Clarissa's POV

Damon has been avoiding me ever since the little incident in his room. I haven’t seen him around. He’s not at home during the day, and he only returns at night when he’s sure I’m deep in sleep.

He was doing everything to keep the distance between the two of us. Now I knew he was doing everything in his power to ensure that nothing inappropriate happened between us again. He wanted his engagement with Anya to arrive without any hiccups. And to him, that would occur as long as I didn’t interfere.

I bite my bottom lip in frustration. Everything I tried backfired on me, every one of my plans to bring me closer to him. I was running out of options. I wasn’t sure what else there was that I could do.

That night, it was never my intention to go back into his room. The dream was the only reason I went to him. He was the person I trusted the most to confide in. He was the person that always made me feel better. Just being by his side has always made me calm when everything around me felt like it was destroying me.

It was never part of my plan to do what I did. I didn’t regret it, but I missed him so much. If I had known he would have acted this way, I would have never pushed him. There just wasn’t much I could do when he was hiding from me. My Damon has never been a damn coward. He’s never been this way.

Was avoiding me really that important to him? Did his engagement with Anya mean more to him than I did?

He wasn’t returning any of my messages, and every time I asked someone to tell me where he was, no one had an answer to give me. He was lying to everyone about his whereabouts or maybe he was asking them to lie to me. I trusted Autumn the most out of everyone in the house other than Damon, but sadly even she had no clue where Damon had been.

There was one more day, just one more day before that engagement party, and nothing that I did to stop it had worked. I couldn’t avoid it any longer; it was happening. Tomorrow I would have no choice but to watch Damon announce his engagement to her in front of hundreds of guests.

He would be doing the one thing I wished that he’d do with me. I’ve always dreamt of him announcing our marriage to every possible person on this planet, but Anya would be the one getting her wishes fulfilled. She’d won this battle.

The smirk she gave me as she walked into our home proved that even she knew she’d won this time. She looked around the house like she owned it. Now that she is closer than ever to getting Damon’s last name, she feels entitled to his family’s possessions. I felt sick to my stomach.

I didn’t believe for one second that this woman loved Damon. If she did, I would have acted differently. I would have stepped down and let this marriage happen peacefully.

But I would not let Damon destroy his life because of her. I would not let her take his happiness away. He may not know his mistake now, but I would not stop until he realized it.

“Everything looks so beautiful,” Anya says in her fake ‘happy’ tone. “Don’t you think so, Clarissa?”

Autumn holds my hand to stop me from saying anything that could cause problems for me.

“It is beautiful,” Autumn answers for me. “Do you know where Damon is?” She asks her. She squeezes my hand, letting me know she was asking this question only because of me. She was hoping that Anya could help us find him.

“Why do you ask?” She answers her question with one of her own.

Autumn shrugs her shoulders, “I’m just curious. We are just concerned that Damon might have second thoughts about the engagement. He hasn’t taken part in any of the decorations; in fact, he hasn’t been around to plan the party at all. It’s almost like he doesn’t want it to happen.”

Anya narrows her eyes, “I can assure you that Damon is pleased about our engagement party. He can’t stop talking about it. He’s been spending all of his time with me, choosing out my dress and helping me find a hairdresser and makeup artist. He’s been doing everything for me; just because you don’t see him in the house doesn’t mean he isn’t excited about getting engaged to the love of his life.”

I try not to be affected by her words but fail miserably. All this time, he’s been with her. While I’ve been in pain thinking about him getting engaged to her, he’s been having the time of his life with her. He’s been shopping with her, giving her his opinion on dresses, and making her happy. I wasn’t just hurt anymore. I was angry. Very angry. With him. With her.

I’m about to say something when footsteps catch my attention. It isn’t just the footsteps; it’s the scent that hits me as well. It’s him. Damon. He’s here.

Anya looks behind us, but I don’t bother turning around to look at him like I usually do. I’m too angry to look at him.

“Damon!” Anya greets him with a bright smile. “We were just talking about you.”

I can feel his body tense at her words.

“You were?” He asks hesitantly.

I can’t believe I haven’t seen him since that night in his room. I can’t believe that he was so okay with not seeing me for that long. I can’t believe that I was the only one that was in pain all this time.

I don’t wait to listen to their conversation. I walk away, not fast but slowly, very slowly. I wanted his gaze to burn into my back. I wanted him to watch me walking away from him. I knew how much he hated that more than anything else. He hated when I didn’t acknowledge his presence.

I walk up the stairs and straight into my bedroom. I lock the door and drop to the ground. I clutch my dress tightly as I try to find my breath.

I was losing him. I was losing Damon. Very soon, he would belong to Anya for good, and I wouldn’t be able to fight for him anymore. I would have no choice but to accept defeat.

What could I do to stop all of this? What could I do to end this stupid engagement party?