightest bit of decency. I’ve put up with this crap for 3 damn years, and it’s only gotten worse by the day.

“And the miscarriage… Ferdinand. Do you know how painful it was to have to balance the pain of losing my baby with putting up with your cruel abuse day by day? Do you know how much torment it was, having to wake up each day, knowing the miracle of life inside my womb was no more, and that the man supposed to hold my hand as we both go through a painful moment in our lives was rather insulting me and accusing me of killing our child, even when Dr. Daniels made it clear this was nobody’s fault? Do you?!”

Ferdinand could only tremble in fear as she unloaded her frustrations before him. The men around her shook their heads, clearly disgusted by the actions of a man supposed to love his wife.

“You suddenly became like a slave master. Forced me to quit my job. Forced me to become a housewife against my will. Turned me into some pathetic old lady. All for what? I don’t even know. And with that… that filthy little skank you found as your new shiny sex toy, you got even worse. Trust me, Ferdinand, I wouldn’t have gone this route if you just walked me out. But you and that stupid sleazeball had to drag me through the mud and make me feel worthless. Giving her my number so she could insult me via text. Beating me up. And of course, having sex and sending a voice note of it to me. Not to mention beating me before kicking me out and wishing death upon me. Ferdinand, you have been nothing short of a demon to me. An evil, evil demon!”

Ferdinand had the most morose of expressions on his face as she paused and wiped a tear. One of the men stepped forward to gently pat her on the back and whisper words of comfort while the other two stared at him. Their expressions might have been hidden by the masks they wore, but he knew damn well it was full-blown contempt.

Regaining her composure as she acknowledged her guard’s words of comfort, she looked straight at Ferdinand. “Ferdinand, you destroyed me. Broke me beyond what I could ever imagine. Words cannot describe the grief you’ve inflicted upon me, when all I wanted was to be your wife and live as happily as I could with you. I’ve held it in long enough, but my limit’s been snapped. You thought you had a dumbass doormat at your mercy, didn’t you? Sorry, asshole, but you just woke up a dormant volcano!”

The vicious tone of her voice was terrifying. And she was clearly right. Never in a million years would he have expected this sort of reaction from her. Never.

“See, Princess, I beg you,” he pleaded, “you don’t need to go this route. Please. This isn’t you. I beg you. Please. See, you’ve said it all; I’ve done the worst of things to you. I acknowledge it. I’ve done you wrong. Please, just forgive and forget. Abi that’s what the Bible tells us to do…”

“If there’s anyone who’s gonna talk to me about whatever the Bible says, it sure as hell shouldn’t be you, you heartless shitbag!”  

Ferdinand looked ready to cry uncontrollably. He had no idea what to do. “Please, Princess, please. I beg you. Don’t do this, okay, please. This isn’t you. This isn’t the Princess I know and love…”

Princess laughed hysterically for a moment, then turned to her men. “Boys, tell me, does a man who loves his wife kick her out of the house and tell her she can get raped till she dies for all he cares?”

The men looked stunned and vehemently answered in the negative.

She turned to Ferdinand. “Exactly. So don’t be stupid over there! The Princess you love my foot! Also, yes, this isn’t the Princess you know, coz this is the real Princess! You only got a watered-down wussy version of Princess coz I had to please my parents. But they don’t give a fuck about me, so to hell with them! The real Princess is back. And you’re gonna learn what William Congreve declared four hundred years ago.”

Ferdinand looked confused. William who? What the hell was she talking about?

Before he could say anything, though, the door opened, and in stepped another man. He had no mask. He had a mixture of a cold expression and babyish features, with thin lips and narrow eyes. Like the others, he was dressed in all black.

Ferdinand’s heart, which was already pounding quite hard, began to increase a lot more. What was he here for?

Princess turned to look at him, and a big, enthusiastic smile appeared on his face, revealing a big but quite attractive diastema.

“Hey my Nefertiti!”

“Hey, darling!” Princess responded, her face lighting up at the sight of him.

He walked over to Princess and gave her a long, deep kiss, wrapping his arm around her.

