💔BENEATH THE CROWN💔
(AMANDA’S TALE)
WRITTEN BY:RuchinaBlog
GRAND FINALE PART TWO
Ujunwa’s POV
It’s been nine months since I started working for Soma, and it hasn’t been the best due to my sister’s constant efforts to frustrate me. Despite my pleas and even Soma speaking to her, she remains adamant. She went as far as involving our mom, who threatened to disown me if I didn’t let go of Soma. I’ve been avoiding Soma to respect my sister’s feelings, focusing on my job instead. Soma has tried to talk to me, but I’ve been avoiding any conversation. Although it’s difficult as I still have feelings for Soma, I’m determined to move on.
I shifted my attention to Soma’s friend, Henry, who often brings me lunch. Initially rejecting his advances, I’ve become more comfortable with his presence and find myself slowly developing feelings for him. I’ve decided to give him a chance if he asks me out.
Today, I arrived a bit late to hear voices screaming at each other. My sister stormed out of the office, seething with rage, and stopped in front of me before storming out of the shop. Wondering what was going on, I refrained from asking Soma, assuming it was their usual banter.
During lunchtime, I expected Henry to bring my favorite, but he hadn’t arrived. Hungry, I decided to get lunch myself. Soma barged into the shop in rage, ignoring me, and headed straight to the office. Confused, I debated whether to ask about the problem or mind my business. Henry, not looking happy, greeted me with a fake smile, assuring me it would be sorted out.
I hesitated at the door but decided to satisfy my curiosity. I leaned against the door and listened to the conversation.
“Hey man! What is your problem? Why did you walk off when I mentioned asking Ujunwa out?” Henry asked calmly.
“You can’t ask her out,” Soma replied nonchalantly.
“Why can’t I ask her out? You’re supposed to be happy for me and her,” Henry snapped.
“Why should I be happy that you’re asking my ex-girlfriend out? Aren’t there other girls out there for you?”
“Bro, what exactly is your problem? You have Ugomma, and you’re still holding on to Ujunwa. What’s your problem?” Henry snapped.
“Do you want to know what my problem is? No problem, I will tell you. My problem is I still love her, I still love Ujunwa very much; she is nothing like her sister,” Soma muttered, shocking both me and Henry.
I felt a mix of emotions, unsure whether to be happy or sad about what I just heard. Truthfully, I still loved Soma, but I had developed feelings for Henry and couldn’t afford to hurt him.
“You must be joking, right?” Henry yelled.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not. I still love her,” Soma muttered sadly.
Henry looked at Soma angrily, scoffed, and stormed off towards the door. He opened it forcefully, not giving me enough time to hide the fact that I was eavesdropping. Henry looked at me sadly and walked off without saying a word.
I glanced into the office and saw Soma staring at me. I took a deep breath and began to walk away until his voice stopped me.
“Uju! Lock up the shop; I want to take you somewhere,” Soma said, standing up from his seat. I simply nodded and went to do as instructed.
Soon, we were in his car, heading to only God knows where. I sat back with different thoughts in my mind. “Am I ready to go back to Soma? Am I good enough for him? What if I fail again? No, he is better with my sister; let me settle for Henry,” I thought to myself as I made up my mind to refuse his advances.
We arrived at his house, and I wondered what exactly he brought me here for. He got out of the car, dragged me into the house and upstairs, pulling me into his room and locking the door.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked furiously, but Soma only looked at me and pulled me to sit on the bed. He looked at me, sighed, and then walked to the wardrobe, bringing out a huge box and placing it on the bed.
“Soma, what is the meaning of all this? Look, I don’t want a problem with my sister. What if she comes and finds us here?” I snapped.
Soma smiled and drew me closer to himself, ignoring my anger. “You have always been cute when angry. So quit being angry, and I love how you pronounce my full name.”
“Does this look like a joke to you?” I snapped, but Soma shut me up with a kiss.
He broke the kiss and stared at me, caressing my cheeks. “I know you feel what I feel. Your heart never left me; I’ve caught you staring absentmindedly at me, but you keep playing innocent and hide your feelings for me. You even pushed yourself into another man’s arms, but I won’t allow that. I still love you just the same way you still love me.”
“And what gave you the impression that I still want you?” I asked.
“Everything about you gave it away. So let’s stop fighting it and let nature take its course. I never stopped thinking about you and everything that happened. I realized that I am also to blame for what happened. I never gave you the attention and care you needed. I thought money was all you needed, but I was really wrong. I didn’t have the guts to meet you, so I kept everything to myself, kept our precious memories together, looking at them every day and reminiscing about the good times. I thought I would find you in your sister, but she turned out to be much worse than I could handle. Yes, you made your mistakes and learned your lesson, but I should have been a better man for you and not pushed you into other men. Uju, please let’s give this relationship a chance again. I can’t stand another man being your husband,” Soma said, drawing me much closer to himself.
