Jeremiah.
Six years later...

"Who else haven't we sent any invitations to?"
Oma asked as she caressed the tiny black invitation letter in front of her. Her slim hands rubbing it slowly with a satisfactory smile on her face. Her hair packed in a bun and her long legs complemented by her wide suit pants and crossed neatly on top of each other. Yes, six years was a long time and Oma learnt how to rock a suit especially since she had a reputation to keep as the CEO of Richwell and she looked so good in it.

A lot of years had passed and all of us had changed with it but Oma still managed to keep her beauty and youth intact. Besides the formal clothes and super mature look, she hadn't changed one bit.

"I think we've sent invitations to practically everyone."

She pouted, turning to Kingsley who was sitting right beside her in his pair of trousers and sweatshirt. She was now looking at one of the biggest real estate agents in the entire continent. Kingsley had also grown a lot all those years. Standing on his ground and refusing to get into the military like his father wanted and his brothers did, he had found his own path, his own life in real estate management. He also bought NAUN after Seven's family went bankrupt two years ago. He was a charm according to society and was on the way to making his first Forbes debut as we speak. He raised his head a little bit and drew a deep breath, pretending to think.

"I think we left one person out, Jer."
Oma scoffed.

"We didn't leave him out, I intentionally didn't include him."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to."

Kingsley scoffed and let a tiny smile on his face. Six years had passed and she still hadn't let go of her long time beef with me. My relationship with Oma hasn't exactly been defined since six years ago, it was more like there was a pause since she still found reasons to avoid me even after all those years. He clicked his tongue.

"It's been six years, don't tell me you're still mad at him for breaking your heart."

She scoffed.

"Don't be dramatic." She took a sip from her coffee mug.

"I'm hurt." Kingsley told her. "You promised you were over him."

"I am, you know I am, that's why I'm dating you right now."

Kingsley smiled. He might have loved the sound of that.

"If you want to invite him," she pushed an invitation card to him after she dropped her mug. "Give it to him yourself."

"No need." Kingsley told her. "You can give it to him yourself." Oma slowly raised her head to him. She could see how his gaze was somewhere else and how his face brightened. She traced his gaze to me, starting from my really fitted mauve suit trouser and tracing her eyes up my really long legs till her eyes finally met mine. I was really close to them now, taking my time as I walked to their table with a huge smile on my face. I watched her roll her eyes and turn back to Kingsley.

"You invited him?" She whispered when I got to the table but I heard her. Kingsley shrugged his shoulders, of course he invited me. I had to be a big part of their plan. As usual, Oma was trying to avoid meeting my gaze, it was how we were for the past six years, she always avoided me. It was so hard to even see her except it was on the news, she always avoided having coffee break with me or hangouts where I attended besides, no one could blame her, we were both really busy people now.

"You really know how to hurt my feelings Chioma." I let my smile widen.

"She missed you a lot, don't mind her." Kingsley said in my defense as Oma drew a deep breath, I could tell she was trying to keep her head in check. She had avoided me all those years intentionally, best bet was she had planned the perfect outfit and entrance in her head for the day we were going to meet and she never expected it to be that day. Kingsley had ruined her great plan to get back to the ex that had dumped her to be with his first love and show him what he missed. I knew exactly what she was embarrassed about. She cleared her throat and turned to me.

"It's been really hard to get a hold of you nowadays, you know that?" I teased her. She pouted.

"Well," she cleared her throat and finally found the courage to look me in my eyes. "I've been busy." Again with the attitude. Oma Richard's cutest feature. "I have a lot on my plate now so all my meetings are usually fixed. Don't really have time to chit chat."
I chuckled.

"Besides, you've been scarce yourself Jer." I whirled my gaze so it settled on Kingsley. "It's really hard to even go out for drinks with you." I slouched in my chair and rubbed my forehead. "I guess you have your plate full too. I mean, it's not easy to be CEO of Benoil. That's an entire empire within your gasp."

