Chapter 43 - Coming Clean

Akirexer knocked at Jenu's door with a basket full of fruits. There were no signs of rain that afternoon so she decided to visit Naliya in order to see how she was doing.

Rue, one of Naliya's twins, opened the door and welcomed her inside. Akirexer found Naliya lying down on the couch. She slowly sat upright when she saw Akirexer. Her pregnancy wasn't visible yet.

"How are you doing dear?" Akirexer asked her.

"I am fine. The only problem I have is that I am eating too much and if I don't get food on time, I feel weak. My girls are cooking my seventh meal since morning." Naliya said with a sigh.

"Help yourself to these fruits while you wait." Akirexer gave her the basket.

"You are such a life saver Akirexer." Naliya chuckled.

"I am so happy for you. Very soon you will have a baby in this house. I'm sure Jenu is hoping for a boy." Akirexer chuckled too.

"Yes he is hoping for a son. He keeps talking about it when he is here." she took a big bite of a pepe fruit. "Are you and Sharumez planning on having another child?" she asked with her mouth full.

"No we are not. Our children are grown. Naian is married now and Sharaina will soon be of legal marrying age. How can we think of conceiving again?" Akirexer laughed. "Right now, we can only look forward to having grandchildren." she said with content.

Naliya took another bite. "Naian and Emelinia will give you one soon I'm sure." she remarked.

"Yes of course." Akirexer answered.

****

Four days had gone by with Naian and Emelinia enjoying their stay at the hotel. They spent the past four days exclusively at the hotel until Naian insisted that they went out for sightseeing and Emelinia agreed.

They toured the city and admired the infrastructure. The streets were clean and the stores were eye catching. The sweet aroma coming from the restaurants made the town even more appealing.

They did a little bit of shopping and bought something for everyone back home. Emelinia caught sight of a baby blanket through a store's window and stopped to admire it. It was a white silky smooth blanket.

"That baby blanket is lovely." she commented by the window.

"Let's get it for Jenu and Naliya's baby." he replied to her delight.

They bought a few other things for the baby. The lady at the store misunderstood them and congratulated them on their pregnancy. Naian thanked her while Emelinia felt shy with the whole thing.

On their way back to the hotel, they came across a stand that had beaded jewelry. Emelinia stopped walking but her eyes were not on the jewelry stand but on another that had books. Only one book caught her attention and she couldn't take her eyes off it.

Naian thought that Emelinia wanted jewelry so he gestured to her to pick what she wanted. He was surprised to see her pick up a book instead.

"You want a book?" he asked her and she slowly nodded her head.

Naian got the book and examined it. It was a worn out, old and dusty book. He could barely read the title but the words inside were clear despite the dirty pages. He looked back at Emelinia and saw that she wanted it so badly.

"What is so special about this book?" he asked her, feeling a tad bit confused.

"It is a seers book. It explains things concerning my powers." she answered. "I know close to nothing about being a seer." she added.

"How much is this book?" Naian asked the trader.

"It will only cost you 20 pearls kind sir." he answered and he paid him. "There are seven other books. Reading all of them can give you a clear picture about seers and their abilities." the trader said once more. "I unfortunately only have the first book and you have bought it. If you want the rest, go to the Seers Sanctuary. They have a library there." he pointed at it.

"Thank you very much." Naian said. "Do you want to go there now?" he asked Emelinia.

"You mean you won't mind taking me there?" she asked him.

"No I won't. You have said you know little about your powers. What better time to find out than now?" he asked her and she smiled in delight.

****

Nami had just finished lecturing and she dismissed her class. Her students walked out in an orderly fashion. Light gave them way as he waited for his chance to get in.

By the time he made his way in, he found Nami rubbing the board. She sensed his presence and turned to smile warmly at him. Nami put the duster down and gestured to Light to sit down.

Light was feeling very anxious. He had practiced on how to tell his mother that he couldn't marry Yolin but seeing her face made him feel like he was going to fail to tell her.

"I am so glad that you are here Light. I have something to tell you."

Nami cheerfully sat down and gave him a photo. Light looked at it once and looked back at Nami.

"Beautiful isn't she?" she asked excitedly.

"Er yes, who is she?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"She is your future wife, Yolin. You two will be getting married in the next three weeks." Nami answered.

Three weeks? Jayniss said six months... This woman is full of surprises.

"Um, Jayniss mentioned six months." he pointed out, clearly confused.

Nami waved her hand dismissively at him. "Yes but Alamva and Sariba felt that it is best the wedding takes place this month. Your father and I agree with them."

Okay, it is now or never. Light resolved.

He put the picture on her desk. "I need to talk to you mama." he softly said.

