She looks up at me,when she hears the door open.she doesn't even look surprised to see me. The usual sparks in her eyes when she sees me is not there, and it bothers me to the point that I want to tell her about it.
She doesn't look happy to see me. What else should l expect after what l'd done to her?
I checked the time on my watch, wondering how long it would be before the roses arrived.
“We need to talk,” I tell her as I shut the door.
“There is plenty that I have to say to you. I listened to the voice note, and I-“
“I want a divorce”
I pause, dumbstruck. I refuse to believe that I've heard her correctly. She couldn't have possibly just asked me for a fucking divorce.
I step toward her, and she puts her hands out to stop me, "I need you to keep your distance from me, Atticus. I want to keep a clear mind when l'm giving these papers to you. I need you to sign them today."
"Autumn," l growl. "We just got married. I can't fucking divorce you."
"If you can leave me stranded so that you could go running to be there for your ex- girlfriend, you can also take the time to sign a paper, Atticus. It's not that hard. I just need your signature." She snaps.
"We're not getting a divorce. We got into this because our parents forced us. Do you think you can just say no to them now? Do you think they'll allow their names to go down in the gutter because you suddenly decided that you don't want to stay married to me?" I demand.
"Our parents don't have to know about it."She says.
"That's the whole point of it. We can stay in the same house and act like we're married, but they don't have to know anything. That way, you can keep seeing Anya whenever you like. It wouldn't be like betraying me when you leave me to run to her side anymore. It would be completely normal and the least of my worries. That way, I can also meet new people, ones who want to spend time with me, and that won't leave me to go to their ex."
What the fuck? New people?
"Autumn. Are you even fucking listening to yourself?"
I was fuming both on the inside and the out. I hated the idea of Autumn getting to know any other man but me. Why would she even propose such an idea to me? Why did she think I would ever agree to something like this?
"Our lives are already tied together. Marriage is not a fucking joke. Every second we spent in that spring was meaningful. It was a ritual meant to tie us together for life." I growl. "Why are you talking about divorce like it's nothing?"
Did all of that mean nothing to her?
"It was a joke to you, Atticus. The spring was a joke to you. Our Marriage is a joke to you, or else you wouldn't have treated me the way you did since I said I do. I'm not the one that disrespected you every step of the way. That was you. You're the one that lets everyone say the worst things about our relationship. Have you seen the articles? You should take some time to read them." She seethe.
"Oh wait let me show you, since you were busy taking care of your fucking ex girlfriend you must not have had the time. " She takes out her phone and shows me.
"Did you see this, this one was on our engagement night, when the video of you kissing her was released, This one where you hugging her, I don't even know when was it taken, may be after our engagment when you ghosted me but still went to meet her, this one when you rushed to her aide when she fainted leaving me at the altar a few seconds after I said I do to you," She shouts
"The most recent one has a lot to say about you rushing to the hospital without me after Anya almost drowned. These are not the only ones. There are hundreds of them that speak the truth about your relationship with me and your relationship with her. They say I'm a replacement in your life, the way you were with her in the yacht. everybody has seen it." She is hurt,
"I might as well hand over the recording to them. I'm sure they will have a wonderful time playing it for the whole world to hear. Maybe Anya has already done that, and they're just waiting for the right opportunity to post it for everyone to listen to it. You bring embarrassment to our marriage. why should I want to stay married to you?"
Her words cut through me like a fucking knife.
Since when has Autumn been this brutal? I know I messed up, I knew it. when I found out that Anya had sent her that recording. I didn't realize that she could stoop that low.
If l'd listened to that recording before Damon had called me with the news, I would have never left Autumn there. I would have known better. I understood now why Autumn didn't want to come with me to visit Anya.
Anya had already done something this horrible to hurt her. Autumn had every reason not to want to see her. Did this mean that Anya had lied about the incident where she'd slapped Autumn? Was I fool for believing her then as well?
"I'm not doing these things to hurt you, Autumn. I swear I'm only doing it because I feel guilty for hurting Anya. She'd been through a lot since we agreed to marry each other, and I felt sorry for her. I'm sorry I keep doing things that lead to articles like those, but I promise I'm not trying to hurt you. I thought you wouldn't be this affected by it. I've known all along that you don't have feelings for me, and that's why I didn't think it would be this bad, if I chose to protect Anya. I didn't think being there for Anya would affect you this badly since I knew you also cared about her. But now I realize how wrong I've been. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Autumn, for everything. If I had known from the beginning this
would not have happened. I would not have been so stupid."
