CHOICES - by Vivian Ikhomiya

Chapter 8 The silence that followed my words was deafening. "I don't want to marry you anymore." No one moved.No one spoke.Kelvin stared at me as though he hadn't heard me correctly.Then, to my surprise... He laughed. A nervous, uncertain laugh."Stella..." he said, shaking his head. "That's not funny."I didn't smile."I'm not joking." The smile slowly disappeared from his face. "Wait..."His eyes searched mine, desperately looking for any sign that I was angry enough to say something I didn't mean. He found none. "You're serious?" I nodded. "I've never been more serious." "Stella, no." He took a step toward me. "You're just upset. We can fix this." I remained silent. "We'll plan the wedding together." "I'll make sure you have a say in everything." "Whatever upset you... we'll sort it out." I looked at him for a long moment. He still didn't understand. Before I could respond, his mother stood up. "This has gone on long enough." She folded her arms across her chest. "You're really calling off a wedding over something this petty?" I slowly turned to face her. "No." "I'm calling off this wedding because I've finally realized something." Then I looked back at Kelvin. "The problem isn't your mother." His brows furrowed. "What?" "The problem..." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "...is you." The room fell silent again. "Your mother isn't the one marrying me." "You are." "Every single time she dismissed me..." "You had a choice." "Every single time she compared me to Anita..." "You had a choice." "Every single time I looked at you, hoping you'd speak up for me..." "You had a choice." I felt my eyes sting with tears. "And every single time..." I paused. "...you chose someone else." Kelvin's lips parted, but no words came out.For the first time since we'd met...He looked shaken.Really shaken.As if he was replaying every moment I'd just described.His mother scoffed. "Oh, please." "Don't let her fill your head with nonsense." "She's just emotional." "If she wants to leave, let her leave." Kelvin slowly turned to look at his mother.She continued talking."We've done nothing but welcome her into this family.""If she's this dramatic before marriage, imagine what she'll be like after." For the first time...Kelvin didn't answer.He simply stared at her.Then...Very quietly... "Mum..." She looked at him. "What?" He swallowed hard. "No." The room froze. Even his father looked up. His mother blinked. "What did you say?" He took a slow breath. "No." His voice was firmer this time. "She's right." His mother's face fell. "Kelvin..." "I should've listened to her." "I saw everything." "I just..." He closed his eyes briefly. "I kept telling myself you meant well." His mother took a step toward him. "I did mean well." "But you never listened to her." His voice cracked. "Not once." "And neither did I." He turned back to me. His eyes were filled with regret. "I'm sorry." "I should've defended you." "I should've spoken up." "I should've made you feel like my fiancée." "I failed you." Tears rolled freely down my cheeks. Those were the words I'd wanted to hear. Weeks ago. Before I walked away. Before I spent nights crying myself to sleep. Before I waited by my phone for a call that never came. Now... They were simply too late. He took another step toward me. "Please." "Don't do this." "I'll fix it." "I promise." "I'll make this right." I smiled through my tears. A sad... Tired smile. "I know you mean every word you're saying." His eyes lit up with hope. "But that's the problem, Kelvin." "You mean it now." I shook my head. "I needed you to mean it when I was still asking you to choose me." His face crumbled. "You waited until I stopped fighting for us." "And now..." I took a deep breath. "...I'm done." I picked up my handbag.This time...No one tried to stop me.Not even Kelvin.He simply stood there, watching the woman he loved walk out of his life.And for the first time...He realized that losing me hadn't happened the day I left his parents' house.He had been losing me...Piece by piece...Every single time he chose silence.

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