Chapter 3 The Stipulation

"I already own this area."

In those moments Amanda did not even know what her reaction would be even though the man in front of her now was the man who had hit her earlier. This time Amanda's gaze was glued to the mysterious man as he walked towards his whereabouts and was in turn given wide passage by the demolishers. Whatever the reason she looked at the man for a long period of time was no longer because she admired his physical form that much like earlier, at that moment she was suddenly enveloped in annoyance but she kept it from dominating her.

"This island has been contracted to me for a great many years, and from now on, whether you like it or not, you must leave this place immediately because I will not hesitate to instruct my servants to harm you once you are still defiant." The man said, and it seemed like every word that came out of his mouth and the tone of his speech was full of arrogance for Amanda. Add to that the idea that while the mysterious man was saying those words he was still looking directly into Amanda's eyes who had also been staring into his eyes earlier. Because of what he said, the people living on that island became aggressive again and could hardly understand what they were saying because they were speaking almost at the same time and they were all shouting and overlapping their voices.

When Wilbert, Amanda's uncle, noticed the incident, he immediately headed in the direction where the people were, leaving Mildred, his youngest sister, in front of their home. He knew Amanda needed his help in these moments and he knew it was a blasphemy he had done before, he planned to leave and just turn his back on the land where he came from, and he thought to himself that Amanda was right. If you have the ability to stop something, do it, and whatever the outcome, you will never regret it. In the middle of the crowd he saw Amanda who seemed to be losing hope, even though he could not read the emotion that enveloped into his niece, he knew that she was also discouraged in those moments because she was no longer heared by the people, especially since she knows that they are dominated by their emotions which will only make the situation worse and they may never be able to regain their supposed home again.

"That's enough! Let Amanda speak with that man. Keep everyone calm, the situation will only get worse if you go through everything in the heat of your head. I know whatever will happen tonight Amanda will not disappoint us." With all the strength of Wilbert's voice, he mention, in those moments everyone's attention went to him, as well as to Amanda whom he saw again with hope in her eyes because of what he had done there was again silence, which gave the sign to Amanda not to despair especially when she sees her uncle trusting her to solve this problem. Especially hearing the word of affirmation from the people, who she knew had so much trust in her.

"Right. Let's just let Amanda speak for us."

"Amanda is good at sorting out the mess, I know she won't let us leave this place."

"Let's all shut up first and let Amanda speak for the good of all."

Because of Amanda's audible whispers she immediately let out a genuine smile on her uncle, which she let out in gratitude for it. Whether she admits it or not, she also felt weak before as if she was losing hope already, she knew they had nothing against this situation because their land had been sold, but all she wanted was peace and not to lose hope that it might be given more to them the title and let live here for a long time if the owner is kind. But it looks like she made a mistake, it does not indicate that someone is kind if he hands you a tissue when you cry. She seemed wrong to assume the man in front of her now, so maybethat is why she was disgusted with him by the time he appears. Soon the people immediately left and moved a few miles away from where Amanda and the landlord were to give them the privacy of being able to talk in depth. At that moment Amanda also had relief and somehow hope arose in her heart at what her villagers had done. She took a deep breath and looked at the mysterious man again, she no longer followed the superstition in their place that it was forbidden to look at the face of a person capable of life, because she had also disobeyed it several times before secretly. Later the man also ordered his servants to leave first and also let him talk to Amanda only by hand sign, which the woman was secretly amazed because less than a second it was immediately followed by muscular men.

Later someone handed the mysterious man a folder full of papers, when he received it he immediately handed it to Amanda.

"These are the documents that state when I bought this island, and if you still do not believe those documents we can then present it to the authorities so that you can prove that what I am saying is correct. I already legally own this island and I can evict those within my jurisdiction whenever I want." The man said again after making sure that Amanda had read the contents of those papers. Instead of backing away, the woman, as he expected, he was surprised when Amanda suddenly looked at him as if he did not care what he was saying.

"Yes, Mr. Theodore Vouvali. You do legally own this land but that does not mean you have the right to treat the people who live here like animals that you will evict whenever you want. They are human beings not your puppet." Amanda said emphatically, every word of it she made sure to stab at the chest of the mysterious man because for her it seemed insulting the way it was spoken now. Sbe found out the man's name through the documents given to her that indeed this island was already in Theodore's name.

"I thought you should talk to me politely and respectfully, your colleagues still trusted you to tame me, because I believe it is up to me to decide if I will let you live in the place I own. However, it seems that based on the tone of your voice, you will have a hard time getting me to let you do what you want to happen." Theodore said at the same time with his weak laugh as if he was making Amanda's mind even more confused at those times. Amanda immediately looked at her neighbors and there she saw their eyes on her indicating how much they trusted her, she swallowed her own saliva because she knew what the man in front of her was saying was right. This is true in that he said he was the only hope of her colleagues not to be removed from the place they were used to, and they fully gave their trust to Amanda in this situation. So Amanda should just do everything to make them happy and contented no matter what the outcome of her conversation with Theodore may be. Despite feeling annoyed, she immediately let out a forced smile when her attention went to the man, she didn't want to and she just wanted to be with the man in front of her.

"I will do everything, just do not send us away from this island. Have mercy, we do not have any other place to live, we do not have enough money to build a house or even rent. We only earn enough for our family from fishing, do you remember before? you crashed the bike I was riding and the fish I caught went to nothing, my mother and I did not eat earlier, but you did not hear me say any bad words, did you? I am not saying this to make you feel guilty but it seems like that, what I mean is, I know you did not really mean that. So this time I hope you will grant me my request." Amanda said as if she was obsessed with what she wanted to happen, she even managed to hold Theodore's right hand as he begged.

A few moments passed and Amanda was still begging, in those moments Theodore was just watching her with a smile on his lips.

"I am a merciful person, I will agree. Just on one condition." He immediately mentions in the middle of Amanda pleading with him.

Amanda immediately took a deep breath and she knew that whatever the man was going to say there was nothing she could do, she asked what is it and his immediate answer was that she did not fully expect.

"Marry me."