Better the devil you know than the angel you do not. These words best summarize the crazy life and ordeals that 26-year-old Veronica Muthoni has had to painstakingly endure.

Lovers from all walks of life can often tell red flags in their partners, and as is, should find a way to communicate it.

Some like Ms. Muthoni, choose to ignore, a mistake that will always come back to bite you one time in the future. Regrets come after indeed!

For Veronica Muthoni, she had not once imagined that her lover would ever be a murderer; that he would kill her son and sister’s child.

Despite getting death threats from him, she never imagined that he would fulfill them in the future. A wrist tattoo of her son’s name reminds her daily of the agony she has been through.

How she wishes she never met this man.

“Alikuwa anasema ‘mimi ninaweza kukuua na hakuna mahali utaweza kunipeleka’,” tearfully, she recalled the most serious red flag she mistook for anger.

In a story feature with Shared Moments with Justus, she narrates how she met her hubby murderer and the circumstances that led up to him ruining her life. Here is her story:

Veronica Muthoni got pregnant at a young age (16 years) and gave birth to her only child, a son in 2013. Ms. Muthoni worked with job agencies in the Middle East, where she often traveled inorder to execute her duties.

In 2015, she traveled to Qatar for work. During those times, many folk were just getting started on online dating and Facebook was the app with the most traction. That is where she met her new lover. Little did she know…

In August 2016, Veronica flew back to Kenya. She stayed home, at her mother’s for a month, before scheduling a meet with the new bae.

The two decided to move in together in December 2017. But Veronica had to leave the baby with his grandmother. He was a 5-year-old then.

She used to visit her child regularly. A month after living together, the man became abusive and developed a cheating habit. She rarely confronted him about it, and if so, she forgave him and they continued with the relationship.

Months down the line, he barred her from speaking to other men as he suspected she was cheating. He did it in the most brutal of ways, beating Veronica to the extent of breaking her arm.

“The following day he asked me to make breakfast, and I refused because I couldn’t do it with a swollen arm. He complained and said I was good for nothing,” she bitterly recalls.

Ms. Muthoni’s mother noticed the swollen arm but naively lied that she fell off a staircase at night. Veronica says she was afraid of sharing with people because she did not want to be judged by the public.

One time, she decided to move in with her son, with the lover’s consent of course. That night, he hit her in front of her young son.

Adding insult to injury, he also thrashed the kid when he tried to defend her mother. This was Ms. Muthoni’s breaking point in the relationship.

“I questioned him for hitting my son and he wasn’t even the biological father.”

She packed her things and left the toxic relationship. All efforts from the man to beg for forgiveness from Veronica and her mother proved futile. They stayed for four months without reconciling.

However, Veronica, not one to keep grudges, finally talked to the man and sorted their issues.

In Kenya, times had proven difficult for her to take care of her child. Ms. Muthoni flew to Bahrain to make more money, albeit not informing her ex-lover.

She broke up with him completely and blocked him everywhere. She stayed abroad for one year.

Upon her return to Kenya, her ex started stalking her. He sent her messages complaining about her tattoos and how she was keeping herself closed. Four months later, the ex called for a meeting to apologize, which went successfully well.

“We met. I insisted on meeting him in a public. He was apologetic and said he was stressed. I had moved on so I just nodded emotionlessly,” she recalls.

In 2019 December, Veronica Muthoni traveled again to Iraq without telling her ex. While there, she had no network service and couldn’t respond to his messages efficiently despite both making peace. This did not sit well with the boyfriend.

“He sent me a message telling me Iraq was not too far for him to get me. He reminded me that my child and family were within reach,” she said.

“I never took it seriously. Plus I was far in Iraq. I just wanted peace,” Veronica added.

She blocked him on all her contacts and platforms. Hence he had no way of contacting her.

On 10th February, Veronica Muthoni got a phone call from her mother. She told her that her son and sister’s child were missing and were nowhere to be found. They reported the matter to all nearby police stations.

They also questioned a neighbor’s daughter, who said that they were abducted by a man. She gave a fitting description of her ex-lover.

Veronica was immensely stressed. Her child in Kenya was abducted and she was out in Iraq unable to help.

The family in Kenya received a call from Ruiru police to go identify the bodies of two children who were dumped in a sewer. They positively identified them.

At 7 pm, Veronica received the most heart-breaking call from the kid’s biological father. She fainted.

She pleaded with her boss and agency to allow her a return to Kenya for grieving and burial.

It didn’t happen because of the COVID travel restrictions. Her child was buried without her being physically present.

Investigations by police identified the ex-lover as the one who was last seen with the kids. He was put behind bars, pending interrogations and court hearings, despite pleading not-guilty and failing to access bond.

It was a sour revenge on Veronica Muthoni, who has never recovered from the trauma caused. Asked why he did it, he told detectives that Veronica owed him money.

“He said I owed him Sh. 70,000. I have no memory of him giving me even Sh. 1. Then he said that was the cumulative amount he had spent on taking me out on dates.”

“So was I being charged for being taken on dates? Was the children’s lives worth Sh. 70,000?” she cries.

More to follow…