Something didn’t sound right so I went through my girlfriend’s phone. What I found shook me to the core even though I suspected it. She lives with her uncle and from what I read, her uncle has been sleeping with her.

He’s her uncle from her father’s side. Her father’s younger brother. Things were hard for her after SHS so her uncle asked her to come to Accra to live with him. Her father died when she was young. No help came from any angle and she needed to go to the university. That was when her uncle came in with the promise to take her to school.

She came to live with him and his wife. True to his words, he bought forms for her and got an admission. She was going to school from the house. I met her when she was at level 300. When we started dating, it was always about her uncle. She wasn’t a child but her uncle had a leash on her. I wanted to meet him but she said no. I asked why, and she said, “That will be the end of my education.”

I helped her because I loved her. When she started her national service out of Accra, her uncle didn’t want her to leave home to do the national service. He asked her to change her station. Because of that, he didn’t give her money to pay rent. I did. He didn’t give her money for anything. I provided all the resources, put her in a car and took her to her station. She said, “I pray I don’t return to that house again.”

I would go there on weekends and she would tell me her uncle was coming to visit her. I would hang around the vicinity until her uncle came and left later in the evening. This happened often until I started asking questions. Anytime he came around and left, my girlfriend would be in a bad mood for several days. “Which kind of uncle won’t leave you to live your life? Are you a kid?”

I was with her when she told me he was coming. I told her I wasn’t going to leave. She begged and almost cried that I shouldn’t let bad things happen to her and her family. Well, I went out to hang around. As at 9pm, he was still inside the room with her. I texted, “Why is he still around? What is he doing?”

“He’s sleeping. He says he would like to sleep here tonight,” she answered.

My heart started beating faster. I was so angry I wanted to enter the house and drag him out of the room. I had to sleep in the room of one of her friends in the village. She told me she didn’t sleep in the same room with her uncle but rather shared a room with another tenant she is friends with. It didn’t sit well with me so I went through her phone.

The uncle takes it by force. He uses threats and blackmail to get her to do it. There’s a family issue he usually hangs on to get her. They didn’t talk much into details so I don’t know what that issue is. It sounded like his wife was even suspecting them because they talked about it. They’d been at it for a very long time looking at the history of their chat

I put the phone down and woke her up. “I know the truth so don’t lie. What’s going on between the two of you?”

How Do I Tell My Best Friend That I’m Dating Her Ex?

She confessed but told me she didn’t need my help. She’ll fight the battle alone. She told me she was on the verge of breaking away and that night was the last time it would happen.

I don’t blame her. I don’t judge her. It’s her method that I don’t believe in. I want to take action now. I want to involve outsiders. I want to involve the police. I want to do everything to cut the cord now. She’s slow. She’s pensive. She’s withdrawn. What’s my option?

— Jantuah

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