Ronaldo's wife to be.

Chapter 12

The next morning after a peaceful night despite Ronaldo causing her agony, She had slept well, She found a note that had been slipped under her door and they were supposed to gather in the hall and listen to what Mandani had to say at exactly midday.

" What a consolation, and I don't have to lay my eyes in that shitty Atkin, ever in my life," Charlotte shouted out loud.

Fayez entered the room and found her pacing up and down, then she stopped and glared at her " I do not want to hear anything about last night, I will eat my breakfast here".

Fayez said nothing and she left the room hurriedly to get breakfast for her Master, it would be a bad day if she starts her day in such a mood, and it can be a bit rough for Fayez. Why am I quick to give myself out to that Monster and then am left humiliated, he is no gentleman or else he wouldn't have left me drooling like a turtle, wrapping and sweating, yearning for action.

" Your dress is well pressed, finish your breakfast, I understand our stay has come to an end," Fayez announced placing the breakfast on the table.

Charlotte ate quietly and blankly and then dressed in a deeper shade of jungle green, it was raining outside and she hated to throw a shawl over her beautiful dress, This will compromise the beauty of the bodice that was a mix of races, glitters and frills., Granny be good to me on that will please"

Johnnie came for her and they walked hand in hand to the wall, " if by any chance, Granny assigns Jack as your husband don't agree to it, I hate him," He whispered smiling.

" I know that's you and not uncle George speaking, you are right, but can we say no to Granny," Charlotte smiled back.

The butler led them to their respective chairs, the room had been arranged in two sections, the Atkins and Idris section, It was warm inside at least they had put a few Hearth in place to supply enough heat, " What pragmatic thinking, I can remove my shawl" She murmured.

"With the stone walls and uncurtained windows plus the weather outside, this place can be ice cold," Johnny shivered, as he let her hand go for the sitting arrangements never favoured his presence anywhere near the front seats.

" See you later cousin!" She whispered.

Everybody was seated but she didn't dare scan around to see who was seated where," Mandani was at the front desk with the boy who wore straw clothes on his left and a heavy Guy new to Charlotte who kept waddling papers.

Charlotte stared at Mandani who raised his hands to greet her and she bobbed, then peeked around her and was pleased that her people were present, She felt someone was goggling at her, she knew it was Ronaldo but refused to dart his way.

She got comfortless and decided to give him just one glance a quick one, he was seated near Jack and Jenny, smiling at his Aunties, His broad shoulders were visible as he filled his chair with an indolent elegance, in stark distinction to the tentative postures of any male around him. He turned to check on Charlotte and their eyes met briefly, he nodded at her with his impassive expression. She looked away.

" I wish he wasn't here, he is such a distraction," She thought, She stared at Uncle George who was checking her every move, so unrestricted to her access, maybe finding a fault he will get back to her later with.

" Stop examining me like that uncle aren't we supposed to skim at Mandani, " He slumped on his chair, pressed on his knuckles and they produced this sound as they stretched, and stared straightforwardly. Am always a step before so whatever you are contemplating is useless.

Charlotte breathed heavily, and determinedly settled, making herself calm and peaceful with every breath, and reminded herself she was present because that's her Grandmother's will, She was here to be embarrassed as her granny shamelessly chooses Ronaldo to be her husband, she does not know much of what will follow and the reason why all these others are present.

She glanced at Jack, and he smiled at her," Stupid men must you all glare at me," Charlotte fixated his gaze at the lawyer, and gestured to him that it was getting late, it was time to announce whatever they were here for.

Mandani rose and scanned around, he then asked the heavy guy to call out the names of those who should be present and if by any chance you do not hear your name, you will be escorted outside.

The servants like Fayez and Rocky were advised to lean on walls, and Jack and Jenny were escorted outside, there was an uproar as Jack rebelled to go outside but when he met his father's wild gaze he strode to the door and veneer.

" You are the hosts, make sure everything is okay in the kitchen, supervise the cleaning, just in case there are a few people who would stay behind," Mandani said

when it was all quiet, the man next to him, passed the papers and he wore his glasses, cleared his throat, and when it got dead quiet, he said.

