Chapter 94

Adrian

“Adrian,” my name rolls off of Clara’s tongue like it is venom, seeping into my skin, making my anger even more erratic than before, “we need to talk.”

“No, we don’t,” I respond. I stop in my path just a few steps away from her and cross my arms over my chest. I narrow my gaze at Clara and watch as she rolls her eyes, pushing off of my car, and walks towards me.

“Why are you being so difficult right now, Adrian? What happened?” Clara asks with a scoff.

She closes the distance between us and I feel even more uneasy the closer she gets. I stand my ground, though, and watch her with a steady eye, unsure of what her motive to be here is.

“Now is not the time for a talk, Clara,” I cooly respond, trying to keep as much of my anger out of my voice as possible. “I am not particularly interested in whatever it is that you have to say to me.”

As soon as Clara reaches me and stands just a small gap, I begin to walk again, willing my feet to move from their cemented place in the ground, and push past her. Our shoulders brush against one another’s and Clara is quick to grab my wrist.

She tries to stop me but I keep walking and I use all of the strength that I can muster to drag her along with me.

“Adrian!” Clara yells my name. It echoes down the street and I know that I will have an angry note on my door tomorrow morning. “Stop this! Stop ignoring me!”

“Leave me alone, Clara,” I mutter under my breath. I slip my hand free from her touch and she gasps.

I reach my car and unlock it, opening up the door when my hand freezes in place from what Clara says next.

“You are such a piece of shit, Adrian! I hate you!”

I slowly turn around and look at Clara. There are no tears that run down her face. All there is a scowl and a look of pure hatred in her eyes, her fists balled at her sides as she screams at me in my own driveway.

I remain silent, though, and simply watch her. The night breeze is gentle and it picks up her golden hair. Something like that used to make me lose my mind and made my heart beat so fast that I was sure it would break free from the confines of my body, but now?

Now all I see is a spoiled brat who throws a tantrum whenever she does not get what she wants.

“You better listen to me,” Clara warns. She holds a finger up in the air, pointing it at me. “I do not like the way you have been treating me lately. You have become someone that I can barely recognize anymore! What happened to the Adrian that used to drop everything to come see me, hm? Where did he go?”

“He left you as soon as he learned that you were only with him for his money and social status,” I bite back. I grip my keys in my hand, the metal grooves digging into the flesh of my palm.

Something flickers across Clara’s face. It is a mixture of shock and surprise. Have I finally struck a nerve with her? Or have I just outed her for all that she is?

“What are you going to do now, Clara?” I ask, my voice now unusually calm. “I have no money and I have lost my social status. I am an outcast in all of the circles that you wished to have join and begged me to take you into. I am of no use to you, so why are you even here?”

“But you can always make it back!” Clara retorts. She steps forward and tries to approach me but I hold up a hand and she stops in her tracks. I shake my head and chuckle.

“You are a shallow person, Clara. Did you hear what you just said? You are already planning on my return to high society while I am standing here questioning if I even want it!” I laugh some more, which I know gets on her nerves, but I am seeing the light so clearly now.

I can see what Stella was warning me about. I can see exactly why Stella hated Clara, why she was against everything that Clara stood for.

“I hate liars who only live for themselves,” I continue.

“But I am not any of that! I am not!” Clara yells.

“Really?” I ask, giving her the chance to give herself up but Clara simply nods, doubling down on her words. “You lied about Stella stealing your necklace. You lied about being sick in the hospital and have even bribed the doctor there to help you with your story!”

“But I did that for you, Adrian! I did that for us! To get the cancer that is Stella out of our lives so we can be happy!” Clara exclaims.

“And look at us now!” I finally raise my voice. I hold my arms open and look at the space between us. “She is out of our lives and yet you are still so obsessed with the idea of shoving everything good in her face when you should be happy that you are with the man you supposedly love! But no, you are probably here to ask for my credit card again so you can buy another stupid fucking dress—”

“That’s not fair and you know it!” Clara stomps her foot against the ground. “Stop being an asshole! This isn’t like you!”

I roll my eyes and wave her away. I turn to reach for my door but Clara lunges forward and takes my hand before I can even connect with the handle.

“Please, Adrian, I need you to know that I did everything out of my love for you!” she begins to cry but I feel absolutely nothing towards her.

I watch as she sinks to the ground, hugging my leg like a child. It is pathetic, really, how she is trying to manipulate me by crying wolf. Her reasons will never be good enough so I do not know why she is trying so hard to hold onto something that will not work for her anymore.

“Adrian, please,” she blabbers, her tears now staining my pants, “don’t leave me! I love you and I love us together! Just because you are broke and are in a bad part of your life doesn’t mean that I don’t care for you! The dresses and social circles can wait!”

“They shouldn’t need to wait, Clara,” I groan with an eye roll. “You should want to be with me for the sake of being with me, not because I can buy you clothes and make you friends with the governor’s wife.”

“Can you…can you do that?” Clara sniffles and looks up at me. “Make me friends with the governor’s wife?”

“Get off of me. You look pathetic and it’s sad for a woman your age to be doing,” I say.

Clara hesitantly gets up off of the ground. She wipes her tears away and looks up at me. We are silent for a few moments but Clara is the first to break it.

“Will you at least think about it?” she asks.

“Sure,” I lie trough gritted teeth, “i’ll see if this is something I want.”