"You don't mean it." She snaps. "Your apology lacks any sincerity Atticus. I thought I knew you. you were someone l could trust blindly. Now I know that as long as Anya is in our lives, I can never trust you. I had this perfect picture of you in my head. now I realize how wrong I was all this time. I didn't know the real you. Anya knows the real you, and maybe that's why she knows what to do to get you running to her. I can't keep living like this. I want a divorce, I want my freedom away from both of you, and I want you to give that to me."
A perfect picture of me in her head? I never even knew that Autumn paid that much attention to me, to begin with. To hear that I'd damaged the image of myself in her mind makes this so much more painful for me.
Her words are fueling something dark inside of me.
It's eating my control away, grasping onto my sanity. No one has ever been able to make me feel like this , no one has made me lose my control by just talking. Autumn was teaching me every single day about my own body.
I hated that I had disappointed her. what had I done? She trusted me, she thought I was better than this, and I'd proven her wrong time and time again. She was gentle and patient with me, and instead of protecting her, I did the exact opposite. I hurt her without even realizing it.
How do I make this better? How do I prevent her from trying to get a divorce? I didn't want one, I was sure of it.
"Please, take a second to think about what you're asking from me, Autumn. At least wait a day before you decide what you truly want." I beg.
I couldn't believe that I'd reached the point of begging her to stop this.
I was still fighting the darkness inside of me that threatened to break free at the thought of losing her because of my stupidity. I knew that leaving her yesterday was the wrong move from the moment I saw the look of betrayal in her eyes. I knew that I would have to pay for that one mistake, and yet I still took the risk.
This was my fault. I was paying for my stupid decisions. What hurts more is knowing that I'd done this for Anya only to find that she'd secretly recorded us.
She narrows her eyes, I miss her kindness, I miss the way she always looked at me with passion in her eyes. Now all I could see was hurt and disappointment.
"I know what I want, Atticus." She snaps. "I've already signed the paper. All I need is your signature for it to be official."
Had she already signed it? That easily? Without a second thought?
'You already signed it?" I ask in a dangerously low tone.
"Yes." She hissed
I snatched the paper from her hand and ripped it into a few pieces, ensuring there was no way to piece it back together.
"What the hell are you doing?" She demands as she steps toward me, staring at the pieces of paper on the floor.
I grab her waist and push her onto the bed with me.
"Atticus!" She gasps. "What are you doing?"
I don't know what's happening. I have no control over my body. I've never felt this possessive over any other woman in my life. I wanted to keep her.
She was mine. fucking mine. I didn't want anyone to ever have her.
I grabbed her hands and held them high above her head as I hovered over her. Our gazes lock, and we're both breathing hard. How is she this fucking beautiful? I've never seen a woman that could take my breath away as she can. Her beauty is out of this
damn world, and I meant that. Even now, when she's pissed at me, she's still the prettiest woman I've ever seen.
"Let go of me." She shouts.
I hate those words. Letting go of her was not a part of my plan.
"Never," I growl. Before we can figure out my next move, my mouth is on her neck.
She gasps, and I love the sound she makes when I touch her. She tasted so good, and it wasn't enough as I began to suck on her skin. I wanted more. More. So much more of her.
"Atticus!" She moan, I love the way my name chimes from her mouth. It makes me want to do things to her irresistible body just so that l could hear her say it some more.
When her hands tighten on my hair, I get the urge to go on. To do what I wanted to from the beginning.
She cried out as my teeth pierced her skin. I tasted blood first and swallowed all of it, connecting us, bonding us, joining our minds and soul. I can feel my dick growing, ready to take in every other way possible.
Fuck. The desire to take her was intense. I had to stop this before I did something else that we both regret.
I knew she wasn't prepared for that and so I pulled away before l could give in to what I wanted.
I look down at her sprawled out on my bed with my mark fresh on her neck. It was fucking beautiful seeing it there. Made just for her.
Pride filled my chest as I realized what I'd just done.
I always thought that marking Anya would make me feel complete, but I was fucking wrong. It was Autumn who'd done it for me.
"Now you're fucking mine."