Chapter 1

I have to start by introducing myself properly, my name is Nora, the only daughter, and last child of the late plantation owner; Mr. Gabriel. I was raised single-handedly by my father because my mother left us when I was still a baby.

The only people I knew as a family were my Dad and my two elder brothers but when I was three years of age, my elder brother died due to a sickness he had sustained at birth. After his death, I was left with my father and Ryan; my brother.

At age 12, Ryan became a rude boy and this gave my Dad concern because he was the only male child he had left, all efforts to make him change his bad ways proved abortive. Well, I wasn't close to him because of his bad ways.

My father had a lot of workers at his plantation, so, every morning we all report there to watch them do their work and also to give them little assistance. Ned was one of the hard-working workers my Dad had. His childhood experience was similar to mine but more tragic than mine.

Ned was raised by his grandmother's sister, he was made to believe that his mother abandoned him at birth, and his father didn't accept him because he didn't believe the child she was carrying was his son; besides he already has a wife and his mother would not allow him to take her in.

As a result, Ned's mother took him to the sister of his lover's mother to take care of her while she travels abroad to look for greener pastures. Since her departure, Aunt Lucy has raised Ned and also told him that she was his grandmother.

This was the reason why I got closer to Ned, who practically became my lover. We had the same childhood experience, so we share similar ideas and we were together most of the time.

Immediately I saw that his grandmother walked in one early morning, I got high hopes that he will follow suit, but to my dismay, he didn't show up. I waited for an extra hour if he will show up but he didn't. I got up and walked up to his grandmother.

"Good morning grandma, I greeted with a smile.

Good morning dear. She responded, how are you doing and how was your night?

My night was splendid and yours?

Mine was great. Ned isn't here yet, he is on an errand for your father and he will be back soon.

It's okay grandma. I responded and turned to leave.

It was not until noon that Ned came. As usual, we went to the end of the plantation to play games. After playing for some time, Ned took me by the right hand and looked directly into my eyes, and said;

If there is one thing you should never forget at the dawn of each day; if there is one thing you should never forget or if there is one thing you should ever Cherish and continue to nurture is the fact that I love you deeply from my heart.

Nothing will change that fact, there is nothing so strong that will break what I have for you, my love for you is till eternity. I love you now, always, and till after death.

Well, I have made a promise to give you this( he dipped his hand into his pocket to bring out a ring). The ring has a symbol of infinity. As he placed it in my hand, he told me to cherish the ring even as I cherish him.

As I tried to express my love to him and also appreciate the gift he gave to me, my brother called Ned from behind. Ned had no other option but to leave me alone while he goes ahead to attend to my brother.

The infinity ring was found by Ned on the plantation as he tried to harvest cucumbers about a year ago. He kept it with him and made a promise to give it to me. On the day he took it home to show his grandmother, she was shocked but she never expressed it to avoid raising any form of suspicion.

Ned's father has given that same ring to his mother as a prove of his eternal love for him. But after he refused to get married to her and accept their son, she threw it away on the night that Ned's father couldn't stand for her not even the little Ned that she was carrying in her arms.

Aunt Lucy watched her in the act after which she rushed to the same spot to get the infinity ring. She searched and searched for the ring that night but she couldn't find it.

Now, after 16 years, her son has found that same ring and is also giving it out to his lover.

*****

I continued staring at the ring on my hand until I heard the sound of voices coming from the direction of our house. I ran at a great speed to check what was happening. When I got there, I met the dead body of my father.

My father has just died of a heart attack. He has kept his life savings in one of the boxes in his office at the front of our house. He returned that afternoon to take part of the money, but when he came, he didn't find anything.

Thus, he sent Ryan to come to fetch Ned so that he can be questioned too. Upon his arrival, he told my father that he has seen my brother collecting money from the box but Ryan has denied it. As they argued about the Money, my poor father slumped and died out of shock.

Ryan automatically became the boss, and this made him do whatever pleases him anytime. He didn't pay the workers, and this made most of them leave except for Ned and about 9 of them.

That was how I lost my Dad. I was left with Ryan; who was carefree. Although, after my Dad was laid to rest, he started giving me little attention which I wasn't comfortable with. Ryan never wanted to see me around Ned, he hated him for reasons that I cannot tell.

Anytime he sees both of us together, he would punish Ned for it.

Since I discovered that he never liked Ned, we changed our meeting point to where the cattle were reared. Ryan tried to find out where our new spot was but he didn't find us until the day he came to check on the cattle.

For the first time in my life, I witnessed how heartless someone will be. Ryan grabbed Ned by his collar and asked him to kneel before him. He gave him several rounds of knocks on his head even as he rain curses on him. He dragged him onto the floor and tied his hand with a long rope which he held as he climbed on one of our horses.

Ryan rode on the horse as Ned was also being dragged on the mud helplessly. I couldn't stand the sight of seeing any human getting that kind of inhumane treatment, not to talk of the one I love and cherished. I shed tears as I ran after the horse my brother rode on just to plead with him.

