Chapter 5

Amara Nicholas:

"Ah!!" I screamed, almost causing the driver to have an accident. I was so shocked to see the face of the man that I am married to.

"What's the problem, my lady? Are you alright?" Mr. Timothy asked me in concern as he slowed down and gazed at me cautiously through the car's rearview mirror.

"I am sorry, sir. You can continue driving; I was only shocked to see my husband's face online," I said to him nervously. Mr. Timothy smiled understandably, and I took it as a mental note not to scream out so foolishly again.

The drive started again, and I continued to look at the face of the man who was about to become my husband. Darlington Briggs.

I had seen him before when I got into the university. We crossed paths, and I mistakenly stepped on him, not knowing when I was walking with my friend Esther Peters.

Esther was an accountant; she was a seductive person, and she never failed to observe all the handsome and well-to-do rich guys in the university.

I wondered how a rich girl like Esther Peters would be so easily swayed by money when she wasn't from a poverty-stricken home. Her parents were billionaires, but since we graduated from the university, Esther had traveled to another country farther away, and I lost contact with her.

She was not on F******k, which would have made it easy for me to search for her online and get her new contact, but she hasn't contacted me either, despite knowing that I use my real name online.

I marveled inaudibly at the handsome sight that occupied my phone screen. Then, I apologized to Darlington, not knowing his name, and told him, "I am sorry." He only stared at me in shock, not responding to me, and then he strode away.

Until I finished my schooling there, I never got to see him again. I learned that he may be a final-year student, and Esther was the one who I told about my secret crush.

Now, looking at the handsome face that had become mature, I think he was the only guy I saw and admired.

I saw some other guys, too, who usually admired me, but I didn't give them the chance. I had gone out several times with Esther in the hope of crossing paths with Darlington again, at least to know his name and to know him better. But I never got to see him.

I couldn't stop thinking about him, about how my heart had accelerated when he held me close by my waist to prevent me from falling after I mistakenly stepped on him.

Feeling his firm arms wrapped around my waist and caught me closely before I would drop to the floor like a dummy after getting lost admiring him. I think maybe that was why he didn't speak to me.

I learned from Esther that it wasn't good to drool over a man, and you should form a classic and stone-cold nature and allow the man to drool over you instead.

Well, that was not intentional. Darlington was tall; he looked so handsome in the casual clothes I saw him wearing. Even when he walked away without responding to me, I could see some other young ladies in our school glaring at me, like I intentionally stepped on him to get his attention.

I sighed and asked myself, "So this man is my husband now?"

I couldn't believe my eyes. How handsome Darlington now looks. I exited his profile picture to stare at some of his timeline photos, but then my eyes grew sad as I saw a photo of him and another lady.

"Did Father not tell me that Darlington was single and would be expecting me?"

My heart broke as I saw a photo of Darlington Briggs and the slim, formidable model that he proposed to.

Seeing the smile on their faces and how he went down on one knee and proposed to her broke my heart.

I could hear the shattering sound of my heart, seeing how lovely they look together and how Darlington captioned the post, saying, "She said yes to me. I am so happy right now."

Tears welled up in my eyes, and my heartbeat accelerated. I felt the urge to scream out and tell the driver to stop the car and drive me back home to my father's house.

But I remembered my father telling me to return home with my kids and his future grandchildren. Not only that, I remember asking my mother if Darlington was already in a relationship. She told me she doesn't think so.

I knew I hadn't been in a relationship; I was untouched. But the case would be rare for a man who grew up in the city and whose father is a billionaire, according to how my mother described them and told me not to pack my clothes too much the previous night. My mother wasn't pleased with my fashion sense.

I didn't know that I was crying; I felt cheated upon seeing the photos of Darlington and his girlfriend, and I saw him tag her profile along with his own as "my baby."

Her name was Jenna Colton online, and she had a lot of followers. A million followers, at least. She was a celebrity in Country Z, and I wonder how they would treat me now.

"I am sure Darlington didn't know that he was married to me. I am certain he wouldn't accept me, not when 'his baby' was there. I didn't want to continue with the journey of going to the city, but I still wanted to obey my parents, even if it was the last thing they wanted me to do for them before I finally became an independent woman. I want to get to the Briggs Family Mansion to see Darlington and his family. To know if I am indeed married to him or not. Or my father was deceived by his friend, who was the one who had settled everything.

I didn't want to believe that I was married off to my father's friend, with the disguise that I was his son's wife. Well, when I get to the city, I will find out.

I feel sad after seeing many photos of Darlington and that pretty, fair-skinned lady. I didn't look pretty and sophisticated like her, and I knew that I would be cast away and labeled as a wicked person for coming into another woman's relationship. But I wanted to confirm the whole truth before finally taking a concrete decision.

I relaxed my back to the car seat as the car drove ahead, continuing driving for hours to the city. Soon, I fell asleep at the back.