Light felt his heart beating fast and he nervously dried his sweaty palms by rubbing them against his pants. He further locked his fingers together as a way of keeping his composure. His state created worry in Nami's heart.

"What is it Light? I hope there is no problem." she voiced out her concern.

"It'll depend on how you are going to take it." he said without looking into her eyes.

"Oh my goodness, what is it Light?" Nami leaned closer.

"Mama, I know how much you want me to marry Yolin...but I just can't... do it."

Nami's world blackened as she froze astonished. She felt as though someone had just slapped her in the face. Light looked up and saw the shock in her eyes. Her lips were twitching while her eyes scanned him in disbelief.

"I don't want to marry her." he finally said, feeling surprised that he didn't choke on his words.

Nami furiously got up, knocking her chair down. "Is this because of that girl?"

Light was silent as he braced himself for the wrath his mother was going to unleash upon him.

"I knew it and I said it! I warned you to stay away from her now look at what is happening!" she angrily said to him.

"I love her mama." Light answered.

Nami snorted, "Love? What do you know about love? You want to break your engagement just because of misguided feelings?!" she raised her voice and he got up. "I will not allow it!"

"Mama, doesn't my happiness matter to you?" he softly asked her.

"Oh for goodness sake Light grow the hell up! You will never find a girl better suited for you than Yolin." she admonished.

"I already have. Just try to get to know Sharaina. You will love her as much as I do I promise you." he pleaded.

"Never!" Nami furiously pointed at him. "I will never accept that girl. She is irresponsible and her family isn't of a high status like ours."

Light painfully looked at Nami. "Is that all that matters to you? Money, status...?"

"YES!" Nami screamed. "Our kind cannot mingle with her kind. The fact that you can't see that she is only after your money makes you stupid. Girls like her are good at using their beauty to trap naive rich men."

"Why are you speaking as though you know her? Sharaina isn't like that." Light defensively argued.

"Oh my goodness can you hear yourself? When did you get so stupid Light?" Nami paused for a moment and her eyes grew wide. "So you bought the White Embrace for her, isn't it? I should have known. Stariss thought that you bought it for her upcoming birthday next month but no, you bought it for that good for nothing girl." she nodded her head in annoyance. "So she is this shameless to the point of asking for expensive gifts? Disgusting!"

"Sharaina didn't ask me to buy it for her. I made that decision."

Nami walked back and forth in denial. "You mean to tell me that you spent 50 000 on that girl on your own? It's worse than I thought." she said appalled and pointed at him. "You are going give that necklace to Stariss for her birthday next month."

"No."

"What?!"

"I said no. I bought that necklace for Sharaina with my money not yours. It is hers therefore only she will decide what happens to it."

"Your father shouldn't have taken you off your allowances and gave you thirty percent of the shares in our company. Now you are wasting money on that gold digging girl."

"You are wrong."

"Light!" Nami raised her hand to slap him but paused in midair.

She had the look of fury while he had hurt plastered across his face. His eyes showed nothing but disappointment. Neither of them blinked as they studied each other's emotions.

Light shifted his eyes to the shaky hand threatening to admonish his feelings. His heart sank and he looked back into his mother's merciless eyes.

"Your son is finally happy but instead being happy for him, you are angry." he softly said without breaking eye contact.

Nami stabbed Light's chest with her finger. "I will never ever accept that girl as my daughter in law." Nami hissed through her teeth with so much hatred.

"I am sorry to hear that mama. You should understand, however, that neither you nor anyone will make me change my mind about this." Light said and started to walk away.

"Are you seriously walking away from me?" Nami asked him and he halted.

"I know I will only make you angrier by staying here. I hope that one day you will accept Sharaina because she is the one I have chosen for myself. I will never marry Yolin."

"In case you have forgotten, this engagement was done in order to link our clothing line with Alamva Jeweleries. We signed a contract as companies. This marriage is to create a permanent partnership! We are all fucking involved in this. Your decision is selfish!"

"And yours isn't? I didn't ask to get engaged." this time, there was anger in his voice.

"I am your mother therefore I have every right to make decisions such as these for you."

"I am old enough to make my own decisions now. All my life I have done everything for the sake of your happiness. It's high time I thought about my own happiness too. If following my heart is selfish then so be it."

"Are you challenging me Light?"

"No," he feigned a smile. "There's nothing to challenge. This engagement failed the day I met her." he finally walked out of the class room.

Nami furiously waved her hand and a force caused everything on her desk to violently fall to the floor. She couldn't believe that her worst fear had come to pass.

What was she to tell Yolin's family? She couldn't bear the thought of the humiliation it was going to bring to her. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.

"No, you will not do this Light. You will not ruin your life and our reputation because of that shameless girl. You will marry Yolin. I will make sure of it even if it is the last thing I do." she darkly vowed.