Chapter 1

Amara Nicholas

I was in my room when I heard a knock on the door. I walked up to the door and pulled it open, and then I saw my mother's maid, Agnes, smiling at me.

Agnes was dressed in a long blue gown; she was light-skinned and a young lady of my height. I am 24 years old. I was wearing a long blue nightgown, too, as it was already nighttime, around 11 p.m. on the 31st of December.

We were waiting for the crossover celebration to begin, and I had pulled my hair into a bun shortly after drying it from taking my bath in my bathroom.

"What do you want, Agnes?" I asked, looking at her face, and she smiled back at me.

"Good evening, Amara. If you have a moment, your father sent for you downstairs," Agnes informed me. I sighed and replied, "But we just finished having our dinner in the dining room. What does my father want to say to me again? I am not interested in the New Year celebration."

Agnes smiled faintly at me and replied, "I don't know, but he's downstairs with your mom, and the guests had all gone outside, preparing for the fireworks."

"Hmm, okay. Tell my father I will be downstairs soon. Let me go and relieve myself; I'm coming," I told Agnes, and she turned and left my corridor.

I sighed and went back into my restroom to relieve myself. I got out and went downstairs to the living room of my father's enormous white mansion. We live on the outskirts of the city, in the countryside. It could also be referred to as a village or sparsely populated area, as my father is a chief there and is involved in agricultural farm produce.

I am more like a princess at home. My mother is the center of admiration, and my people love me, as my mother taught me to be kind and helpful to those around us. We were preparing for the crossover night to a brand-new year, and I don't know how to feel about it.

I am the only child of my parents. I am still single, and my parents aren't pressing for me to get married. My father is an understanding man, but after a few bachelors have come to ask for my hand in marriage, even my crush, Charles Wilfred, my father refused.

His reason, I do not know, but my mother assured me that my father wanted the best for me and couldn't just give me away to any male suitor who would probably treat me less in the future. I understood and sighed, going downstairs to the living room.

We live in a standard duplex house surrounded by many trees and gardens. My father's mansion was fenced, and now that the celebration was ongoing, we had many visitors, and the guest rooms were packed with my cousins and aunt around.

I finally walked into the living room, and Agnes stepped out again and told me, "Your dad requested that you meet him in his office."

"Okay," I said, then went to my father's home office to see him. I suspect what he had to tell me was private so that none of our relatives would eavesdrop on our conversation.

I finally arrived at the front of my father's home office. Likewise, I knocked gently and heard my father's response in a calm voice, "Come inside."

I quietly pushed the office door open and walked into the enormous office, which had two guest seats and also a set of four blue couches.

There, my parents sat on a blue couch, and my father smiled at me and said, "Come, Amara, come have your seat before the fireworks start. Your mother and I have something important to say to you."

"Okay, Dad," I walked into the office, and shortly after, I was seated on another blue couch across from my parents. My mother was clad in a red nightdress, and my dad wore a white garment and black trousers, beneath which I could see the trousers because he was sitting on the same blue couch as my mother.

My dad smiled at me and said, "Amara, it has come to the point that your mother and I need to inform you about our arrangement. We have been keeping it from you, but now is the time to inform you about our decision. Well, I am sure you're familiar with my friend, Mr. Joshua Briggs."

I smiled and replied, "Yes, Dad. I know him; he lives in the city and visits here sometimes."

"Good. Well, you are married to his only son, Darlington Briggs, and you will be going to the city tomorrow to live with him." My father informed me.

I gasped, "What? Dad, I don't understand. How can I be married to your friend's son? When? I cannot remember getting married to any man, or did I have a memory loss?"

I stared at my parents in shock. Like, how did I get married without remembering about it and also wishing to settle down and have my home? My father sighed, and my mother smiled understandably at me.

"It was an arrangement I had with Mr. Joshua Briggs a long time ago. You are not fully married to Darlington Briggs officially, but you will have to live with him to see if you both can be compatible to become a true couple," my father explained.

"Dad, I do not understand what you are saying. You mean, I will visit them, or I am already married to the man you're saying is your best friend's son? And doing what married couples do with him?" I asked my father, wanting to understand him better.

"Amara, like I said, you are married to Darlington Briggs, and you should be a good lady to him when you finally get to their house. You don't have to worry about anything; Mr. Joshua has paid all the necessities for your hand in marriage for his son. So Darlington Briggs is your husband, and you are his wife now. The only difference is that Darlington didn't come down here to marry you officially, neither did you wear a wedding dress to walk down the aisle with him. But you are his wife by our traditional custom," my father emphasized.

"Dad, I cannot marry a man that I don't know. I can't go to the city to be with him. Mom?" I looked at my mother's face, wanting to hear her response about all these arrangements.

She sighed and said, "Amara, calm down. It is for your good."

"How, Mom? I cannot go to the city to live with a man I'm not familiar with, Dad. I do not like the bustling lives of city people. Likewise, I want to remain here, where there's no noise and wild lifestyle," I protested and wanted my father to change his mind about these sudden arrangements.

"I can understand your complaint, my daughter, but I trust Mr. Joshua's son to take care of you, so you're going to the city tomorrow," my father finalized.