[STORY] WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BE A FULL TIME HOUSE WIVE

The Wife He Tried to Chase Away

Chapter One: The Woman Who Rose Before the Sun

“My husband, your food is ready. There are ten more soups in the kitchen just in case you don’t like this one.”

“All you do in my house is tie your wrapper up and down. Useless woman. I’m tired of you. You’re so boring.”

Inside their comfortable apartment, Faith stood in the kitchen with sweat on her forehead, stirring a hot pot of soup. Her wrapper was tied tightly around her waist. The kitchen was hot, but she kept cooking, because Emanuel, her husband, liked his food steaming hot and freshly prepared.

The sound of a car horn came from outside. Immediately her face brightened. My husband is back. She quickly washed her hands and rushed to the sitting room, but when she opened the door, her smile faded slowly.

Emanuel wasn’t alone. He came with a young lady — long, bone-straight hair, heavy eyelashes, tight jeans, long red nails. The girl looked around as if inspecting the house.

“Faith, this is Precious. My cousin.”

Faith forced a smile. “Oh, welcome.” But Precious barely looked at her. Emanuel carried her small traveling bag into the house himself while Faith stood by the door, confused but silent.

“She just graduated. She came to look for a job here in the city, so she’ll stay with us for some time,” Emanuel explained casually.

Faith looked at the girl again — the expensive perfume, the designer handbag, the long lashes. She looked far too polished for someone who’d just come to look for a job. She didn’t seem like someone struggling to survive. But Faith swallowed her thoughts. Maybe I’m just overthinking.

That night, she served them hot soup and pounded yam. That was who Faith was.

Chapter Two: The Kind of Wife Mothers Prayed For

Faith was the kind of woman African mothers prayed their sons would marry. She was soft-spoken, respectful, homely, and patient to a fault — the kind of wife who woke up before sunrise just to make sure her husband never lacked anything. Every morning, before Emanuel even opened his eyes, Faith had already boiled water, prepared breakfast, ironed his clothes, and packed his lunch. She did all this because she believed that was what a good wife was supposed to do. She carried marriage on her head like a full-time job. And because of that, she tolerated many things she should never have tolerated in the first place.

At first, Emanuel wasn’t always like this. Back during their courtship, he treated Faith like a treasure. He used to call her during lunch break just to hear her voice. He praised her beauty constantly. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he’d say. He spoke about their future with excitement. Whenever Faith complained about stress at work, Emanuel would say things that made her heart melt. Sometimes Faith would sit with her friends and smile proudly while talking about him.

That was before marriage changed him. Or maybe before he revealed who he truly was.

The first year of marriage still felt manageable, but slowly things started shifting. The compliments stopped. Then criticism entered. Faith, you cook too slow. Faith, you smile too much. Faith, why don’t you talk back at me sometimes? Faith this, Faith that. The complaints were too much. Still, Faith adjusted herself constantly, believing marriage required sacrifice.

When Emanuel even complained that her banking job was making her unavailable at home, she resigned immediately, without giving it a second thought. That decision shocked everybody around her — especially her closest friend, Augustina. Faith still remembered that conversation clearly. Augustina strongly kicked against it, but Faith defended Emanuel passionately that day, explaining that her husband just wanted to relieve her of the stress, and besides, he made enough money to take care of her.

Months after quitting her job, Faith’s world became limited to cooking, washing, cleaning, and trying endlessly to please a man who no longer looked at her the same way. And without realizing it, she was losing herself. She even stopped going out and hanging out with friends. Everything she did became about Emanuel. And now he had just casually come home with his cousin, without informing her first. Faith welcomed her warmly without complaining, and prepared the guest room carefully.

Chapter Three: The Cousin Who Never Lifted a Finger

Days turned into weeks, and Precious still hadn’t found a job. The routine continued. Every morning before sunrise, Faith woke up first. She swept the house, made breakfast, washed clothes, cleaned the bathroom, prepared Emanuel’s lunch, then cooked dinner again at night. Meanwhile, Precious stayed in the parlor all day with crossed legs, scrolling through her phone, laughing loudly. Sometimes she’d leave the plate she ate from on the center table till the next morning.

One evening, Faith spoke to Emanuel calmly while folding his clothes. “Your cousin doesn’t help at all in the house. Instead, she just keeps making my work harder.”

Emanuel looked at her with a frown. “Faith, she came here to hustle. She’s not your house help,” he said dismissively.

Faith stared at him in disbelief. “Hustle? But she doesn’t go anywhere. She just stays at home eating all the food in this house.” But Emanuel shut her down and told Faith never to speak about his cousin like that again.

Weeks later, Precious became even more audacious. She started ordering what she wanted to eat, and complained when the food delayed. “Faith, cook the food fast. I’m hungry.” The painful part was Emanuel’s reaction whenever Faith complained — instead of supporting his wife, he defended Precious constantly.

The house became heavier for Faith. The workload increased. Sometimes she would still be washing plates and used pots close till midnight, while Precious relaxed comfortably in the sitting room watching movies. Faith began feeling like a stranger inside her own home.

Still, she remained, because many African women were raised to endure first. Faith feared shame more than suffering. What would people say if her marriage failed? So instead of confronting reality, she kept trying harder — cooking more, cleaning more, praying more. She even fasted, hoping that the man she once fell in love with would one day come back to his senses.

