The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~ALARIC~

As soon as I got out of the truck, the first thing that I noticed was Nicole waiting at the front door for me.

Fuck.

I didn't want to speak to her.

"What are you doing here, Nicole?" I demand from her. "I told you that I didn't want to see you."

"Please, Alaric." She begs. "It's been so long since we last spoke. Why are you avoiding me like this?"

I sigh, "We've been through this a million times already. You know what you did. This marriage isn't working out anymore. I'm done trying to make it work."

"No!" She cries. "I'm not done. I'm going to keep fighting for us, Alaric. Our marriage cannot end like this. We have too many plans for our future for it to end like this!"

I try to walk around her, but she stops me. "Are you going to let things end between us like this?"

I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. I never wanted things between us to end. In fact, for months, I was patient with her. I let her do and say things as she pleased with the hopes that she would be better. However, she only got worse with time.

"Weren't you the one fighting for a divorce just a few weeks ago?" I ask her. "Why are you suddenly so against the divorce? What changed since then, Nicole?"

Her bottom lip trembles as she says, "You scared me, okay? Seeing you turn into a monster on a full moon night and not knowing whether or not you would end up with a different woman every month made me act the way I did. But believe me, Alaric, I never wanted to end things between us. I was just in a lot of pain that you'd hid such an important detail from me before marrying me."

My jaw clenched; I knew I was wrong initially for not telling her the truth. That's why I accepted the blame for months. However, eventually, it became apparent that she didn't honestly want to be with me. If she did, why did she cause so many problems for me? Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"I'm done speaking about this, Nicole; please step aside," I ordered her.

I stayed utterly still when she threw herself into my arms.

I place my hands on her waist to push her away.

"Please, Alaric." She begs. "Give me one more chance. Don't ruin what we had. Let me make it up to you. I can be better, I promise you."

"Welcome, Miss Clara Mae." I hear one of our maids greet her.

I slowly turned around, and there she was. I never understood how one woman could be that beautiful.

She has exotic, long black hair with piercing green eyes that threaten to learn all your darkest secrets just by looking at you.

I'd never been this enchanted over a woman, and it bothered me. She was my brother's ex-girlfriend, and I was still married to Nicole. I shouldn't find her this appealing.

She glances at me for a quick second before walking into the house. She was over a lot these past few days, especially since Scarlett has been sick due to her pregnancy.

I slowly remove Nicole's hands from around my waist. "Please go home now."

Her eyes widen as she wipes her tears away, "it's because of her, isn't it?"

I exhale and run a hand through my hair angrily.

I can't count the many times Nicole has accused me of having an affair with Clara. She seemed to have this silly idea that I was ending our marriage for her. The truth was that I was tired of fighting for something that continuously made me unhappy.

"I'm not going to keep repeating myself, Nicole." I snap. "I gave you enough chances to change. The things you said when my brother's life was in danger proved to me that we were not right for each other. This isn't going to work. You need to come to terms with that."

I don't wait for her to say another word as I storm into the house.

"Please do not let her enter," I tell the maid. "I don't want her to cause any more trouble."

My family has been through a lot recently; I didn't need Nicole making things worse for them.

When I walk into the house, I'm greeted by my parents before heading straight to my room.

It was a rough day at the academy, not because of the students or other professors, not even because of the principal. It was because of her.

Clara Mae.

I couldn't focus in class the past few days because of her. And that was not a good thing considering that I was the professor. I was the one person that was supposed to fucking pay attention.

I found myself looking at her more than once today during class. I was grateful that no one else had caught me looking at her. I knew that I had to have more self-control from now on.

I didn't want any rumors to spread about Clara and make her life any more miserable than it already was.

She was already having a hard time due to the entire situation with Carter. We'd all moved on from that, but everyone at the academy was still discussing it.

I remove my clothes and walk into the shower. The second the water hit my skin, I felt the frustration slowly leave my body. I needed this.

I stayed that way for a few minutes when Clara's image popped into my head.

My eyes widen.

Fuck.

Thinking about her while I was in the shower was dangerous territory.

I quickly shut it off and walked out of the bathroom. I ran a hand down my wet face and let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

What was wrong with me?

I walked over to the desk to grab the towel on the chair when my door suddenly flew open.

I look up, and all the air is knocked out from inside me at the person standing a few feet away.