It was late afternoon when Nana Ayiba, done with work for the day, got into the back of the Uber she had ordered. As she settled in and the car began to move out of the Court Complex, her facial expression took on a steely gaze.

Her mind was racing with a whirlwind of emotions and questions that couldn’t stop spinning around her cranium since watching the TikTok video in the office. She couldn’t get that image of the guy in the background out of her mind. He might have had bushy hair and a slightly overgrown moustache, but that guy definitely was a dead ringer for Anthony.

But it didn’t make any sense. Why in the world would he be on a couples cruise? He had just made known his intention to marry her. He was calling her regularly now. He was doing his best to rekindle the flame that once burned bright between them. There was no way he could be out on a cruise with others, right? Not when he had told her he would be at work. And certainly not at a cruise meant for couples, as she heard Desiree proclaim in the video.

Would he be that devious? Would he be that callous to lead her on like that while having the time of his life in Malta with some other lady?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Pulling out her phone, she took a deep breath, then opened TikTok.

“Desiree Hachette,” she murmured to herself as she typed in the name. with the results showing instantly, she began scrolling through the videos of Desiree and her friends at the cruise.

Back to the original one she saw, and there it was: the Anthony appearance in the background. It wasn’t enough, though. She needed some solid confirmation. So she checked her other videos in relation to the cruise.

No luck. The other videos either had Desiree with her boyfriend, or with other ladies.

She then decided to take a look at the TikTok account of the cruise itself, which Desiree had tagged.

The first video showed a number of couples enjoying their time aboard. Among them was the ‘black guy’ with his arms around one jaw-dropping brown-haired beauty in a white bikini.

Nana Ayiba’s heart pounded furiously. This was more up close, and it was clearer.

Yes, that was Anthony, without a doubt. Cuddling another woman.

Trembling with shock, she skipped to another video. This one had more glimpses of couples having quality time with one another. Anthony was in this video as well, laughing and smiling alongside the same brunette, who appeared to be Desiree’s friend later on in the video, as they were captured laughing together.

The realization dropped on her like a ton of bricks: Anthony was indeed on that couples cruise, and it seemed he was in a relationship with Desiree’s friend.

She went ahead to find links to other friends of Desiree on the cruise, and checked out their videos. About four to five videos deep in her search, and she found the account of Anthony’s ‘girlfriend’. Her name was Kaleigh Paris.

She went ahead and opened it.

Scrolling down, there was no video of the cruise, but as she went through the list of videos, she found one with Anthony in the thumbnail.

Her heart skipped a beat as she opened it.

It showed Kaleigh and Anthony on a little walk through the streets of Valletta, enjoying themselves at certain tourist points. And Kaleigh’s beginning voiceover couldn’t have been more clear.

Hey TikTok fam! It’s your girl Kaleigh, and today, I’m bringing you along on a special tour of our stunning city Valletta with my amazing boyfriend, Anthony!

Anger and betrayal surged like lava through Nana Ayiba’s veins as she continued to watch the video, her heart breaking with the reality of this shocking revelation.

The deceit! The betrayal!

It cut deep into her heart. How could he have lied to her like this, pretending to be hard at work while he was off enjoying a romantic getaway with another woman? How could he be with another lady when he had promised to put some legitimacy on their relationship?

What truly left her feeling sick to her stomach, though, was the discovery that this was the reason he had been ignoring her this whole time. It wasn’t because of work and school; it was because he had this Kaleigh girl he was attending to.

As the Uber made its way through the city streets towards her home, Nana Ayiba’s hands trembled with anger and hurt. She couldn’t believe that Anthony had betrayed her trust in such a callous manner.

Why the hell would he do this? Why? Why? Why? Why would he do this? Why would he do this to me?

***

Nana Ayiba stormed into the house, her hands still trembling with anger as she made a beeline straight for her bedroom. Thankfully, Madam Theresa was not in the living room as usual; she was in the kitchen.

“Mama, good evening!” she called out.

“Good evening, my dear! How was work?”

“Errr, the usual ooo! Please, I’m coming. Give me a few minutes!”

Closing the door behind her, she simply breathed in and out, resisting the urge to break down and cry or scream out loud.

There was one major thing she wanted to do, though, and she was going to do it right away.

She opened up her WhatsApp and immediately called Anthony’s number, her heart pounding in her chest. She waited impatiently as the dialtone droned on for a bit, each passing second fueling her growing fury.

Finally, he picked up.

“Hello? Nana?” Anthony’s voice came through the line, sounding distracted.

“Yes, Anthony, it’s me,” Nana Ayiba answered, her voice trembling with barely contained anger.

