Chapter 70

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 70 ~AUTUMN~

“What was that?” I demand as I hear an explosion. I try to look back, but they grab my neck and keep my head facing forward.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about.” They assure me.

My heart is racing, and I know I can’t trust them. Atticus warned me that they couldn’t be trusted.

“If you’re thinking that we broke our end of the promise, you’re mistaken.” Owen, the eldest overlord, said. I’d just learned his name after hearing the others call him that. “We did not hurt any of your loved ones. At least not yet; if you try anything stupid, that will change quickly.”

I swallow and settle back into my seat without saying another word.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask after a few minutes have passed.

“Back home. Where we live.” Alistair answers before Owen can. They were a lot more relaxed now that they had me. It was another side to them than what I just saw.

“Why are you taking me there?” I demand. “Don’t you want to kill me?”

“Don’t tempt me to do it right now,” Jagger warns.

I bite my lips to force myself to remain quiet. I’m not sure if they were carrying me to their home to torture me; I just knew that there was a reason that I was still alive; I had no clue what that reason was, however.

They weren’t taking any chances with me; they made me switch vehicles multiple times throughout the trip back to their home.

It’s almost like they were scared that they would be ambushed. Were they looking out for my father’s men? I was surprised that they’d let me get taken by the overlords in the first place. Did they not want me alive? I was sure that they were keeping a close eye on me. They must know by now that the overlords have taken me.

“Finally,” Jagger mumbles. “She’s quiet.”

My eyes are closed, and he might think that I’m asleep.

“No one thinks you’re asleep.” Someone says. I opened my eyes wide, and it was the one with deep blue eyes; his name was Dash. How the hell did he know what I was thinking?

He smirks, “are you surprised I can read your mind, girl?”

I was so shocked that I felt sick to my stomach. How long has he been reading my mind?

“Since the very beginning.” He chuckles. “I’m the one that told my brothers we could trust your words. I knew you wouldn’t try anything stupid to protect Atticus.”

I felt worse than before, knowing now that it was true. All this time, he could read our minds. It means they weren’t surprised over anything except maybe when I attacked. They played with us while asking those questions, waiting for our responses.

How many people were aware that Dash could read their minds? I assume they’re only letting me in on the secret because they knew they would eventually get rid of me. They weren’t worried about me letting anyone else find out the truth.

What special abilities did the others have? Was Dash the only one that could read minds? He claimed that he was the one that confirmed they could trust me, which meant he had to be the only one that was able to tell I was being honest.

“Oh look, you scared her into being quiet,” Jagger said, taking notes on how to get me to stay silent.

Dash chuckles, and I make a mental note to keep my thoughts out of my head. How does that even work? There had to be a way to stop him from invading my thoughts.

“You can just ask me.” He says, surprising me again.

“Can you stop doing that?” I hiss.

He shrugs his shoulders, “no can do. It’s my job to ensure you aren’t planning something that could put the rest of us in danger.”

I take a deep sigh as we pull up to their home. It’s a black castle to match their black souls. Yes, Dash, I wanted you to hear that.

He laughed, and again, it surprised me. I didn’t think the overlords were capable of laughing.

“Why wouldn’t we be capable of laughing?” he asks. “We laughed earlier when Atticus tried to lie to us. Don’t you remember that?”

I press my lips tighter together and try not to show him a middle finger. Would it matter? He can hear my thoughts either way.

I exit the vehicle with all eight overlords surrounding me. It’s almost like they expected me to try and run. Where did they want me to go? I couldn’t escape with all of them so close to me. I wouldn’t try to leave, not when I was protecting Atticus.

“Get her to the room,” Owen says to Jagger. “We have a few decisions to make in the meantime.”

Jagger looks annoyed that they chose him to escort me to my room, but he doesn’t complain. He grabs my arm roughly and pulls me along with him.

“I would have walked on my own.” I snap. There was no need for him to drag me with him. I would have gone with him willingly.

“I don’t know that.” He snaps. “I don’t read minds like Dash.”

“Don’t tell me you’re sour because you can’t read minds.” I taunt him through my words since he already didn’t like hearing my voice.

His jaw clenches as he opens a door and pushes me into a room.

“You’ll be staying in here until my brothers decide on what we’re going to do with you.” He informs me.

“What is this place?” I ask as I take a look around the unusual bedroom. There were books all over the room. On the ground, on the desk, and even on the bed.

“We didn’t want you to be bored while you were here.” He lies. “You may find the pink book to your right very interesting.”

I narrow my eyes, “is that some kind of trick?”

I knew he didn’t like me; he may even dislike me more than the other overlord did.

“Take a look at it and see if it is for yourself. It involves your mother.”

