The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

“You can,” I answer her.

I needed her. This news had shocked me to my very core. I needed someone to hold onto. Someone

who understood the pain that I felt.

She doesn’t wait for another second as she barges into the room. One look at my tear-streaked face,

and she’s already hugging me.

“I can’t believe he’d do something like this to you.” She whispers. “I can’t believe he’s going to marry

Anya. He doesn’t realize yet what he’s doing but this decision will ruin his life. If he doesn’t stop it soon,

he will regret everything.”

“I should have known this was eventually going to happen,” I admit. “We all knew Anya wanted to

marry into this family. She wanted Atticus at first, but now she wants Damon. I can’t believe she

disposed of Dante like he was nothing to her. It makes me wonder what her intentions truly are. Does

she just want to be apart of this family for money? What does she truly want?”

Autumn sighs, “I also have my doubts about Anya.”

“We need to do something.” I plead with her. “Maybe if we hire a private investigator we can dig up

some information on Anya that can stop this wedding. I know that there’s plenty she’s hiding from us.

We just need to find out what it is.”

She nods, “I agree with you. But we can’t let the others know what we are up to. Damon and Dante still

care deeply for Anya. Even Atticus, he doesn’t love her but the time he spent with her in the past has

made him care for her. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it on our own.”

Her hand squeezes mine gently.

“We are going to make him beg,” Autumn promises me. “He isn’t going to last long. He’s going to regret

ever agreeing to marry her when it’s clear that you are the one in his heart. We need to make Damon

realize this before it’s too late. We need him to see that you’re the woman for him. His heart knows it;

it’s time he catches up with his feelings.”

I smiled; this was why I loved Autumn. She always knew the right words to say. Even though I had this

heavy feeling in my chest, talking to her has eased the tension within me.

“Did they announce the date for the wedding?” I ask her.

We needed to know how long we had left.

“Not exactly.” She answers me. “However, the engagement party will take place in five days.”

Five days? Were they crazy? If they chose such a close date for the engagement, it only meant that we

didn’t have plenty time before the wedding took place.

“Are they in a rush to get married?” I demand. “What about Dante? Shouldn’t they have waited for him

to recover from the pain?”

Or couldn’t he at least wait until my heart had good enough time to recover from the initial shock of this

marriage?

Did Damon not care about me at all? I still didn’t understand why he was doing this.

“We need to find the sexiest dress on earth for his engagement. We need to make him miserable to the

point that we ruin the entire night for him.” Autumn insists. “I’m not going to make this easy for him. He

made you cry and while I love him like a brother, he deserves what’s coming.”

I agree. I was willing to do everything as long as it got Damon back to my side.

It was time my nightmare tricks returned. That would be my first plan. My nightmares. He barely

survived the last time I spent a night in his room; this time, I’ll make it much harder.

“He couldn’t stop looking at the door when you left. Breaking the news to you was something that killed

him inside. I’m positive that he warned Anya to give him some time to break the news to you first. He

should have never trusted her word. It’s obvious that she couldn’t wait to rub it into your face.” She

sighs, “I think that Damon is afraid.”

“Afraid?” I ask, confused.

Why would he be afraid? What could Damon possibly afraid of?

She nods.

“He isn’t stupid. He knows what will happen if anyone finds out you have feelings for each other. He

wants to protect you, but he doesn’t realize that his decisions are breaking your heart.” She explains. “I

saw the look on his face Clarissa. Atticus and everyone else aren’t paying attention to the way he

gazes at you but I have been. That man has feelings for you and no one can change my mind. This is

the only explanation that I can come up with. He must be trying to protect you from everyone else.”

I swallow. I was aware the possibilities of people finding out and what that would mean for me, but I

was willing to take that risk for him. I wanted him and nothing else mattered to me. I wish that Damon

could see things the way that I saw them. I wish that he could understand that I was willing to sacrifice

everything to be with him.

“Damon may come looking for you.” She tells me. “Do you want to speak to him tonight or should I tell

him to give you some space?”

