A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 99: SOFIA

Chapter 99: SOFIA

It’s been more than thirty minutes already and that wooden door was still locked tight.

What was happening there? What could they be discussing that have stretched this long?

I was so anxious. I couldn’t stay at a place. Couldn’t think without thoughts overlapping and crashing at what was discussed behind that door. I paced with such frenzy and yet, I wasn’t at ease.

It felt like whatever was being discussed held a hand in my fate. What had begun as a joke, now held serious implications to my very existence.

But really the worst that could happen would be marriage. And for someone who had once believed that marrying Charlie was better than these caprices that adorned my life, I wasn’t really ready.

Yes, there’s a possibility of finding happiness in such a union, but why was I in high dread of it?

This time it feels like it wasn’t just about my resolve against love and marriage, I wanted more... I need more, more than such an ordinary life.

I have dreams, goals and aspirations, I couldn’t just throw all that away at a shot at normality, a life of uncomplicated decisions.

The course of one’s life should never be decided by another, other than the owner. If I had married Charlie at my own will, that would be different. But marrying him because I was told to or left without any other choice, and for the rest of my life, I think I would hate him and my life as well, because it would feel forced.

These assumptions, as scary as they were, were nothing compared to the fact that they were still in there talking about my life. Discussing my future like I don’t get a say and when it comes to it, do I really have a say when Alicia has something on me, something that when revealed would make living out the rest of my life as a wife and mother whether forced, a sweet dream as opposed to the nightmare of being the daughter of a high profile criminal.

I guess for some of us, the frivolity of choice making is oblivious to us. At one stage, we are allowed to fool ourselves into thinking we have a choice on how it will go, but that is past when we find ourselves conformed to the ultimate choice made and decided within any involvement of us.

And unfortunately, I am one of these people, affected by the choices made without my knowledge. My mom’s choice to stay in love and marry a man of such a reputation wasn’t known to me, and yet I suffer from it.

My father’s choice to be evil wasn’t also to my knowledge, but the consequences of it are latched onto my existence. His choice to leave me here instead of any other family, both maternal or paternal even though I don’t know and haven’t seen any other relative of mine, I don’t even know if I have grannies or grans. That choice of his upended my life and now, it’s about to dictate the course of my remaining days.

Now, as the rest of my life is being decided without my knowledge, I can’t help, but wonder what’s life without the wills of self made choices?

True, mistakes will be inevitable, but aren’t they the foundations for our growth, the pillars on which we thrive and learn.

"Oh Sofia," Alicia called, bringing my pacing to a halt as she appeared from the door that had been locked for more than forty minutes if I’m not being litotic.

Her arm around my shoulders, she continued, leading me towards the exit, "you have no idea how lucky you’ve been. Charlie loves you as well and we’ve finalized things, you’ll be getting married soon. Isn’t that exhilarating?" She chirped.

I suspected that that would be the ultimate decision, but hearing it as a fact,the echo of those words to my ears were heavy with finality. They just escaped the walls of my mind and became... very real.

"Yay" I tried sounding elated, but the effect wasn’t lost on Alicia.

"You don’t sound very excited," she accused, her hand draped over my shoulder dropping immediately. Coming to stand in front of me, she went on before I could defend myself,

"Of course, you are not happy. You ungrateful twat, here I am offering you the opportunity to find happiness, to be free of me and you don’t even have the manners to be grateful"

"It’s not that," I quickly offered, before she would make a scene, "of course, I’m grateful, it’s just that I thought that we’d date for a while, get to know ourselves better before marriage, besides I also have dreams and becomes wife at the age of 22 is not one of them"

"Dreams," she scoffed, "just be glad, you are getting married to a man who will love and treat you right. Not many get so lucky, and my dear Sofy, dreams are for people who can actually actualize them, not a girl with the kind of past you have. So, take your win girl, and about getting to know each other, that’s up to you and your husband-to-be, but was I in your shoes, I would get married tomorrow"

"Easy for you to say, why don’t you go and marry William tomorrow" I almost said in rage, but decided to settle for silence.

Still chipping as if she just won ’Matchmaker of the Year’, she cupped my cheeks and dismissed,

"I will see you at home, can’t wait to tell my girls"

And I watched her leave, a newfound gait to her walk. At that moment, I joined everyone who at one point or another, wished the eyes could kill, because the glare I focused on Alicia’s back would have been enough to obliterate her to ashes.

"Such happy news, isn’t it?" A voice said from behind me, Charlie.

Gritting my teeth, I turned to face the second perpetrator of my future’s ruin.

"Now, we can be together at last," He continued, not reading my face, which was void of any crease of happiness.

"I have always known that we are fated, simply meant to be. It’s fate that after these years, the reason why we broke up is removed from the equation, leaving only equals to... us. It’s good, right? I just came up with that one"

Then suddenly taking notice of my silence and my eyes, close to tears, he pulled me to a corner and asked,

"Are you alright? I know it’s a lot to take

in, but you are happy, right? Those tears are of joy, aren’t they?"

How I wanted to remind him that we broke up because I wasn’t a fan of love or marriage. That this wasn’t what I wanted and might never be. That I still have dreams, goals and aspirations, and marriage wasn’t anywhere in the list. How I wished he wasn’t so damn happy about the whole thing. That I could be just as happy. That things would be different. And that I would rather break his heart the second time then succumb to the choice of marrying him.

But I wasn’t that cruel and even if I was, the glint in his eyes would have made it hard to do such a thing. But, was it really a matter of cruelty when I had no choice, no other alternative, but to marry him?

I leaned to the white and green walls, and folded my arms, my tears running freely.

"What is it? My Sof, talk to me, please"

Another round of tears fell, I didn’t know whether it was because of the fond name he used to call me in the past, or the extra softness in his tone.

"I... um... I" was all I could manage before he cut in,

"I thought this was what you wanted, I thought you loved me, that you would be elated, but..."

"I don’t know what I want!" I snapped, interrupting him and drawing the eyes of everyone in the hall, straight to us.

Reducing my tone, I tried again,

"I thought this was what I wanted, but now that it’s within grasp, I don’t know anymore. Okay, I don’t fucking know"

More tears spilled.

"Come," he urged, subtly dragging me, "let’s talk in my office"

Shrugging from his touch, I said, backing to the door,

"I can’t. I’m sorry, I just need time to process all this" and I dashed out of there.

I kept running, my tears blurring my vision and veering off to the wind as soon as it fell from my eyelids. I didn’t know where I was going, I had just turned right and kept on running.

People pointed, they stared, but I didn’t care. Their eyes, their fingers, their words, it all felt far away, insignificant compared to the thoughts that held my mind, I was going to be married... and it wasn’t by choice, or a choice for that matter.