CHAPTER 171

" We are now an official couple and we are looking forward to a royal wedding. It is so nice to have such a wonderful lady in my arms" Said Ryan as he pecked Ruth on her forehead.

" Excuse me! I need to go to the washrooms" Ruth whispered on Ryan's ear and left. 

She went to the guest washrooms and slightly locked the door.  Ruth began to cry as she washed her face filled with lots of sadness. She wondered why she was sad and yet she was supposed to be happy .She was soon going to be a wife which was supposed to be a great achievement in her life.

Martin suddenly entered the washrooms which astonished Ruth. He had seen Ruth leave the engagement party and decided to follow her in order to have a conversation with her. Ruth immediately took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her face.

" What are you doing here Martin? This washroom is meant for only one person. I will have to leave" said Ruth who wanted to leave but Martin stopped her by holding a part of her dress.

"Leaving! Do you want to leave me here? I came here thinking that you would not really get engaged to Ryan but you have gone ahead and done what I wasn't really expecting you to do. Don't you love me anymore?" Asked Martin in a pellucid voice.

" Stop touching my dress. I am now an engaged woman and it's not good for an engaged woman to be seen by a man trying to seduce each other. You made your decision when you accepted Tere to come back to the closer gates and live with you. I have made my decision too and I hope you will respect it" said Ruth who removed Martin's arms forcefully from her dress and left.

Ruth went back to the engagement party and was astonished to see Purist dressed in purple fisher dress. Ruth decided to go towards her to have a conversation with her since she saw her standing alone at the living room. She wondered how Purist knew about the engagement party and the costume colour yet she had not invited her to the engagement party.

" Mama! Why are you doing this mama? Why have you decided to ruin your life? Are you doing this for me? I know that you have always loved papa" said Purist filled with lots of worries.

" It's true that a part of me is doing this in order to put an end to your marriage but a part of me too feels that I should really get married to Ryan. There is no need for you to worry about me Purist. Your parents have gotten back together which is a good thing . Your father deserves to be happy at his old age" Ruth whispered at Purist. 

She did not want those who like ears dropping to hear what she was telling Ruth. 

" But why mama? You know Papa would never tell you how he feels .He is shattered and depressed right now that's why he is finding comfort from my mama. Why are you punishing yourself and Papa away from each other because of the mistakes that you both did not commit? You are Papa's hapiness and he is your hapiness too. So please! Stop making the biggest mistake of your life by getting married to Ryan or else you will leave me with no choice than to stop this wedding" said Purist who went and joined the other guests.

Ruth decided to go and join Ryan at the chair which was reserved for them. She was astonished when she found out that Ryan was looking at her in a strange manner. It was as of he was angry with her. 

" Have you both seen each other?" Ryan whispered at Ruth as he took a sip of wine.

" Who? My daughter! It's true that I have seen and I have had a conversation with her" replied Ruth in a pellucid voice.

" I am not speaking about your daughter Purist. I am speaking about Martin. I know that he has followed you to the washrooms and held your dress which is supposed to my right to hold as I am engaged to you. Why do you allow that to happen and yet you don't speak harshly to him so that he can realize his place in your life. He is nothing than a normal person in your life right now" said Ryan filled with lots of anger. 

" Good relationships are built on trust. Are you watching my each and every move? How long will you keep doing that? Do you want me to be harsh towards Martin? What wrong has he done to me? Besides, you are not yet my husband. Neither you nor Martin have the right to hold my dress or claim as your personal property" said Ruth angrily who immediately left the engagement party and went to the balcony.

Faith followed her at that instant since she saw Ruth leaving the engagement party filled with lots of anger. Faith knew that Ruth was in a terrible state. As soon as she arrived at the balcony, she found Ruth crying. Ruth immediately went towards her and hugged her as soon as she saw her.

" What is it Ruth? Is Ryan giving you problems?" Asked Faith filled with lots of concern.

" You know what? I don't even understand what I am doing in my life right now. Purist wants to do everything to stop this wedding, Martin claims that he still loves me and feels on the other hand Ryan things that I am now his property. I don't know what to do. Am I not supposed to be happy? Yet I am feeling sad on my engagement party which is supposed to be my hapiness" said Ruth as she suddenly leaned on the rails of the balcony.

" Ruth! I want to understand how you feel but I can't. I have always known you as a strong woman who never fears to face any challenges in life. You never let a man control you. You never let your emotions get over you. You love and protect so dearly. Those characteristics makes you who you are Martin. You are not supposed to cry for nothing. Can you imagine yourself crying for nothing and wasting your tears to nothing? Cone on girl! Stop all this nonesense" said Faith as she pinched Ruth on her ears. 

" You know I hate being pinched on my ears but yet you are doing it. I will slap you of you do it again. Listen! I know who I am but I am also a human being. I have to get emotional and shed tears of sadness or joy. I have to let someone control me for a little while so as to become a normal human being but I don't have to let someone think that I am his property. I can tolerate everything but not that dear sister" said Ruth smiling as she wiped her tears filled with lots of confidence.

" That's my girl. Come on! This is supposed to be your engagement party. You are supposed to put a smile on your face. Now listen to me. Go back to the engagement party and put a smile on your face girl" said Faith as Ruth left the balcony smiling. 

This was one thing that Faith had achieved. She always managed to advice Ruth and Ruth always listened to her advices. Faith followed her to the engagement party. Ruth therefore went and sat beside Ryan. 

She found out that the couple dance competition had began. Tere and Martin were the ones on stage who were dancing as everybody cheered them. Ruth looked at them and admired them but did not bother to cheer them or smile. 

" Don't they look lovely" Ryan whispered on Ruth's ears.

" I don't know if they look lovely as we do. I can see that Martin still remembers the steps I taught him after so many years. I can't really control myself. I feel like I want to go out there and dance Ryan. Would you please allow me?" Ruth asked Ryan smiling.

" Yes my love. Go ahead and enjoy yourself" replied Ryan smiling.

Ruth immediately went to where Tere and Martin were dancing and decided to join them. Ruth danced till Martin decided to join her in the dance and forget about Tere who his dance. This was simply because Tere did not know the dance moves pretty well. 

Tere immediately stopped dancing and kept looking at them filled with lots of jealousy as she nodded her head in disbelief. 

On seeing this, Ryan immediately stood from his chair and went towards them then stopped them and signalled the music instructor for the music to stop. 

" Martin! I can see that you dance Pretty well but she's now mine. If you must excuse me, we still have some traditional rites to do in order to complete the engagement" said Ryan smiling who held Ruth's arm and took her back sit on the chairs reserved for them. 

Ruth looked at Ryan filled with lots of anger. According to her, she had not done anything wrong by dancing with Martin in public. This made her to feel that she might change her decision about marrying Ryan soon. 

MARRIED AT SIXTEEN.