" I hereby read the words as they were written by Her gracious ladyship of the Idris and Atkins Empire," Mandani looked up, and saw he had everyone's attention, he cleared his throat again and read.

" This is our last will, whatever is written here should be adhered to strictly, that's why we have asked for all of your presence here today, hoping you are all alive and well, What you are about to hear is our last chance to put things right on our Empires, correct where we went wrong, to rectify the few deletions we might have made, with the knowledge of our life on earth, we are glad to use this for the better management of the system between the empires".

A nervous flutter did rounds of the listeners, that was expected, Charlotte stared at Uncle George who was having a closed-mouth smile and she frowned, what are these two up to now? And what is he smiling about for God's sake? She glimpsed at Ronaldo who kept fidgeting on his chair uncomfortably. Of Course, whatever this was it was not sounding good, a will write together by two sisters??.

Ronaldo inwardly frowned and his chair became hotter, he could not sit still as he struggled to shake off the premonition Mandani's opening clause had evoked. So am supposed to adhere to whatever is written in there, I thought I was a spectator and all along this was about me and Charlotte.

" I Atkins Brewster hereby wish to give my Grandson, Ronaldo Atkins my heir who by now must be sitting on my chair at my empire the family necklace, he must receive it before we continue," Mandani gave the necklace to the straw boy, who strolled to where Ronaldo was seated and handed him the necklace, He stood up and inspected it " Am honoured", he murmured as he lifted it from the boy's arms, he inspected the stone, it was green in colour, is it an emerald, peridot, jade or green diamond? , it had small writings he couldn't read at the moment, he needed a magnifying glass for them to be vivid when it touched him, he felt like it shook his body, it was made of pure Gold and, This would cost a fortune in the market, probably the cost of my Empire". He slid it into his coat and sat down intrigued and confused

Ronaldo place his right hand on his coat and held on to the pendant, he noted the warmth it shed," He looked at Mandani who had not taken his eyes out off him and nodded, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything, so he just clasped his hands placed them on his laps and plopped lazily at the backrest of the chair.

He rolled his eyes like those of a chameleon and checked on his opponent, And she was staring at him sadly, He removed the necklace deliberately and showed it to her, she gazed at the pendant and understood the game, that was hers no doubt. Ronaldo closed his fist on the pendant, Nodded again to Mandani who was watching their small show, Charlotte sighed and looked up and he returned it to his pocket.

" Now where were we, ooh yes let's continue," he cleared his throat again then warbled", I Idris Brewster, I do hereby leave this walking stick to my Beloved granddaughter, the heir to my throne at Idris Empire, She must receive it in person and await further instructions," Mandani gave the walking stick to his boy, who stroller and presented it to Charlotte, There was great confusion and an uproar from the spectators in both the Empires, Someone Shouted from the crowd " What's going on we seem not to understand, so far its intriguing, I hate the direction this is going to !".

Charlotte rose like the leader she is and roared like a wounded lion" Everybody s**t up and be patient nobody has asked for your opinion so far, be warned any unnecessary outburst and you are thrown out of the hall," She seethed with anger, raising her Gold walking stick, that had a lion head carving that had opened its mouth, real teeth that shine brighter than the room itself, She was about to touch me when Uncle George stopped him.

" That's a weapon, that should be handled with care, touching teeth will turn it into a weapon, never seen it before but I have its description engraved in my mind," He warned and she sat down to inspect it, she has never heard of it, her mother didn't have it, whatever it was, she had no idea on how to use it or what she was supposed to do with it.

"We the Brewsters desire that our two children will come together in marriage and give us an heir, when that time comes you two sturdy souls should exchange, the necklace for Charlotte and the walking stick for Ronaldo, These are the items our forefathers ruled with, and we wish to bring us together and be one, just like before, we were our only daughters to our parents, that's why when we married we had two Empires out of the one our parents left us, If by any chance anyone of you feels you can't be together, the Empires should be dissolved, everything sold to the world and the money used to help the poor, and you can go your ways. And this will end our lineage, We need an heir who will inherit and lead the Brewster Empire after you are gone, This will need the help of everyone present to make sure our desire is fulfilled, respected and not delayed, We repeat we need a Brewster, a boy to extend our lineage, now everything is left under your control, make your decision fast, we are listening from our graves! Our solicitors will proceed with their own rules; To sell and divide in case the orders are defied and give ownership to the new owners of the money as they declare the Brewster lineage diminished on the earth. End of will!

