Mr. Darlington's Ex Wife

Amara. I was standing in my room, preparing to sleep when I heard a knock on the door. I walked to the door and pulled it open. Then I saw my mother's maid, Agnes, smiling at me. Agnes was dressed in a long blue gown. She was light-skinned and a young lady about my height. I was twenty-four years old. I was wearing a long blue nightgown too, as it was already nighttime, around 11:45 p.m. on the thirty-first of December. We were waiting for the crossover celebration to begin. I had pulled my hair into a bun shortly after drying it following my bath in my bathroom. “What do you want, Agnes?” I asked, looking at her face. She smiled back at me. “Amara, I am sorry to bother you, but your father sent for you downstairs,” Agnes informed me. I sighed and replied, “But we just finished having dinner in the dining room. What does my father want to say to me now? I am not interested in the New Year celebration.” Agnes smiled faintly at me and replied, “I do not know, but he is downstairs with your mother, and the guests had all gone outside to prepare for the fireworks.” “Hmm, okay. Tell my father I will be downstairs soon. Let me go and relieve myself; I am coming,” I told Agnes. She turned and left my corridor. I sighed and went back into my restroom to relieve myself. I came out and went downstairs to the living room of my father's enormous white mansion. We lived on the outskirts of the city, precisely in the countryside. My father was a chief there and was involved in agricultural farm produce. I was more like a princess at home. My mother was the center of admiration, and my people loved me, as my parents had taught me to be kind and helpful to those around us. We were preparing for the cross-over night to a brand-new year, and I did not know how to feel about it. I was the only child of my parents. I was still single, and my parents were not pressing me to get married. My father was an understanding man, but after a few bachelors had come to ask for my hand in marriage, he had refused even my crush, Charles Wilfred. My father's reason I did not know, but my mother had assured me that he wanted the best for me. He could not just give me away to any male suitor who would probably treat me poorly in the future. I understood and sighed as I went downstairs to the living room. We lived in a standard duplex house surrounded by many trees and gardens. My father's mansion was fenced, and now that the celebration was ongoing, we had many visitors. The guest rooms were packed with my cousins and aunts. I finally walked into the living room. Agnes stepped out of the kitchen and told me, “Your father requested that you meet him in his office.” “Okay,” I said. Then I went to my father's home office to see him. I suspected what he had to tell me was private, so that none of our relatives would eavesdrop on our conversation. I finally arrived at the front of my father's home office. I knocked gently and heard my father's response in a calm voice: “Come inside.” I quietly pushed the office door open and walked into the enormous office, which had two guest seats and a set of four blue couches. There, my parents sat on a blue couch. My father smiled and said, “Come, Amara. Come have your seat before the fireworks start. Your mother and I have something important to say to you.” “Okay, Dad.” I walked into the office, and shortly after, I was seated on another blue couch across from my parents. My mother was clad in a red nightdress, and my father wore a white garment and black trousers. My father smiled and said, “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. Well, I am sure you are familiar with my friend, Mr. Joshua Briggs.” I smiled and replied, “Yes, Dad. I know Mr. Briggs. He lives in the city and visits here sometimes.” “Good. Well, you are married to his only son, Darlington Briggs, and you will be going to the city tomorrow to live with him,” my father informed me. “What?“ I gasped. „Dad, I do not understand. How can I be married to your friend's son? When? I cannot remember getting married to any man, or did I have a memory loss?” I stared at my parents in shock. How had I gotten married without remembering it, and without even wishing to settle down and have my own home? My father sighed, and my mother smiled understandingly at me. “It was an arrangement I had with Mr. Joshua Briggs a long time ago. You are not fully married to Darlington Briggs, but you will have to live with him to see if you both can be compatible and become a true couple,” my father explained. “Dad, I do not understand what you are saying. You mean I will visit them, or I am already married to the man you are saying is your best friend's son? And doing what married couples do with him?” I asked my father, wanting to understand him better. “Amara, as I said, you are married to Darlington Briggs, and you should be a good wife to him when you get to their house. You do not have to worry about anything. Mr. Joshua has paid all the necessities for your hand in marriage to his son. So Darlington Briggs is your husband, and you are his wife now. The only difference is that Darlington did not come down here to marry you officially, nor did you wear a wedding dress to walk down the aisle with him. But you are his wife by our traditional custom,” my father emphasized. “Hmm, Dad, I cannot marry a man that I do not know. I cannot go to the city to be with him. Mom?” I looked at my mother, wanting to hear her response about all these arrangements. Mom sighed and said, “Amara, calm down. It is for your good.” “How, Mom? I cannot go to the city to live with a man I am not familiar with, Dad. I do not like the bustling lives of city people. Likewise, I want to remain here, where there is no noise and wild lifestyle,” I protested. I wanted my father to change his mind about these sudden arrangements. “Amara, I can understand your complaint, but I trust Mr. Joshua's son to take care of you, so you are going to the city tomorrow,” my father finalized.