Kingsley was right. It's been a really rough ride for me too. Ever since father had stepped down from his position at the company and announced me as his successor, my life had been extremely busy especially since everyone else in the family were busy chasing their own dreams. Christian's company had grown the past few years. He was doing well even without Benoil and he and Natalie already had three kids of their own. Their family was happy and it always felt like home whenever I visited.

I found myself spending more time with them especially since Dad and Mum were always busy touring the world since after their wedding. Luke on the other hand, had his hands full with preparing for military school and Kodi, Kodi was barely ever home. She had found a life that suit her... a life she was giving all her time and life to; a traveling blogger. She was always on the road and in every country you could think of, experiencing and educating herself on different cultures and lifestyle. She had visited home one time in the past three years with this guy she liked, they attended Harvard together. Life was good. Life was perfect. Everything was finally in place, not everything though, there was just one thing left...one person left to complete my life.

"It's today isn't it?"

I had been completely lost in my thoughts until Kingsley's voice snapped me out of it. I quickly retraced my gaze to him.

"Huh?"

He exhaled.

"I'm so jealous of you." He told me. "You get to reunite with the love of your life today, while the love of mine keeps saying no whenever I ask her to get married to me. She won't even put on the engagement ring I got her instead she's sending out invitations for her company's anniversary." He turned to Oma and sneered. She rolled her eyes.

"I thought I explained this to you already. Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now." She told him. "I was engaged half of my life and the thought of getting married right now exhausts me. I just want to breathe and do the things I didn't get to do before."

"What about me?" Kingsley pointed at himself. "Don't you care about me or my feelings? How long am I supposed to wait for you?"

She turned to face him.

"Six years."

"What?!" Kingsley couldn't believe his ears.

"What? You can't do it? Jeremiah waited six years for Kora, are you saying he has two heads?"

"Jeremiah and Kora's case are different from ours. If we really think about it, he didn't really suffer since he always spent got to spend time with her every time he visited. He never really missed her because he was always going to see her."

"So?"

"So?" Kingsley drew a deep breath. "You don't mean it right? We'd be thirty in six years!"

"So what? You can't wait?" She asked him. Kingsley shut his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"Then let's break up-"

"Okay I'll wait." He turned to face me immediately, totally forgetting that he was bickering with her just a few seconds ago. They were so cute together. Deep down in my heart I was happy for them, happy for Oma. She finally got to be with someone that really loved her, someone that could move the mountains for her, someone that accepted her the way she was and understood her wholeheartedly. Kingsley was good for her, he loved her so much and I could tell she loved him too with the way she smiled at him, with the way she looked at him. They were each other's happy ending. I was happy that everything turned out well for them in the end, for all of us.

I smiled and scratched my brow.

"You must be really happy," Kingsley told me. "Unlike the past years before you became CEO of Benoil, you haven't seen Kora in over six months because of work. It must feel so good to know she's coming home finally after all those years." The smile on Kingsley's face made me realize how genuinely happy he was for me. It made my heart warmer.

I was excited.
Today had to be one of the happiest days of my life and it was because she was coming home. Kora was coming home. We had both waited so long for this day. Even though she was far away, Kora and I still made our relationship possible. Six years and we were still waxing strong. Just like all of us, Kora had changed a lot. England was just what she needed, a fresh start. Kora had finished her degree, studied hard and even graduated with first class. She also owned her own fashion company now where she made her own clothes and had people work for her.

Kora.

She had named it after herself and her company had gained a lot of popularity in a lot of countries especially in the motherland. Everyone wanted to know who the african girl that had broken through international boarders fashion-wise was and so she was mostly always busy with interviews and all. She had proven everyone wrong and had made a name for herself even without her father's affluence. She was everything she had said she would be, everything she had told me she'd be. A woman of her own making, a woman that was never going to be looked down on especially because of her past. She had made a name for herself and no one thought of her like they used to do anymore. No one thought of her family like they used to. I was so proud of her and today, I was going to tell her just how much, to show her just how much.

