“Yes.
She arrived not long ago.
” Obinna stepped closer.
His voice was low and respectful.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to receive you.
Work held me back longer than I expected.
” Chika quickly stood up.
“It’s okay.
” He gave a small nod.
“Still, I should have been there.
” There was no pride in his voice, no excuse, just simple apology.
Then he reached into a small bag he had come in with.
“I got something for you,” he said.
Chika blinked.
A gift? She quickly prepared herself.
In her mind, she expected something small and village-like.
Maybe fabric, maybe sandals, maybe something she would have to pretend to like so she would not offend him.
She accepted the box carefully.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Open it,” Mama Grace said warmly.
Chika opened it slowly.
The moment she saw what was inside, her fingers paused.
It was a gold bracelet.
Not ordinary gold, real gold.
Heavy, bright, expensive-looking.
Her eyes lifted to Obinna’s face, then dropped back to the bracelet.
This could not be cheap.
Obinna noticed her silence and misunderstood it at once.
“You don’t like it?” he asked.
“I thought the design was simple enough, but if it’s not your taste, that’s fine.
I brought other options, too.
” Other options? Chika repeated.
He nodded as if it was normal.
Mama Grace laughed softly and stood up.
“I told him not to confuse the girl on her first day, but he would not listen.
” She went to a drawer, opened it, and brought out a smaller case.
“Try this one, too,” he said.
Chika collected it with even more confusion now.
When she opened it, she almost dropped it.
Inside was a pink diamond piece.
Her breath caught.
She did not know much about jewelry, but she knew enough to know this was no ordinary stone.
Even the way it caught the light looked expensive.
She raised her head slowly.
Mama Grace was smiling.
“If you don’t like gold, maybe you’ll like that.
” Chika stared at both of them.
Then she looked around the simple room again.
Old chairs, plain walls, a quiet house in a village, then gold, then pink diamond.
Nothing matched.
She tried to smile, but her confusion was too clear.
“I I don’t understand.
” Mama Grace and Obinna looked at each other.
Then Obinna sat down and motioned gently for her to sit, too.
Chika sat.
Mama Grace sat beside her.
Obinna spoke first.
“You expected poor people.
” Chika felt embarrassed at once.
“No, I didn’t mean “It’s all right,” he said calmly.
“Most people do.
” The way he said it made it easier for her to breathe.
Mama Grace smiled.
“This house confuses many people.
” Chika looked from mother to son again.
“I thought you were farmers.
” “We are,” Obinna said.
That only confused her more.
Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Then how can you afford these?” Mama Grace answered as if she was explaining something very small.
“My son farms a lot of land.
” Chika gave a small nod.
“How much land?” Mama Grace waved her hand lightly.
“Not one or two plots, many, across several communities.
” Obinna added, “Farming is only one part.
” Chika looked at him.
One part? He nodded.
“There’s livestock, too.
Fish farming, some tourism projects, a few other investments.
” A few other investments? He said it so casually that Chika almost wanted to laugh.
Instead, she asked carefully, “So, how much do you make from farming?” She expected something modest, something good by village standards.
Mama Grace answered before Obinna could.
“Billions every year from crops alone.
” Chika turned sharply to look at her.
Billions? Mama Grace nodded as if she had said thousands.
Chika looked at Obinna to see if his mother was exaggerating, but he did not deny it.
He only said, “It depends on the year.
” That answer made it even worse.
Chika let out a breath and sat back slowly.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Obinna reached into his pocket and brought out a bank card.
“Take this,” he said.
Chika frowned.
“For what?” “For anything you need, clothes, toiletries, whatever you want.
You don’t need to ask.
” He placed the card in front of her.
Chika stared at it.
The whole day already felt unreal.
This only added to it.
“I haven’t even bought anything yet,” she said.
“You will,” Mama Grace replied.
“You’re in a new place.
There must be things you need.
” Chika hesitated, then took the card.
Still, she looked uneasy.
Obinna noticed.
“What is it?” “I just don’t want to spend carelessly.
” A faint smile touched his face.
“Then check the balance first.
” Chika thought he was joking, but both he and his mother looked serious.
So, she brought out her phone, checked the account linked to the card, and nearly stopped breathing again.
The amount there was so high that for a second she thought she had counted wrong.
She checked again.
No.
It was real.
She looked up slowly.
“This is too much.
” Obinna shrugged lightly.
“That account is small.
” Chika blinked.
Small? “I’ll transfer more later if you need it.
” She stared at him.
Mama Grace shook her head fondly.
“Why later? Since she is your wife now, she should manage your money.
” Chika turned to her quickly.
“No, Ma.
That’s not necessary.
” “It is necessary,” Mama Grace said.
“That is how it should be.
” Obinna nodded without even thinking about it.
“She’s right.
” Then he added in the calmest voice, “I’ll give you my other cards, too, when I find them.
Some are inside the house.
I misplaced a few somewhere.
