The Place Beyond Her Dreams

now distinguished-looking too, highly distinguished as a matter of fact. Wherever he’d been, I was certain he’d made a fortune for himself. I remained in his embrace, my heart beating uncontrollably, feeling as though I was going to collapse. But his arms, those strong arms, holding me close to his chest, kept me grounded. He smelled amazing, like flowers in full bloom. I started to sob quietly, and then I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. No. This was real. Hot tears streamed down my face and spilled all over his expensive cotton shirt, but he continued to hold me firmly, his chest pumping furiously against mine. We held each other for what felt like an eternity before he broke our hug, looked into my eyes for a fleeting second, and then pressed his lips against mine. I had not expected such a sensation from a kiss. His tongue against mine created an electrical charge that ran through my spine, down to my toes.

I was still so lost in our world when he slowly released his lips from mine and muttered, “Why did you choose that brute?”

“Okem, why did you abandon me?” I asked, looking into his eyes.

“I had no reason to stay. I tried to prove to Ifedi that you were only using Albert and that I was the one you truly loved, but I heard you praise him and belittle me when Ifedi posed the question to you. You broke my heart, Ona. I thought it was best for me to disappear and let you have the life you thought you deserved. I couldn’t stay and let everyone feel sorry for me.”

“Yes, Ifedi told me you were listening at the door,” I whispered.

“It was a shameful thing for me to do, but I’d hoped it would help resolve your indecision. I regret it all now seeing as it back-fired.”

“It back-fired more than you know,” I said, sighing.

“How do you mean?” he asked, moving my shoulders a few inches away to look at my face.

“Okem, if you had listened a little longer, you would have heard me choose you. What you didn’t know was that I had actually chosen you over Albert. You ran off before you had the chance to hear me proclaim my undying love for you. A part of me died that night, and I was left to live with the remnants.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean by you chose me?” he asked, kneeling before me and holding my hands.

I recounted what really happened the night he disappeared. After I was done, he sat on the edge of the bed, held his head with both hands, and sobbed.

“Ona, I didn’t know,” he said, choking on his words.

“You caused me so much pain. You should have trusted me. You should have stayed to hear everything I had to say. See what your rash decision got both of us. For so long, I wondered if you truly loved me.”

“Truly loved you? Didn’t I ever tell you I would give my life for you? I left because I thought you had made your choice. I didn’t see how I could compete for your affection with the Ideme’s son. I didn’t want to stay and cause shame and embarrassment for you either. And I certainly didn’t think I could survive without you, so I chose what I thought was the lesser of the two evils.”

“I was devastated when you didn’t return. Having you leave like that, thinking I really thought those terrible things of you, destroyed my joy. Oh, Okem, how could you have been so gullible? You should have known how I really felt about you.”

“I didn’t know,” Okem said with a sigh. “I wish I had trusted you.”

He held me close as I sobbed quietly on his shoulder.

“I never planned to give you away. I always planned to come back after I had made it on my own, just like I promised you many years ago.”

* * *

It hadn’t even occurred to me to ask Okem how he made it to my room in the first place. The only illumination in the room had come from the full moon, dangling low and drenching one half of my bed with its soft lunar light.

“You’ll get in trouble, and the guards might see you,” I said.

“Which guards?” Okem asked with a sly smile.

“Didn’t you see the men patrolling the grounds? I’m surprised they didn’t stop you. They’ve been here since the chaos.”

“Don’t worry, darling. I took precautions to avoid that. I’ve been scoping this area for days. My driver parked a good distance away, at the bottom of the hill, and I got my men to draw their attention to something else while I snuck in through the side gate with the help of the gardener.”

“Oh!” I said, chuckling. “Okem, you haven’t changed one bit. You’re still the same person on the inside.”

“I had to stay the same for you.”

We stared at each other for another long while. From my observation, judging by the physical, Okem had changed so much. He also exuded so much confidence, so much more than I had always known his self-assured self to have. It felt as though I was looking at a different person.

“Okem.”

I was barely audible.

“My Ona,” he responded and held my hands. “I love you so much.”

“How much?”

“How much? I can’t possibly explain. The extent is beyond what my commonsense would have allowed. Why? Because for all the pain you’ve caused me, I still felt that life would be one big hole without you. I have loved you my whole life. I even loved you the whole time I was away. When I learned of your engagement to that beast, I still loved you, but I couldn’t save you.”

I resisted the urge to cry.

“You knew? That he was abusing me?”

“I know everything that has gone on since I left. I was even at your engagement.”

I gasped in astonishment.

“What?”

He nodded.

“I was. In disguise, anyway. It was the most painful thing