Chapter Eleven – Can’t marry a classmate
Her face looked like someone had splashed it with mud because before her was Mrs. Lara and her teenage son with a bouquet of flower.
“Did you mistake here for an asylum? What are you doing here?” Margaret asked disgusted.
“That’s no way to speak to an in-law or an elder” her uncle spears behind the visitors.
“Wow. Margaret is getting married to that kid?” Lydia looked both amused and repelled.
Sylvester invited Evelyn and Margaret to the dining room to talk on “important matters”.
Margaret had given an evil smirk and followed them. Evelyn didn’t bother. She knew her sister would reject the boy. For his own sake.
She collapsed on her bed and let the amazing scenery of Scott’s home fill her mind. She low-key wished she could go back.
She was slowing drifting to sleep when Margaret barged into the room, laughing her head out. Evelyn glared at her with half closed eyes.
“You won’t believe. That kid is actually getting married to Lydia, not me. And Uncle is kinda serious” she said amidst laughs.
That was funny, Lydia was a year old than the boy. And they both weren’t ready for marriage.
His name was Reuben and he only wasn’t the first son the second son of the hated Mrs. Lara but also Lydia’s rich and bossy classmate.
He had skipped a class due to his influential parent at the village town school. Everyone hated him, Lydia was no exception.
He coming with his two legs to get married to her… Lydia glared at him from across the table. It was clear he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.
“And because you want me to get married, you think I will?” Lydia questioned with an amused tone.
“You will” Sylvester sounded stern, “Why did you return under my roof if you didn’t plan to listen to my instructions?”
Lydia got up, “Reuben, if you want to live long to keep on flirting with the girls at school then get out now” she clenched her fists.
“On the contrary, my flirting days are over. I had become a man. I want to get married” Reuben responded with a husky voice Lydia didn’t know he had.
Margaret was watching from a corner and was taken aback by his voice. Had he grown manly within two days? It wasn’t a sixteen years old voice much.
“Let’s put the past behind us and be family. It will help clean your sisters reputation as bad wives and make them marriageable again” Madam Lara added.
Like always, a hint of mockery was in her tone.
Lydia was in denial. How could the whole village be so dumb? Marriage wasn’t the only thing female species could do.
It shouldn’t be the endpoint of their lives or what made them important. And if a lady doesn’t want to get married, what happens?
“I don’t know what game you’re playing but you better get out now” someone hollered behind Lydia.
Margaret smiled on seeing Timothy and she came out from where she was peeking from.
“Reuben had always been disrespectful to Timothy. They hate each other so they can’t be in-laws…” Margaret’s words got stuck in her mouth.
Reuben had stood up and knelt down before Timothy asking for forgiveness from his past actions.
Blaming it on his childishness and his mother’s spoiling. Madam Lara in response sounded sorry for raising her son wrong. There was silence.
Timothy stared down at the boy, he slowly crouched down to help him up. He wasn’t still sure if he needed the kid as an in-law.
Margaret was confused and was almost buying into Reuben’s ‘sincerity’ if not Evelyn appeared behind her and pointed out Madam Lara’s smug smile.
Her plan was falling into place. Well, not yet it wasn’t.
“You know she won’t accept Madam Lara. You want to ruin our reputation, further, by asking. I saw through your charade. Leave or you’ll lose something” Evelyn folded her arms around her chest.
Lydia stood at her left and Margaret by her right. Lydia pointed at the door just incase the Madam wasn’t sure where she should be headed.
Sylvester stayed quiet. He had made no efforts in trying to make the marriage work. Lydia sensed he had other tactics.
“Evelyn don’t be harsh, but I do believe Lydia has to agree to a marriage first. Madam, Reuben, you’ve made showed interest, let her agree”.
Timothy smiled as he finished his words. Lydia sighed and walked out. She had made her point, she wasn’t getting married to that irresponsible classmate of hers. It won’t be heard.
It was already evening and Sylvester hadn’t come to them to talk about Lydia’s marriage. Margaret had already recited the words to tell him.
And Lydia had been keeping a tough mood all day to not look flexible when she’d be speaking with him. Yet, he seemed to be too busy to care.
“Maybe he had done that to annoy us. As payback for leaving” Margaret suggested to her sister’s while cleaning the goat pen.
Lydia shrugged, “Maybe”.
Like the universe was saying no, Timothy called to them that his father wanted a word with them.
Evelyn smirked as they left to answer the call.
They refused the seat Sylvester offered and stood looking straight in his eye waiting for him to say something objective.
“Before your mother died, she entrusted three things in my hands” he started.Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.
Evelyn clenched her fists as she assumed he was referring to them three as things.
“Three daughters, A dead son, and a box of gold”. Sylvester eyes gleamed as he spoke.
The girls eyes darkened. A dead son?
“I just found out today from my dad. And I feel terrible” Timothy said behind them. Lydia turned to him questioningly.
“My mother never had a son. What lies are you spitting now?’ Margaret fumed.
The old man shook his head, “Yes, she didn’t give birth to a living son, anyway. You remember when your mother gave birth to a child reported to be stone dead?”.
He searched the eyes of the girls. When he saw realization in them he continued, “Yes, war was approaching then. Your mother gave me the boy to bury actually but I revived him through a priest”.
Evelyn slammed her hands in the table abruptly. Her hands ached as it was a wooden table but her anger subdued her pain. What in the bloody miserable world she was living was this man saying!