Chapter Four: A Friend’s Warning

One afternoon, Augustina visited unexpectedly. The moment she saw Faith cleaning, her heart broke. “So this is why you no longer have the time to hang out?” she asked, irritated. Faith now looked older than her actual age. She looked emotionally drained. Even her smile looked exhausted.

Augustina noticed how Faith did everything around the house nervously, trying to put things in order, while Precious sat comfortably in the sitting room without lifting a finger. The imbalance was obvious immediately, and deep inside, Augustina sensed something wasn’t right. She warned Faith carefully that day, but once again Faith defended her husband. “She is just his cousin.”

A few days later, Augustina saw Emanuel and Precious coming out together from a hotel. And they were not behaving like cousins. There was intimacy in their body language. At first, Augustina hoped she’d misunderstood, but with what she’d just seen, her instincts were definitely right. She called Faith immediately, but Faith refused to believe her.

That night, however, doubt entered Faith’s heart for the first time. Suddenly, she started noticing details she’d ignored before — the private smiles between Emanuel and Precious, the unnecessary closeness, the way Emanuel winked at Precious when she wasn’t looking. Her mind became restless. Please, Lord, I hope it’s not true, she prayed quietly in her mind.

Chapter Five: What Faith Discovered

Then one morning, Faith was cleaning the bathroom as usual while Emanuel prepared for work. Soon after Emanuel left, Precious also dressed up beautifully and announced she was going out. Faith hurriedly followed them carefully, and what she discovered shattered her completely.

Then everything started making sense at once. The emotional distance. The criticism. The neglect. The humiliation. The constant frustration. Emanuel wanted her emotionally exhausted enough to leave on her own.

Faith returned home before them and sat quietly for hours. The memories flooded her head painfully — the meals she’d cooked, the sacrifices, the prayers, the loyalty, the years she’d spent trying to become the perfect wife.

Emanuel and Precious returned together later that evening. She confronted them angrily, but there was no iota of shame or guilt on their faces.

“Would you finally leave my house now?” Emanuel said coldly. He confessed that he’d stopped loving her a long time ago. He admitted that bringing Precious into the house was intentional — because he wanted Faith to leave. He believed the disrespect and discomfort would eventually force Faith to leave voluntarily, so he wouldn’t appear like the wicked husband who chased out a loyal wife.

Emanuel blamed her for losing her attractiveness. “Always tying wrapper from morning till night,” he complained, “no longer looking exciting. Strangers would mistake you for my housemaid or my mother, the way you look. All you do all day is cook, cook, cook.”

Faith stood there that night speechless, realizing she had spent years shrinking herself for a man who never truly valued her sacrifices. She had abandoned career opportunities, ignored her own happiness, buried her individuality — and still it wasn’t enough.

Chapter Six: Leaving

That same night, Faith packed quietly while Precious mocked her. She had truly been a fool, making meals for her husband and his mistress.

Within a month after Faith left, Emanuel and Precious got married. Emanuel threw a big wedding to fit Precious’s taste. Everything seemed perfect. He now had an exciting wife, just as he wished. Every morning, Precious would dress up beautifully and cook for Emanuel — even though her food tasted bad, he squeezed his face and swallowed it, telling himself this was what he’d wanted all along.

Chapter Seven: The Cost of What He Wanted

After about two weeks of marriage, Precious started showing her true colors. She started demanding more expensive wigs, clothes, and shoes, and if Emanuel refused to comply, she left all the house chores undone. She would stop cooking or cleaning until Emanuel gave her the money. Every single day, Precious was demanding something new. Of course, she wasn’t like this before they got married.

“Baby, I saw this fine wig. Baby, I want to buy this. Baby, I want to buy that.”

Emanuel was slowly losing his mind. What had he gotten himself into? His new, exciting wife wasn’t exciting at all. In fact, she was destroying every little happiness he had left, every single day.

Soon, Emanuel’s business began running low on capital. His expenses in a month were larger than his profit in a year. He couldn’t even recognize himself anymore. Eventually, Precious left him, because he could no longer cater to her needs. “Why should I remain with a pauper like you, when there are other men out there who need me?” Precious said as she left the house.

Emanuel regretted everything. But regret cannot reverse damage already done. He was at his lowest, and he needed someone. He went in search of Faith.

Chapter Eight: The Woman She Became

Faith, on the other hand, had transformed completely with the help of Augustina. She got a new job. She looked healthier and even more confident. When Emanuel came begging and crying crocodile tears, Faith chased him out like a chicken.

The same domestic stability and peace Emanuel had once mocked in Faith became what he suddenly missed. Eventually, he had to do the house chores himself. He kept on going from place to place, looking for money to start up his business again. He no longer admired beautiful girls when they passed. He was now scared of exciting girls, and avoided them like plague.

Chapter Nine: What Faith Learned

Faith thought being a good wife meant enduring everything silently. But she was wrong. Sacrifices in marriage should be made by both partners, not just one person. Never shrink yourself for anybody, because the right person will never ask you to disappear before they can choose you. And sometimes walking away is not failure. It is choosing yourself and putting yourself first.