For Better And For Worse
Chapter 15

When the trial was suspended, everyone left the room to get some fresh air. Isabelle approaches her husband and falls into his arms, crying. Krist’s parents approach them.

Vincent: I told you that this woman will only bring you misfortune but you didn’t want to hear. Look where you are today.

Odette: that will teach you to disobey your parents.

Krist: I don’t regret my choice.

Isabelle: mom, he needs your encouragement.

Odette: hey, who are you calling mom, sterile!

They leave and Krist hugs his wife.

Isabelle: I don’t want you to go to prison for nothing, I’m going to die without you.

Krist: It’s going to be okay my love, let’s hope it’s okay.

Stella: It’s really unfair everything that’s happening to you. Why is God coming after you like that?

Krist: God’s ways are unfathomable Stella, I don’t know why all this is happening to me.

Stella: you are a good person, you don’t deserve this.

Krist: Thank you Stella. However, if I had to go to prison, I would like you to take care of each other. Don’t be depressed…

Isabelle: no my love, don’t say that, you won’t go to prison.

Krist: no, listen to me darling, don’t be depressed, live normally. Stella, you must go to university and as for you my love, you must continue your work, only in this way can you get by, until I replace you again one day.

Isabelle: don’t talk like that my love, it seems like you’re losing hope.

Krist: If it’s God’s will for me to go to prison, I can’t escape it.

Master Célestin arrives and looks at Stella who lowers her gaze.

Célestin: Can I borrow it from you for a moment?

Isabelle: master, please get him out of there.

Célestin: I will do what I can but the verdict does not belong to me.

Krist: Give us a moment.

They move away a little. While Krist and his lawyer were talking, Isabelle kept staring at her husband while crying, Stella noticed this.

Stella: I see how much you love him Isabelle.

Isabelle: I love him more than my life Stella, I gave up everything for him, I even lost my parents for him, the idea of ​​seeing him imprisoned is unbearable for me.

Stella: let’s pray to God for him.

Isabelle: if the good Lord were there, he would not observe this injustice without doing anything.

Krist and his lawyer were also talking.

Krist: what does the omen look like?

Célestin: I would say pretty good, I think that until then, we have great hope of exonerating you.

Krist: I hope so.

Célestin: forgive me for this subject that I am about to address, I know it is not the right time but it has been burning me for a while.

Krist: Go ahead, tell me what it is, anyway in life there is never a good time to do something.

Célestin: ok then, I wanted to ask you something about this girl, Stella. Is this your sister?

Krist: no, she’s a homeless girl that I took under my roof. I know she is very tall but I consider her my daughter and I love her as such. She is beautiful and intelligent, in addition very respectful and friendly, she has many qualities that I really appreciate about her.

Célestin: well I too appreciate these qualities in her. She’s driving me crazy Krist and not telling her how I feel is consuming me from the inside out so I would like your permission to approach her.

Krist: I really appreciate your initiative master. I’m not going to object to you approaching her. However, I will not tolerate you using it and then abandoning it. If your future plans don’t concern her, don’t go near her.

Célestin: I can swear to you that my only intention is to make her my wife.

Krist: In that case, if you’re sincere, you have my permission.

Célestin: thank you.

Isabelle and Stella continue their discussion.

Stella: forgive me, I know it’s not the right time but sincerely, I really envy your relationship and I dream that mine would also be like that.

Isabelle: with the grace of God, you will replace a husband who will love you like this, believe in it.

Stella: Thank you. Say, can you tell me about your beginnings to pass the time?

Isabelle: ok. If I told you I came from a rich family, would you believe me?

Stella: oh, not at all.

Isabelle: well, it’s true. My father is a great business leader and my mother also works.

Stella: oh well, but why did they leave you suffering like that?

Isabelle: because of my love for Krist.

Stella: tell me!

Isabelle: he was a villager who lived in a village in the south of the country. In the meantime, I was in 6th grade, he was already in 3rd grade. One day, our college decided to tour the village colleges to teach on some important themes and share some prizes. So we arrived at this college where my future love was. In the meantime, I didn’t yet know what it was. But I was already going through my puberty period. All the students were gathered in the school courtyard, there were not too many of them. I was the one giving the opening speech, I looked at him in the crowd and I couldn’t speak. He was so handsome and charming that I lost my voice as soon as I saw him. As the silence was felt, he too tried to understand what was happening and our eyes met. I swear I didn’t understand what was happening to me. The principal of our school had to intervene to say that I was doing badly and I withdrew. I went to a room to collect myself and shortly after, I heard a voice ask me: Miss, are you okay? At first I jumped in fear, then I realized it was him. My heart was pounding. He comes closer to me and my beats speed up, he touches my shoulder and asks me.