"Mnn." To answer Kingsley's question. I raised my wrist to my face so I could look into my wrist watch. I always did so I could keep track of time. I had to be early to pick Kora from the airport. "Her plane should arrive in two hours." I told him.

"Kora texted me a few minutes ago." Oma took another sip from her coffee, we both turned to look at her. "She's currently on her way to your house."

I blinked hard.

"What?" Kora was on her way to the mansion? She had arrived already? That was impossible. I had studied her departure and arrival time perfectly well, there was no way I could miss it. I checked my wrist watch again to make sure I wasn't seeing things, I was right, Kora's plane was set to arrive in two hours. There was no way she was here and I didn't know, besides we already agreed I was going to pick her up from the airport.

"She arrived earlier than she was supposed to. She got on the first plane and it arrived at exactly an hour ago." Oma continued.

"Really?" Kingsley asked her. "Why didn't you say it before?"

"She wanted me to keep it a secret." Oma told him. She turned to me. "Guess she wanted to surprise you."

Surprise me? Why on earth did she see the need to do that? What was she going to the mansion for? She knew I wasn't at the mansion.

"She wanted to greet your father first." It was like Oma was reading my mind.

"Woah." Kingsley raised his hand to her head. He tapped it gently. "I'm so proud of you. You're such an amazing big sister. Look at how you're having your sister's back so diligently."

"Humph." Oma raised her head in pride. She loved it when Kingsley gave her soft pats on her head and complimented her. It must have felt so good. I jumped from my chair immediately, I couldn't believe it. Kora was back and she was on her way to the mansion. I had to meet up with her. How was she going to see Dad now without talking to me about it first when she knew Dad had not given us his blessings yet? What if he was mean to her again? What if he made her cry again? My father was a hard man to impress. I wanted to at least be there when we asked for his blessings again.

"You're leaving?" Kingsley asked as he and Oma turned to me.

"Mnn." I told them. "I'd call you later okay?"

"Let's go out for drinks with Kora later."

"Alright." I was barely even listening, before I knew it, I was hurrying to the exit door, pulling my phone from my jacket and pushing a few buttons as I hurried to my car. I got in immediately.

"Yeah Manuel," I said the moment Emmanuel answered his phone. I started the car and started to reverse it. "Uh, are you at the mansion?— you're not?" I let out a frustrated exhale. Why wasn't he? I drove out of the parking lot immediately. "Yeah, Kora is on her way to the mansion now to see Dad, looks like her plane arrived earlier than I expected— I'm on my way home now, I should be there in ten minutes— let me know if you hear anything— alright, thanks."

I hung up and stepped on the accelerator to increase my speed. I had to get there in time, I had to go to her and at least have some kind of control over the situation. I sped off.

Ten minutes later and I had already arrived at the mansion. I stepped out of the car immediately and threw my key at the valet so he could take care of the car and park it where it was supposed to be.

"Welcome home sir."

I ran past the maids that bowed to me when I rushed inside. I was running so fast now. Manny had called me five minutes ago and told me that Kora was at the mansion and in my father's study. I couldn't help but imagine a lot of things that could go wrong. I was worried, worried wasn't the word, terrified was. I was terrified. I rushed into the hallway leading to my fathers study. I could see my mother standing in front of it gracefully in her six inch heels and really beautiful dress. She looked like she was worried just like I was. Kora had to be inside. I could tell.

"Mum," I called her the moment I got close and she turned to face me, her diamond jewelries glittering under the lights and her red lipstick blended perfectly with her make up. She looked so elegant as always.

"Jidenna." She reached for my hands immediately, her wedding ring shimmering on her long slim finger. I turned to the door, it was closed. I turned back to my mother.

"Is she-"

She nodded. It was like she knew what I was going to ask before I even did. Kora was inside.