Ferdinand felt a burn of jealousy in his belly as Princess wrapped her arms around this guy’s neck. Who the hell was he, and how could he be shamelessly kissing this married woman?

They separated after a few seconds, and he took a step back and took in the full view of her pleated skirt and grey cotton jumper. “Hot damn, Princess, you look hella sexy!”

She giggled and turned around sassily for him. “Thanks, honey. Been quite a long time since a real man made me look and feel this good.”

“Oh, I know that. Especially on the ‘real man’ bit. Because real men don’t treat their woman like trash, they do whatever it takes to make sure she’s glowing and happy. Right, boys?”

As they agreed wholeheartedly, Ferdinand winced as the jealousy burn waned. He didn’t know this guy, but the guy obviously knew about him, and was throwing shots at him.

And now that he looked at her, he noticed there indeed was a glow about Princess as she stared lovingly at this guy. For the first time in a long time, she looked like a woman who was being loved on and showered with the respect and affection she needed. It had been ages since he last saw Princess looking this giddy with glee or cute, or acting saucily.

But then again, why would he? He had been too busy treating her like dog poop for the past few years for her to look happy in any way.

Chale, I’ve really fucked up…

“Anyways, just wanted to stop by to tell you that I love you so much.”

“Awww, thank you, Andy. I love you too. Is the blowtorch ready?”

“Yep!”

Ferdinand’s eyes grew wide in terror.

“And the axe?”

“Ready as well.”

OH MY GOD! WHAT IS SHE GONNA DO TO ME?

“Perfect! Alright then, honey, I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Sure thing, Nefertiti.”

The moment he left the room, Ferdinand flew into a terrified frenzy. He didn’t know what exactly was to come, but the sound of ‘blowtorch’ and ‘axe’ made it evident that some horrific punishment was coming his way.

“PLEASE, PRINCESS, PLEASE, I BEG YOU, DON’T HURT ME!” he screamed hysterically. “PLEASE! I’LL DO ANYTHING! I’LL GIVE YOU THE HOUSE! I’LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING IN MY BANK ACCOUNT! I’LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT ME TO, I SWEAR! BUT PLEASE, PLEASE, DON’T HURT ME, PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!”

She simply stood there, watching him blankly as he screamed for mercy. The look of desperation on his face was almost pitiful to witness.

A minute of silence passed as they stared at each other. Princess’ stare an emotionless one, and Ferdinand’s a pleading one.

Then she gently opened her mouth.

“No.”

“NOOOOOOOO, PLEEEEASSSEEEE!”

“Boys, do what you gotta do!”

Ignoring his loudened cries for mercy, she turned her back on him, nodding in satisfaction as one of the boys silenced him with a punch while the others quickly moved to take the items placed outside.

As they brought them in, she moved to the door and turned back. Ferdinand was being untied and looked a little weaker after that blow to the face. Seeing that she had turned back, he pleaded. “Please, Princess, don’t let them do this to me. I beg you, please!”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then walked over to him.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, tha-“

His words of thanks got stuck in his throat as she whipped out a gun from her side.

The guards quickly made way for her.

His eyes widened in terror…

The next thing everyone in that room heard, was the loud sound of that gun releasing a bullet.

Those words of gratitude stuck in Ferdinand’s throat quickly turned into ear-splitting screams.

“That’s for using that filthy little dick to disrespect me, you stupid bastard!”

Held tightly by the guards, Ferdinand could only bellow in pure anguish at the damage that bullet had definitely caused to his reproductive organ.

She gave him the most scornful look she could muster, and sneered, “Remember when you used to tell me ‘Woe is me if I don’t treat you like a princess?’ Well, that’s your woe right there for being a beast. Enjoy walking through the corridors of hell, asshole!”

She turned, and exited the room, slamming the door shut.

A few minutes later, the sound of a torch flaring up could be heard.

And those ear-splitting screams grew louder and louder.

Well, DAMN! Talk about getting back at them! Princess went gorilla mode on Ferdinand with this plan. Chale!

Time to see how this tale ends now…