A few weeks to our wedding, I got to know that Edwin, the man I was going to get married to, had a five-year-old child with a woman he dated long before we met. The woman mistakenly called my elder sister, thinking she was the one Edwin was getting married to. My elder sister called her mad and cut the call. She told me about it, and I said, “No, she can’t be mad. Let’s call her.”

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP CHANNEL TO RECEIVE ALL STORIES IN YOUR INBOX

I took her phone and called. She said, “The man you’re getting married to has a child with me. He doesn’t take care of her and has ignored her for the past five years because he said he didn’t have money. Now he has money to do a wedding?”

I asked her to send photos of the child, and if she had a photo with Edwin, she should send it. She sent old photos. While my heart was beating abnormally, I went through them one after the other with my sister. My sister said, “Those are old pictures.” I answered, “Yeah, because their story is old. Why didn’t Edwin tell me about it?”

My sister drove me to his office. It wasn’t a good time, so we waited until he closed from work, brought him to the car, and showed him the pictures. He was quiet for a while. He said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my past concerning this child. I still don’t believe she’s mine. It’s a long story.”

According to him, it was true he dated the lady for two years, but the lady told him she was pregnant for him when he hadn’t seen her in two months, so he denied the pregnancy. According to him, the lady went around looking for the real father of the child. She later came back to pin the child on him, but they agreed they would do a DNA test first. Then the lady disappeared, only to appear on that day.

I didn’t believe what he was telling me. I’m one person who believes a woman wouldn’t lie when it comes to these issues. I called the woman and asked her to come home with the child. I wanted to meet her and settle it before we could decide whether to go on with the marriage or not. For several days, I put everything concerning the wedding on hold. I didn’t tell anyone what was going on, but they knew something wasn’t right.

I waited. I called this lady, and she kept giving me excuses. I said, “If you don’t mind, just see me where you are, and I will come to see you myself.” Again, she said her work made her busy, and she would tell me when she would be free. Edwin and his family were also tackling her on the other side. He hadn’t talked to her for years, so he didn’t know where to find her. While the lady kept advising me not to go ahead with the wedding, she kept insulting Edwin: “Stupid, irresponsible man. You think you can abandon me and have a better life? We shall see.”

Edwin recorded these conversations and played them to me. “You would let a woman you don’t know destroy our big day? She won’t show up. She’s intentionally trying to destroy me because of how we ended. It’s revenge.”

A week to the wedding, and I still hadn’t found the lady. I told my sister to handle it while we went ahead with the plans. I was skeptical. If I brought any of my parents into this, it would have been worse. My sister followed Edwin, and they went around asking old friends and family of the lady where they could find her. They knew where she was, but not her house or workplace.

I had dated Edwin for a year distantly, but I had known him since school. He wasn’t a bad person. He was a man capable of bad things, but when we were together, he didn’t put a foot wrong.

I was in Italy when we started talking again on Facebook after many years since school. The talking graduated into love, and love graduated into marriage plans, all within a year. I came to Ghana to see him. I spent a month with him under the same roof, and this guy was everything I wanted in a man. So while the lady’s saga kept dragging, I asked myself, “Even if it was true, would I leave him because of that?”

The answer wasn’t clear. While my head said yes, my heart said no, and it did with a spice of heaviness. My sister was angry with me for giving the woman attention. She said, “Go ahead with your happy day. We’ll get to the bottom of it after the wedding. After all, it’s his past, so what do you fear?”

We went on with the wedding. I was smiling and waving, but the thought of that woman and her daughter ran through my mind. When we got to the exchange of vows and the pastor asked if anyone had a reason against our marriage, my heart started beating faster. He also kept too long when he asked that question. The room was quiet, then giggles, and then he would ask again. Edwin was looking into the crowd. I had my head bowed. No one said anything, so we exchanged the vows and were declared husband and wife.

All through that period, I didn’t see my sister. Even during the photos, I didn’t see her. When the church closed and we were going to our cars, she came to hug me and said congratulations. I asked where she had been, and she laughed at me and left.

After the reception, when we were about to leave, my sister whispered to me, “She was here with the girl, but we took care of her. She was determined to cause a scene, but the guys took care of her before she could make a sound.”

My sister promised her money, so after the wedding, she came to collect the money, and we got her. I spoke to the woman, woman to woman, to tell me the truth. Edwin was there. This man screamed, “Can you swear that you didn’t have anything to do with me?” I said, “That’s not the matter. It’s the child. Is she for him? Can you agree for us to do the DNA?”

She kept saying we didn’t need that DNA. We should only look at the child and we would see the resemblance. To me, there was no resemblance anywhere. Edwin wanted to attack her physically. Finally, we were able to convince her to do the DNA test.

What Nobody Tells You About Divorce

I’m even laughing. It was negative. She said we were lying and that it’s God who can tell the truth. Edwin wanted to take the matter up, but I said, “Just leave her to do whatever she wants to do, but any wrong move, we’ll report her to the police.”

She left, and we never saw or heard from her again. My husband is here with me and has been for the past four years. We have two children we didn’t need DNA to prove their paternity. All thanks to my sister, who insisted we did the right thing and got it right.

—Ofeibea 

This story you just read was sent to us by someone just like you. We know you have a story too. Email it to us at [email protected]. You can also drop your number and we will call you so you tell us your story.

******