” Chika just looked at him.
Misplaced a few somewhere? As if he had too many to keep count of.
As if billions were normal.
She held the card in one hand and suddenly felt very small in the middle of a situation she did not understand.
At last, she asked the question that had been sitting in her chest.
“If you have this kind of money, why do you live here?” The question was direct, but neither of them seemed offended.
Obinna leaned back slightly.
“My father built this house himself,” he said.
“Every part of it meant something to him.
After he died, my mother refused to leave.
” Mama Grace smiled sadly.
“Your father-in-law loved this house too much.
I could not just walk away from it.
” Obinna looked at his mother before speaking again.
“She doesn’t want a new place, and I don’t like leaving her here alone, so I stayed.
” There was no show in it, no attempt to look noble, just truth.
Chika looked around the house again, but this time differently.
Not as a sign of poverty, as a sign of memory, as a sign of love.
Obinna continued, “If you want something else, I can build a new house nearby, something bigger, something more comfortable.
” Chika looked at him.
There it was again, that same simple tone, as if building a house was like offering someone a bottle of water.
But what touched her was not the offer.
It was the reason he had stayed.
He was rich enough to live anywhere.
He was powerful enough to build anything.
Yet he remained in this old house because of his mother.
That moved her more than the gold, more than the pink diamond, even more than the money.
She shook her head gently.
“There’s no need.
” Obinna studied her face as if making sure she meant it.
“You’re sure?” Chika nodded.
“Yes.
” Mama Grace smiled in quiet satisfaction.
Something softened inside Chika then.
This was the first time she looked at Obinna and felt something deeper than surprise.
Respect.
Real respect.
Not because he was rich, but because he did not wear it like noise.
Because he stayed close to his mother.
Because he had power and still spoke gently.
For the first time since entering that house, Chika felt that maybe her life had not ended.
Maybe it had only changed direction.
Mama Grace stood up.
“Let me go and bring food.
The two of you can talk.
” She left them in the sitting room.
For a brief moment, there was silence.
Then Obinna looked at Chika and said quietly, “You still look like you want to run.
” Chika looked down, embarrassed.
He did not laugh at her.
“I know today has been too much,” he said.
“You don’t have to understand everything at once.
” She looked back at him slowly.
His face was calm.
His voice was calm, too.
And somehow that made it easier.
“I just wasn’t expecting any of this,” she admitted.
“I know.
” Another short silence passed.
Then Chika looked at the bracelet again, then at him.
“You really farm?” That finally made him smile.
“Yes,” he said.
“I really do.
” The smile changed his face completely.
Chika looked away too quickly.
And for the first time without forcing herself, she found a small smile rising on her own face, too.
That evening, after they ate, the quiet returned.
Mama Grace showed Chika where she could freshen up and where her things had been kept.
The house was still simple, but now Chika noticed the care in it.
Everything was clean.
Everything had its place.
As night fell, a new worry entered her mind.
Sleeping.
She and Obinna were married now, yes, but they were still strangers.
She had only met him properly that day.
The thought of sharing a room with him made her chest tighten.
Not because he had done anything wrong, but because everything was happening too fast.
Mama Grace went to her room after a while, leaving the two of them in the sitting room again.
Chika sat with her hands on her lap, not sure how to bring the matter up.
Obinna noticed her uneasiness.
“What is it?” he asked.
Chika hesitated, then said quietly, “About tonight.
” He understood at once.
His face softened.
“I changed the bedsheets in my room for you,” he said.
“You can sleep there.
” Chika looked up quickly.
He continued, “I’ll stay somewhere else until our proper wedding.
Maybe at my cousin’s place or one of the other houses nearby.
I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.
” For a moment, Chika just stared at him.
“You would leave your room for me?” Obinna looked surprised by the question.
“Of course.
” She did not know what to say.
That answer touched her more than she expected.
In her father’s house, so many things had been forced.
People decided things for her and expected her to adjust.
But here, this man she had known for only some hours was giving her space without making her beg for it.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He only nodded.
“You should rest.
Today was long.
” A little later, Mama Grace came out again and heard the arrangement.
At once, she frowned.
“Which cousin’s place?” she asked.
Obinna answered calmly, “I said I’ll stay there tonight.
” “At this hour?” she said.
“And you want to start knocking on somebody’s door in the middle of the night?” “It’s fine.
” “It is not fine.
” Obinna tried to explain, but Mama Grace did not listen.
The night had grown darker already, and one of the side roads had become muddy after a short evening rain.
She refused to let her son go wandering around because of sleeping arrangements.
In the end, after too much back and forth, she solved it in her own way.
“You two will use the room,” she said firmly.
“It is your room.
The bed is big enough.
Nobody will die.
” Chika nearly choked.
Obinna looked helpless for the first time.
“Mom.
” But Mama Grace had already turned away.
“I am going to sleep.
Figure it out like adults.
” She left them there.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
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