THE MAN IN THE WHITE AGBADA
The first time Amara Okoye met Kelechi Nwosu, she spilled red wine on his white agbada.
Not a little wine. The entire glass, It ran slowly down the expensive fabric, leaving a bright crimson stain across his chest.
For three seconds, the ballroom went completely silent. Amara’s heart stopped.
Then someone gasped.
“Oh my God!”
Amara stared at the man standing in front of her. He was tall, very tall.
And annoyingly handsome. His expression was unreadable as he looked down at the stain.
Amara swallowed, “I am so sorry.”
Nothing.
“Sir, I honestly didn’t mean to—”
“You’re right.”
She blinked.
“I am?”
“You didn’t mean to.”
There was something dangerously calm about his voice.
Amara reached for a napkin.
“I can clean it.”
He caught her wrist before she could touch his clothes.
“Don’t.”
His fingers were warm.
Her eyes met his.
For the first time, she noticed the tiny scar above his left eyebrow.
And he noticed her.
Really noticed her.
Not the cheap heels. Not the simple black dress she had borrowed from her cousin.
Not the tiny handbag she had bought from a roadside seller. He looked directly into her eyes.
Then he said quietly, “What’s your name?”
“Amara.”
“Amara what?”
“Okoye.”
Something changed in his expression.
Only for a second.
But she noticed.
“Okoye?”
“Yes.”
He released her wrist.
“Interesting.”
Before Amara could ask what he meant, an older woman approached them.
She was elegantly dressed in gold lace, dripping with jewellery.
Her eyes moved from Kelechi to the wine stain.
Then to Amara.
Her face hardened.
“Kelechi.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Who is this?”
Amara immediately knew she was in trouble.
Kelechi looked at her.
Then, to Amara’s complete shock, he put his arm around her waist.
She stiffened.
“Mother,” he said calmly, “meet my fiancée.”
Amara’s mouth fell open.
“What?”
His mother’s eyes widened.
The entire room seemed to disappear.
Kelechi leaned closer to Amara’s ear.
“Smile.”
She whispered back through clenched teeth,
“Have you lost your mind?”
His hand tightened slightly around her waist.
“Just smile.”
Amara forced the most unnatural smile of her life.
Kelechi turned toward his mother. “We were planning to tell the family tonight”
His mother stared at them.
Then she looked at Amara again.
This time, there was something much colder in her eyes.
“Who are your parents, my dear?”
Amara opened her mouth.
And before she could answer, Kelechi spoke.
“That’s not important.”
His mother smiled.
It wasn’t a friendly smile.
“Oh, I think it is.”
Amara suddenly realized something.
This wasn’t a joke. This wasn’t a spontaneous attempt to save her from embarrassment.
Something was terribly wrong.
And somehow, in less than five minutes...
she had just become the fiancée of one of the most powerful men in Lagos.
