My husband and I have been married for five years with one kid but she is not his child. People might throw stones at me for this but I have my own reasons which are a result of my childhood. My dad passed away when I was still young and my mum soon followed during the Genocide. In my family, my grandmother and I are the only people who survived. I stayed with her during my first year as a teenager but soon realised that I had to start fending for myself. During my high school years, guys constantly hit on me – even older men. It soon occurred to me that I was beautiful and thought that if I was to survive, my beauty would be my yardstick. In my senior six I was hanging out with men old enough to be my father. My body grew fast and I looked older than my actual age. After secondary, I didn’t see myself joining university because of inadequate finances and my job at the time wasn’t sufficient enough to get me through university yet I was looking after my grandmother. So, how did I make it? I used my beauty to get to the top and as a fast learner, it wasn’t hard grasping office assignments but all these promotions came as a result of sleeping my way to the top. At some point, a boss who wanted quality time with me without fear of being nabbed bought me a three bedroom house. Some of my bosses would give me more money than I was earning. This gave me an opportunity to look after my grandmother who was constantly inquisitive about the source of my income considering I was a secondary school drop-out. In 2003, I met a very generous man who was willing to marry me. He was very rich and extremely hardworking but there was one-catch; I’m sorry to say but he was ugly. With all his riches and generosity I figured I had nothing to lose since most of the guys I was interested in didn’t seem ready to settle. We arranged a wedding and soon we walked down the aisle. When the issue of getting a baby came up, I couldn’t stand my children looking as ugly as my husband. Every time we would try to get a baby, I would make sure I swallow a Postinor tablet immediately but would later have unprotected sex with an ex-boyfriend; he is handsome and kind-of-dark like my husband. I got pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. My husband loves this child so much that at times it hurts me that the child is not his. My husband has never suspected anything. My girl is three years now and she is growing into a beautiful girl. As they say, “The end will justify the means”. As told to Dean Karemera
