4.3
Comment(s)
512
View
20
Chapters

She's a saint; he's a sinner. She was arranged to wed the bully, he was the bully's footman. She fell for the footman, but far too late did she acknowledge the menace, for the bully was too besotted to let her go that easily. The bully has always said it himself, "Melanie is mine, and mine alone!"

Melanie Chapter 1 Prologue

A goat and two chickens were escorted in the Mahlangu homesteads. The lobola negotiations were officially finalised and the Dlamini family found themselves with an additional member in their clan and they couldn't be more happier. They were excited about this mysterious bride who could possibly bear their son an heir. That was what they wanted more than anything else in the world and having given the chance, they would climb on top of the planet just to tell everyone that Sizwe was getting married. That was how happy they were.

Everyone was ecstatic except for the groom, Sizwe Dlamini.

"Yes dude I'll be there as soon as all of this is over. I also can't wait to get the hell out of here," Sizwe pronounced, annoyed at how little power he had over this situation.

He was on a call with his older brother Sbongakonke.

"Aren't you happy you are getting married? At least you chose that girl for yourself. I am stuck with a monster that abuses the living daylight out of me and l don't even know what to do. This girl is crazy little brother. I would have married Priscilla, the love of my life but l couldn't because Ma had already picked out the wife she thought would be beneficial for me," Sbonga chortled bitterly at his own words.

"She was covered with a blanket Sbonga l couldn't even see her face. I don't know this chick and l don't even love her," Sizwe let out a heavy sigh as he spoke. "I'm thinking of running away from all of this."

"We'll talk later. Wifey is on my case apparently I'm using too much airtime," Sbonga chuckled.

"We'll talk later. Bye."

Sizwe cut the call and sighed. His mother could see how frustrated he was so she came to sit next to him.

"She's only 16 Sizwe. She will bear an heir for the whole family and then you can do whatever you like with her as soon as that happens. It is a shameful thing to have 2 sons who don't have heirs. You know that right?" She leered at the sight in front of her. She hated crowds.

The elders ululated when they saw the goat being ushered in the kraal. Food and drinks were then served. The local people were dancing to the music in a fixed rhythm, drinking beer and eating the most delicious food ever. It was a huge festival. All the aunts had called out their neighbours to come and witness their sister's daughter getting married to a millionaire. That would boost their family name wouldn't it?

In the middle of the huge yard was a rondovel and the bride was sitting there quietly, waiting to be called by the elders to meet her husband for the first time. She had been trained her whole life to become someone's wife and now that the time had come for her to officially change her surname, she was a nervous wreck.

Her two aunts and grandmother walked in the rondovel. Her aunts were happy to finally get rid of her. It was about time they had the house to themselves without any disturbance.

"Melanie..." The bride's grandmother spoke as she entered the room.

Melanie looked up and saw her grandmother and tears streamed down her face. She looked beautiful in her Sotho outfit, the seshoeshoe, a doek and a white shawl.

"Granny," She wailed as she ran to her grandmother's open arms for an embrace and her aunts started laughing.

"She will never survive marriage. She's way too much of a softie to commit to such a thing. Marriage is no child's play and she's still a child," One of the aunts burst into a huge laughter.

"Let her go and suffer," The other aunt chuckled.

She crouched next to Melanie and whispered in her ear,"Remember darling, you no longer have a place in this is house. You must never set foot in this house ever again. Can you hear me?"

She then smiled and stood up to leave.

"Let us go my dearest sister. The smell in here is too much," The other aunt added.

They left the room and the painful sobs that came from Melanie were not one to be missed.

"I don't want to leave granny. I don't want to go to the city of gold my love please tell them to leave me behind," Melanie cried as she wet her grandmother's blouse.

"Hey baby look at your grandma,"

Melanie looked at her granny in the eyes and she could see tears gushing through her brown eyes.

"I am not well Melanie and I'm going to die soon, l can feel it. I don't want to leave you here with your aunts to suffer at their hands when I'm no longer here to ensure that you live a life worth living for. You are going to be someone's wife now and that is the better option," Her grandmother confided.

"The Dlamini family wants to see their bride Ntombi! Finish up please!" That was one of the aunts at the door.

"She's coming!" Ntombi screeched.

The aunt walked away as Melanie and her grandmother stood up and wiped their tears.

"Listen to me Melanie; your house must always be warm at all times. Cook for your husband, clean the house, handwash his clothes and undergarments at all times. Can you hear me?" Ntombi added as she wiped Melanie's tears away.

Melanie nodded, but her tears uncontrollably flowed through the sides of her cheeks all the while.

"Satisfy your husband in bed all the time so he mustn't go and seek for food elsewhere. Listen to your mother-in-law at all times, open your ears to her advice because she's the mother you never had. You must never come home no matter how hard it is baby girl. Perseverance is important Melanie you must never leave your home no matter what. Humble yourself at all times and never cause an argument between you and your husband," Ntombi advised.

She wiped the tears in Melanie's eyes once more and fixed her up.

"Can you hear me?" Ntombi asked and Melanie nodded.

"I love you," Melanie admitted.

"I love you too."

They walked out of the room holding Melanie's suitcase and rucksack. Ululations were heard in the yard as people danced in joy.

Melanie's grandma accompanied her to the car that was already waiting for her at the gate, and she opened the door only to find Sizwe, Sindi and the uncles already inside.

Sizwe helped them with the bags as Melanie got inside and greeted the people she already found in the car. The door was closed, locked and they set off!

Continue Reading

Other books by Lebo Zimba

More

You'll also like

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Temple Madison
4.5

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancĆ©, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

One Night With My Billionaire Boss

One Night With My Billionaire Boss

Nathaniel Stone
4.5

I woke up on silk sheets that smelled of expensive cedar and cold sandalwood, a world away from my cramped apartment in Brooklyn. Beside me lay Ezra Gardner—my boss, the billionaire CEO of Gardner Holdings, and the man who could end my career with a snap of his fingers. He didn’t offer an apology for the night before; instead, he looked at me with terrifying clarity and proposed a cold, calculated business arrangement. "Marriage. It stabilizes the board and solves the PR crisis before it begins." He dressed me in archival Chanel and sent me home in his Maybach, but my life was already falling apart. My boyfriend, Irving, claimed he had passed out early, yet his location data placed him at my best friend’s apartment until three in the morning. When I tried to run, I realized Ezra was already ten steps ahead, tracking my movements and uncovering the secret I’d spent twenty years hiding: my connection to the powerful Senator Grimes. I was trapped between a CEO who treated me like a line item on a quarterly report and a boyfriend who had been using me while sleeping with my closest friend. I felt like a pawn in a game I didn't understand, wondering why a man like Ezra would walk up forty flights of stairs on a broken leg just to make sure I was safe. "Showtime, Mrs. Gardner." Standing on the red carpet in a gown that cost more than my life, I watched my cheating ex-boyfriend’s face turn pale as Ezra claimed me in front of the world. I wasn't just an assistant anymore; I was a weapon, and it was time to burn their world down.

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu
4.5

I went to the City Clerk’s office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk’s pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray’s text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we’re done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray’s life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book