Chapter 48

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 48 ~ATTICUS~

“Hold me tighter,” Anya says as I wrap my arms around her. I do as she says, but something doesn’t seem right. She’s still the same woman I fell in love with; she looks the same and acts the same, but there was something that made me feel uncomfortable about the entire thing.

Ever since I recovered from the accident that I had no memory of ever happening, my feelings for Anya felt wrong. I couldn’t tell her that without hurting her feelings. So I kept it all to myself, but it was bothering me ever since I woke up and felt a surge of emptiness when she hugged me on the hospital bed. I hadn’t been able to focus on anything ever that day.

Maybe the accident messed with my head and my heart. I constantly felt like I had forgotten someone important to me. I was searching the room for someone that day, and I never found her. I thought that it was Anya that I was looking for, but I soon realized that it wasn’t her. It was someone else, but that didn’t make sense to me.

I considered speaking to Dante and Damon about it, but they haven’t been acting normal around me. No one was acting normal.

They treated me like they were afraid I would snap any second now.

“Atticus?” Anya whispers.

Whenever I touched her, I felt like I was betraying someone else. But who could I possibly be crossing?

“Yes.” I finally respond even though my mind is far.

“Is everything okay?” She asks hesitantly. “You seem to be a bit distant with me recently. I feel like something is wrong. I’m here for you if you need someone to talk to.”

I nod, “I know that you are. I’m just uneasy not knowing anything about the accident. No one wants to talk to me about it. The articles seem fake. The only proof I have of the accident is the jeep.”

Ah, yes, my jeep. I couldn’t believe it was that badly totalled. I didn’t want a new one. I wanted to fix it.

“Everyone is being secretive only because they want to protect you, Atticus.” She assured me. “The doctors made it clear that they didn’t want you to relive the trauma. To make that possible and keep you safe, we all agreed to take down all the articles;

only the ones that can’t remind you of the crash are still up. Please, for my sake, don’t dig deeper into this.”

I sigh, “you know I always do what you ask me to do. If that’s truly what you want, I won’t try to find out more about the accident.”

She smiles, “You don’t realize how hard those days were for me watching you in that hospital bed, wondering if you would ever wake up. I’m so happy you remembered me. I’m glad the crash is the only thing that you forgot. I don’t know what I would ever do if you forgot about me and our love.”

I would usually melt whenever I saw Anya’s smile. This time, I felt nothing. I feel nothing when I touch her, absolutely nothing except the feeling of betrayal.

I knew she didn’t want me to dig further into the accident, but I felt like it was the only way to get some answers about why I was suddenly feeling this way. Something important had to be causing it; I was missing some critical information.

Clarissa walks down the beach towards us, and she looks annoyed, just like she always does when she sees me with Anya. The only difference I can spot is that there is a little more hatred than there was in the past. The tension between Anya and Clarissa had increased.

“What are you doing here?” Anya demands from her. “This is my date night with Atticus.”

Clarissa snares at her, “the last time I checked, the beach was a public space. Anyone can come here when they please.”

“Well, do you have to be next to the two of us?” Anya demands.

“I’ll leave after I ask one question,” Clarissa answers her.

“And what is that?” She demands.

“I haven’t seen Autumn around in a while. She’s your best friend. Do you know if she’s doing okay?” Clarissa asks.

I immediately stiffened at the mention of Autumn. I’ve always felt uneasy around her, but this time when Clarissa mentioned her name, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest.

It was so bad that I wanted to let go of Anya and place a hand over my heart.

What the f**k was wrong with me all of a sudden? Why was I behaving so weirdly?

“Autumn is on vacation with her family,” Anya responds through gritted teeth. However, there was an edge to her voice that I hadn’t heard before.

Why was she pissed that Clarissa had asked about Autumn?

Their behavior was extra weird today. It made me even more confused about everything happening around me. I was sure about something; there was an important detail about the crash that my family didn’t want me finding out. They were hiding it from me because they wanted to protect me. Whatever it was, it had to be detrimental. They were afraid that when I found out, I would go into a state of shock. I’m assuming from everything Anya has told me, the doctors had to have warned them to keep me away from any news that could make me feel any worse than I already did.

“You don’t need to get so defensive.” Clarissa chimes happily. “Autumn is such a nice girl. Unlike you in every way, Anya. She would have suited Atticus better.”

I rub a hand down my face. I was used to their constant bickering, but it was the first time I wasn’t paying much attention to it.

Ever since Clarissa had brought up Autumn, the feeling inside of me had intensified. I felt even worse than before.

Why did just the mention of Anya’s best friend have such an effect on me?

What the hell was going on?

. . . . . . .

~AUTUMN~

My body shook with rage; I wanted to believe that those pictures and videos were all fake. I didn’t want to consider that Atticus had moved on the second he thought that I was gone for good.

After everything we’ve been through together, why would he return to Anya the moment that I wasn’t there?

Did my love for him mean nothing at all? Did he not care that I was missing? Did the both of them set this entire thing up so they could be together again? So many thoughts are running in and out of my head, one after the next.

My hands tighten into fists, and I can feel the power within me rising. The table began to shake as it tried to control my power.

Skyler, the guy from earlier, told me his name before he left the room. I was glad that he wasn’t here to see this. I didn’t want him to know the extent of my power. I didn’t want him to see what I was capable of doing.

If I kept this up, not even this table could hold me to this room.

The image of Anya and Atticus flashed before me once more, and that was all I needed to push my power to its full force, at least the amount of force necessary to break free from the straps.

The table begins to shake more aggressively than before, and within seconds the straps break free.

There was a mirror in front of me as I sat up, and the dangerous glow in my eyes terrified me.

I was getting out of here. And when I did, I would be paying Atticus a visit.