Krist: Are you okay?

Isabelle: yes, it’s okay.

Krist: You wouldn’t say so. I listened to you earlier, you have such a beautiful voice.

I looked at him with a quick glance and gave him a smile then lowered my head. Suddenly I feel his hand on my chin. He turned my head towards him and said: how beautiful you are! I blushed when he gave me that compliment. I gave him a smile and a thank you.

Krist: What’s your name?

Isabelle: Isabelle.

Krist: it’s a nice first name, my name is Kristian but people know me under the nickname Krist.

Isabelle: Nice to meet you, Krist.

Krist: I loved listening to you all. Now I’m going to leave and hope to listen to you again.

He wanted to leave but I stopped him to ask him for his phone number but he told me he doesn’t have one. This surprised me a lot but then I understood so I gave him my phone after removing my Sim card.

Isabelle: take mine and take this money to buy you a Sim and you let me know ok, my number is in the phone.

Krist: okay, why are you doing this for me?

Isabelle: out of generosity.

He thanked me and the manager came in to say I had to go back to work and I made arrangements and left. After the ceremony was over, we were spread out around town and during the night, I didn’t stop dreaming about him until the early morning. He called me around 1 p.m. and we talked for a long time. Our love story began there. With puberty and everything, I loved him madly. If he was a bad guy he was going to exploit me and take advantage of me but no. Every Saturday, I went back to the village to see him. After he graduated, his parents could no longer finance his higher education so I took care of it myself and he left to study abroad. Everything was going well until the day I obtained my baccalaureate. I was planning to join him for my higher studies but my father decided that I should get married. This news had me down, I spoke to my love about it and he told me not to abandon him, that’s not my intention either. So I started saving enough money for him to continue his studies. So I attended the local university while waiting for my marriage. After a year, my suitor came to dowry me but I refused, telling everyone that I don’t want to marry him because I love someone else. My parents wanted me to introduce him to them so he came home after his master’s degree and introduced himself to them. When they found out he was poor, they didn’t want our relationship, Dad kicked him out like a . They wanted me to give it up but I refused. It’s him or nothing. Dad told me that if I choose him, I won’t be his daughter anymore so I decided not to be his daughter. So he sent me out of the house. I told my love about it and rented a room to stay there. With the money I saved, I went abroad with him and enrolled in an institute to become a midwife. His parents also fought to send him a little money every month and we got by with it. After three years, I finished and he defended his doctorate and we returned. We rented a house in town and thank God he found work. He wanted us to get married so he introduced me to his family, another problem arose. They wanted to know my parents too and I told them that wasn’t possible because of what happened. They also wanted them to abandon me because my parents don’t agree. Krist refused and we got married without our parents, with just a few friends as witnesses. After two years of marriage, I had not become pregnant so his parents wanted him to take another wife, one who could give them grandchildren. He flatly refused so they suggested he make a choice between keeping his barren wife and losing them or taking another wife and keeping them. He chose me and we were all alone in front of the world. We were living peacefully in our rented house in the city and we had prepared everything to build a house but he lost his job at the moment and the problems continue until today. I think our parents cursed us Stella.

Stella: I have tears in my eyes listening to you Isabelle, you have endured so much.

Isabelle: yes, but I don’t regret the choice I made. One day my parents will know it was the right one and they will ask me for forgiveness.

Stella: it was the right choice Isabelle. And tell me, have his parents accepted him again?

Isabelle: no, they are there just because despite everything, he remains their son.

Stella: you’re right. Do they know about the pregnancy?

Isabelle: not yet, he said he will talk to them about it.

Stella: Okay.

Master Célestin arrives.

Célestin: Madam, your husband is calling you.

They wanted to leave together but Master Célestin says that he only needs his wife. Stella therefore stops and lowers her head in front of the master.

Célestin: I love you Stella.

She suddenly lifts her head, her eyes wide, you could see this great astonishment on her face. At the same time, the hour strikes for the resumption of the trial. Everyone returns to the courtroom. Stella never took her eyes off the master. Those words kept looping through his mind.