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Gaya

I think my friend is about to marry a liar and a murderer, and I don't know how to tell her.Before you conclude that I'm one of those bitter friends who cannot stand to see their friends getting married, please hear me out. Because if you knew what I knew, you probably wouldn't be sleeping well either.

For obvious reasons, I'm changing everyone's names. My friend will be Jennifer, her fiancé will be Jude, and you can call me Anna.

Jennifer and I have been friends for a few years. We met after university, and although we live in different cities, we've managed to maintain a really good friendship. She's one of those people who will randomly call you to discuss something completely unserious for two hours, then disappear for three days because she's busy with work. So imagine my excitement when she sent me a message announcing that she was getting married.

Not dating. Not engaged and still figuring things out. Like just straight to the altar. She sent me pictures of her ring, several voice notes, and about a hundred messages squealing with excitement. I won’t lie, I was actually happy for her. I’m a lover girl so anywhere they’re celebrating love, you’ll find me there.

For the icing on the cake, Jennifer wanted me to be one of her bridesmaids, I was so happy and I immediately accepted. She also invited me to her engagement party, where she said I would meet her husband-to-be and other bridesmaids. She told me the date and I was able to take some time off work.

Now, there's something you need to understand about Jennifer. She likes to keep her things private. If Jennifer doesn’t tell you herself, you can never know about it. She has always been like that, especially with her romantic relationships, which is another reason why I wasn’t so taken aback when she told me. Typical Jennifer, you’ll never know until she tells you.&nbsp;

According to her, too many people knowing about your relationship invites unnecessary opinions, jealousy and evil eyes. So even though I knew that she was no longer single, I had never seen him on ground nor seen his picture. Not even one.She also never posted him. Not even a suspicious hand resting on a restaurant table. Those kinds of things, you get? Nothing at all. So, I was genuinely looking forward to attending the engagement party and meeting this mystery man. And then I saw him.

There was something about his face that seemed too familiar. I could swear that I had met him before but I couldn’t figure out where. It's not like he looked suspicious or strange at first. On the contrary, he was quite charming. He was respectful, made jokes, helped Jennifer with little things and seemed completely comfortable around her family and friends.

But that face, I couldn’t shake it off. I knew I recognized him from somewhere, or at least, I thought I did. You know that annoying feeling when you recognise someone but cannot remember where you've seen them? That was me throughout the afternoon. I kept looking at him, trying to place him.

Had we worked together? Did I know him from church? Was he somebody I'd seen on social media? But nothing was clicking.At some point, I even convinced myself that he probably just looked like someone else. Until he opened his mouth and said one particular word, "Alright!" Not the regular Nigerian alright. This one came with a very specific American-sounding pronunciation, almost like he was performing the word. He dragged it slightly and ended it with a particular laugh. And just like that, I remembered Jude.

The Jude I knew from university. The Jude who used to date Caro. And the Jude whose name had been attached to one of the most disturbing stories from my time in school.I instantly felt cold. Suddenly, the man standing beside my friend wasn't a stranger anymore. He was someone I had hoped never to hear about again.

Back in university, Jude and I were coursemates. We weren't friends, but we knew each other well enough to exchange greetings and have occasional conversations. He was quite popular, your typical Mr. good-looking and nice guy, all the girls fawned over him especially because of his relationship with a girl called Caro.

You know that one couple everybody seemed to know. The ones who were always together, attended events together, took cute pictures and somehow made everybody else feel single. That was Jude and Caro. They were our class couple, always serving couple-goals. If you were single and spent 3 minutes in their midst, you would begin searching for your own missing rib.

Oh yes, they had that effect on people. And to be honest, they looked so good together. Caro was beautiful, friendly and always cheerful. Jude on the other hand was funny, confident and seemed completely obsessed with her. We all loved them together.&nbsp;Some time after, they started living together, and everybody assumed they were heading towards marriage as one would normally assume, right? But somewhere along the line, things began to change.&nbsp;

All of a sudden, we started noticing that Caro had become so withdrawn. She stopped attending some of her favourite social gatherings and we barely saw her in class. Whenever she did come around, she’d be sitting right beside Jude and completely sullen and sometimes, completely lost in thought. Whenever we asked what was wrong, she'd say she was just tired or stressed. Then we started noticing the bruises.&nbsp;

At first, they were small enough to overlook. One sore spot on the side of her arm, another near her shoulder and she always had an explanation for them. Of course, nobody wanted to be the person making accusations about someone else's relationship. Until the day she came to class with a black eye.

I had only heard of black eyes in books and movies until I saw Caro that morning in class. My God, it was so black. You could even see some pus coming out of the eye. Everybody was shocked. And of course, we immediately started asking what happened. Caro said she had fallen down the stairs and hurt herself.But that explanation was not adding up because the last time we checked, Caro stayed in a bungalow not a storey building with stairs. Before we knew it, rumours had already started circulating that Jude was physically abusive towards her.

I need to be clear about something. I never personally witnessed Jude hitting Caro. But I saw the changes in her, I saw some of the bruises, and I heard the things people were saying. One particular incident has never left my memory.Our class held an anonymous messaging session one time where people could submit confessions, ask questions or share opinions. Most of the time, it was just unserious gossip about who was dating whom and who had offended somebody. On this particular one, someone submitted a message directed at Caro. They warned her to leave her allegedly abusive boyfriend before something terrible happened.

