CHAPTER 1

Amara:

I am in my room, preparing to sleep when I hear a knock on the door. I walk up to the door and pull it open, and then I see my mother's maid, Agnes, smiling at me.

Agnes is dressed in a long blue gown; she is light-skinned and a young lady about my height. I am 24 years old. I am wearing a long blue nightgown, too, as it is nighttime, around 11:30 p.m. on the 31st of December.

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

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

"Amara, your father sent for you downstairs," Agnes informs me. I sigh and reply, "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 smiles and replies, "I don't know, but he's downstairs with your mom, and the guests have all gone outside, preparing for the fireworks."

"Okay. Tell my father I will be downstairs soon. Let me go and relieve myself; I'm coming," I tell Agnes, and she turns and leaves my corridor.

I sigh and go back into my restroom to relieve myself. I get out and go downstairs to the living room of my father's enormous white mansion.

I live in the countryside with my parents. My father is a chief there and into agricultural farm produce.

I am like a princess at home. My mother is the center of admiration, and my people love me, as my parents has taught me to be kind and helpful to those around us. We are preparing for the cross-over 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 a few bachelors have come to ask for my hand in marriage. Even my crush, Charles Wilfred, but my father refused.

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

I live in a magnificent duplex house surrounded by lush gardens.

My father's mansion is fenced, and now that the celebration is ongoing, we have many visitors, and the guest rooms are packed with my cousins and aunt around.

I finally walk into the living room, and Agnes steps out of the kitchen and tells me, "Amara, your dad requested that you meet him in his home office."

"Okay," I reply, then go to my father's home office to see him. I suspect what he has to tell me is private so that none of our relatives would eavesdrop on our conversation.

I finally arrive at the front of my father's home office. I knock gently and hear my father's response in a calm voice, "Come inside."

I quietly push the office door open and walk into the vast office, which has two guest seats and a set of four blue couches.

My parents sit on a blue couch, and my father smiles and says, "Come, Amara, have your seat before the fireworks start. Your mother and I have something important to say to you."

"Okay, Dad." I walk into the office. Shortly after, I am seated on another blue couch across from my parents. My mother is clad in a red nightdress, and my dad wears a white garment and black trousers, beneath which I can see the trousers, because he is sitting on the same blue couch as my mother.

My dad smiles and says, "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. I am sure you're familiar with my friend, Mr. Joshua Briggs." My father asks me, and I smile and reply, "Yes, Dad. I know Mr. Briggs. He lives in the city and visits here sometimes."

"Good. You are married to his only son, Darlington Briggs, and you will go to the city tomorrow to live with him." My father informs me, and I gasp, "What? Dad, I don't understand. How can I be married to your best friend's son? When? I cannot remember getting married to any man, or did I have a memory loss?"

I am staring at my parents in shock. Like, how did I get married without remembering about it, and also wishing to settle down and have my own home?

My father sighs, and my mother smiles understandably at me.

"It was an arrangement I had with Mr. Briggs a long time ago. You are not yet married to his son, Darlington Briggs, but you will live with him to see if you both can get along to become as a true couple," my father explains to me.

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

"Amara, as I said, you are married to Darlington, and you should be of good behavior when you get to their house. You don't have to worry about anything; Joshua has already paid all the necessary dues for your hand in marriage for his son. So you're Darlington's wife now. The only difference is that Darlington didn't come down here to marry you, nor did you wear a wedding dress to walk down the aisle with him. But you are Mrs. Amara Briggs now. And Darlington Briggs is your husband, by our custom," my father tells me.

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

My mother sighs; she looks at me and says, "Calm down, Amara. It is for your good."

"How, Mom? I cannot go to the city to live there. Dad, I do not like the bustling lives of city people. I want to remain here, on this side of the country where there's no noise and wild lifestyle," I protest and want my father to have a change of 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 concludes.