It was a small apartment in one of the most quiet places in New York. She probably expected more. Well, his parents probably didn't care about him.
With the help of the driver, Lucas was wheeled inside the house and she followed behind.
She was fascinated by the interior decoration of the house “welcome to our home” he said. “ I borrowed it from a friend of mine.
He noticed her shocked face “ I hope it meets your expectations” she chuckled. He was expecting some sort of rejection but her response surprised him.
“ No, I like it.It's cozy and tidy, where's my room?" She asked as she was standing in the living room with the kitchen and dining in front of her. Close to where she stood was a bed. A studio apartment?
“Okay, there's no room in this house, we will share the bed together. That's what married people do,'' he replied.
Still trying to find out if she was pretending. Any lady would jump at the offer of sharing the same bed with him. But again, he was crippled.
She froze for a moment, “isn't it too early? We barely know each other.” She crossed her arms around her breasts. Why was he talking about sleeping with her so soon? She thought. Is he a pervert?
He chuckled, “I was just messing with you, take the bed and I'd take the sofa”. When he noticed her flustered face.
She looked at him, and he probably understood the look on her face “don't worry about me, it's not my first time using the sofa”. He wasn't expecting her to be so concerned about him.
Maybe she was okay with the house, but had she thought about the arrangement of the house? There was no privacy, just one bed, one kitchen and they'll be sharing the same bathroom.
“And lastly, I want you to be a good wife, I don't want to hear rumours about you frolicking with other men. Outside we're loving couples, inside we're just married on paper and we stay out of each other's affairs”.
“ I promise, I'll be a good wife”. She just agreed without second thoughts. She wasn't happy about this whole marriage thing but she was prepared to do anything to make sure her mum gets better..
“I should shower before you and prepare din….”
Suddenly, the main entrance door opened. Cutting her short in her words. It was someone they never expected, maybe someone she didn't expect.
An elderly, not so old woman came in, Her blonde hair was perfectly coiffed, bright blue eyes and elegant outfit.
She walked past Amelia without uttering a word, as she walked towards Lucas.
“You'd have called, mum,” he said.
Mum? Wait, that's his mother, the classy Mrs Linda Iyke. She looked younger in person. What money does to the skin.
Lucas cleared his throat, “ excuse us, baby”. He winked at her.
Baby? Did Lucas just call her baby in front of his mother?.Mrs Linda gave Amelia a stern look, as she left the house.
Amelia stood outside wondering why his mother didn't show up for the wedding and what brought her to his house.
She wondered what their conversation was about. Out of curiosity, she walked to the door and opened it a bit. She made sure she opened it without drawing attention to herself.
“Lucas, you defiled my order and went ahead to marry from that family. I told you to wait for Sasha, she was ready to come back and marry you”. His mother said looking very serious.
He maintained a calm face “ my life has always been detected by you, now I decide to do what's best for me. You're not happy?” His mother has always influenced everything he did in life.
“You even married their unfortunate bastard”.
Bastard? Amelia has never been called that before. She has a father and a sick mother. She felt a sharp piercing pain in her heart.
She had heard enough, she tried to close the door when his mother said something which made Amelia stay back to hear details.
“ I can't accept her, she doesn't even match the standard of my dream daughter in-law” she added. “What will you do when Sasha comes back to meet the marriage scandal? What would you do if her family finds out about this marriage?”
She sensed tension in the room, she also wanted to hear the answers to the questions. She leaned forward, when Lucas stood up from the wheelchair. She stumbled back, losing her footing for a brief moment.
He wasn't crippled, this whole thing was fake. She saw him walk towards his mother,her lip parted, a small, soundless gasp escaping like a dying breath.
Lucas and his mother turned to see her standing by the door. She locked eyes with Lucas, for a moment everything stood still,
Suddenly, Lucas slipped and fell. She just found out something about him. This wasn't just an ordinary fall. He fell and hit his head on the dining table.
Without thinking twice, she ran out of her hiding spot, all her attention was on her husband who was lying on the ground with blood oozing out of his head.
Falling to her knees, she held his head up trying to stop the bleeding.
“Help!” she screamed.
With shaking hands, she pulled Lucas closer.“Somebody, anybody please help me.” she had no energy left in her to scream.
His mother just stood there, Amelia was expecting her to rush over and pull her away from her son. But she did nothing.
“Please, call an ambulance. Don't just stand there, someone is dying here”.
She jolted and picked up her phone, she made a quick call before pacing around the room.The shock must have been too much for her.
Her pacing was the least of Amelia's problems right now, her concern was her husband, they just got married. Her heart thundered with the intensity of a real storm.
If anything happens to Lucas, she's doomed. He can't die on their wedding night. She wasn't prepared to be a widow, a young widow!
She had just met this man, yet she felt like he was all she needed to survive for the rest of her life. She was nothing short of terrified.
The once empty house became packed with medical practitioners, Lucas's mother was terrified and never said a word to her.She just stared at Amelia.
Amelia watched as Lucas was lifted and put on a stretcher before rushing him to the hospital.
Amelia didn't care about her blood-stained body, she stayed close to her husband. She felt guilty for everything, if she just sat down outside and not tried to eavesdrop. Lucas would have been better.
Throughout the long drive to the hospital, she had a hot, burning curiosity. Did she really see Lucas stand? Why was he lying to her? Are there other things he's keeping away from her?
She prayed for Lucas to pull through this, no matter what they have to win. Her mind and body can't handle another shock.
They got to the hospital, nurses and doctors rushed to attend to Lucas. He was taken into the ER, while she stayed outside the hospital with her thoughts, waiting for the next outcome.
While she was waiting for the doctors, she heard footsteps close to her and lifted up her head to see two faces, one was familiar and the other she had not seen before.