Martha walking towards Achefor, " were you planning on sending me away from this kingdom and inheriting what is left of my husband's properties", said Martha. Achefor starts walking away, "i can see one can't reason with you with that mindset of yours", replied Achefor leaving the compound. Martha shouting after him, "reason with that your scheming, manipulative attitude of yours, that always lands others into trouble while you enjoy the motives of your ways. How dare you try to work your way to the top by using my innocent granddaughter. This is not the last of me, Achefor, I will deal with you and show you the errors of your ways". Martha walking back towards the house furious.
Few seconds later, Princess Maya's car breaks at the entrance of Martha's house and Rex, Ella and Princess Maya step down from the car. "Make sure to present yourselves at the Palace one hour earlier, so if there are any difficulties I can adjust it before the meeting with my Father", said Princess Maya. Ella embracing her, "don't worry Princess Maya, soon all this will be over, and we can go back to our lives like before" reply Ella. Princess Maya Separate from the embrace and staring at her eyes with love and good intentions, "nothing is ever small when it concerns the throne and over is an understatement, when it comes to my father, the king. The moment he senses the slides mistakes, he will play it to his favor", replied Princess Maya. Rex holding Princess Maya's hands, "thank you for doing the unthinkable to make sure she doesn't find herself trapped in this kingdom, I sincerely appreciate your efforts and kindness, My Princess". Don't thank me yet, wait until we are at the final stage and everything goes well. I will accept your appreciations but for now, I can only smile at both of you" said Princess Maya. She turns and walks towards the car and enters it. The driver steps on the wheel, taking her away, while Ella and Rex wave her goodbye.
Princess Maya feels a sense of sadness and betrayal as she leans on the door of the car going back home. Betrayal of her best friend and father, when did she turn to this canning, scheming and manipulative person who can't recognize herself in the mirror anymore? Enough water has pass under the bridge to regret now. Ella is now married to the love of her life, her father will not be getting her as his concubine and either will her mother spends another sleepless night crying over another betrayal from the King. This is what matter, and if I have to be the unpredictable evil of the north to make this happen, so be it. She rests her head at the back of the car and smiled at herself. In this life, you are defined by the decisions you make, and you take responsibility for it. There is no going back
Ella rushes towards her grandmother "Hello Grandma", said Ella as she embraced her. Martha's holdings her granddaughter, "I can see you brought the man who will be saving you from the crushes of hell", said Martha to Ella as she separated from the embrace. "This is Rex Johnson, the one I mistakenly mentioned his name during the unfortunate events with the King", said Ella. "Good afternoon Grandma ", said Rex and extends his hands to greet her. "Nice to meet you, my son". Greeting Rex, "it Is so kind of you to accept a contract marriage and safe my daughter from the evil lingering on the atmosphere of the Wattu Palace", said Martha. "it Is my pleasure Grandma, she has always been there for me when I needed her help and is just ok for me to retaliate too", replied Rex. "Let go inside and rest while I make food for us to eat", said Martha.
While they are walking towards the house, Rex reflects on why he had never really taking Ella as his girlfriend, 'All my life she had been there not having, nothing but offer everything she had for me. She stopped visiting the village because she would rather not let me alone at the time I required her the most. She had genuinely been the perfect, companion, letting go others just to stay beside me, but I had been blind all at long. How could I repay her back? Saving her from this unwanted marriage will never be enough, and my form of doing so is by lying to Julia, who will stop at nothing to make Ella pay the price of my betrayal. Princess Maya may have done everything to safe Ella and I. I may have gotten involved because of my own selfish reasons, but the truth is who will bear the consequences of our actions if not the one an only person we are struggling to saves. Julia doesn't come from any type of background, and her wayward way of thinking and attacking things will falls on Ella like the weight of a hip of sand. I may have escaped her this time, but I know soon I will face her squarely for my deeds. I just hope by then, I may be prepared for her.
In the evening, after Ella has eaten and rested beat, she decides to sit in the shelter hidden at the end section of the house to engulf herself reading a novel. Rex changes into a casual out fit and is on the phone with his father for hours discussing business. Martha is in her room reading her Bible while hoping tomorrow will come and pass as fast as possible. When Rex ends the phone call, Martha walks up to him," My son sits down, let me talk to you". Rex sits beside Martha, hoping the old lady will not ask anything that will warrant him to lie to her. "I wasn't in the life of my granddaughter for a long time now, and I noticed the sadness on her face when she paid and unexpected visits to me a few days ago. She never talked about it and the more I tried to inquired, she decided to push away the discussion. Do you know the reasons for her predicaments?". Rex is silence and decides to tell the truths. "I am the reason for her sadness, Grandma", said Rex apologetically. I haven't been the good and kind-hearted person that she had been for me". Said Rex and is silence. "What did you do to her to make her so sad to a point she had to result to the likes of this kingdom? She had never loved coming here because it reminded her of her parents. I felt sad for her abandoning me in this kingdom, but I came to understand her and accepted her as such". "I… I got engaged to my present girlfriend while she was with me. The issue is…? Rex wants to fix the horrible truths before presenting it to this nice old woman, but no matter how you present it, it will still sound horrible to her ears. "Actually Julia, my girlfriend left me for her career and Ella, my best friend was there for me and I almost gave up on life trying to find her where about. During that process, Ella did everything to make sure I didn't commit suicide, she took me to counseling, stayed by my side and was the perfect companion for me, but immediately Julia came back. My desperate wish to make her stay. I never thought of Ella but got back with her and when Ella finds out in a terribly situation, she got hurt and ran away before I could stop her". Even though Rex has fixed, the truth it still sounds terrible to the ears of Martha, not because Ella is her granddaughter but because Rex doesn't value Ella. "So you are engaged to this Julia, but now married to Ella to safe her from this barbaric tradition of ours. Why didn't you say no to the marriage?" Ask Martha. "I Wanted to pay Ella back for not letting me go when I needed her the most, and I couldn't stand the thought of her getting married to a man old enough to be called her grandfather. She is an innocent, naive, beautiful young woman who still sees the world with the eyes of a child", said Rex.
Martha staring at him "I saw the way you looked at her, Rex, are you sure you are in this just to safe her or to take advantage of her desperate situation to lure her into your arms again? Children of nowadays don't have respect for the sanctity of marriage", asked Mather. Rex knows the woman maybe right after all. He hasn't defined the feelings he has for either Julia or Ella, and getting married to one and engaged to another is bringing more complications. She needs to separate from both of them to define what he needs or wants, but caught between them is not good for him. He doesn't know if what he feels for Ella is pity or love, and what he feels for Julia is passion or desires. Whatever way, he needs to let go of one to stay with the other. "I'm not taking advantage of your daughter's vulnerabilities Grandma, I know Ella loves me but since I got engaged to Julia, her love for me can't be the same and the is this hatred I see in her eyes for my betrayal which hurts me to the core to know I cause this to her", said Rex. "If she had not mistakenly called your name during the confusion with the king, will you be here?" Demands Martha. "I don't know, Grandma", replied Rex. "I got what I wanted to hear", said Martha as she gets up and is walking away.
Then and there is done to Rex that if Princess Maya hadn't gotten him involved with her schemes to prevent Ella from getting married to the king, will he be looking for an excuse to come close to Ella? Is the love he has for her strong enough to confront Julia and call off the engagement? Is he really in love with Ella, or he's just missing the version of her which hasn't left him for 7 years? Which is correct? Rex staring at Ella sitting and reading a book not far from the house, and he realizes he has been really selfish to have used Princess Maya to get close to Ella. If Julia appears now, will he let go of Ella for her, or will he fight for her love?
To be continued