Chapter 55

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 55 Atticus looks between the two of us, and I can tell that he’s conflicted. He doesn’t know whether to be angry or sad. I can feel his emotions from over here. I can see it also. He doesn’t try to hide it from us.

Even Griffin looked uncomfortable that he’d just seen us hugging. He doesn’t know that Griffin was only comforting me because of him.

“What are you doing with Autumn out here alone?” He asks Griffin, not saying a word to me.

Griffin shrugs his shoulders as he grins, “what do I usually do when I’m alone with a girl?”

I glare at Griffin, and he winks at me. Why does he think angering Atticus would help us in this situation? The last thing I wanted him to feel was that I had something going on with his brother. Wouldn’t that push him further away from me?

“It isn’t what you think—” I began to move towards him, but Griffin grabbed my arm and stopped me from going forward.

I look back at him, surprised, and I know he’s trying to tell me to play along with his plan. I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to anymore. How was he so sure that this would work?

Atticus approaches us, and I slowly lift my head to stare into his eyes. His gaze is hard and cold as he reaches forward and takes Griffin’s hand off my arm.

“She doesn’t want to be here.” He tells him. “This is Anya’s friend. Find someone else to play with. She’s not available.”

My jaw drops at his words to his brother. Find someone else to play with? What did he think I was? A game?

Griffin grinned, showing his white teeth as he waved goodbye to us. Now it was just Atticus and me, all alone, standing near his totaled jeep.

I run a hand up and down my shoulder, and he doesn’t miss it.

“Are you cold?” He whispers.

My heart skips a beat at the tone he’s using with me. Almost like he’s scared I’ll break any second now.

“A little.”

He surprises me when he removes his jacket and puts it over my shoulders.

My heart is racing now, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I can’t control any part of my body when he’s standing this close to me.

“I hate looking at it,” I mumble before I can stop myself.

“You hate looking at what?” He asks, confused.

I motion to the jeep next to us, “I hate looking at it.” I repeat.

He follows my gaze, and his body turns to stone. His jaw clenches, “I hate looking at it too.”

“I wish I was there. I wish I were able to stop it. I wish I could have been in the hospital with you.”

I can’t seem to stop my mouth from blabbering. Someone needs to stop me before I say something I shouldn’t.

He inhales sharply before moving closer to me until we’re inches apart. His finger lifts my chin gently, “why does it bother you so much that you couldn’t be there?”

My lips part slowly, and I don’t know how to respond without giving too much away. I’m just happy that he’s this close to me. The only thing that keeps me going is having moments like this with him. Without anyone else interrupting us. Especially Anya. She was the main person I was concerned about separating the both of us.

“The bigger question is, why the f**k does it bother me even more?” He demands.

It bothers him that I wasn’t there. It doesn’t make me feel any better than I already did. I could feel the tears returning, and I couldn’t stop them as they slowly rolled down my cheek.

His breath hitches when he notices it. I stayed completely still as he slowly wiped my tears with his thumb.

“What’s wrong, Autumn?” He asks. “Please tell me. What am I missing here? What don’t you want me to know? Why is everyone so desperate to hide the truth from me? How bad could it possibly be? You’re crying because you couldn’t be there in the hospital with me, aren’t you? If that’s true, then just tell me the damn truth. Everyone seems to think that I’m going to break when I find out what happened that day, but they seem to be forgetting that I’m a grown man. I know how to handle pain. I know how to handle anything that life throws at me. I can take it. Whatever it is, it’s not going to do me anything.”

I open my mouth to tell him but quickly shut it. I couldn’t do this. I would never be able to live with myself if I said something and it caused him more harm than good.

“Atticus!” Anya shouts from a distance.

I sigh; I can’t hide the disappointment from him that we’d just been interrupted by her yet again.

She must have been looking for him when she realized he wasn’t inside. I’m sure she freaked out when she realized I was missing as well.

Her eyes are glued to the jacket over my shoulders. His jacket that he placed on me earlier.

“Why do I always find you two together?” She demands.

She doesn’t wait for us to answer as she says, “Atticus, let’s go.”

He looks between the two of us before finally listening to her. How long will I have to deal with Anya and her disturbing behavior?

Why couldn’t she give up by now? Why couldn’t she let me be with Atticus without interfering with our lives?

