The wet air that surrounded her blew her hair left and right in a gentle notion. But, that didn't soothe the pain in her heart. Her heart was in disarray and her mind was a whirlwind of different thoughts that left her gasping with each second that passed by painfully.
Adriana was eight when she lost her parents to a tragic accident. They were on their way to pick her up from her fraternity grandma's place when the accident occurred. Just some minutes ago, she heard their voice stating how close they were to picking her up, and the next minute, she heard the news of their death.
How strange! Something must be wrong somewhere. Her parents were coming, she kept telling herself all night long. She kept whispering and humming silently her parents' favorite music thinking they would come for her if she continued humming but... Days became weeks and weeks turned to months and months which crucially turned to years and they never came back. They never did. Instead, she was left with lifelong excruciating dreams reminding her of their presence in her life. And those dreams hunted her.
She grew up with her grandma who took over her parent's business when she was still little and now, she has grown into a fine young woman. Her grandma, on the other hand, has seen her as her treasure in keeping the company alive and so, a proposal was brought in.
It was late at night and the moon was out dancing with the stars. Adriana was sitting in the library room with her new collection of books glued to her eyes as she took them on a journey to Paris, a place filled with love. She was all touching and romantic with the books when a cough drew her attention.
With eyes blazing, she wished she had a gun to shoot whoever deemed it fit to interrupt her time with her new treasure but her face softened when she saw the person who stood in front of her.
"You know, it will be nice to see you looking at a young man like that instead of these books". Her grandma, Ma Nadia commented with a frown on her already wrinkled face.
"Haha, grandma, what brought you here?" She asked, evading her grandma's already known sentence.
"Ah! I see you are evading my question again. Sometimes, I find it hard that you studied Management in school seeing how you take novels seriously", sitting down opposite her, her grandma continued. "Well, you can't evade my question forever and I have found answers to wanting my need granted. We will be having a visitor tomorrow. The son of one of the biggest companies in town and other countries will be coming over and you will be marrying him." Ma. Nadia concluded.
"That isn't possible, I won't marry someone I don't know", she wanted to say, but she has lived with her grandma for years and she knows whatever she says, goes, no whining.
Instead, she nodded her head with her mindset that she wouldn't yield to her grandma's want this time around.
Morning came faster than she expected and so did afternoon. Adriana did take time to dress up to impress her grandma and acted like a puppy not wanting her to see past her notion. When the guy came, they spoke and he took her out. He was handsome though, his arrogance was higher than a nun's soprano's pitch. She disliked him and she made it known to her grandma on her arrival back home. But...
She didn't care! And that night, she fought with words with her grandma. She was angry and sad, wishing badly that her parents were alive to support her but fate was cruel.
Days passed after her angry retort to her grandma and Adriana wished she hadn't made such an outburst and decided to wait up to speak to her grandma but something different happened when she came back.
"I have gotten your wedding dress ready. You will be getting married tomorrow". Her grandma said and Ariana was left speechless.
Her mouth was opened agape as she tried to understand what her grandma said and when she finally did, her grandma was already walking away.
"I will not marry him. I thought I made that clear Grandma. I am an adult and this is a life decision and I can't let you make it for me." She said, with eyes teary.
"You will do as I say, young woman. I am not in the mood for this. Your father made the wrong decision in choosing your mom and that led to his death. I believe you are a wise girl." She said, before turning to walk away.
"My mother wasn't a wrong decision, they were right for each other and will always be." Adriana said, taking her stance.
Her grandma stared at her and walked away. Adriana on the other hand, went to her room and took some clothes and other needed stuff as she made her mind up to run away but... A needle pierced into her skin was the last thing she remembered before darkness overtook her.
Adriana woke up to a blinding light, her hands hurt and her body was tired. She tried to stand up but noticed she was strapped to a chair.
"I should have done the same thing to your father before he ran away for years and came back with you and your mother. But, he did teach me a lesson and I have learned." Ma. Nadia's voice echoed in the background.
"Grandma, what are you talking about?" Adriana asked, trying to understand the situation.
The sound of footsteps was heard and standing before Adriana was her grandma.
"You will be married tomorrow and you will live as long as I want you to. Do you think your parent's death was an accident?" She asked, smiling. "I killed them to take over the company my husband left me from your Dad and I want more company under my name and I can only achieve that when you are married to his son. Do you get the gist now?" She added with a smirk.
"You did what?" Adriana asked, "I must be having a bad dream. You killed your son and made my life miserable for money?" Adriana asked again.
"Do you need me to use a microphone?" Her grandma asked taunting but Adriana wasn't having that.
She had watched lots of life hack videos of saving oneself from being chained and she used the skill to unchain her hands before standing up to fight with her grandma and she didn't hesitate in knocking her off.
Standing up, she tied her grandma to the chair and took her phone from her pocket to call the cops.
Though years have passed with her grandma given a verdict of death by hanging, Adriana could not help feeling sorry. She was broken and all alone. And she wished she would one day be happy.
Today is her parent's death anniversary, and she came over to the place they loved the most, the sea, to wish them love and happiness knowing she will always treasure the moment they spend together forever.