Chapter 145

Adrian

My mother and I sit and stare in complete and utter shock as Clara unleashes her fury onto us. The vein in her forehead is bulging and her face has gone red, the lack of oxygen from her screams and yells showing on her face. I hold my mom’s hand under the table, squeezing ti to give her some strength as my fiancée screams insults in her direction.

“You are such a fucking bitch! You always have been like this ever since we were kids! You always pay attention to Stella and Adrienne and never me!” Clara screams. “why can't you just sit there and be happy that your son has finally found somebody who's willing to spend the rest of their life with him?!”

Clara reaches for the table and grabs the plastic bowls of pasta. She throws them under the ground, destroying the perfectly good lunch that I had bought for us. She takes her anger out on the food before turning back to us, her hands covered in sauce and crumbs.

“It is not like Stella wanted him in the first place! She was the one who divorced him while I'm the one who stayed! I'm the one who is taking the sacrifice by marrying your son,” she screams in our direction, “nobody wants him in the first place! The only worthy attribute about him is his bank account and social status! That is the only reason why people would want to marry him!”

“Watch your tongue!” my mother snaps back, pointing a finger at Clara.

“No,” Clara glares at her, “you watch your tongue! You should know that Stella is not a welcome presence in our life! She has ruined so many good things between Adrian and I has delayed our marriage by months! If it wasn't for her, Adrian and I would already be married by now!”

“And thank goodness for that,” my mom comments with a roll of her eyes.

I shake my head at her, knowing that her comment will only send Clara over the edge. Clara throws her head back and laughs, the sound reverberating off of the concrete walls that surround us. The sun shines down on her and it makes her eyes look shadowed, like she is a demon in the night who is here to hurt us.

Clara directs her anger towards me, her glare hot on my face. I do not back down, though, and watch as she steps towards me, towering over me in my seat. I look up at her until my head to the side, ready for whatever bullshit she has to say to me.

“you should be so lucky to marry a woman like me,” she lowers her voice, eyes darkening, “I am the only person in your life who wants anything to do with you. You are a loser. A loner. Nobody wants to love you, not even my broken shell of his sister, who you experimented on—”

“I did that for you,” I interrupt her, my words as sharp as her glare. “I hurt Stella just so I could save you. I destroyed her body so you could have a chance to live!”

“And now I'm alive thanks to you! But we do not need her at the wedding! We don't need her in our lives!” Claire closes her eyes and clenches her fists. She takes a deep breath before looking down at me again, grabbing her bag to the side. “Adrian: we’re leaving. We are not going to have this conversation here—”

“No,” I shake my head, “I'm not leaving here with you.”

“Excuse me?!” Clara scoffs. She throws her bag over her shoulder and rolls her eyes, waving her hand for me to follow. “Adrian, I don’t have time for this. We’re leaving!”

I don't move a muscle. I simply stare and look up at her, unable to recognize the woman that stands before me.

Where did everything go wrong? What did I do in life to deserve an ending like this? What did I do to deserve a woman who thinks that she can boss me around and yell at my mother, disrespecting everything in my life, and can get away with it?

I look up at Clara and shake my head, feeling a sense of calm, take over my body after I realize what it is that I must do. I slowly stand and look down at her, staring at the ring that I placed on her finger. I don't even want it back.

“We're not getting married anymore, Clara,” I breathe the words out, feeling the weight of my almost future slip free from my shoulders. “I don't wanna marry you. I know that a life with you Will be one of immense pain and turmoil.”

“You don't mean that,” Clara rolls her eyes. “you know that if you don't marry me, I'll kill myself. My blood will be on your hands.”

“It's not my choice to make,” I turn away and look down at my mother.

I help her from her chair and wave over a nearby nurse, not wanting my mother to hear the rest of this conversation. The nurse quickly walks over and takes my mother by the hands, guiding her away. I give my mom a small smile and nod before turning back to Clara, who looks like she's about to kill me.

“If you want to kill yourself, then go right ahead. You are the one making that choice, not me. You can't expect me to continue to live with the guilt of a decision that has nothing to do with me,” I slowly speak, wanting her to understand the weight of my words.

“You’re the worst!” Clara’s scream echoes off of the walls. “I hate you! I hate Stella! And I hate that she has always kept us apart! I knew it was right in declining her call!”

My body goes cold. I shake my head as if I didn’t just hear those words come out of her mouth. I step towards her and grab her wrist before she can storm off, pulling her back to me.

“What did you just say?” I quietly ask. Clara just laughs, sending chills down my spine.

“She called earlier,” she smirks, yanking her wrist away from me, “said that she needed you. That she felt like she was dying.”

I watch as Clara pulls away from me. Her smile is twisted, sadistic…cold and unfeeling. She laughs some more, the sound making my ears ring, and turns around, walking away from the garden.

I rip my phone free for my pants pocket. I turned it on and rush to my call log, staring at Stella's name at the top of the list.

My body runs cold, blood feeling like ice beneath my skin. If what Clara said, was true, that Stella claims to feel as if she were dying, then I have made a grave mistake in the choices that I have made.

I never should have left Stella. I never should have agreed to getting a divorce with her. I never should have let her leave my life, to be a stranger instead of a friend. Instead of…something more.