"She's with your father." I felt my breath shorten. "Seeing that she hasn't left yet, it's safe to assume everything is going well." My Mum squeezed my hands to give me hope. I really hoped she was right. I hoped everything was going well but still I needed to be in there, I needed to see for myself.

"Can I go in?" I had to ask her.

"You should." She told me. I nodded. I needed all the encouragement I could get and then I started to walk slowly to the door, taking deep breaths and puffing my cheeks with air. I was so nervous. Nervous to know what was going on within those walls.

This was it. This was the moment Kora and I had been waiting for, there was no point turning back now.

I opened the door and took a step in.

I froze.

The room felt so warm and was filled with so much silence, it was nothing like I had imagined it to be. I raised my head towards the stairs and I could see a figure in a yellow dress standing below the small stairs, backing me. I could see how strands of her hair swayed with the wind and how her diamond earrings glittered under the sun rays from one of the window. She looked so tall in her really long thin black heels. It was Kora. I could identify her back anywhere even with my eyes closed. My father who happened to be glaring at her, with a huge frown on his face and his hands behind him, slowly raised his head to me when he head my loud footsteps the moment I walked into the room.

My father had aged a lot in the past six years and so he looked a lot scarier than before.

Kora slowly turned to the door, she turned to face me. I held my breath when she did. As usual she was so beautiful and even more beautiful with her eyes staring at mine. Her glow up was the best, you'd have never guessed she was just returning from the airport because she looked nothing like it. Perfection. That was the word, she was perfect and her make up blended perfectly to complement her skin. Six years had changed Kora a lot but I was used to it since I got to see her a lot the past few years. She had grown to be the perfect woman. So elegant, so beautiful, so...elite. I tried to read her, to read the expression on her face but I got nothing. Did it fail? Was her attempt to get my father's blessing a complete failure? I swallowed hard and drew a deep breath. I slowly raised my head to meet my father's.

"Dad," I had to summon all the courage I could find. "Dad, there's something Kora and I want to talk to you about-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" My father's hard voice echoed around the room.

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me you had proposed to her already?"

I turned to Kora. Had she told Dad already about our engagement? She pursed her lips.

"Don't look at her like that. Who wouldn't have noticed with that big diamond ring on her finger? She didn't have to tell me anything, I might be old now, but I'm not blind."

"I forgot to take it off." Kora whispered to me. I let out a shaky breath and turned back to my father.

"Dad," I took a step forward and another step and another until I was right beside Kora. "Dad, I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how to, I didn't know how you were going to take the news. Kora and I were going to tell you eventually."

"So after everything, after all I said to you, you still want to go on with this wedding? You'd still get married to her?"

"Mnn." I reached for Kora's hand and held on tightly to it. I could feel Kora's gaze on me. "I love Kora Dad, always have and always will. She's the only person I want to get married to. I know what you're going to say, I know that you're going to try to talk me out of it again but my answer is never going to change. Kora and I," I lowered my gaze to our joined hands. "We have decided to hold off the wedding. We won't get married yet until we get your approval. We'd work hard to gain your blessings, I really hope it doesn't take so long but we won't get married until you do."

I watched my father let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and then he raised his head to my mother who was standing behind us. He let out a breath again.

"Well, it doesn't look like there's anything I can do to stop you." He said to me. "If I couldn't stop you back then, then there's no way I can stop you now. You'd still get married to her even if I don't give you my blessings."

"D-dad,"

"Besides, Kora has told me everything I needed to know." I slowly turned to Kora. "She also proved to me that I was wrong about her. That I was wrong about who she was. It's high time you got married. You're getting really old and I'd like to carry my grandkids before I die."

"Dad,"
I whispered his name again.

