The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~ALARIC~

It was official. I no longer was acting like a sane person. I'd completely lost my mind because of Clara. I knew this was wrong. I knew I was supposed to stay away from her after getting Nicole pregnant. She was off-limits, but I couldn't control myself around her, and it didn't matter how wrong any of this was.

I knew she deserved better than me. I knew that she would hate me if I kept going and didn't tell her the things that I did. I knew it was so fucking wrong, but I couldn't stop it. It was too late for any of that.

As I watched her leave my office after begging her to return tomorrow, I knew that I couldn't stop this even if I wanted to.

I had lost it so badly that I even asked her not to come home tonight. I didn't need her to see me caring for Nicole. Even though I didn't want to, I had to do it for my baby. I had a responsibility to take care of her.

However, I knew that I could never offer her my heart again. The time for that was long gone. I didn't feel the same way about her. It was in the past now.

There's a soft knock on the door that takes my mind away from my heavy thoughts. Could it be that she was back?

The door opens suddenly, and I see Nicole standing at the entrance.

Damn it.

She wasn't the one I wanted to see right now. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Her nose wrinkles with disgust the second she enters my office, "something doesn't smell right inside of here. It smells a lot like Clara. Was she in your office again?"

My jaw clenches, "why are you here right now, Nicole?"

She quirks a brow and folds her arm over her chest, "You do realize that I'll be around you a lot more now that I've moved back into your home. I'm carrying your baby, Alaric. Don't you think it's time that you start treating me better?"

I sigh. It was true that I shouldn't stress her out while she was pregnant, but I couldn't help acting this way. My feelings for Nicole were not the same. I've told her multiple times already, but she doesn't want to listen to me. She still has hope that the Alaric she once knew was still inside of me somewhere. I was the only one that seemed to understand that it was all gone. Even my family still thought that a part of me was still completely smitten by Nicole.

I couldn't blame them. They couldn't see inside my heart, and my actions recently have definitely confused them plenty.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" She asks. "Was Clara in your office again? And if so, why was she in here? There's no space for her in your life now that I'm back. Our baby needs you, Alaric. You can't keep letting her in anymore; you have to put all your focus on taking care of me and our unborn child."

Fuck.

I forgot how annoying Nicole could be. She was always demanding and telling me what to do. Before, it never bothered me. But now, I was pissed by her words.

If she weren't pregnant, I wouldn't have even entertained such a conversation with her. But now, I don't have a choice. I had to do what I could to please her so that my baby wouldn't feel stressed in any way because of her emotions.

"Let's not talk about Clara," I say softly as I guide her to the office chair. "Did you eat anything for the day?"

She narrows her eyes at me, "Are you avoiding my question on purpose?"

I take a deep breath; she made this so hard for me.

"Nicole," I say in a calm tone. "I'm trying my best to make this work. I'm begging you, please stop bringing up Clara. Even though we're having this child together, we are no longer married. Clara is none of your concern."

She didn't look happy with my response, but I had to make that clear to her. Clara meant so much to me, and Nicole had to find out soon enough. I was sure she could already see my feelings for her; I never tried to hide it, except from maybe Carter.

"Okay." She sighs. "I won't speak about that woman, but if she shows up in front of me, I promise you that I won't hold back. She needs to know the truth, Alaric. She needs to know that I'm carrying your baby. I want to announce this to the world, but you're not letting me."

Something didn't seem right about this. The Nicole I knew would never keep this a secret just because I was asking her to do it. She would have spilled this to every news outlet she could find.

So then, why hadn't she done so yet?

Was it possible that there was also someone she didn't want to find out that she was pregnant?