Remembering those days, Olamide became very sad but looking at the wedding suit brought a smile to his face. He thought to himself: “Look Rita, the wedding suit being chosen for my wedding is exactly the one you liked… The only difference is that I’m not coming on a horse to take my princess. I’m marrying someone else. Forgive me Rita, I couldn’t keep our promise. I’m breaking our promise.” Olamide was lost in his thoughts. Bukola had been calling him for a while, but he didn’t notice. Then Tunde smacked him lightly on the head, jolting him out of his thoughts and he started looking around. Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) then said to him: “Where are you lost? Quickly tell us what you think. Everyone is getting late and there’s more shopping left.” Grandma: “The wedding suit Bukola has in her hands looks very good. We should go for this one, right? What do you say, Olamide?” Olamide: “Yes… hmm… it’s nice.” Bukola: “Wow! Now that brother has also approved, this one is final.” Kunle Adeyemi (Tunde’s father): “Alright, alright. Now, everyone quickly finish your shopping. We also have to go to the jewelry shop.”

Everyone got busy picking out their clothes. Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) and Grandma had almost finished shopping for female native wears, so they were helping Kunle Adeyemi (Tunde’s father) and Olamide choose their remaining clothes. Tunde was standing nearby when Gold approached him and said: “Come with me, I’ll help you.” Gold selected two or three native wears and some traditional clothes for Tunde. Tunde wasn’t used to wearing such clothes; he mostly wore suits. But today, he wanted to buy clothes based on Gold’s preferences. Gold picked four or five sets for him and Tunde took them to the trial room.

After completing their clothes shopping, everyone went to the jewelry shop and bought jewelry for the bride-to-be. Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) also bought bangles and a necklace for Gold. While everyone was busy looking at jewelry, Tunde was holding his phone, wandered nearby. That’s when his eyes fell on a box in a corner containing a silver chain with a blue diamond pendant. The pendant was heart-shaped. Seeing it, Tunde immediately thought of Gold. He instantly liked the pendant and after a quick glance at Gold, he asked the salesman to pack it. He then put it in his pocket.

A little later, all the shopping was done. Evening was approaching, so everyone decided to have dinner outside. They went to a nice restaurant for their meal. At night, after reaching home, everyone went to bed early due to exhaustion. Gold was too very tired and went straight to sleep in her room. When Tunde entered the room, he saw that she was already asleep. Taking out the pendant from his pocket, he looked at Gold and thought, “She’s already asleep. How should I give this to her now? She’s sleeping so peacefully that I don’t even feel like waking her up… Never mind, I’ll give it to her in the morning. She’s not going anywhere anyway.” Thinking this, he changed his clothes and went to sleep, as he too was very tired and fell asleep immediately.

Two weeks later:

Amidst small preparations and tasks, days passed and now the day of the engagement was near—or rather, only three days away. Olamide and Rita’s engagement was set to happen but Olamide was completely unaware of this. According to him, he was marrying a girl he didn’t know, someone he had never seen before and didn’t even want to see.

Early in the morning, when Olamide woke up and came out of his room, he saw a lot of hustle and bustle in the house. Many workers were busy working—some were doing the decorations and others were moving sweets from one place to another. Gold and Bukola were also carrying things and running around and Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) was busy instructing everyone. Surprised to see so much activity in the morning, Olamide went to Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) and asked, “Mother, what’s all this? Why is there so much commotion in the house?”

Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother): “Oh, you forgetful boy! Did you forget? Your engagement is in three days. All these preparations are for that. After all, it’s the engagement of our most beloved son, so it has to be celebrated grandly. We don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”

Hearing this, Olamide became emotional and suddenly hugged Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) tightly.

Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother): “Oh, oh! What happened?”

Olamide: “Thank you, Mother. You all love me so much, gave me so much love, raised me so well and gave me everything that I wasn’t even worthy of. You made me a part of this family and never made me feel like I wasn’t your real son.”

Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother): “Stop it! Just stop it. Who said you’re not my real son? And who said you’re not worthy of all this? Don’t you dare think like that again. I’m your mother and you’re my most beloved son.”

Just then Tunde came over, laughing and said, “Oh, so I’m not the most beloved son anymore?” Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) and Olamide looked at him and Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) said, “You are my most mischievous son, understood?”

Tunde: “What, Mom? Even you…”

Seeing his face, Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) and Olamide burst out laughing. “Alright, alright, stop this drama now and come here” Aisha Adeyemi (Tunde’s mother) said and hugged Tunde too.

Gold was standing at a distance, she had been watching them for a while. Seeing this, she smiled and silently thanked God. “Thank you God, for arranging my marriage in such a good family and making me a part of it. These people are so good and treat me like their own daughter. I’m truly fortunate to have such a wonderful family. I only pray that you always keep this family happy and never let any trouble come their way.”

Meanwhile Olamide was carefully observing all the preparations. When his eyes fell on the decoration items, he became thoughtful. The entire decoration was in pink, purple and white colors. Seeing this, Olamide remembered that purple was Rita’s favorite color and he got lost in Rita’s thoughts again. But this time, he felt the worst for the girl he was about to marry. “The girl I’m getting married to—I haven’t seen her, nor do I want to. But if she marries me, her life will be ruined because I can never give her the love I give to Rita. I can never replace Rita in my life with anyone else. No matter what happens, I have to stop this marriage. I must talk to that girl once. After hearing me out, maybe she’ll refuse this marriage herself.” Thinking this, Olamide went back to his room.

A little later, after getting ready Olamide and Tunde left for the office, while the rest of the family got busy with the preparations at home. Today, no one had any free time; everyone was engrossed in some work or the other. Gold was holding a big basket of flowers, helping the workers with the garden decoration. Her eyes fell on some pink flowers placed in a corner. Then she looked at the purple and white flowers in her basket. Looking at all this, an idea struck her, and she immediately told the workers: “Listen, listen, everyone! As you all know, the theme for the engagement is pink and purple. I just got an idea! Why don’t we decorate the garden here with a combination of purple and white flowers and put some soft pink lights in this area? And those pink flowers – we can pair them with some purple flowers and decorate the entrance gate.”

All the workers listened to her attentively. Just then, someone clapped from among them, drawing everyone’s attention. Gold also turned to look where the sound was coming from. As soon as she saw the man approaching, she was taken aback. The man walked forward, smiling, and stood in front of Gold.

“Wow, ma’am… Your idea is truly amazing! We’ll definitely implement it.”

Hearing him, Gold changed her expression and asked him: “That’s all fine, but what are you doing here? When did you come to Mumbai?”

“Umm… it’s a long story; I’ll tell you some other time. But right now, I’m really happy to see you.”

The man extended his hand. Gold thought for a moment, then shook hands with him and said: “Same here… It’s good to see you again.”

So, who is this man? From their conversation, it’s clear they already know each other. But how? Well, we’ll find out in the upcoming chapters.

To be continued in the next chapter…