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I made my way to the bedroom to feel the warmth of my bed. I fell on the bed as soon as I reached it and memories of Ben and me came fresh in my head. I was deep in my memoriesand smiling when I remembered Aunt Nelly’s call. I was restless immediately.
What could she want? Maybe I was overthinking things. Aunt Nelly didn’t sound threatened or fearful. She was only calm. I decided to go and see what she needed.
I took off my work clothes and jumped into clean clothes. I grabbed my sneakers and threw my feet into them. In no time I was at Aunt Nelly’s house.
She opened the door, and I stepped in. The first thing my gaze fell on was the two people at the dining table. I was surprised when I saw him --- Dad, smiling right in my direction, and Jack, my almost-husband whom I left at the altar on our wedding day.
What were they doing here?
“Don’t worry, I’m here with you. They can’t harm you.” Aunt Nelly whispered. These words warmed my heart. I walked in.
Aunt Nelly looked angry. I could tell they had already discussed me before I came in, and if I knew my father well, then it was more of giving orders than a conversation.
“Dad…” I greeted him from a distance.
“Olivia! Welcome.” My dad said. He raised his brows expectantly. “You’re not saying hi to Jack?”
“Hi, Jack,” I said because I didn’t want to disrespect my father. They both sat at the dining room table, and it seemed they were waiting for me.
“Hi,” Jack responded.
My father beckoned for me to come and sit down. I took a seat with them at the dining table.
“You see, Olivia, you’ve stayed here for too long. Your holiday is officially over. We’ve come to take you back where you belong.” He said with a straight face.
I turned to Aunt Nelly and saw her fuming. If she had the strength, she would have beaten my father and Jack up and sentthem out of her house. The looks of an angry lion were nothing compared to what I saw on her face. I turned back to my father.
“And… where’s that?” I asked.
“Back home with Jack. You must get back home and get married to Jack. Our families had a deal you signed, and you must honor it. It’s my word, and it’s final. I’ve tolerated it for a while now, but you needed a push. Here’s one, Olivia. You have a week.”
The news hit me like a freight train, leaving me utterly shocked and dumbfounded. I sat there, frozen, as the words reverberated in my mind. It was one of those moments when time seemed to slow down, and reality blurred at the edges.
My heart grew agitated, and a cold sweat formed on my brow. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. My mind struggled to process the enormity of it all. It was as if the ground had shifted beneath me, and I was suspended in disbelief.
My mouth opened, but no words came out. I tried to speak, to form sentences, but my voice betrayed me.
The world around me continued to move, people carried on with their lives, oblivious to the seismic shock that had just rocked my world. How dare he? How could he walk into this house, after months of no communication?
My dad stood up and didn’t say anything. I could see Jack smiling and trying to hide it. I was so angry and out of words.
“We’ll sleep in a hotel nearby for tonight. This house won’t hold all of us.” He headed towards the door. Jack joined him.
As soon as they stepped outside, tears rolled down my face.
My fragile composure shattered like glass. My trembling voice quivered with sorrow and anger as I tried to speak, but words dissolved into choked sobs. Aunt Nelly wrapped her arms around me.
I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, and now, the burden had become too much to bear.My shoulders slumped, and I clutched my chest as if trying to hold myself together. Aunt Nelly looked heartbroken for me.
She reached out, offering a comforting hand, but I recoiled, lost in the whirlpool of my anguish. It was as though I’d retreated into a world of my own, a place where pain and despair reigned supreme.
“I wish I could do more, say something to ease your suffering, other than just hug,” she started. “But sometimes words fall short in the face of such raw anguish. I feel your pain.” Her voice quivered like she was the one in the pain.
There was a deal in place, and I knew it. It was an arranged marriage from birth, and my father had traded me together with Jack in exchange for a certain amount of control of the city. For me, there was nothing at stake.
I just wanted to please my father and fulfill a certain kind of obligation. I made a promise to him, and it was a word he had made me swear on.
Jack knew this, so he continually exercised his manhood rights with any woman he pleased. My break from the altar was one I thought would continue, but it seemed everything was coming back to haunt me.