Every day Anya was proving just how much lower she could stoop to get her way. I didn’t know how long I could continue pretending that I could stand her. If she kept on pushing my buttons, the wrong side of me would rise. I didn’t want things to get to that point. I knew how dangerous my power could get when it was out of control. I didn’t want that to ever happen around Atticus. I didn’t want him to see me that way. I was scared of what he would think, and I was even more terrified of the people I would hurt without even realizing it.

I didn’t bother walking after them. I was tired. I wanted some time away from all of the drama. I stayed back by the jeep, spending more time wishing I’d been there to stop the accident from ever happening.

After spending more time than I needed near the jeep, I finally took a long walk until I stopped by one of the pools. It was the longest one in the mansion, and it was out in the open, unlike the one they had inside.

The colors were constantly changing, sometimes blue, red, and even green. I sighed as I watched it quietly. I wish it had the power to light up my life just as brightly as it did the pool.

Part of me wants to get in and let the water swallow me. Another part of me was too terrified even to touch it. This wasn’t just the longest pool; it was also the deepest.

I swallow, ready to walk away when I spot a shadow behind me.

I spun around to find Anya standing right in front of me, “what are you doing here?” I ask.

Wasn’t she escorting Atticus out of here earlier? I looked behind her, searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She demands from me.

“Excuse me?”

“Atticus belongs to me now.” She warns. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from him. It’s my final warning to you.”

I cross my arms over my chest, “are you delusional or just plain stupid?” I demand. “Just because Atticus lost his memory doesn’t mean I’m not married to him anymore. I’m still his wife. I’m still the one he belongs with. Not you.”

She smiles, “I think you’re the delusional one. It’s obvious who he wants. In the past, he would choose to listen to you, but that’s not the case anymore, I’m the one he listens to, and I’m the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with. I hate to burst your bubble, but he wants me again. My Atticus is back. Yours is gone, and he’s never coming back.”

Her words flipped a switch, and it was hard to control my anger. She’s crazy if she thinks he’s gone. He’s still there, waiting for me; he needs a little reminder, that’s all.

“Is that why he told me in class today that he can’t get me out of his mind?” I ask, repeating his words to me, “or do you have a better explanation for that?”

I smile when my words hit her exactly where I wanted them to. I could practically see the smoke coming out of her ear. Why was she trying to hurt me if she couldn’t handle it when I fought back?

I don’t have time to prepare as she rushes forward and grabs my arm roughly in her hand.

“Get your hands off me,” I warn.

Anya shoves me into the pool, and my life flashes before my eyes. My fear of water hasn’t stopped even now after knowing the power I had within me. She knows it. She knew how much I was terrified of it. How could she do something like this, knowing it could kill me?

I gasped as my body went under while I tried to breathe. I pushed with my arms and legs, fighting to get out, but if anything, my actions only made it worse. I felt like I was going deeper into the pool. I opened my mouth to gasp for air and swallowed water instead. My eyes were burning, and the blood pounded in my ear as I tried to cry for help, even though I knew that no one would be able to hear me.

I close my eyes, trying to find the power inside of me, hoping that there was a spell or something that I could do to pull myself out. No matter how hard I tried, nothing came to me. I was helpless.

I couldn’t believe that Anya would just stand there and watch me drown. It dawns on me that she was indeed trying to kill me.

This couldn’t be a simple game to her.

Suddenly, I heard something above me. I opened my eyes and saw a figure swimming towards me. My body is filled with hope.

Before I knew it, two arms grabbed me by my waist and pulled me upwards with them.

I knew who it was without having to see his face. Just his arms around me alone was all I needed to know.

Atticus.

He’d come to save me. My heart swelled with joy despite the current situation I’d found myself in.

I wrapped my arms around him and held on for my life. I’m gasping for air while trying to stay calm, and it’s all happening while he’s still holding me.

“Shh,” he tries to soothe me while running his hand down my back. “You’re safe now. I’m here, Autumn. I’m here.”

He pulled me out of the pool with him and sat me on his lap as he continued to soothe me in whatever way he could.

I tightened my hold on him as I fought back the tears. The one thing I was terrified of almost killed me. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Atticus wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer to him. When I open my eyes again, the first person I see is Anya. She was watching everything, pretending that she hadn’t caused this mess, to begin with.

I feel the anger inside of me shift to uncontrollable rage. She had no right to throw me into the pool, knowing that deep waters terrified me.