“And what about my sister?” I asked with a soft voice, almost breaking into tears.
Soma sighed and stood, walking towards the cabinet in the room. He brought an envelope, handing it over to me. I took the letter with shaking hands and brought it out from the envelope and read it slowly.
I stood up in shock as I finished reading, facing Soma. “Wait, you guys are not medically compatible. What are you doing about it? You should be more concerned about your wedding to my sister and not all these displays.”
Soma stared at me, slowly walking towards me. “You shouldn’t worry about that because I am canceling the wedding. My bride isn’t ready, and I want to pursue her and rekindle our love. Assure her that through thick and thin, I will be there for her. I love you so much, Uju, and I want you back as my wife and the mother of my kids.”
I couldn’t help but blush at his words. I stared at him intently and kissed him passionately on his lips. I want my man back, and nothing is stopping me now. I smiled between the kisses, and slowly we fell on the bed, communicating with love into the night.
The Next Morning
I woke up with a beautiful smile on my face and turned to the other side of the bed, searching for Soma, but he was nowhere to be found. I quickly stood up from the bed and wore one of his shirts to go look for him and was about leaving the room when Soma walked in with breakfast.
“Good morning, my love! How was your night? I can see you woke up on the beautiful side of the bed,” Soma asked, placing a peck on my forehead.
I smiled and settled back into bed to enjoy my breakfast. I picked up the bread and took a bite, enjoying the savory taste. I looked up to compliment the chef but saw him on one knee with a diamond ring in his hand.
“I proposed last night, but I want this ring to be a symbol of my love for you and how much I love everything about you. Please accept it,” Soma asked softly, causing tears to roll down my eyes as he slid the ring onto my fingers.
I was busy admiring the ring when suddenly Ugomma entered with my mum.
“Soma! You have the guts to cancel our wedding for no reason?” Ugonma snapped.
“Thank God you and your mom are here. Let me make it clear; I cannot marry Ugomma. We aren’t compatible both medically and in this relationship. I can’t stay with
someone who doesn’t want my peace of mind and who is out to destroy me. Throughout the period I courted Ugomma, it has been one torment after another. She made me lose so many contracts and customers because they are females, all because of your selfishness, Ugomma. As if that wasn’t enough, you took pleasure in being violent with me. Tell me, how do you want me to love such a person?” Soma yelled.
Ugomma quickly knelt to Soma with tears in her eyes, holding his hands. “See, I did all this because I love you, and it was the only way I could secure you for myself. I had so many worries and confided in my friends who made me understand that I needed to exercise my control over you to get your full attention and love, that men love possessive women.”
“And you foolishly believed them; well, that is your problem. We are still medically not compatible; you are AS, and I am also AS, so it can’t work,” Soma said.
“My love! It can work. I made inquiries and found out we could know the genotype of the baby in the womb, and if it has the genotype we want, we keep it. If it is not, we could flush it,” Ugomma muttered.
“Do you hear yourself! Just for you to marry me, you want me to waste money on something we could avoid. Look, Ugomma! The truth is I never loved you. I never got over your sister, and I thought I would see her in you, but it was quite the opposite. But now, I have summoned up the courage to go for what I want, which is Ujunwa,” Soma said with a smile, drawing me closer to him and placing a peck on my forehead.
“You chose her over me after everything she did to you. Soma! Are you in your right senses?” Ugomma asked angrily.
“Oh yes! I am in my right senses, and I say with all confidence that I finally found peace getting back with Ujunwa,” Soma replied.
“My son! Are you sure of what you are saying? Remember, a leopard can’t change its spots. If you decide to take her back, just don’t come crying to us. Ugomma, let’s go; we have no business here. And you, Ujunwa, I am ashamed to be your mother and hope I will never see your shameless face again. I promise you; you will regret it,” my mother said and stormed out, dragging Ugomma with her despite her cries.
I sighed sadly, feeling guilty for coming back into Soma’s life. I lifted my hands to remove the ring, but Soma stopped me, looking at me sadly.
“Ujunwa! Don’t do this, please. Stop feeling guilty for this; it is my fault all of this happened, and I am sorry. But please don’t let it get to you; don’t leave me because of it. It is you I love,” Soma said.
I looked at Soma and dropped my hands, allowing Soma to hug me to himself and gently led me to bed to feed me breakfast. We spent the whole day cuddling ourselves and making future plans.
Soma kept his words and gave me the baby girl treatment, allowing us to heal from the past hûrt and understand ourselves better. We soon fixed our wedding date and started making necessary arrangements.
