Chapter 5
1061 Words
**Amara's POV**
"Ah!!" I screamed, almost causing the driver to have an accident. I was shocked to see the face of the man I was married to.
"What's the problem, my lady? Are you alright?" Mr. Timothy asked me with concern as he slowed down and gazed at me cautiously through the car's rearview mirror.
"I'm sorry, sir. You can continue driving; I was just shocked to see my husband's face online," I said nervously. Mr. Timothy smiled understandingly, and I made a mental note not to scream foolishly again.
The drive resumed, 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 started university. We crossed paths, and I accidentally stepped on his foot, not realizing it as I walked with my friend, Esther Peters.
Esther was an accountant; she was captivating and never failed to notice all the handsome, wealthy guys at the university.
I wondered how a rich girl like Esther could be so easily swayed by money when she came from a well-off family. Her parents were billionaires, but since we graduated from university, Esther had traveled to another country, and I lost contact with her.
She was not on f*******:, which would have made it easy for me to search for her online and get her new contact information, but she hadn’t reached out to me either, despite knowing I used my real name online.
I marveled inaudibly at the handsome sight occupying 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 and then walked away.
Until I finished my schooling, I never saw him again. I learned from Esther that he was likely a final-year student, and she was the one I confided in about my secret crush.
Now, looking at this handsome face that had matured, I realized he was the only guy I had genuinely admired.
I had seen some other guys who usually admired me, but I didn’t give them a chance. I had gone out several times with Esther, hoping to cross paths with Darlington again, if only to learn his name and get to know him better. But I never had that chance.
I couldn't stop thinking about him, about how my heart raced when he held me close to prevent me from falling after I mistakenly stepped on him.
Feeling his firm arms wrapped around my waist as he caught me before I could hit the ground—it was as if he sensed my admiration. Maybe that was why he didn’t speak to me.
I learned from Esther that it wasn't good to drool over a man; instead, one should maintain a classic and stone-cold demeanor and allow the man to drool over you.
Well, that wasn’t intentional. Darlington was tall and looked so handsome in the casual clothes I saw him wearing. Even as he walked away without responding to me, I could see other young ladies at our school glaring at me, as if I had 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 looked now! I exited his profile picture to browse through some of his timeline photos, but my heart sank as I saw a photo of him with another lady.
"Didn't Father tell me that Darlington was single and would be expecting me?"
My heart broke seeing Darlington Briggs with the slender, stunning model he proposed to.
Seeing the smiles on their faces and how he got down on one knee to propose shattered my heart.
I could hear the sound of my heart breaking as I read how happily he captioned the post: "She said yes to me. I am so happy right now."
Tears welled up in my eyes, and my heartbeat quickened. I felt the urge to scream out for the driver to stop the car and take me back home to my father's house.
But then I remembered my father telling me to return home with my kids and his future grandchildren. Moreover, I recalled asking my mother if Darlington was already in a relationship.
I knew I hadn’t been in a relationship; I was untouched. But that seemed rare for a man who grew up in the city and whose father was a billionaire, just as my mother described them. She had told me not to pack too many clothes the previous night because she wasn't pleased with my fashion sense.
I didn’t realize I was crying; I felt betrayed upon seeing the photos of Darlington with his girlfriend. I saw he tagged her profile along with his own as "my baby."
Her name was Jenna Colton online, and she had a lot of followers—at least a million. She was a celebrity in Country Z, and I wondered how they would treat me now.
"I am sure this man didn’t know he was married to me. I am certain he wouldn’t accept me, especially with ‘his baby’ around. I didn’t want to continue this journey 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 wanted to reach the Briggs Family Mansion to see Darlington and his family, to find out if I was indeed married to him or if my father had been deceived by his best friend, who might have settled everything.
I didn’t want to believe that I was married off to my father's friend under the pretense that I was his son’s wife. Well, when I finally got to the city, I would find out.
I felt sad after seeing so many photos of Darlington and that pretty, fair-skinned lady. I didn’t look pretty or sophisticated like her, and I knew I would be dismissed and labeled a wicked person for intruding on another woman’s relationship. But I wanted to confirm the whole truth before finally making a concrete decision.
I leaned back in the car seat as Mr. Timothy continued to drive for hours toward the city. Soon, I fell asleep in the back.
- Writer