“Are you okay, Autumn?” She asks, feigning that she cares about me. “I swear it was a mistake. I tripped and pushed you; I didn’t intentionally try to hurt you. I hope you can forgive me. I begged Atticus to save you when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to pull you out myself.”

Atticus looks between us, and I’m not sure what he sees while he stares down at me, but his entire body turns to stone beneath mine.

I drag my body away from his and stand on my two feet despite my wobbly legs. It would not stop me from doing what I had to do today.

“Autumn?” He says in a hesitant whisper.

I can barely hear him. My main focus is on Anya. I’m determined to make her pay for what she did to me. I was tired of letting her get away with hurting me. Since the start of my friendship with her, I’ve always let her win. I’ve always stood back and let her hurt me however she pleases. This time was different. This time I was ready for blood.

Now that I knew she’d purposefully tried to harm me, to even kill me, I was not going to hold back. I’d held back in the past because I didn’t want to be a bad person, but today was different. She deserved what was coming to her.

“Autumn?” Atticus repeats, this time more desperately.

I’m walking toward her in slow motion, taking my time. Her eyes are wide as she watches me. She doesn’t look afraid, but she does look concerned.

She’s never seen me like this before.

I’m aware of what I’m doing. I know that I’m making a mistake. I know that the last person I should be showing this side of me to is Anya, but I can’t stop myself.

I’m pissed. I can hear the water crashing behind of me. I know it’s not normal for pool water to behave that way, but I don’t pay any attention to it. My full attention is on Anya. Her eyes are wide with fear, and it’s good that she’s feeling afraid of me.

I narrow my eyes and point my hands toward her. I’m unsure what I’m doing, but I’m not stopping. I’m letting my body take over this time. I’m letting it do what it wants to.

“What the hell are you doing?” She demands. “What are you doing, Autumn?”

I don’t answer her question, and she looks over at Atticus for help.

“Atticus!” She shouts. “Look how crazy she’s acting! She’s worse than I thought she was. She’s crazy! A psychopath! Get her away from me before she tries to hurt me!”

I whisper a spell under my breath, and her body begins to shake as she loses control. I watch as Anya begins choking herself.

She’s fighting for her breath, unable to stop herself from holding her neck. I’m controlling her hand; I’m making her do this to herself. I’m the one in control this time. I’m the one doing the damage. She stood by the edge of the pool and watched me drowning without moving a muscle to try and help me. Now I would stand back and watch as she choked herself under my command and do nothing to help her either.

I want her to feel what I felt when she threw me into the pool, even after knowing what deep waters did to me. She didn’t care about me; I didn’t want to care about her, either.

“Anya!” Atticus roars, reminding me that we aren’t alone.

He rushes to her side. “Let go, Anya!” He shouts as he tries to pull her hand away. That wouldn’t work. As long as I controlled her hands, nothing and no one would stop this from happening.

She points at me, trying to show him that I was responsible for what was happening to her.

He follows the direction that she’s pointing, and his gaze connects with mine. His eyes widened as he realized what she was trying to show him. It doesn’t take him long to respond after. He gently placed her on the ground before running to my side.

“Let her go, Autumn.” He orders me.

He doesn’t realize that even I don’t know how to stop myself at this point. But the problem remained that I didn’t want to stop myself either. He may believe her lies, but I was there; I saw everything. She tried to hurt me. I was repaying the favor in the best way possible.

“Autumn, please stop this.”

I don’t listen to him. He doesn’t realize that she’s the one separating us. He doesn’t realize that as long as she’s here, we can never have a good life together. I had to get rid of her. I had to get her out of our lives for good.

“AUTUMN!” He roars as her skin begins to turn pale. “LET HER THE f**k GO!”

He’s shaking me now and shouting.

“WHO ARE YOU?” He asks disgustingly, and my heart shatters with those three words.

I regain control of my body again, but it doesn’t reverse what I’d just done. He must hate me now.

I watched as her hands dropped to the side, and she began gasping for air.

I’d just tried to kill the woman he was in love with or at least thought he loved. I was finally getting closer to him again, but this, it would make him think differently about me, and not in a good way. There was nothing I could do to make this better.

I watch as he lets go of my arms and rushes to Anya’s side. My body feels numb as I watch him lift her into his arms and race back into the house.

I’d done that.

I’d pushed Atticus away for good.

Congratulations Autumn. Your power managed to overcome you once again. You almost killed Anya because of it.

You’re no different from your father.

You’re exactly the same.