Chapter 169

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 169 BOOK 3 CHAPTER 5 ~DANTE~

We were waiting over an hour for the girls. They always kept us waiting like this. It wasn’t anything new.

“From now on we need to give them the wrong time for an event.” Damon groans.

“That’s actually not a bad idea brother.” Atticus chuckles. “I might have to try that the next time.”

“They’re coming!” Griffin announces. “And damn, why do they have to belong to my brothers?”

Atticus taps him on his head, “Can you not be an a*s for once?”

I follow their gazes and felt all the hairs on my body stand up.

Long, creamy legs, bright red lips. Smooth exposed stomach. I felt like my eyes were about to betray me.

What the hell is she wearing? Whenever Clarissa and Autumn helped her dress, I always felt smoke coming out of my b****y ears.

It’s not like I could tell her about it either. I barely spoke to Willow begin with. If the first thing I said to her was to change her clothes, I would sound like a complete a*s. That’s the last thing I wanted to do.

I’ve already been a bad husband to her. I didn’t treat her like she was my wife. Instead, I treated her like the sister of my wife. I acted like I was married to Anya and I was just doing her a favor. And maybe I acted that way because that’s how I truly felt. I couldn’t accept Willow as my bride no matter how hard I tried.

I hope that one day she could forgive me for all of this.

“We’re late but it’s totally worth it.” Atticus says as he kissed Autumn.

Damon lifts Clarissa into his arms and it’s still hard for me to see the two of them together after knowing what I knew. However, I was trying hard to be happy for them.

. . . . .

We were finally at the party and it was not going well. Willow had bumped into Sharon and she was being a pain in my a*s.

“Come on, your marriage is a fake, and everyone knows it,” She says as she rolls her eyes. “You don’t even have a wedding ring on your finger. What woman doesn’t wear a wedding ring? Even Dante doesn’t have one. It doesn’t matter if you’re married on paper; if Dante doesn’t recognize you as his wife, you’re a nobody, and everyone else is free to date him.”

What the f**k was her problem?

I’ve never gotten a ring for Willow because of my commitment to her sister. I felt I would disappoint Anya if I ever put a ring on Willow’s finger. It also felt like I would accept the marriage if I bought her a ring. So far, I hadn’t accepted that Willow and I were married. However, I didn’t like what everyone said in front of her face and behind her back. It was pissing me off.

“I’ve forgotten how f*****g mean the girls from the academy can be.” Atticus growls.

“Can you ensure Willow doesn’t leave this party until I return?” I ask Atticus.

He quirks a brow at me, “Why are you leaving?”

“There’s something I should have done a long time ago,” I answer him.

There’s a knowing look in his eyes as he lets me leave.

As soon as I got to the jeep, I dialed a number I didn’t think I’d need until now.

“Josh,” I say when he answers.

“How can I help you, Dante?” He asks me.

“I need something from your jewelry store,” I answer him.

“At this hour?” He asks, surprised.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “I need it urgently. Can you meet me there?”

He sighs, “You’re lucky you’re a favorite customer.”

“It does have its perks.” I chuckle. “I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”

Getting a ring for Willow was the last thing I ever expected to do. I thought we’d spend the rest of our marriage without getting one.

Josh pulls up at the store just as I did. He shakes my hand before pulling out his keys and opening the multiple locks at the front gate.

“What can I help you with?” He asks as soon as we step inside.

“I need a ring for my wife,” I answer him.

My wife. It felt strange saying those words.

He turns around, surprised. Did everyone know that I was not in love with her? That was a stupid question. Of course, everyone already knew. I wasn’t good at hiding it. That’s why Willow was being bullied at the academy. Because of me. Because I couldn’t let the past go no matter how hard I f*****g tried.

No one understood how much I loved Anya. She was everything to me. I was willing to let her go just so she could be happy, but in the end, even that wasn’t enough.

She made it clear that Atticus was the only one she ever had feelings for. It’s not like I didn’t already know it. I always knew that she liked him better than me and Damon. All of the signs were there. When he’d married Autumn, the light in her eyes had slowly disappeared until I couldn’t see it anymore.

Everyone saw her as this crazy woman, but I could never see her that way. All I saw was the girl I fell in love with. I loved everything about Anya, even her flaws. After learning about the horrible things she’d done, I still couldn’t bring myself to hate her.

“Dante?” Josh calls out to me. I must have spaced out while he was talking.

“What do you think of these?” He asks when he has my undivided attention.

“I don’t want to look at any,” I say to him.

“Pardon?”

“I don’t need to see the ring. I want it to be the most expensive ring you have inside of here.” I answer him.

I wanted to shut Sharon up. I wanted her to stop harassing Willow. When they saw the ring, they would have fewer things to say about our marriage.