The conviction.

It was Friday and Joyce was excited to leave the house. She was ecstatic that she'd be away from her husband whom she had fallen out of love with, and would finally be able to drop the choking act of being a doting, faithful wife, for few days.

With a childish eagerness to meet up with Timi, she packed her necessities in a small traveling bag and was ready to go even before Malik finished taking his breakfast.

"I know you can't wait to be on the road, but please I need you to wait till the babysitter comes." Malik requested of her as he saw her bringing her bag to the living room.

"Yeah, definitely. I'm sorry I look too eager. I'm just too happy for that friend of mine, she waited for so long before she finally found her missing rib. I can't wait to see her and give her a warm hug." Joyce said, all smiles.

Malik smiled and nodded in understanding.

"Alhamdulillahi! I'm happy for her too. It's a shame I do not know her, I won't mind to be there to celebrate with her, as well. It's a thing of joy." He stated.

Joyce cleared her throat nervously.

"You don't know her at all. She relocated to UK immediately we finished university but we've been keeping in touch. She only came back to Nigeria with her fiance for the wedding." She explained sharply.

"Oh, I see. Anyways, drive safely, please. I have sent ₦150, 000 to your account. Fuel your car and spray your friend the remaining balance. Extend my warm regards to her, tell her I wish her a blissful married life." Malik told her, as he wrapped up eating, and stood up, ready to go to work.

Joyce gave him a parting hug and Malik did his usual routine of placing a chaste kiss on Fara's forehead before finally leaving home.

Joyce inhaled and exhaled deeply as she saw her husband walked out of the door and smiled.

One hour later, the babysitter arrived and Joyce grabbed her bag immediately and drove out of the house.

Throughout his day at work, Malik couldn't stop him from worrying about his wife who was supposedly on a road journey. Before he left the office, he had placed a call through to her, twice, checking whether she had arrived at her destination or not.

He could finally stopped worrying when he learnt that she had arrived safely.

He got home to meet his doting daughter and couldn't have enough of her cuteness. He dismissed the babysitter and it was his turn to cater for his daughter's needs. They played adorably as he cooked for them in the kitchen. Afterwards, he fed her and they settled onto a love couch in the living room, to watch cartoons on TV.

While Malik enjoyed watching how their adorable daughter was watching the cartoons with keen interest, Joyce basked in the euphoria of meeting the man whom she had missing for a long time.

They had met up in a hotel outskirts the city, which she paid for, and was having fun.

They'd made love more than thrice since they got to the hotel. They'd eat, sleep and watch TV in between.

"Babygirl, I think I have had enough of sharing you with another man. I want to have this sweetness and love all to myself. Don't I deserve that now? Have you forgotten your promise?" Timi whined. He was currently laying his head on Joyce's thick laps.

However, he became serious and he sat up, to look at her face squarely.

"You promised to ensure I get back my love, when I got back from where I went to, in search of greener pasture and met you, my first love, as a married woman. Did you even know how devastated I was? I was depressed. It was the promise you made that brought me back to life. But now, it's taking forever for you to fulfill that promise." He added, seriously.

"I know, and I haven't forgotten about the promise. You deserve it, darling. But now isn't just the right time. Don't you want to finish your postgraduate program which you just started? I have to see you through that, so we can have better lives together, you know. And I can comfortably do that, when I'm still married to that man." Joyce expatiated.

Timi groaned. His countenance told Joyce he wasn't planning to buy the idea.

She shook her head.

"Babe, please trust me. I have your best interest at heart and I won't ever go back on my word. You know I love you, so I won't ever go back on my promise to you." She vowed.

He scoffed and stood up.

"You love me yet you're a wife in another man's house! I guess you love him as much as you love me. I mean, that man has access to you, more than I do. This is cheating to me, if I must confess." He stated angrily.

Joyce stood up and hugged him from behind.

"It's circumstance that put me in this fix, babe. I thought you weren't coming back for me so I went with the man who was around. He was stubbornly feeding and showering me with love so I fell but I realized it wasn't love when you showed up again. I realized I got married to him out of pity mistakening it for love. He did so much in his quest to show me how much he loved me." She explained to him, calmly.

"Huh!" That was Timi's curt response to her explanation.

She knew he wasn't fully convinced.

"Babe, I promise you, I'm going to be yours fully, soon. It's just a matter of time. I have my plans. If I do not love you more than that man, I won't be here with you at this moment." She pressed further.

That seemed to got him and he turned to face her.

"Okay. I will continue to put my trust in you. I love you so much." He stated.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, lovingly.

"I love you more, babe." He replied and gaped at her affectionately.

"Come give me some honey, babygirl! I won't ever be able to have enough of you, I swear." Timi announced and without warning, he carried her bridal style and started walking to the bed.

"What? This man... Are you a horse?" She yelped.

He chuckled.

"I can be anything for you, babygirl." He declared and threw her on the bed not too gently and not too roughly. Then he climbed in with her and they started playing like kids.

Joyce grinned like a Cheshire cat. She knew she was hopelessly in love and she was apologetic about it.