Chapter 14 : The Goodbye He didn’t Hear
He said his parents were forcing him to stay married to her and Zina the old her would have cried, screamed, begged for more of the scraps he had always handed her, but this time, she just said, okay.. they met in her village. He gave her some money to make her hair and said he'd be back by the 31st. She took the money, braided her hair, and let the hours roll by. Not out of hope. Not out of love.
Out of habit.
He left, once again, with promises wrapped in the same lies he had always used to tie her to him. But something had changed, not in his words, but in her.
Her heart didn't race anymore, there were no butterflies, no tears, no longing.
Just silence...The kind of silence that wraps around a person when they have finally outgrown pain.
By then, she had started working, Life was moving on, not the way she once imagined, but in its own quiet way. One afternoon, one of her aunts called her up...
"Learn to mingle," she said. "The world is bigger than your hurt. Maybe you'll meet someone who will make you feel whole again."
She shrugged it off at first. But on the 30th of December, she stepped out, she went to her shop where she sold provisions, she didn't know it then, but it would be a divine leap, a step toward freedom.
The next day, the 31st, Richard came again.
But this time, things were different, even before he said a word, Zina's father had already made his decision known: "Even if he comes to marry you, I won't give my consent. That boy is a liar and a deceiver."
So, Richard and Zina met at her maternal home.
He spoke about needing more time. Said he was sorting things out with the alleged ex — or wife — or whoever she was. She listened quietly, she didn't argue, she didn't flinch, she didn't ask questions.
And that confused him.
He expected the old Zina — the one who cried when ignored, the one who begged to be loved. But the woman sitting in front of him had nothing left to beg for.
When he said he was leaving, she urged him to go.
He paused. "Are you sure?"
She smiled. "Yes."
He narrowed his eyes. "You're not angry?"
"I'm fine." she said, That confused him even more, her silence, her peace was louder than any confrontation she could have given.
"Promise me," he said, "that you won't make any decisions without telling me." She nodded. I promise.
But in her heart, she had already made the biggest decision of all, he would never hear it.
That night, under a starless sky, she got on her knees.
Not to beg a man.
But to cry to a God who had waited so long for me to let go. She cried for the years she wasted, she cried for the pain she ignored.
She cried for the countless signs she refused to see.
And then she forgave herself, she whispered the kind of prayer that doesn't need fancy words, just a surrendered heart, and as the clock ticked into mimidnight, she didn't just say Happy New Year, she said "Happy New Me".
Not knowing that Heaven had already whispered back…
Your blessing is coming, and this time, you won't have to chase it.