Chapter 106

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 106 ~DAMON~

The guests were already arriving, but there was still no sign of Clarissa. I kept looking at the door, hoping to see her, but disappointment kept on hitting me when I saw everyone except her.

I knew I didn’t leave things on good terms between us. I couldn’t sleep last night. She was all I could think about. Getting engaged to Anya hadn’t even crossed my mind once. Clarissa had taken over my thoughts, and I knew it would be that way for a long, long time. Nothing could erase her from my mind, not even myself.

I couldn’t get her words out of my head. She thought that I had no feelings for her. She thought that I wanted to be with Anya and not her. She doesn’t realize how wrong she is.

I wanted to correct her. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I knew that if I did, she wouldn’t stop trying to change things between us.

I had to let her believe it if I wanted her to forget about us being a possibility.

It still bothered me that I had to hurt her in order to keep her safe. Clarissa hasn’t been thrown into our world the way that my family has been in the past. She doesn’t understand how hostile the world was when they got an opportunity to bring an influential family like ours to the ground. I didn’t want her to take the fall for the rest of us.

“You should be happy,” Atticus says as he joins my side. “But you look anything but that. It’s your engagement party to Anya. At one point in your life, you wanted this more than anything else. There was a point where both Dante and I wished that we were in your position today. Of course, that’s before I realized my true feelings for Autumn.”

I sigh, “you always know how to read me like an open book. I don’t even know how to feel right now. I’m confused by my feelings.”

He chuckles, “are you sure this is what you want, Damon? I know we’ve had our differences, but I would hate to see you go down the wrong path.”

I inhale sharply at his question. This wasn’t about me or what I wanted. This was about protecting Clarissa from what she thought she wanted. I didn’t care what I had to do as long as I knew she would be safe from any harm, whether it be physical or emotional.

“I know this is what I must do,” I answer him truthfully. “I have to do this.”

He raises one brow at me, “ah,” he whispers, “this is what you must do. Tell me again, why do you think this is what you have to do?”

I knew he would read between the lines. I knew that he would understand that this wedding wasn’t happening because I wanted it to happen but for a completely different reason.

That was one answer that I couldn’t give him. I couldn’t explain it without telling him everything that had happened between Clarissa and me in the past couple of days. I couldn’t explain to him what I meant without telling him that I had feelings for someone that he considered his sister, something that I was also supposed to do.

Anya walks into the room then, and there are gasps throughout it as everyone sees her dress. Judging by the thrilled look on her face, she was overjoyed by their reactions. Anya always loved being the center of attention. She loved to be the best dressed and have the nicest jewels amongst those around her.

The opposite of Clarissa.

While Anya loved attention, Clarissa would feel uncomfortable under all the stares. What was I doing? Why the hell was I even comparing the two of them? They were two completely different women. Both were amazing in their own ways.

“Have you seen Clarissa?” I ask him. I needed an answer before Anya came any closer to us. If she heard me asking about Clarissa, she would become angry, and I didn’t want to ruin her night due to my own problems. I’d already done plenty to hurt her feelings, and I promised her to try not to do anything to betray her again.

Anya never found out who the girl was that I had feelings for. If she realized how crazy I acted for Clarissa, it would be a clear indication, and I didn’t want that to happen. If it did, it would cause more problems for all three of us.

“Autumn left a few minutes ago to bring her out of her room.” He informs me. “As you already know, Clarissa, just like Dante, is not reacting well to this engagement party. I’m afraid we may not be able to persuade her to join the rest of us.”

Dante was also not here. He’d chosen to skip the party, and I wasn’t about to force him to watch something like this. I shouldn’t force Clarissa either; if this were something that would hurt her, it would be better that she wasn’t around to see it. Though, I just wished that I could see her, just once. I wanted to gaze at her as much as possible before I placed a ring on Anya’s finger. My selfish heart wanted to see her as much as she would let me.

“I can’t find her.” A familiar voice says.

I spun around to see Autumn behind us.

She was talking about Clarissa, no doubt. But why couldn’t she find her? Wasn’t she supposed to be in her room?

“What do you mean you can’t find her?” I demand. “Where is Clarissa?”

“I’ve looked everywhere for her.” She informs me. “Her dress isn’t in the room, which means that she did get dressed to attend the party. However, she isn’t here. I’ve searched the entire mansion. Clarissa is not here.”

I can hear the panic in her voice. Suddenly, I felt dizzy; everything in the room was beginning to spin. I couldn’t think properly now that I knew Clarissa was not in the mansion.

