The Battle Of Love vs Social Class (episode 9)
Second-to-last episode
To err is human but to forgive is divine. No matter how much a person hurts you, always create room in your heart to forgive them because that’s the right thing to do. When you hold back your forgiveness, you end up hurting yourself and not the person who hurt you. With or without an apology, it always pays off to have a forgiving spirit towards your offenders. The fact that Mrs Duncan had realised her mistakes and dropped her pride to ask a supposed ‘Commoner’ as Olivia for forgiveness is enough to show that she was truly sorry for her past actions. What a relief indeed!
To be honest, no one saw this apology coming because the almighty ‘Mrs Duncan’ wasn’t the type to accept her mistakes, talk more of apologising whether she was wrong or not. It baffled Dennis to see his mum in such manner and position because she had never shown such vulnerability since he was born. It had to take God to intervene in the matter because her actions clearly wasn’t ordinary. Anyways, all we can do is thank God that the situation had turned around for good.
Mrs Duncan was invited inside the hotel room because she had been outside for a while. Olivia sat beside Dennis on the couch as they settled to listen to what she had to say. After few seconds of silence, Mrs Duncan broke the silence.
“My son and daughter, I have come here today to express my regrets over my actions since the first day I set my eyes on Olivia. I should have been a supportive mum and stand by you when you needed me. I’m so sorry that I forgot my humble beginnings so easily and treated Olivia like there wasn’t a tiny reflection of me in her. The truth is that I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, neither did your dad. During our youthful days, we worked extremely hard for all we have today. When we finished from the university, we were still clueless about where our lives were going but we never gave up. In the midst of all that hard work, doors began to open one after the other and our lives changed drastically when your dad discovered oil in the piece of land his grand father gave to him as an inheritance. The federal government and your dad went into a partnership and that’s when our lives changed completely. We made our first Billions in less than six months after the oil was discovered. Your dad and I began to invest in real estates, manufacturing companies, petrol stations, shopping malls and so on. For a second, I forgot that I was once like Olivia. It took the things you said to me that day at the restaurant to open my eyes. I guess I forgot my story for a second and got blinded by the social class segregation of today. My dear Olivia, I am sorry for every pain I have caused you and can’t be more excited to have you in my life as my son’s partner. Let’s all bury the hatchet and move onto a better tomorrow. Your dad is losing it because we miss you so much and can’t wait for you to come home. Think about all I have said and lend a forgiving heart to me and your dad. We love you both and can’t wait to fully begin to function as one family again” Mrs Duncan soberly said.
Immediately Dennis mum was done talking, she got up, gave her son a peck on his forehead and left the hotel room. The security officials she came with escorted her to the car and they all left.
With Mrs Duncan gone, the whole room was silent for a while as Dennis and Olivia processed everything that was said to them earlier. It was a lot for them to take in at once so they took as much time as they could to warp their heads around it. They found solace in that brief story Mrs Duncan told them about her past. It was refreshing for Dennis to know that his parents understood what having nothing felt like; which meant they could give another person the benefit of doubt and a chance to write their own success story.
Deep down, the lovebirds were a bit relieved and happy that the opposition against their relationship was giving way. At that moment, they could smell victory close by and it made them really happy. Olivia couldn’t believe that a mighty woman such as Dennis’s mum could relate to the struggle of growing up without anything. It made her believe more in herself and effort to become as successful as Dennis someday.
That single confession fuelled Olivia’s drive and passion towards becoming more successful than she currently was. She tripled the efforts she put into her business and the results gradually became evident. A business magazine interviewed her business and the article was everywhere.
Fortunately, Dennis parents come across a copy of the magazine and it left them in awe. They began to respect Olivia as a person and this made them proud and happy that their son chose her. Dennis was so happy and proud of the success of his ‘business driven’ baby girl. Their relationship began to compliment each other well enough and no longer looked like a pity case of a rich man helping a poor woman.
Without the help of Dennis, Olivia single handedly turned her family’s life around. They moved from their old slump neighbourhood to a more choiced area in town. Her dad and mum quit their old jobs and became ‘stay at home’ parents. She gave her immediate elder brother a huge sum of money to put into his business.
When Dennis found out what Olivia did for her family, he was a bit sad that she didn’t ask for his support. She held him tight and kissed his forehead; “Baby, you are the man that has made me whom I am today. You started this business for me and I can’t thank you enough for all you have done but it’s time for me to let you rest because you have tried. I can’t ask you for things I can now comfortably afford on my own. You bought me two cars in the space of 8 months since we met; one for my personal use and one for my business. I know you can give me everything I want but I never want to abuse that privilege. I love you and would never take your kind heart for weakness. I got you forever and all that is mine is yours too. You are my strength and the reason I am whom I am today. I bless God for the day I met you. I would keep working hard to be the woman you will forever be proud of. I want to be an asset to you and not a liability. Someday, I pray I make you as happy as you have made me” she calmly said.
At that moment, Dennis was wowed. He gave Olivia a soft kiss on her lips and said; “I am so proud of you my darling”. She smiled, kissed him back and said “Thank you!”.
Days turned to months and one year passed since Dennis and Olivia met each other. It was their one year anniversary and they wanted to make the celebration a special one but coincidentally, Mr & Mrs Duncan was hosting a dinner party for close family friends and business partners around that same period. The couple were invited and began to prepare to grace the occasion.
At that time, Dennis no longer lived with his parents but now lived alone in one of his dad’s estates. He usually visited his family’s mansion with Olivia mostly on Sundays.
As the day for the party drew nearer, everyone prepared towards it but Dennis had some skeleton in his cardboard. He was hiding something from everyone and planned on surprising them on that day.
Finally, the D-day was here and Olivia dressed to kill. She looked extremely beautiful when she pulled up with Dennis at Mr & Mrs Duncan’s residence. The decoration for the party was splendid and truly beautiful to behold. The party began and everyone had fun. Olivia wasn’t too available because she helped out in the kitchen with Mrs Duncan and the caterers.
Halfway into the party, Dennis interrupted everyone with a toast. “Hello everyone, please raise your glasses, I have an announcement to make” he said. Everyone was curious to hear what he would say so they raised their glasses up. Dennis called for Olivia’s attention and she was summoned from the kitchen. When she arrived, she was confused as to why everyone was holding a glass of wine for a toast. Before she could think further, Dennis interrupted her thoughts. “Babe please come here” he calmly said and she walked to where he was standing.
Everyone was quiet as they watched the young love birds. After few seconds, Dennis broke the silence. “Babe, you know how I always told you I can’t imagine my life without you?” he asked and Olivia nervously nodded ‘Yes’. He smiled and knelt down with one knee.
Immediately Dennis knelt down, Olivia began to tear up. He brought out a ring from his pocket and said; “We have been through a lot to get here and I meant every word I ever told you. You came into my life and taught me lessons about life I could never have learnt in any classroom. You are so pure in heart and I admire your strong will and strength towards life. You inspire me everyday to be a better version of myself because your growth is such a beautiful transformation and I’m so blessed to experience it all. Tonight, I’m taking a bold step in our relationship to ask you to marry me. Olivia Nelson, will you marry me?”.
At that moment, everyone was so excited for the couple and couldn’t hold back their excitement. Olivia was still tearing up as she watched the love of her life ask for her hand in marriage. It felt like a beautiful dream to her that she didn’t want to wake up from.
Without wasting any time, Olivia knelt down too with Dennis and kissed him passionately. She looked into his eyes and happily screamed “Yessss!”.
End of episode 9
Written by Sonia Okehie
