Load Shedding is back, says Eskom
On Saturday, 22 February 2025, Eskom announced a temporary setback after over 20 days of uninterrupted electricity supply.
Leah sipped her morning coffee, scrolling through the latest messages on her page. She had built I Need Your Help into a thriving community, and the inbox was always overflowing with stories. Some were heartbreaking, others inspiring, but every message reminded her that she wasn’t alone in her struggles.
Her eyes scanned a new message, and her heart skipped a beat. The subject line read: Desperate Husband in Need. Intrigued, she clicked on it.
As Leah read the message, her mug slipped from her hand, crashing onto the tiled floor. Hot coffee splattered everywhere, but she didn’t notice. Her hands trembled, her breath quickened.
Every word felt like a dagger. The details were unmistakable: the years of trying, the struggle to conceive, the mention of a cheating husband. It wasn’t just familiar. It was her life.
And the sender? It was Marcus.
Her pulse pounded in her ears as she reread the message, hoping she had misunderstood. But the words were clear, each one a painful truth she hadn’t been prepared to face.
Leah pushed her chair back, the scrape of wood against tile echoing in the silent kitchen. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts: anger at his betrayal, confusion about his decision to confide in strangers, and a deep, gnawing hurt that threatened to consume her.
Marcus’s voice called out from the bathroom upstairs, muffled by the sound of running water. “Leah? Did you drop something?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she paced the room, her hands shaking. “What am I supposed to do with this?” she muttered. Her reflection in the window caught her attention. She looked lost, a woman staring at the fragments of a life she thought she understood.
The anger surged suddenly, replacing the initial shock. Leah grabbed her phone and typed a response to the anonymous message:
You don’t deserve the love of your wife if you’re too much of a coward to tell her the truth. Secrets destroy everything. She deserves better than this.
But she didn’t send it. Not yet. She deleted the message and closed her laptop instead. This wasn’t just an inbox dilemma. This was her reality, and she needed to confront it head-on.
The shower turned off, and Leah heard Marcus moving around. She grabbed a dish towel and knelt to clean the spilled coffee, her movements frantic. By the time he came downstairs, she was leaning against the counter, her face calm but her knuckles white from gripping the edge.
Marcus walked into the kitchen, his hair damp, wearing his usual easy smile. “Morning. Everything okay?” he asked, leaning in to kiss her.
Leah turned her face away, his lips brushing her cheek instead. “Fine,” she said, her voice cold.
He frowned, sensing the shift in her demeanor. “Did something happen?”
She stared at him, her eyes boring into his. For a moment, she considered confronting him right there, tearing the truth from him like ripping off a Band-Aid. But something stopped her. Not yet, she thought. Not like this.
“Just spilled my coffee,” she said finally, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Marcus hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. Let me know if you want to talk about anything.” He grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door, leaving Leah standing alone in the kitchen.
As the door clicked shut, Leah let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She opened her laptop again and stared at the message from Marcus. The truth was out, even if he didn’t know she knew yet. And when the confrontation came, it wouldn’t be through a screen. It would be face to face, where neither of them could hide.
