The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~CLARA~

The silence is deadly as Nicole looks between Alaric and me. I can see the display of emotions as they move across her face, one by one—first surprise, then anger, and now disbelief.

"What the hell is going on in here?" She demands. It took a while for her to even say those words to us.

Alaric also seems a bit surprised to see her here. As soon as he recovers from the shock, he walks towards her and closes the door before anyone else can hear her. Since she was often very loud, I think this was a good idea. I wouldn't want anyone to hear this conversation.

"What are you doing here, Nicole?" he asks as he turns to face her. She looks at him like she doesn't recognize him anymore.

"Did you forget that today is my first day teaching at the Academy?" she demands. "Did you already forget that you got this job for me?"

He looks genuinely surprised.

Was she teaching at the Academy from today onwards? That was the worst possible news I could have gotten for today.

Alaric runs a hand down his face before he turns to me, suddenly remembering that I was also in the room with them. "Clara, can you please excuse us."

I didn't want to leave him with her, not after what she did yesterday to him.

"She isn't going anywhere until she tells me why the fuck she's in this office with you when classes are supposed to be over!" Nicole screeches.

"I called her in here." Alaric growls. "I had something to ask her. You're here to see me, aren't you? Speak to me instead; leave her out of this.”

"I was." she hisses. "But now that I see you're in here possibly fucking your student—"

"Nicole." Alaric growls aggressively. "Watch your mouth. You're talking about Clara's honor."

"Her honor?" she hisses. "That girl has zero honor. You're still married to me. Are you forgetting this, Alaric?"

He glares at her, as though she knows something that she's pretending not to.

"I asked you to sign the divorce papers last night, remember?" he growls suddenly. “You’re the one preventing this divorce from happening.”

My eyes widen at his words. He asked her to sign the divorce papers. That's why he called her into his room last night. It wasn't because he was getting back with her. I had it all wrong last night.

That would explain why she hit him.

"I remember everything, Alaric," she shouts. "I told you that I'm not divorcing you."

He places both hands in his pockets and rocks backward a little. He looks like he's exhausted from speaking to her when he turns around to look at me once more. There's an apologetic look on his face as he gazes at me.

"Clara, please," Alaric whispers. "Please excuse us. I have plenty to discuss with Nicole."

"No," I declare. "I'm not leaving."

"Excuse me?" Nicole demands. "Do you think that you're needed here? Who do you think you are? He asked you to leave; now leave!"

I wasn't speaking to her, and I didn't need her permission to stay in this office; I would only leave if Alaric asked me to.

I walk closer to him, leaving enough space between us. He looks a bit puzzled by my behavior.

Why wouldn't he be? He didn't know that I liked him, and he may never find out either.

"I'm afraid that she will hit you again. I don't trust her around you." I say to him. "I don't want to leave you alone with her."Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

"What?" Nicole shouts; her voice is loud and a bit too much. "You told her about that? That lamp barely hit you last night. Since when do small cuts like that bother you, Alaric? Or were you trying to gain sympathy from that whore?"

Alaric's hands tightened into fists at his sides, "Clara, we will continue this discussion later. I have something important to tell Nicole in the meantime."

Even though I'm sad that Alaric dismissed me to speak to her, I tried my best to hide my true feelings from him. I didn't want either of them to see how much it bothered me. Why wouldn't he let me stay and stand up for him?

I narrowed my eyes at Nicole; I wanted her to know I would not sit back and let her hurt Alaric. Even though I didn't say the words, I knew she could see the threat in my eyes.

Alaric opens the door for me, and I silently leave his office. I turn back around just in time to see Nicole waving at me right before he shuts the door in my face. My jaw clenched as I tried to regain my composure.

I couldn't believe that had just happened.

I felt uncomfortable leaving Alaric with that bitter woman, but she was his wife. He knew her better than anyone. I also knew that he didn't need me to protect him, but he just seemed like the kind of man who would sit back and let Nicole walk all over him. She's been doing that for their entire marriage.

I wanted to stay back and wait for them to come out of the office, but I knew that it was best for me to leave right away. I walk into the cafeteria with plenty on my mind. I find Jenna there waiting for me.

She has a bright smile, "so tell me, what happened in his office?"

"Shh," I whisper. There were too many prying eyes around us. This wasn't the place to speak about what happened.

I wouldn't be able to rest peacefully out here, not when Alaric was in his office alone with Nicole.

I was worried about him.

Why was Nicole so cruel to him? Why did he ever agree to marry someone like her?

. . . . .

A/N:

Hi, my beautiful readers. I would like to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all are blessed with good health and happiness this Christmas. May God continue to bless each of you and give you everything your heart desires. Thank you so much for all of your fantastic support for this entire year. I love you all so much! Merry Christmas once more❤️