The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~CLARA~

"Alaric is taking longer than usual to come home today," I tell Scarlett.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

She nods, "Well, he did go missing for a while. He's only just resurfaced out of nowhere. I think that's why he's taking longer than usual."

Or maybe he just doesn't want to see me after what I said in his office today. He seemed desperate to ask me to leave, and it bothered me. I knew it had something to do with Nicole. I knew that she was the reason for his sudden strange behavior. I wasn't about to let her win this fight. This time, I wouldn't sit back and watch her destroy his life; I would fight for him. He deserved someone who truly cared about him, and I knew for a fact that Nicole was only playing with his feelings.

"Guys," Violet says in a panicked voice as she barges into the room.

"What's wrong?" Scarlett asks her. I was also on high alert. I could tell that whatever she had to say to us was about to affect us all.

"It's something with Alaric, isn't it?" I ask her. "Did he disappear again without any warning?"

I don't know how I would react if he chose to hide from his problems for a second time.

"Oh, it's much worse than that." She answers me.

"Worse?" I ask in horror. "What could be worse than that?"

She took my hand as if to prepare me for the news. "He showed up with none other than Nicole." She informs us.

My eyes widen, and Scarlett gasps. She was also holding my hand now that Violet had broken the news to us.

"But why would he bring her here?" I ask her in disbelief.

I was sure that Alaric wanted nothing to do with her after the divorce, so why was she back in his life like she said she would be? What exactly did she tell him to make him do something that was sure to make him miserable?

"This doesn't make any sense to me," Scarlett whispers. "We were all convinced that he was finally over her. He looked so much happier after the divorce. Then why would he bring her back home?"

"I don't know," Violet whispers. "It doesn't make any sense to me either. Something has to be wrong. Nicole told us that this would happen, which means that this was her plan. It's a very evil plan. She must be blackmailing him; it's the only explanation that I can think of."

I had to agree with her. None of this made sense to me.

"We have to do something about it," Scarlett says.

Violet nods, "That woman made my brother miserable for as long as I can remember. There was never a day that he was happy while married to her. She was desperate for a divorce from him for a long time; I don't know why she's back now that he's moving on. There has to be a reason, and I plan on finding out."

Ares barges into the room next, and even he looks petrified. "What the hell is happening?" he demands. "I just saw Nicole, and she has bags. It looks like she's moving back into the house."

"What?" Violet demands. "I saw her enter the house; I didn't see any bags with her."

"Well, Alaric is helping her move them into his room. I don't like what I'm seeing, sister." Ares says in a worried tone.

"To his room?" I ask in disbelief.

This was much worse than any of us realized.

Why would he be taking her things back into his room? Was that why he was so desperate to get me out of his office today? Was he planning on moving back in with Nicole?

"She's moving back in?" Violet gasps. "They're divorced! She has no reason to move back into the house. What the hell is going on here?"

Apollo is the next one to enter the room; it is like a reunion. One by one, Alaric's siblings entered the room with horrified looks on each of their faces. None of them could believe that Nicole was returning.

"I think one of us needs to speak to Alaric and find out what the hell is happening," Blaze says.

"That may not be the best idea," Armando disagrees. "Do any of you remember what happened in the past when we tried to ask our brother anything about Nicole and him? It never worked out well for us. I think we should just stay out of this."

His brothers seemed to be in a disagreement about what should be done.

"Alaric is changed now," Ares says. "He's moved on from Nicole. There has to be another reason why he's letting her back into the house."

I couldn't pay attention to anything else they had to say after that. I was shocked that Nicole was moving back in and not just into the house but back into his room. This was horrible. My heart felt like it was about to shatter, but I wouldn't let it. I had to trust Alaric. There had to be a very good reason as to why she was here.