I made out time to look for Mirabel for her one of my bridesmaids but received shocking news. Mirabel was arrested for the deáth of one chief she slept with and has been sentenced to life imprisonment. I quickly rushed to the station where Mirabel was held but found out she was deád, stabbed to deáth by some inmate. I cried all night, and Soma tried his best to console me.
Soon it was my wedding day. I walked down the aisle in my beautiful white dress with my maid of honor beside me. Guess who is my maid of honor – QUEEN AMANDA herself. She looked absolutely beautiful in her red gown. We got to the altar and met my lovely husband-to-be with his best man, Henry. They settled their differences before the wedding and were really happy to be my husband’s best man.
We said our vows and were joined in holy matrimony for all eyes to see. I was delighted that my day went as planned and enjoyed every bit of it, even though my mother and sister refused to attend despite all my pleas. But the presence of my dad made up for it, and soon I didn’t even feel their absence.
I looked at my husband and smiled as we made our way to the airport for our honeymoon, leaning on his chest, feeling fulfilled.
Epilogue:
Five Years Later
Amanda’s POV:
It’s been five years since Egonna has been in peace and harmony. I and my husband did our jobs to ensure Egonna grew in prosperity and became the énvy of other surrounding villages. Like I said on my coronation day, I made sure the healthcare system was improved and made free for the poor. I had schools built and market stalls constructed to open our market to other villages. I positioned guards in the village as spies to report to me any fôul treatment meted out to women and men and ensure fair judgment in the land with my gifts. I made sure the laws surrounding the vîrgin wives were improved – all vîrgin maidens to be married into the royal household subjected to virginity tests to avoid having a fate similar to mine. This brought serious joy to my people.
I was loved by all for my simplicity despite being the queen because I made sure my people were pleased with their lives. I couldn’t have done it without my darling husband by my side.
Ikenna has been nothing but sweet to me since our coronation. He made me and my kids his number one priority and always made time for us despite his tight schedule. He went as far as holding a grand wedding for me just to fulfill my dream and express his love for me. He doesn’t joke with my opinion on important matters and takes me to important meetings with him. If I can’t tag along, he leaves me in the care of my bodyguards – Chukwuma and Chidi.
I tried as much as possible to convince Chukwuma to take his father’s place in the council of elders, but he refused and insisted on remaining by my side as a bodyguard. Even Mama was in support of his decision. Yes! I visit Mama’s place frequently and help her out; it is just like my second home. Mama was so joyful when her eldest son came back. Guess who – Emeka, Mirabel’s ex-boyfriend. He apologized to Mama for leaving her in her condition and refusing to return. The family was reunited once again. I made sure Mama took over the position of the women president in the village to help women communicate better with me. I tried making Chidi the youth leader, but he also refused and handed it to my brother Jidenna.
As for my parents, they are still together and happy that their daughters are doing well in their husbands’ houses. Michael married my sister after my grand wedding with Ikenna and flew her out for their honeymoon. They live in the city because of Michael’s hospital job but visit the village often. She is currently nursing her daughter and is expecting another.
While my brother Lotanna has remained adamant about begging for forgîveness despite his miséry and being treated as an outcast in the community, Adaku is now the village sláve, trying to make ends meet for herself. She is mîserable and has attempted to end her life several times, but nothing works. She refuses to see the wrong in what she did and has even stated that over her deád body will she apologize to me and the villagers. Her parents are now mád in the evil forest and slaves to the spirits who torment them day and night. Ifeanyi is still in prison and has gone totally blind, spending his remaining days there.
As for me, I found peace with my family, knowing that evîl has been defeated. I have forgiven my mother-in-law, and she has been sweet ever since. She made it her duty to take care of her grandkids to avoid stressing me and my babies. Yes! I am expecting another set of twins, and I enjoy absolute love, care, and attention from my family.
I sat quietly in my garden, smiling over life, how it moved from bad to the best. I was lost in thoughts and didn’t notice someone creeping behind me until I felt a slight touch on my shoulders. I jerked and turned to see Ikenna smiling down at me.
“How is the love of my life doing this afternoon?” he asked, stretching forth the cookies in his hands.
“I am fine, just feeling a little discomfort in my belly,” I said as I collected the cookies.
My words made Ikenna panic as he placed his hands on my belly and slowly rubbed it down to ease my discomfort. He worked his hands softly to my shoulders as I moaned softly.
“You like it, cutie pie?” he asked, making me nod my head.
“Well, I will continue after the meeting with our neighboring village, but right now, I really need your help, my love. You know I can’t do this without you,” he said softly.
I smiled and held out my hands for him to pull me up, which he did. I smiled as I pecked him, linking our hands together as we began to walk towards the throne room. I smiled, he smiled back, we are happy.
I am thankful!
I am victorious!
I am stronger!
I AM QUEEN AMANDA, THE FIRST OF MY KIND!!
THE END!
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