THE WOMAN WHO CHOSE HERSELF Episode 2

THE WOMAN WHO CHOSE HERSELF

"The Walk of Shame or the Walk of Freedom?"

The whispers started the moment Amara stepped out of the dressing room.

Heads turned. Mouths opened and closed like fish struggling for air.

Some of the guests gasped when they saw her — no longer in the flowing white gown, but in a simple navy-blue dress she had kept for the honeymoon trip.

No veil. No flowers. No ring.

Her mother was the first to approach her, panic written all over her face.

“Amara! What are you doing? Where is your dress? People are waiting!” Mama cried, grabbing her arm.

Amara looked into her mother's worried eyes and said calmly,

“There will be no wedding, Mama.”

The words floated into the air, heavy, irreversible.

A few guests standing nearby gasped loudly. Some even dropped their cups of drink.

>>>Written by Jed The Creator 

“What do you mean there will be no wedding?” her father barked, storming toward them. “Amara, think of the family name! Think of the shame!”

Shame.

Family name.

Reputation.

Amara realized she had spent most of her life thinking of everyone else — except herself.

For the first time, she didn’t tremble before her father’s anger.

She didn’t flinch at her mother’s desperate pleas.

She straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and walked forward — down the aisle — not to meet a groom, but to meet her freedom.

Some guests started murmuring. Some pitied her. Others mocked her.

“She must be cursed,” one woman whispered loudly.

“Witches in her village are dancing by now,” another added, shaking her head.

Amara heard them all.

But she kept walking.

Head high.

Steps steady.

Today was not the end of her life.

It was the beginning of a new one — one where she finally chose herself.

As she pushed open the heavy church doors and stepped into the bright afternoon sun, she smiled.

For once, she was free.

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