My head snaps up at his words. My mother? He knew once he mentioned her, I wouldn’t be able to resist. I hesitantly reach for it.

To my relief, nothing weird happens to me after touching it. I read the tiny writing on the front of it.

‘Aura’s diary.’

I gasp.

My mother’s diary.

How did they get this? And how long have they had it? Was it possible that they found my mother and lied to everyone else? My heart was racing with the many possibilities after realizing the book belonged to her.

“After we kicked Azai’s men out of their homes and forced them to live elsewhere, we searched his home. We found her diary there.” He said, answering the question still in my mind. “Your mother didn’t leave much behind for us to find.”

I breathed roughly and gently wiped my hand over the pink front cover. It was still in good condition, and it baffles me that they’ve kept this with them for so long. There was a mirror in the middle, and I stared at myself. I could see the terror yet curiosity in my eyes.

“You can read through it.” He tells me. “We’ve already gone through it thoroughly, and it’s quite useless to us.”

I don’t even bother to look up at him as he exits the room and shuts the door behind him. I heard a lock click and even the sound of a chain; they were trying everything to prevent me from escaping.

I was both excited and scared to read my mother’s diary. This was probably something she wanted to remain private. However, to know more about her and her life with my father, I knew I had to read it and look for any hints that could help me.

I took a deep breath as I stared at the first page.

‘My life has always been so dull with nothing exciting, nothing that makes me want to wake up in the morning. But that all changed when I met him. His gorgeous ash-blonde hair caught my eyes first. I loved watching how it shone in the bright sunlight or even in a well-lit room. He was beautiful. And dangerous. Everyone feared him, and everyone warned me to keep my distance, but I knew that he could never hurt me. Azai loved me. He told me he loved me. I still remember the first time he said those words to me, which completely changed my life in the best way possible. No one made my heart beat the way that he did. I love him. I love Azai with all my heart, and I would do anything for him if it didn’t require me to hurt anyone. He’s mine, and I’m completely his.’

My heart stopped beating at her words. So it was true; my mother was crazy in love with my father. She trusted him wholeheartedly, but he was only using her. He never was in love with her. There were many other paragraphs about the way he made her feel. She spoke about him almost the same way that I spoke about Atticus. It was sad that he didn’t feel the same way about her. She must have been devastated when she realized the truth.

I flipped the pages, looking for a later date, something that would stand out as this page did.

‘I’m so happy. Today I found out that I am pregnant with Azai’s babies. I can’t wait to tell him the good news. I can’t wait to see his face light up like he’s brightened my life.’

I held my breath; I knew what was coming next. My mother could not have been prepared to find out that my father was only using her.

I skipped a few more pages, searching once more. Would there be anything in this diary that could help me? If there were, the overlords wouldn’t have left it with me. At least I was able to learn more about my mother and the things she went through because of my father.

Another paragraph catches my attention, and I quickly read through the page.

‘My babies. I don’t care what I must do, but I must protect my babies from him. I have to protect them from the man that I love.

How could he do this to me? How could he break my trust? How could he not love me the way that I love him? How could he not love his children?’

My heart breaks yet again. He was a monster to do this to her. She loved him, got pregnant for him, and it was all just a sick game to him.

My mother must have felt like she had no one to protect her. She was the only one that fought back against my father. And she’d somehow managed to win. I don’t care what the overlords said; she was the only reason he got what he deserved. They seem to think they were powerful enough to kill him on their own if given a chance, but from everything I’ve learned, they didn’t stand a chance and should be thanking her for saving the lives of so many people.

‘Azai kissed me today. He kissed me after so many days, making me almost forget what I was fighting for. But then I held my little angel in my arm, my baby Autumn, my baby that didn’t have the one thing that Azai wanted, the dark symbol. I know that I have to make things right for her. I know that I have to protect her from him. No one would hurt her as long as I was alive. She was my baby, and no one, not even Azai, could change how I felt about her.’

I dropped the diary as tears filled my eyes. It was unfair.

It was unfair that my mother sacrificed so much to protect me, but I couldn’t remember a single detail about her. What did she look like? What did her laugh sound like? What did she look like when she was happy? What would it be like to hear her call my name for the first time?

There were so many things that I had no memory of, and I don’t think there would ever be a chance for me to meet her in this life again.

I wasn’t sure how long I had again before the overlords got rid of me. They were planning something; I could feel it. But I also knew that Atticus would be up to something big as well. I had to find a way to remain alive until he could get back to me. I needed to stay positive, at least for him. He will come for me. I knew it. Atticus was nothing like my father. He truly did love me, and he wouldn’t just sit back and let the overlords hurt me. He would find me, and we would be together again. I was sure of it.