I wanted to see him but not right now. It was too much for me. I needed time to process everything.

A knock on the door catches both of our attention. Was that him? Did he come to speak to me about

the entire thing?

Autumn opens the door and we were right, it was him.

“Clarissa wants to be alone tonight.” Autumn tells him for me. “Please respect her wishes.”

It hurt to turn him away but he should have expected this after the announcement that he just made.

He doesn’t try to change my mind. Instead, he breaks my heart even more when he leaves just like

Autumn asked him to.

After Autumn leaves, I spent the rest of the night crying myself to sleep.

The next day my eyes were swollen and extremely red. I had to wear makeup to cover it so that

everyone else couldn’t see just how bad this news had hit me. I didn’t want my family to notice how

badly Damon’s announcement had affected me. I didn’t need them to get suspicious.

We were back at the academy and so far, the news about Damon’s engagement hadn’t spread like I

expected it to.

What was Anya waiting on to announce it to everyone that she knew?

I knew she couldn’t wait for every person at the academy to find out that she would soon be getting her

wish of marrying a Fawn. It wasn’t the Fawn she originally wanted to marry but she seemed to be

contented with Damon, at least for now. Her mind changed as quickly as some girls changed their

outfits during the day. I wouldn’t trust it.

“Why didn’t you come to the academy with Damon?” Atticus asks me. “He’s usually the one you love to

go with.”

Autumn sighs, “is it so wrong that she chose to come with us, Atticus? I was glad for her company.”

Atticus scratches the back of his head, “I was simply asking a question. Damon doesn’t look happy. I’m

assuming that the both of you are still fighting from the announcement last night. Dante is also refusing

to speak to the rest of us.”

“That’s what happens when you decide to marry the wrong woman.” Autumn says as she narrows her

eyes while looking at her husband.

He shrugs his shoulders, “that doesn’t apply to me. I married the right woman. Didn’t I?”

“You didn’t make it easy.” She teases him. “It’s a good thing I stuck around or you’ll be just as miserable

as your brother right now.”

Even though I’m upset, I still can’t help but smile at their bickering. It’s easy to tell how much they both

love each other.

I freeze when I see Damon in front of us. I was avoiding him. The moment he spots me, his body turns

to stone. He makes an attempt to walk towards us but before he can reach me, I turned and ran away.

I’m used to him walking me to class, but this time, I had to do it on my own.

“Clarissa!” I hear him shouting behind me.

Damn it.

Why was he following me?

“Clarissa, please!” He begs as his footsteps get closer.

I sigh and slowly turn around to face him.

What does he expect me to say? What does he want from me now?

I gasp when I see the pleading look in his eyes. It’s definitely affecting him that I’m refusing to speak to

him. What would happen if I ignored him for a week?

“Please talk to me.” He begs once more. “I know that you’re upset. I know that I should have told you

about the marriage before announcing it to everyone. I’m sorry. Please just talk to me.”

My jaw clenches and I narrow my eyes, “I’m not upset.”

He quirks a brow and I can see that my words have confused him. “You’re not?”

I grip the book in my hands tightly. “No. I’m not. Instead, I’m hurt. My heart hurts. And there is nothing

that you can say or do to fix it.”

He inhales sharply.

Before I can see the effect of my words on him, I storm into the classroom where I know he wouldn’t try

to disturb me again.

I take a deep breath now that I’m not next to him. I didn’t want to inhale his scent earlier, I knew that I

would have immediately melted if I did. I was trying my best to stay strong but I wasn’t sure how long I

could keep this up for.

Being away from Damon was not an easy thing for me to do.

I bury my face against the desk and block out everyone and everything as I tried to think of the many

ways I could fix this mess.

What could I do? We’d hired the private investigator but it would take some time before he could get

any information on Anya. All we had to do now was wait for him to give us the file with everything he’d

found out about her.

Now I had to hope that he would eventually find something that could help us. If not, Autumn and I

would have to personally do our own digging without anyone at home finding out what we were up to.

We had to find out the truth about Anya. We had to.