My tears didn't mean anything to him because he smiled and laughed loudly as he saw me cry, I couldn't take it anymore, so I ran back to the house.

Unknown to us, a wealthy lady has been watching this disheartening act of my brother. She sat in her car and had a good view from her tinted glass window without any attempt to save poor Ned from the wicked hands of my brother.

When I left, Ryan tripled the punishment he gave to Ned. He decided to leave him when he discovered that he was already unconscious.  The wealthy lady in the car watched Ryan check if he was still conscious till the time that he loosed the rope from his hand and pushed him by the path of the road. As Ryan walked away, she made arrangements with her driver to carry the poor unconscious boy to the hospital.

That day was the last day I set my eyes on him. I made effort to search for him, but I couldn't find him. His grandmother also searched for him but all our efforts seemed to be abortive. I hated my brother because I  thought that he had killed him and thrown his body somewhere.

I waited patiently each day for him to return but he didn't show up after 24 months of waiting for him. There was nothing I could do but move on with my life.

Ryan was friends with the son of a wealthy man that lived close to our plantation, and since the time of Ned's disappearance, he has started showing interest in me but I never wanted him.

I had a belief that no matter how long it took, my eternal lover will return one day, his gift of an infinity ring reminded me of this. I made a promise to myself to wait for him no matter how long it may take and if he doesn't return, we will continue our love story in the other world when I die.

On the 27th month after Ned's disappearance, Ryan called me to the sitting room to discuss with me. I was being suspicious of him because he hasn't done this since our father died. As I stood up to follow him, a lot of thoughts ran through my brain that I couldn't give answers to.

Immediately I sat down on the chair, he smiled and asked me to come closer to him because he wanted it to be a heart talk. After he said this, a cold sensation ran through my spine.

You don't have to be scared of anything Nora. I won't hurt you. I just wanted to let you know that Donald likes you and he is interested in going into a relationship with you. I have told him to come over to the house by noon so that I can leave you two to yourselves. He wanted to say more but I put him short.

" For the fact that you're older than me doesn't make you make decisions for me, Ryan. I know what I want and I also have a say in whatever happens in my life. You cannot tell me whom to go into a relationship with nor will you force me to go into it.

As I talked to my brother in anger, he stood up and held me by the hands then he drew me closer to himself and said " Nora, you don't know anything about life, you are just 17 and you act as if you know it all. Ned has gone, believe it or not. He won't come back for you, I heard he is in Italy and he is doing great over there with another woman.

Your waiting for him is equivalent to wasting your time and not moving on with your life. If he wanted to come for you, he would have done so, he left you two years ago, this is mid of his third year and he hasn't shown up.

Nora, are you blind? Isn't the handwriting on the wall clear enough for you to see clearly? Well, just like you have said, you have a say in what happens in your life and I can't go against that, but there's one thing I want to let you know and that is this " if Ned has plans to get married to you, he would have come for you before now". He said this and walked away.

There was some sense in what he told me but I found it hard to believe what he said. Ned has promised never to leave me for anything. But he has taken too long to return as my brother has said.

I continued waiting for him while I decided to move on with my life and go out with Donald. Although, Donald was a nice guy but Ned was still the only one I want.

After waiting for another 1 year and I didn't see him show up, I decided to accept Donald's proposal but under some conditions which I tagged as "signs".

Firstly, he would be able to know my favorite spot and know the kind of fish I ate on that spot.

Secondly, on the day he would propose to me, rain would fall on that day. The rain would be meant to usher us into another era. The rain will also wash away the memories I have with Ned; that is if it would do.

Ryan has been waiting for me to accept Donald's proposal so that he can get what he wanted from him.

On one cold evening, he called me outside so that he would ask me why I haven't accepted Donald's proposal. I innocently told him what I was looking out for.

We had barely finished our conversation when Donald drove into our compound. This time, he drove in a new flashy car, I guess it would be one of the latest brands of cars.

He sat close to me and I changed the topic of our conversation, after engaging with them for more than an hour, I left them to go and take my rest.

When I left, my brother and Donald continued in the conversation till it was almost midnight.

Two weeks later, Donald called me in the early hours of the morning and told me that he would love to take me out. As usual, I agreed on the condition that it would not be in a lonely place. I already knew that it would be the garden that is close to his favorite bar. But this time, I was wrong.

For the first time in 6 months, he took me to a place where fried fish were sold.  I was shocked and surprised at the same time because I never saw it coming. The only person I told what I was watching out for was my elder brother; who has promised never to let anyone know about it. How come did he know?

Donald didn't know the kind of fish I wanted, so he quickly asked me to collect the one I wanted.

No! This is not the sign I wanted. I took two steps backward, sat on the long wooden chair that was close to me, and then asked him to get one for me. Donald looked at me and walked towards the tray of fishes.

If he can get it right, then he has scored 50% on my test. But does that mean I will agree to him if he gets it right?  Well, let's just see what happens.