I could feel the tears that was finding it's way to my eyes as Kora gripped tightly to my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. I turned to my mother. I had to make sure my ears weren't deceiving me. My Mum had her eyes filled with tears too. She nodded to assure me that it wasn't a dream. I hadn't heard him wrong, I wasn't seeing things either. My father had just given Kora and I his blessings! Finally! I turned back to Kora.

"Did you hear that?" I was barely hiding my excitement either. Kora had tears in her eyes too. "Did you hear that?" I raised my hands so I could place them on both sides of her face while I stared into her eyes. "We can get married."

Kora let out a shaky breath as a drop of tear fell from her eyes.

"I did." She whispered to me.

"We can get married." I repeated just so it sunk in. I needed to get used to saying those words.

"I know."

I gave her a quick kiss on her mouth. I was super excited and out of my head.

"We can get married did you hear that?" I kissed her on her cheeks, one after the other on her nose and forehead too.

"I did." She chuckled and placed her forehead on of mine, rubbing it against hers gently.

"This is not a dream isn't it?" I had to ask her. It still felt so unreal. "I'm not dreaming, this is real isn't it?"

"It's real." She told me after she sniffed.

"You're here,"

"I'm here."

"And Dad gave us his blessings? We are getting married?"

"Yes."

I let out a relief exhale. Those were the words I needed to hear. The confirmation. I raised my head so I could kiss her forehead and I planted a kiss on it and watched her take a deep breath to take it in.

This was real. It was happening, all of it. I started to think of it, of all of it, of all we had to get through to get here, all of us, of the first time I had texted Kora, to the time I had saved her from drowning herself, when she had bumped into me on the stairs and stepped on my shoes. I remember how she fell after I caught her staring at me while I played the violin and how I felt when I had found out her real identity. How I had kissed her at the gala and how I had hurt her multiple times and then I remembered everything else that had come after it. All the pain we had to go through, all the sacrifice we had to go through.

A lot can happen when you're growing up. Life is not a bed of roses to anyone no matter what your story is, no matter who you are, rich or poor, old money or young money or crass. Life is a race, and trust me, no one has it easier. No one has the perfect life or the perfect family and as we grow, we start to see life differently from how it used to be, sometimes we find ourselves losing so much, hurting so much, we make sacrifices for those we love and those we don't. There are times we'd want to give up, and stop feeling the pain, times we want to stop the pain, times we get tired, times we feel like our lives ain't right, times we just want everything to end, times we get mad at ourselves for the choices we made and times we get mad at the people that made those choices for us even when they thought it's for our best interest, that it was good for us and trust me, the rich get it just as much as everyone else does.

At nineteen we have been victims of our own lives, of our own choices and the choices made for us. We've been pushed, thrown away, stepped on, abandoned. We've hurt and we've lost. We've made sacrifices and we've cried and we've cried again, but then again, we found light, we found hope, we found happiness. That is life. That's the gift of growing up. You'd never know what could come knocking at your door, all you have to do is make the most of it, make the most of your situation. There's no life that's better than yours, no family that's better than yours, there's no shoes you could fit into except yours. Holding on to the memories that matter, to the people that matter and not letting go, that's how we can get through it, that's how we got through it, by holding on to love, and family. By learning how to love and forgive and cherish every moment we have as passengers of this world, as a family.

I pulled Kora closer to me just one time and my lips sought hers immediately. I heard my Dad clear his throat and watched him look away the moment I did but I was too caught up in the moment to even be bothered by him. I deepened my kiss on her and wrapped my arms around her while she wrapped hers around my neck. It was all I ever wanted. My life was complete now, my family was complete, I was happy, truly happy and that moment, I couldn't trade those moments for anything.

The one percent of the one percent, what does it really mean? For me, it doesn't matter. For me, the one percent of the one percent are those that make every second of your life memorable and happy, they are those that make every moment in your life worth living, they are the beauties of your life, the real one percent of the one percent, the pillars and elements of your life. They are all that matter.

They are the elites.

Thank you Elite Fam!!!!!!!!! We did it together!!
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