“Hey, babe. Sorry, I’m really busy at work right now. Can I call you back later?” Anthony replied, his tone casual.

Nana Ayiba’s anger boiled over as she struggled to contain her emotions. “Oh really? Work is taking up your time, right?”

Anthony sounded confused. “Uhh, yeah. Abi I told you, this clerk job isn’t easy. So many errands to run and all, so chale, I don’t know when they’ll call me back.”

Nana Ayiba shook her head. He would have really led her on had she not discovered this.

“Okay, no problem. I’ll just… leave you to it, then.”

“Sure. Thanks, babe. I’ll make sure to call you later, alright?”

“No problem. Just one more thing.”

“Sure, what is it?”

Nana Ayiba took a deep breath, then launched in.

“Please tell your girl Kaleigh Paris your Ghanaian fiancée loves her white bikini, okay? You know, the one she was wearing when you were cuddling her earlier on today. Oh, and also, tell Desiree that she’s got a big fan back here in GH. Her name’s Lily, and she’s my workmate.”

Silence immediately greeted her. It was clear Anthony was shell shocked on the other end of the phone.

Nana Ayiba let out a scoff. “That’s right, mister. I just so happened to come across a TikTok video of you on a couples cruise with Kaleigh and some other friends. Care to explain that?”

A few more moments of silence followed before Anthony spoke again, his voice faltering slightly.

“Uhh… I-I-I… ummm, uhhh, I… wh-wh-what the hell are you talking about, please?”

“Spare me the nonsense, Anthony!” she snapped. “Spare me the nonsense! You know exactly what the hell I’m talking about. This is why you’ve been ignoring me, haven’t you? You found yourself a new girl over there, didn’t you? All this time I was hanging in there, hoping you’d come back and we could pick up from where we left off, you were enjoying yourself with some white girl? Really?”

Anthony continued to stumble over his words. “I… I can explain, Nana. It’s… it’s not what it looks like…”

Nana Ayiba’s anger erupted into a torrent of fury as she unleashed her pent-up emotions. “Oh please, Anthony, please! Don’t come and give me that tired old cliché bulls**t! It’s not what it looks like for the where? You looked very happy wrapping your arms around some half-naked white girl, and now you’re coming to tell me it’s not what it looks like. Nonsense! Did she point a gun to your head and threaten you to hold her or something? Don’t annoy me, Mister Man! Save it! I know exactly what it looks like.”

The anger gave way to some sorrow, as her voice began to crack. “You lied to me, Anthony. You pretended to be busy at work while you were off gallivanting with another woman. You made a fool out of me. How could you? All I ever did was love you and think nothing but the best for you. I waited for you. Put so much faith in you. I can’t believe you’d do this to me!”

More silence followed, then she could hear Anthony whispering to himself, “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. I knew this ‘for the last’ was a bad idea. I knew it!”

Nana Ayiba scoffed. “For the last. You were doing ‘for the… oh. Ohhhhh, I see!”

That little whisper of frustration explained it all.

“Ohh, I get it. You’ve been sleeping with this girl for a while, and you wanted some last enjoyment before you came back to me, eh?”

Anthony could not speak, confirming her words.

“Well… guess what? No need for any ‘for the last’ things. Continue with her, wai. It’s over, Anthony. I never want to see or hear from you again. Do you hear me?”

“Nana, babe, please, don’t do this…”

“Goodbye, Anthony.”

With that, Nana Ayiba ended the call, her hands shaking with rage. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to process the betrayal she had just experienced.

Just then, her mother entered the room, drawn by the sound of raised voices. Concern etched on her face, she rushed to Nana Ayiba’s side.

“Nana, I heard you shouting from the kitchen. What’s wrong?”

By this time, the tears were rolling down, and the sobs had begun.

“Mama… Anthony… he… he lied to me…”

Unable to continue any further, she broke down and wept bitterly.

With a sigh, Madam Theresa pulled her daughter in and hugged her tightly, stroking her hair as she consoled her, her own heart breaking for her daughter’s pain.

The phone buzzed, and Madam Theresa looked at it and saw Anthony calling. With an angry scowl, she rejected the call, then put it on airplane mode before returning to hold an upset Nana Ayiba once more.

For the next few minutes, a grave silence lingered in the air as together, mother and daughter sat in the quiet of the room, the warmth of their embrace offering solace in the midst of heartache.

Heartache caused by a guy who had chosen another woman over her a long time ago.

Sigh. Anthony really is a swine, isn’t he? He was playing Nana Ayiba all this time. At least she found out before committing to an unfaithful man…