I knew what she was like. I knew what she was capable of doing when she was hurt.

f**k! I should have expected this from her. I should have known that she would have done something like this. I should have asked the guards to keep an eye on her. To prevent her from leaving and doing something reckless.

I loosened my tie and examined all the faces in the room that were visible to me. I was still hoping that she was somewhere in the crowd, even though I already knew she wasn’t there. I would know, after all, I was searching all of the faces earlier looking for her.

She wasn’t here.

Where the f**k was she then? Where did she run off to?

“Continue to search inside,” I order them. “I will ask the guards if they saw anything that could help us find her. If she isn’t in the mansion, it only means she’s left. She isn’t home.”

I had to hope that, for once, Clarissa didn’t do anything crazy that could put her life in danger. Anya spots me walking through the crowd, and she immediately pushes her way toward me. She thinks that I’m coming for her, but she doesn’t realize that I am trying to leave the party.

Her eyes widen when I try to go around her. She grabs my arm to stop me from going any further. I couldn’t deal with this right now. I had to get to Clarissa. The engagement party could wait. She was more important than this.

“Where are you going?” Anya demands. “It’s almost time for the announcement. Everyone is waiting for us. You can’t leave now!”

“We can’t find Clarissa,” I inform her. There was no point in lying to her; she had to know the truth. “I have to find her. This party can’t happen unless I know that she’s okay.”

She looks horrified by my words. Damn it. I hated that look on her face, but there was nothing that I could do about it. I was becoming impatient, and I knew if I didn’t find Clarissa within the next hour, I would lose my f*****g mind.

“What do you mean you can’t find her?” She demands as her eyes narrow. “Are you sure she isn’t just doing this to mess with us? You know just as much as I do that Clarissa does not want us to get married. She dislikes me; she has always hated me even though I’ve been nothing but nice to her. It’s unfair, Damon. It’s unfair that you always pick her side over mine. Why are you letting her ruin this beautiful night for us? If you walk out of here, people are going to talk; they’re going to laugh at me. Please, for once, think about me and not Clarissa.”

I shoved my hands into my pocket and rocked back and forth in my shoes. She didn’t know Clarissa as I did. While Clarissa didn’t want to attend this party, I was sure she wasn’t intentionally trying to sabotage this night for us. It was all just too much for her, and she may have acted on her emotions. Whatever the case may be, I had to find her.

“Please, Anya, please try to understand. I have to find her.” I plead with her. She had to understand. She had to.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this out of all the nights. Tonight is the night you choose to walk out of here to look for someone that may or may not be in danger!” She snaps. “In case you haven’t realized, Damon, she is your sister, not your freaking wife.

Everyone here can look for her. Why do you need to do it?”

“I’m sorry.”

That’s all I say as I storm out of the house. I couldn’t listen to Anya’s words any longer. I was losing time.

Something in my heart tells me that she’s in danger. I could feel it pounding in my chest, begging me to protect her. To keep her safe.

Where the hell are you, Clarissa?

The guards look up as soon as they see me approaching them.

“Did Clarissa leave the mansion earlier?” I ask Kyle.

He nods, “she left over an hour ago.”

Damn it.

“Did you happen to see where she went?” I demand. “Did she take a vehicle with her?”

“No.” He shook his head. “She didn’t need to take a vehicle. She went straight into the woods.”

“And you didn’t think to report this to me?” I demand roughly.

“I-I’m sorry.” He stutters. “I didn’t know I had to report this to you or anyone else. I was not informed of this before.”

Why did she go back into those woods after what happened the last time she was in there? I didn’t think Clarissa would take such a crazy risk again. Why didn’t she tell anyone? If she didn’t want to tell me, she could have at least said something to Autumn!

I was losing my damn mind. How far in the forest did she wander off to? How long would it take me to find her?

Something in the air catches my attention before I can take a step forward toward the woods.

I frown. It didn’t take me long to figure out what it was.

It’s smoke.

I can smell it also.

“Is there a fire somewhere?” I ask as I look around us.

The guards shrug their shoulders. The music from inside was blasting loudly, and it was hard to hear them above the noise. Did they turn the music up louder in the past few seconds? It was probably my brothers trying to distract the crowd from my disappearance.

They’re pointing to something behind me. I follow their gazes, and when I see what they’re pointing at, my body stops moving, rooted to the ground.

There was indeed a fire. But it wasn’t in the house.

It was deep in the woods. . .where Clarissa was.

Oh, f**k.