The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~CLARA~

I grab Nicole by her hand before she can walk away from me.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demands.

I don't answer her as I pull her towards the academy. I don't care about the weird stares as I drag her straight through the hallway and then to Alaric's office.

I wanted her to repeat everything she said to me in front of him. I wanted to see his reaction. I needed to know the entire truth, not just pieces of it; I wanted to know everything that happened.

"Let go of me, you freak!" Nicole hisses at me the second I barge into Alaric's office and shut the door with the three of us inside. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Alaric looks up from the papers on his desk; the second his eyes land on me, I see all the color drain from his face, leaving him pale and shaken. It was not the reaction I was hoping to see. It was enough to tell me he already knew what this was about. Nicole was no longer hiding her bump; the coat wasn't blocking it from any of us. However, Alaric wasn't even looking at it. He was only gazing at me with a look of remorse.

"Tell him everything that you told me in the parking lot." I snap at her. "Do not leave a single detail out."

His eyes finally move from me to Nicole, and she looks irritated.

His hands tightened at his sides, "what did you say to her, Nicole?"

I don't turn towards her. Instead, I keep my eyes on him. Why did it sound like he was blaming her when he was the one at fault? He was the one who chose to keep everything from me. He was the one that broke my heart. This pain was unlike anything I've ever felt with Carter. This made me feel like I was dying inside.

She lifts her gaze to his, "Nothing that wasn't the truth." she answers him with narrowed eyes. "I did the hard work for you. I know you wanted to be the first to tell her, but I couldn't wait anymore Alaric. I'm pregnant with your baby; she would have found out eventually."

His body shook with rage, and I wondered if that rage was focused on her or himself.

"Nicole." He growls. "Get the hell out of my office."

She gapes at him and doesn't even attempt to move.

"What do you mean get out?"

"Now!" He roars.

She narrows her eyes at him, "All I did was tell Clara the truth. I think the girl deserved to know the truth about us. We had sex. You got me pregnant. This baby in my belly is yours, and we both know that's the truth. It would have been better for all of us if you had never kept this from her in the first place. Now look at the mess you've made for all parties involved."

My heart squeezes most painfully ever. He slept with her. The fact remained that he slept with her, and it had to be recently.

I place a hand on my stomach; this couldn't be happening. It had to be a nightmare. When would I be able to wake up from this?

Alaric doesn't respond to her, but surprisingly, she storms out of his office without another word. I jump at the loud noise when she slams the door shut.

Alaric runs a hand down his face like he doesn't know where even to begin to explain.

He didn't need to explain anymore. I'd heard and seen everything I needed to.

"You slept with her," I whisper. "All this time, you've been messing around with me, making me think that you were interested in me when all along you were still sleeping with your ex-wife."

He shook his head, and his eyes looked like he was pleading with me for a chance. A chance for what exactly? There was no chance for us ever again; all that changed the second he got Nicole pregnant.

He knew all along. He knew all of this, and still, he pulled me closer to him. Still, he made me fall deeply in love with him.

"I promise I never intended to hurt you, Clara." He tries to tell me. "I wasn't even aware of when I got Nicole pregnant. . . I did not know. I only found out recently. I promise you that it isn't something that I willingly did."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

How could you not willingly get someone pregnant?

How stupid did he think I was?

"You have no idea how much of my heart belonged to you," I whisper. "You have no idea how much respect I had for you. I looked up to you. I thought that you were different. I thought that there wasn't a man out there that could compete with your genuine, kind heart. Yet, all along, I was so wrong."

"Clara—"

"I was right about something. You are different than the other men. You're much worse than all of them combined. Not even what Carter did to me was as bad as this. Carter may have done some horrible things in the past, but his intention was always to protect me; he never even touched me in ways that you have done because he knew one day that he would let me go; he did it all to protect my fragile heart. But you, you took those parts of me and did much worse than he's ever done." I cry.

My bottom lip trembles as the tears continue to stream down my cheek, one after the next. "My heart is broken. It belonged to you until now. I managed to get my heart shattered by yet another Prince member. This time, it's even worse than before."

"Clara, believe me, I don't want to hurt you; I want to find a way to make this work—"

"Stop it." I snap. "Stop feeding me all these lies. I'm done believing that you're a good person, Alaric. I'm done with you. For good. I never want to see you again after today."

I don't wait for him to respond as I storm out of his office.