Nathan
We meet Isaac at the door of the church. He looks from Mrs Gail to me and gives us unimpressed looks. 
“I just met Amari. She seems upset. What did you do?” he asks. The fact that he is certain that I am the one at fault speaks to my wife’s character.
“Maybe she is the one who did something,” Mrs Gail responds defensively. This woman always has my back. 
“This is Amari we are talking about,” Isaac says and I confess. 
He lets out a sigh and tells me what I already know. “She hates lies.”
“I know. I am so scared of losing her, man,” I tell him and he gives me the “are you crazy” look. 
“She is mad, not crazy. Even if she was, I doubt she would ever leave you,” he says and Mrs Gail nods her head in agreement. 
I really don’t know why they are so certain about this. Amari does not need me. She can definitely replace me in a second if she wants. 
“I know!” Mrs Gail exclaims excitedly. “You go in there and report her to God for being mad at you. Do it in her hearing. She will forgive you instantly,” she suggests and I am speechless. 
“Sister Gail!” Isaac exclaims in disbelief. 
“What? You know that will work,” my bestie responds defensively. 
“Yes, it will work, but that is manipulation,” Isaac objects firmly. 
“Marriage is a holy institution, Brother Isaac. Surely, fighting for it is good in the eyes of the Lord,” Mrs Gail argues. 
I leave them debating what is manipulation and what is not and enter the church. 
My heart breaks when I see my wife sitting on the front row all alone. Her shaking shoulders tell me that she is crying. I broke her. 
She quickly wipes away her tears when she hears me approach. 
I take a seat next to her and hold her hand. 
“I have done you wrong. I am so sorry. You are the most perfect, loving and pure person I have ever met. I lied to you at first because I did not know whom to trust. I should not have continued to lie after I discovered the jewel God placed in my hands. Amari, I don’t deserve you. I never did, yet you are my wife and everything to me. You saw a human in me when I others saw trash. You endured insults and humiliation because of me, yet never did you once complain. Babe, I can’t imagine my life without you. I can’t think straight when you are angry. I will give up my wealth and everything if you want me to, but I can’t lose you,” I empty my heart and my stupid tears flow down. 
“I have so much to say to you, Amari, but the words fail me. I love you. Babe, I can’t lose you,” I murmur. 
She shakes her head and wipes my tears. “I am not angry, Nathan. I am disappointed. We took vows to be together till death. How can you think you can lose me?” she asks with that tone that pulls at every string of my heart. 
“You took off my ring,” I remind her. 
“I did because you lied about it too. Last week Leah’s friend said that ring looked like the famous Daor ring. She even showed it to me and I told her that mine was fake. I thought it was a fake because you told me so. I thought no one in their right mind would even own a ring worth a million, but I was wrong, wasn’t I?” she asks. 
I swallow my saliva, caught out. 
She shakes her head, reading through me. “I can’t wear something so expensive, Nathan. That’s why I took it off,” she explains and I can’t help but smile at my simple wife. I completely misunderstood her reasons for taking it off. 
“Babe, I know that everything I told is overwhelming, but there is more,” I say. I am never keeping secrets or lying to her again. 
She thins her lips. Her free hand clenches when I tell her about her uncle murdering her father. 
“I will deal with all of them. I will get back all your stolen inheritance, I promise you,” I vow. 
“Thank you, Nathan,” she murmurs before bursting into tears. 
I pull her to sit on my lap and squeeze her in my arms until she settles down. I really can’t believe that her uncle could be so cruel. He could not even pay for her mother’s operation knowing too well that he stole everything from them. 
The following day, my wife, Mrs Gail and I, get off a cab in front of the convention centre. The media has reported this the biggest conference since the presidential elections. Everyone is eagerly waiting to finally meeting the UNLFA Co CEO. The speculations on who I am are quite intriguing. 
Amari pushes my wheelchair inside the centre. She is not sold on this idea. She hates the idea of people insulting me even if it’s pretend on my part.
All eyes turn to us. I happen to know everyone here. Business men and women, all of my companies managers, politicians, ministers and media houses. They all look like a million bucks while we have our modest clothes on. I signal Amari to start at the right back. I want to meet everyone. 
“Let’s see how they treat a poor, good-for-nothing creep,” I say and turn on my recorder. She sighs and does as I say. 
“Daniel!” I beam, greeting my former friend. She came to see me at the hospital when I came out of the intensive care unit. I never saw him after I was declared poor. 
“Sorry, I have to take this,” he says without making eye contact and pretends to answer his phone. I hold his hand, preventing him from walking away. 
“A second of your time for an old friend is all I ask,” I say with a pleading tone. Amari squeezes my shoulder. She hates this. 
He lets out a sigh and gives it to me. “Look, I don’t associate with low lives who can’t do anything for me.”
I am left with no words. This is all pretend, but it still hurts to know how much of my time and money I spent on wrong people. 
“Daniel, it’s me. I helped you start your business when no bank could take risks on you,” I remind him. 
“So, what do you expect from me? Praise you and kiss your feet? Look at yourself. What are you even doing here? You don’t belong here anymore. Do yourself a favour, man, and stay away. Go back to other good-for-nothing pathetic souls like you,” he lashes out. I can’t wait to see his face when he discovers that his so called business is as good as done because I am terminating all contracts with him today. 
“No, you didn’t…” Mrs Gail says angrily and tightens her grip on her stick. Knowing her, she would hit Daniel with her stick. That would attract too much attention to us and I won’t be able to achieve my goal. 
“Mrs Gail,” I warn, reminding her of the plan. She takes deep breaths while Daniel walks away. 
“Sorry, he was infuriating. How were you even friends with that rake?” she asks while I laugh. 
“I think I was a rake too before the accident.”
“I don’t think so. You would not have helped him start his business and Amari would never have loved you,” she disagrees. I guess I was not so bad. 
“Mrs Gail!” Amari cries and I laugh. 
“You know she is right, my love. I must have been a decent human to capture the upright Miss Brown’s heart at fifth grade,” I say and she rolls her eyes at me. 
“Ready to meet more of my ex friends?” I ask. This is fun.