The entire class group chat went mad. People started asking whether the rumours about Jude were true. Some were defending him, others were insisting that there had to be a reason Caro kept appearing with injuries.Jude denied everything though and Caro didn’t make any comment. Eventually, the conversation died down, but the rumours never completely disappeared. And then Caro died.

I still remember how shocking the news was. I was in the hostel figuring out if I was going to attend Professor Aliyu’s class because that man too like talk. I was hoping the class would be cancelled when the notification bell rang on my phone.I rushed to open the message because I thought it was the message confirming the cancellation of the class but instead I saw that Caro’s picture was posted. Birthday, perhaps? Then I looked to read through the caption when my eyes first caught the letters, RIP.&nbsp;

Caro was dead. And the cause? They said she was ill for a long time and died in her sleep but the explanation wasn’t making any sense. Some classmates believed Jude had something to do with her death. The rumours about the bruises resurfaced, and people started connecting incidents that had previously been dismissed.There were even claims that Jude had assaulted her shortly before she died. I cannot tell you that those claims were proven, because I never saw any official findings establishing that he killed her but what I can tell you is that the circumstances frightened a lot of us.

And there was another rumour. Jude supposedly had an uncle who was a highly influential lecturer at our university. People claimed that his family connections helped prevent the matter from receiving proper investigation and just like that, Jude was no longer coming around school. No one knew where he was or what had become of him. He had simply disappeared. Until now.Again, I don't know whether that was true. But it was what people were saying at the time and it made some sense. Eventually, the conversations faded and life continued, as it unfortunately does.

We graduated, moved to different cities, started working and gradually lost touch with most of the people from school. I hadn't thought about Jude in years until I heard that ridiculous "alright" at my friend's engagement party.

I didn't confront him that day. I couldn't.&nbsp;Jennifer was happy, she was glowing. Her family was happy. Everybody was already busy taking lots of pictures and discussing wedding plans.And there I was, wondering whether the man she was planning to spend the rest of her life with was the same person whose name I remembered from Caro's death. I needed to be sure.

A few days later, I called Jennifer and casually brought up the subject of how she met Jude. She told me they'd met during NYSC. Apparently, they were serving in the same local government area, started talking, became friends and eventually began dating. She described him as kind, attentive, God-fearing and incredibly intentional.

Then I asked which university he attended. She mentioned a school. It wasn't ours. At first, I thought maybe I'd misunderstood. Perhaps he'd attended another institution before transferring. Maybe he'd gone back to school for another qualification.So I asked whether he'd ever mentioned attending any other university. She said no. According to Jennifer, he'd always told her that was where he studied. And that's when my concern became something else entirely because I wasn't merely wondering whether this was the Jude I knew anymore.

I was wondering why he had apparently lied about something as basic as where he went to university. I tried asking a few more questions without making it obvious. Like how long had they been together. She said six months. I asked whether she thought they were moving too quickly. She laughed."Anna, when you know, you know."

Ah. That statement. The same statement people use when they're about to make decisions nobody is allowed to question. I didn't want to sound judgmental, so I just let it go.But there was one more thing I needed to ask. "Jennifer, has Jude ever hit you?"&nbsp;There was silence. Then she asked me what kind of question that was. I tried to explain that I was just checking, that marriage was a serious commitment and I wanted to know whether she felt safe with him. She got offended.&nbsp;"Jude? Hit me? Never. Why would you even ask that?"

She said he had never raised a hand against her and couldn't understand why I would suggest something like that. I apologised and changed the subject, but I haven't stopped thinking about her answer. Caro had also been in love with Jude once and from the outside, their relationship had looked perfect too.

Now, I’m Supposed to Be Her Bridesmaid.

This is where I need advice.Jennifer is already making wedding arrangements. She's discussing colours, dresses, vendors and everything else. She keeps sending me pictures and asking for my opinion.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, every time I see Jude's face, I remember Caro. I remember how cheerful she used to be. I remember the rumours, the bruises and the uncomfortable silence that followed her death. And I keep asking myself whether Jennifer knows anything about that part of his life.

Maybe Jude has truly changed. Maybe he was never responsible for Caro's death, and the rumours were wrong. Maybe there's an explanation for the university story that I haven't considered.I genuinely want to leave room for those possibilities. But what if there isn't? What if he has deliberately hidden his past because he doesn't want Jennifer finding out about Caro? And what if I keep quiet, only for Jennifer to discover something terrible after they're married?

The problem is that I don't know how to approach her. If I tell her everything, she might think I'm trying to ruin her happiness. She might accuse me of spreading rumours or being jealous because she's getting married. Worse, she might tell Jude what I said before I've even had a chance to establish the facts.

But if I say nothing, I don't know how I'll live with myself if something happens to her. I don't want to accuse a man of murder based on rumours. That's an extremely serious allegation, and I understand that.&nbsp;At the same time, I cannot pretend that I didn't know Caro, didn't see what was happening around her, or don't remember the circumstances surrounding her death. And I definitely cannot ignore the fact that Jennifer seems to know a completely different version of the man I remember.

So now I'm stuck. My friend is planning her wedding, and I'm supposed to be standing beside her in a matching bridesmaid dress, smiling for pictures but there's a question I cannot get out of my head.What if the biggest wedding gift I could give Jennifer is the truth she's never been told? And what if telling her costs me our friendship?

What would you do if you were in my position? Would you tell Jennifer what you know, even though some of it remains unproven, or would you investigate further before saying anything?

An anonymous confession about a bride-to-be, a fiancé with a questionable past, and a secret that could destroy a friendship or save someone's future.


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