The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

Camille remembered the day all too well, enough to know that Hayden had not been at her side. He had returned home only moments before the men from court arrived to deliver the dreadful news.

Once Camille heard that her brother was lost, grief struck her so deeply that she could not bring herself to speak to the visitors. Hayden had done all the speaking for her, and she had been most grateful to him then.

"Hayden would never harm your parents, Damien. That is not the kind of man he is. You will not succeed in planting that thought within my mind," Camille said, though she carried hidden fears. "We came to speak about our troubles and mending them."

"You must calm yourself, dear aunt. I said that I don’t believe it, as he has always cared for us, and he cares for you. You are the one who seems to have doubts. Besides," Damien looked ahead. "It would be foolish for him to think he could get the estate."

Camille’s heart sank as she recalled Hayden’s words about her children inheriting the estate. The memory fed her doubts.

"I am a married man, so I will have children, but if I don’t, I have two brothers. There are enough men in line for the title of heir, and Hayden isn’t one. Though your son could have been one," Damien said, his eyes narrowing as he remembered an important detail.

Camille frowned. "That is not possible. As you said, you have siblings, and it is not a desire of mine for my children."

"All four of us were meant to join our parents in the travel, but we lost interest in it, and Kyle forced himself to act unwell, so we stayed home while our parents carried on. All the heirs could have been lost," Damien pointed out.

Damien continued, "My father liked for me to shadow him, so I was meant to go along, but since the others weren’t joining, he left me to watch over them. I hate to think of what could have happened had I joined them."

"I don’t want to think about this," Camille whispered, her voice cracking as she avoided Damien’s gaze. "Hayden knows how much I loved my brother. He knows how much I loved your mother. Perhaps you think this because I was angry I wasn’t given a chance."

"I never cared about you thinking you should have been the heir. I had no control over being born and taking that role. What I care about is others thinking that, should I fall, the estate would go into their hands. It means they are plotting against my siblings," Damien said.

"Stop it," Camille said, turning away from Damien.

"You and I have our troubles, but that doesn’t mean you should stop caring for the others. I spared you because I cared about your children. I hate to think you wouldn’t care if anyone threatened to harm the others-"

"I am not a monster!" Camille cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. She turned to Damien. "I would not allow anyone to hurt your siblings. They are all I have left of my brother."

Her voice faltered as she tried to convince herself. "Hayden wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t have taken my brother’s life."

"Would he try to kill me? Not because he is avenging you for what occurred, but because he wants the estate? Tell me honestly, and I shall drop this thought," Damien pressed.

Camille opened her mouth, but no words came. She was torn between loyalty and doubt.

She was almost certain Hayden had not played a hand in the accident, yet she could not deny that he longed for the estate now.

"Hayden and I have plenty of wealth between us. If I wanted to, I could build an estate. I could even push myself to become so much closer to the queen and ask the king to grant Hayden a title. He didn’t kill my brother," Camille said, but it wasn’t convincing.

Damien already saw through her lies, so he did not press further. "Very well. I shall take what you say as the truth and not question it. Besides, there won’t be any unfortunate incidents on my end."

"What do you mean?" Camille asked.

"To have a new Lord Hawthorne, one would have to harm myself and my wife. That’s not going to happen," Damien said with confidence. "Just in case your husband ever had the thought, do warn him that I have measures in place to go after all that he loves from the grave."

Camille gripped her dress tightly, her fingers trembling as she tried to steady herself. "You must stop this, Damien. This is my husband you speak of. It is wrong to speak to me about your belief that he would kill my brother."

"It is wrong, which is why I worry about you. I don’t question how much you loved my father. If we are wrong about your husband, then that love you have for your brother might not allow you to go through with your husband’s plans," Damien said, planting more seeds of doubt in her heart.

Damien continued, "I hate to think of him harming you. Him getting you out of the way so he might care for the children. Then again, you speak of your marriage being so sweet. He would never harm you or try to lock you away."

Camille’s eyes followed Damien’s every move as he walked ahead of her. His words echoed Hayden’s own, as though he had been present during their private conversations.

"Hayden would never try to harm me. I am his wife and the mother of our children. I understand your concerns, but you don’t need to worry. Unlike you, I don’t have any interest in killing anyone," Camille said.

She took a deep breath, forcing composure. "Our relationship will never return to what it once was, but I want to move on and be cordial. We will see each other at family gatherings and meetings. Jane will want me in her life as well."

"That is true," Damien replied.

"I was hosting an event to bother Jane and oust Eloise, but I won’t do it any longer. I no longer have interest in such childishness. There is much I must focus on concerning my family," Camille confessed.

Camille looked ahead at the path they walked. "I know that my husband shared with you about leaving our home to be alone. Don’t bother trying to throw it in my face."

Damien chuckled. "I won’t, because it would be pointless. To keep that pretty, perfect lie that your marriage is so wonderful and meant to be envied, you’ll put up with disrespect. I’m not going to help someone who likes being insulted."

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