The End Of Walden's War

II

Year

I drowned out my mother's voice as she spoke down the telephone, her consistent chatter worsening my mood on the anniversary of my wedding day.

"Why do we not have a grandchild, Madeline?"

I rolled my eyes as I heard her words, the words that had been repeated practically since we had first been married.

"Mother, neither of us are ready for children." I protested, knowing that my own mother was fully aware that I didn't want any children with this man. Not after I had no choice if I were to marry him or not. She seems to believe that I had fallen in love with him by now, after spending this glorious first year of marriage together. But, in reality, getting to know Finnegan Walden was the worst time of my life. 

Everyone already knew what he did, who he did before he was a married man. (I would not be surprised if he continued those ghastly shenanigans even though it was known he had a wife.) But the reputation the bastard held could not be more wrong to how the man actually acted. With no sense of mercy, I was certainly surprised that our marriage alone was enough to end the three year long war our families had found themselves in. For what exactly?

For my own brother's mistake of joining this little 'organisation' for stupid reasons, and then talking to the police the second he was in trouble. 

Even myself, a 'simple, uptight whore' understood the simplest of rules created for an illegal group like this, even before my forced marriage into this 'company'.

But, even after knowing Finnegan's real actions, I could not deny the physical attractiveness of my husband. And, without the intention of a child, I can not say that I have not succumbed to his advances. I have, a few times. But I had no intention of starting a family with this man, the man I did not love. And our sex meant nothing to either of us.

Yet, after this year of hell with this monstrous man, I knew that my anniversary day would be the worst of my marriage so far. The boys would expect a lot from us today and I can not cope with how those boys act when they get riled up on occasions like this. The month before, when  Donald got engaged, they started drinking 9 in the morning, and by the time I dragged Finnegan out of the pub the place was almost completely trashed and half of Finnegan's boys were laying on the floor, hopefull just intoxicated. (I'm still not entirely sure if there had been some sort of drastic fight or just some simple drinking competitions gone out of hand.)

"Promise me you'll visit soon, darling." My mother's voice spoke, bringing me back to the conversation we were in the middle of. "I haven't seen you for a year, Madeline. We all miss you, your friends as well. Bayliss says he hasn't heard from you once since you went to London. The two of you were such good friends, don't tell me Finn has stopped you from seeing him."

My mother's use of 'Finn' had begun to get increasingly irksome. Very few people shortened his name. A list of three to be exact, not including my mother. 

-His mother

-His youngest brother

-Myself, yet only to bring more realism into this facade that was our marriage- I am still unsure if any of the boys know the truth behind our 'love'. It would certainly change the way that they would present themselves in front of me and how they treated me. 

"I will visit soon Mother, I promise." And I truly hoped that I could follow through with said promise. I really did miss my family, and I had wished to see Bayliss again since the day after my wedding. The worst day of my life, seeing as though I wasn't marrying him.

I remember the look on his face on my wedding night as I was having my first dance with my husband, I would look from his hypnotising green eyes to the sad brown orbs of the man I loved stood front of the crowd enticed by the 'beauty' of our joined families and the love the young Crevuse held for the man that should only have ever been considered dangerous.

But Bayliss stood there, saying nothing to me all night. But I received every answer I needed from that day. He loved me back. I finally learnt that he loved me back. But, in the greatest turn of events that evening, I learnt that everything could have been stopped. I might not have needed to marry this horrible man. Maybe someone else could have. But I learnt too late that the man I loved felt the same. For if I had known, he would be my husband yet, he had a fear to tell me, to tell my father. And to tell the world. So I was condemned to this life of misery with a man I held nothing but hatred towards. 

My mother bid her goodbyes to me, before I responded with a weak farewell of my own, hanging up on the phone myself. She had probably proceeded to hand the phone to the servant stood patiently next to her waiting for her stop speaking, maybe as eagerly as me for my mother could talk forever about measly little things. But I could finally leave my room, join Finnegan's cousins downstairs, the only women I really had contact with now. (His sisters had some sort of hatred towards me)

However, as I had dreaded they almost immediately led me out the house towards the London pub my husband and his boys spent most of their time, running this business that I still knew nothing about. The place I was forced to spend most of my time, considering I had no job of my own.

The building we were heading was looming in the distance. I just hoped that I could stop walking and run in the opposite direction, or home. I had a sudden desperation to go home.

Yet I knew that would only lead to another between my family, and the family I had married into. I could not do that to the people I cared for.

Opening the door of the pub, Loretta led us inside announcing our arrival, only to mock what the day was. It was my anniversary and I needed to show happiness. Our marriage was good, that is what everyone believed. I was happy, as was my husband, who walked up to me with a purpose that morning and cradled my face in his hands, his fingertips brushing into my blonde locks as leant down and happily pressed his lips to mine. 

Since we had wed, he was the only one to initiate kisses or anything of this sort.

"Happy anniversary." He smiled, forcing this happiness to be as realistic as possible. Everyone seemed to believe that our marriage was truly based on our affections to one another.

"I'd thought you would have forgotten." I smiled back at him, my joke earning a few laughs from his boys. He let out a small chuckle of his own before continuing like he usually would. 

"Lets get you a drink." He spoke loudly, walking away from me and towards the bar.

"It's 10am, I do not need a drink Finn." His named tasted strange on my tongue, still. I hated calling him Finn, but it was expected from me- being his wife. 

"You've just got off the phone with your mother." He spoke, handing me a glass of whiskey. "You need it more than any of us."

Despite my hatred towards him and his work, and the way he treated nearly everyone around him. I have to admit, he knew me in a way I would never expect him to even try and understand me.

A/N

Right, so here is the first real chapter, I hope everyone enjoys it because I've been trying to write a story for a long time now and I just haven't had the passion to continue on any stories I've started yet. But, I'm hoping people will enjoy this and I will try my best to see this one through to the end.

Love you guys :)