“I don‘t believe her, I believe you. You don‘t have to swear on anything.” She wished he‘d believed her like this during their quarrel on the night of their return. It would have saved them all the heartache and loneliness of the past three weeks.
“Thank you.” he said simply. They both mused on their individual thoughts for some minutes.
Edward broke the silence. “Gladys, you don‘t have to say it. I realized you couldn‘t have known of the takeover bid on Bestman or instructed the broker to sell your shares even before I travelled. I was just too stubborn to admit it. I know that for a fact now. I listened to the whole recording on my way here.”
“I‘m sorry for everything I did, please forgive me. It seems apologies are all I‘m good for with you, but I promise you, I‘ll try my best to banish these insecurities that undermine me.”
“I truly love you Edward, and I‘m willing to remain by your side through everything. That‘s why I agreed to your proposal…”
“I know that in my heart but my head still asks. Why is she still with me? I can‘t be easy to be with. I‘ve told you things about me and my past that make me cringe and I always steel myself to hear goodbye but in the end, we simply move on. I‘m afraid.”
He‘d found it hard to believe that he could offend her and she‘d still love him. After the first quarrel on her birthday, he kept thinking that was the end, but somehow, she‘d pulled them back on track. During his visit to Enugu, he‘d felt so grateful that she took him back, if a little confused that she allowed him to meet her family.
“You know I haven‘t been lucky in life. I‘ve been in these terrible situations that every time we had a disagreement, I expected you to tell me it was over. I guess it had to take something like this for me to understand that you‘re not leaving me. I now believe that.”
“Please understand that it‘s not easy for me too. Loving you is a choice I have made. That means I can accept you with your warts, insecurities and all. You only have to promise to trust me.”