Love And Fate

★Twenty-Six★

The past

In the suburb of Accra, there was a small town and in that small town lived a young beautiful lady, a woman with the face of an angel, her body was curvy and she had the most beautiful skin. She was envied by her mates and adored by many men, and her beauty always brought joy and pride to her parents heart.
Her father would always beat his chest when he was with his friends and they were drinking beer and he'd say.
"My daughter is the most beautiful. One day a rich man's son will come and take her away and we will leave this dirty place and live in a big mansion!"
He and his friends would burst into a fit of laughter, and they would cheer him on, praise him on how he had done well in bringing up such a beautiful daughter.

For not only was Felicia beautiful, but she had the brains, in school, she stood out as one of the most brilliant students, taking first in every exam and test  and leading her school in every competition.
It didn't come as a surprise when she gained scholarship to study in one of the most prestigious schools in the country, her dream university, she was  so thrilled when she received the news, and it didn't take long for the small town to know about Felicia's success, neighbors congratulated her, and people in her community set her as example for the younger ones.

The teachers in school would proudly state.

"You see how beautiful Felicia is, yet she doesn't let her beauty get into her head, but she focused on her books and now she is in that big school, if you study hard like her, you can also gain scholarship and further your education like she has done"

Her younger siblings looked up to her, following suit in her footsteps, they adored her, she was the pride of her mother.
What more could her mother ask for?

Everything was going smoothly, Felicia had settled in her new school and was looking forward to starting the four years journey in the university. Not until she met a boy, he was a scholarship student like her too and soon enough they became close and that was were the trouble started.
They fell in love, with hearts soaring with big dreams and ambitions, for years they were together and promised to never leave each other, and then the storm came crashing down on them.
Unbeknownst to Felicia, her father had given her into marriage to one rich man's son, they had planned everything, the wedding date had been set, the bride price collected.
What was left was for her to graduate from school, and the wedding would take place.
The day she heard the news,she cried her eyes out, that wasn't the plan. She had wanted to be a great lawyer, just like her love had wanted to be, they'd work hard and reach the top together.
Obviously, she had refused to be married off against her will, she fought against it and even run away from home, but then, one couldn't hide from their problems for too long.
Her father had been furious with her and had threatened to disown her.

"If you don't marry that young man, get ready to pack your things, I won't sit down and watch you disgrace me! You better agree to the marriage!" He'd say angrily before stomping off to his favorite place, the one and only 'chop bar' in the community.

Even her mother wasn't on her side, she had pleaded for her to just give in, telling her how much disgrace she would bring to the family if she married the poor boy.

"Don't you want me to enjoy the fruit of my labour before I die?!"
Her mother would say and then burst into uncontrollable tears.

Felicia felt her world was crumbling and coming to an end, she definitely was not going to marry the rich man's, she remembered him from school back when she was in the university, how cruel and arrogant he was, how he walked around like he owned the world.
That was not the main issue though, her problem was leaving her love, she wasn't ready to let go.
If she married him, then it meant she was giving up on her dreams, then she wouldn't be that great lawyer she had always dreamt of being.

The fight went on for months until Felicia felt she was loosing the game, and she knew she had totally lost when she got the worst news in her life.
Her love was dead, nothing could describe how devastated she was, how lonely and sad she felt. She had later found out that her father was behind his death. He had sent some of the 'area boys' in the community to attack him. They had attacked him as requested, but went on to kill out of their own interest.

Felicia soon changed, and became someone else who was almost unrecognizable, her beautiful smile was gone, her lively aura was dead, and she barely ate anything making her lose so much weight.

At the end of it all, she had lost the fight and had given in like her mother had pleaded, she got married to Fred Addoo, and just as the her father had wished, they left their dirty slum and lived in a big mansion, where her heart was void and empty for the rest of life spent there.