FORCED TO MARRY AND I CHOSE YOU

25

Before I can make it to the door,he beats me to it and stands in front of me. "Please move" I beg him but he just continues to glare at me. Out of discomfort caused purely by his cold gaze,I cast my eyes to the floor. "So what you are just going to walk out on me,on us?" His voice is calm reflecting the opposite emotion of what's on his face.

"Yes" I answer in a low voice,what other choice do I have? He chuckles bitterly and says "look who's now pulling a bitch move,who's the coward now?" He uses my words against me. "I'm doing this for you,to keep you alive and if that makes me a coward then okay" I raise my voice being sick of all this nonsense.

"Doing this for me?" He asks in disbelieve,before I can say Yes he says "I don't need you to protect me,I just need you to stay and to trust me. I will handle the Zero situation." "How?" I question him,my arms crossed over my chest. "That's for me to know and for you to stay out of it" he vaguely says. I scoff and attempt to push him out of the way. "Nhlawuleko,there's no way out of this for us two." He says in a serious tone. "Excuse me?" I quirk up an eyebrow and my voice is laced attitude.

"If we separate,Zero will still come after you to teach me a lesson. Its obvious that I love you and he sure as hell will use that to his advantage." He's staring deep into my eyes. Yhoo I'm already tired of this,ngithi ngiyazama ngapha kuyavaleka. "Hlanga..." Im cut off by his husky voice "I can't protect you when you are far away from me." He says.

"You don't have to,I will..." I try to yet again remove myself from this sticky situation but "Nomzamo please listen to what I'm saying..." Now its my turn to interrupt him,"no you listen to me. I'm leaving and that's final." My mouth is boldly saying this but my heart,my heart... Won't let me lose him how am I jamming to Anthony Hamilton in times like this?

He sits down on the edge of the bed, elbows on top of his kness and his head drops onto his hands. We continue in silence,I am beginning to think that he is accepting the situation and is he's going to let me go just when he lifts up his head.

His eyes hold so much sadness and pain in them...I have never seen him like this even when he visited his sister's grave he wasn't like this. "Don't look at me like that,Hlanganani you didn't even want to get married to begin with" I argue,like why doesn't he understand that in a way I'm helping him out of this situation which he didn't wish upon himself.

"Do you really think that I married you because my dad forced me to?" He's still maintaining his cold stare. I nod my head Yes, "tana haleni(come here)" he commands patting the empty spot next to him. I hesitantly walk to him,as I sit I leave some space between us and he gives me a look which I just ignore.

"Nhlawuleko ndza ku rhandza(I love you)" okay I'm tired of this confession,I scoff and give him the 'ohh really?' look. "When did you realise that? After marrying me under false pretenses or now that I'm walking away?" Instead of receiving an answer,I receive a chuckle...no its not the humourless one or anything of that sort which is surprising.

Its a happy chuckle,he cuts it short and says "I was forced to marry and I chose you." I look into his eyes looking for any lies and I find none. "I wasn't going to go through with this forced marriage thing but when I laid eyes on you at the food court,I knew that I had found my bride. When you mentioned that you are a wedding planner,I just knew that it was a sign...a sign that I have to make you mine before its too late."

This is sweet and all but I open my mouth to voice out my thoughts only for him to put a hand up and stop me. "You are not going anywhere,we are getting married today. Its not up for discussion because you have already said Yes." He is serious, man is not bluffing or even asking for my input.

"You can't force me to marry you" my brain takes over my mouth before I can think of something else to say. "I'm not" he simply says "I'm just telling you that there's no way out of this" why am I only seeing this side of him now? Even if you saw it earlier,you still would have stayed. Was I? "You should go,its almost time" he says helping me up to my feet. I'm still stunned to say anything. "I will see you at the alter" he softly whispers into my ear before planting a gentle kiss on my forehead.

Both his thumbs make their way to my cheeks,his thumbs move around on my cheeks and below my eyeballs. I then realise that im crying,this is too much for me. Of course Im happy to learn that his intentions with me were pure,he really does love me. His only crime is hiding the foundation of our marriage from me. And I do want to marry him however there's a price and to show that luck has deserted us,the price is death...everyone's worst enemy.

"Nothing is going to happen to me or you" he sounds so sure of what he's saying. "Hlanganani i love you" I confess and in return he gives me a cute boyish grin. I find myself smiling too because of how cute he looks "I don't want to lose you and I also don't want to die" my tears flow on at the thought of one of dying and leaving the other behind with immense pain and guilt.

"You won't" angazi ukuthi lo You won't is applicable for both tragedies or only one of the two. "Please trust me,I will fix my mistakes and make things right for both of us" he assures taking my hands into his. I back away and stare into his eyes "come back here" he pulls me back into his warm embrace,we stay in each other's arms for a minute before pulling away. "Let's go get married" I try to add some excitement into my voice and give him a small smile. "Just trust me" he looks at me with pleading eyes. I nod my head,he chose to marry so I choose to trust him.

"Can I please get a kiss" he's asking whilst bringing his face close to mine. I push his face away and laugh "no your kiss is awaiting you at the alter" I tell him. "We don't have much time" he says, hands behind my waist and he gently pushes me out. Walking into the lounge area,the guys are sitting there waiting for us to deliver the final word on what's happening. "So is..." Mthunzi is the first one to raise to his feet as soon as we stand before them holding hands. Hlanganani as always let's his anger get the best of him,he angrily points a finger at Tiyani cutting his best friend off.

"Next time do this shit again and I will bury you alive" he spits out. Everyone is calm,in fact they are acting like Hlanganani didn't just threaten to kill his brother. I'm the only one who's shocked even bhuti Akani is calm.

"I'm not scared of you" Tiyani voices out with an equally sinister glare as Hlanganani's. "I know and that motivates me to actually do it just to prove a point" he says laughing out loud dangerously. "You will never kill your own blood" Tiyani argues but he sounds scared,as if he's pleading for his life.

Wait does this mean that Hlanganani is capable of killing someone? "You are my blood by virtue of being my father's bastard child don't forget that." Wait whaat? "Hey watch it" bhuti Akani finally steps in reprimanding Hlanganani who just walks away instead with me following behind him.

He's walking me back to my accommodation to get ready. I want to say something regarding what just happened inside but I don't know what to say. "Your thoughts are loud wanga" he says pulling me back to reality. Instead of voicing out my thoughts I mumble out a Never mind. Truth is I don't want to involve myself in their sibling rivalry and besides I can't tell him what to say or not say or how to act when it comes to their beef.

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My sincere apologies for the late update😪❤. Writer's block has been having its fun with me💔.