Even as Mandani read the last lines, he was out of breath, he never anticipated that it as to turn out like this, he had strict rules t not to touch the papers until today and he was shocked at how these two women are planning to control these two stubborn souls from their graves, he sat down and jerked his chin as he stared blankly on the crowd.

Shock swept through the hall, and held everyone in silence, nothing could be heard except people breathing and the flames emanating from the hearths rustled and crackled They all had the shock of their lives, " So our lives depend on the decision of you two," Uncle George inhaled sharply and fainted, Charlotte was lost in her world and never noticed what happened though she heard his words from a distance.

Ronaldo recovered first, he scanned the room and everyone was sadly devastated by the will, He dragged in a deep breath, very much aware of what was wanted of him, and to him, that was not possible, He glanced at Charlotte who had become a statue, she was not staring at anything in particular but was struck by a stunned incredulity.

" How can she?", she whispered and stared at Mandani who was as blank as a white page, She came to live, just as Uncle George was carried out of the room by the butler and a few men.

A clamour of questions and exclamations poured forth, The Idris were devastated by their sire, they were all helpless and coherent, and they knew that Charlotte would rather die than get married to any man, their future was at Stake," That womanizer can never be our Charlotte's husband, he will stress him to death with his arrogance and foxy sharp eyes, the lady is unfair?" Auntie Mary screamed sobbing with real tears on her cheeks.

Seated next to Ronaldo, Uncle Henry was quiet," I hope all those advances you had with Charlotte were fruit full, you have put all your effort and energy into her since we came here, not minding about your people, Now we have become one, will you marry her?" he flamboyantly asked.

" How is that possible, that woman is nefarious, immodest, dazzling, cheeky, agitating, robust, fascinating, atrocious, luscious and haunted, how can you live with all those characters in one person, impossible," He shook his head in disagreement.

Marrieta turned her striking face on him and asked," So how are we going to manage, that's the only home we know off, think twice,".

" Let it sink, he is still in shock after five years of hard labour then this merging comes around, and that stronger woman, have you seen how he looks at him like she is her superior, thus we need time to sink in, you have all heard the rules and what happens if we defy the will," Aunty Maggie said, she is always the everyone, when everyone was in devastation she was rethinking the words and understanding the will as he held his hand.

Instinctively he held onto her arm, curling his fingers about hers and pressing reassuringly, He saw her face turn to Henry and noticed the hopelessness that swamped her.

" What will we do?" She held on to him tightly.

" Damn it, Granny, why, did you take time to think if we liked each other," He took out the pendant and stared at it, the green part glowed and darkened, new energy washed over him and he quickly returned it to his pocket.

Ronaldo cleared his throat, and scrutinized his people, nobody was happy, even the beautiful girl's eyes welled up, " Am sorry this moment has brought sadness to us, but I promise you that we shall look for ways to make sure everything is okay for everyone, we can't lose the Empires!"

Mandani spoke over the intercom, it was the only way to get their attention" Silence please let's continue.

They were all silent and he said" Am sorry that the will is not what we all expected, the Brewster sisters have spoken, and since we can't break tradition, as it stands the will is legal and in line with the laws of the land, nobody can question it, So do as required, we all have our roles to play, the meeting is adjourned, we have plenty of food in the restaurant, these going home, your transport is arranged, those staying the house is all yours.

" Ask for anything in the restaurant, and I will pay," Ronaldo dismissed his people, he could not look at Charlotte, he can never marry her, two men can't rule an Empire. So he strides to argue with Mandani despite him stating clearly that it's unconstitutional to try to change a legal will.

"Charlotte I will be with you shortly," Mandani said, She had not uttered a word even to calm down her people.