Amashumi amabili nesikhombisa

Riley's POV

The entire room erupted into chaos around me. I felt sick. What should I say? How should I react? I didn't know. This was everything I wanted but her words made me feel dirty. She had the audacity to offer me my dream on a silver platter in front of the woman she just married.

"No." I heard the words as if someone else had whispered them. Nix stepped back. She was confused. Her mouth slightly ajar, her laughter rooted more in confusion than humour.

"This is what you wanted. This is what you all wanted," she spoke to the room, my father more than me. I had never seen my father so small before – especially not in front of Nix. She was like a daughter to him. She spent more of her life under his wing than away from him. She was right. My father had always nursed the dream of me and Nix getting married and leading our pride into the future, but I think he just realized that Nix was not his little protégé anymore.