The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

"It is easy for you to judge me since you haven’t been married for too long. You and Eloise are in that stage where you adore each other, and nothing about each other can upset you. Eventually, that love won’t be the same. It wears off," said Camille.

"But I will love her. I will love her so much that I don’t want to be away from her," Damien replied.

"You don’t know the future, Damien. I once had my dreams of how my marriage would be, and it doesn’t always go as planned. I am not saying this to hurt you," Camille promised, as she only wanted to share her experience. "I am giving you the reality of marriage."

"Is that so?" Damien asked, placing his hands behind his back.

"Yes."

"The difference I see between the two of us is that I waited until I was certain of who I wanted to marry. I didn’t marry because it was what others around me wanted. I didn’t marry because she carried a good name amongst the town," Damien pointed out.

He continued, "Whenever Jane used to ask about what made you fall in love with Hayden, you mentioned his name and how handsome he was."

"So?" Camille asked, seeing no point in his remark. "That is how many ladies speak of their husbands."

"There are a lot of wealthy and handsome men around the town. Surely, there was some better detail about your husband that made you fall in love. Or, did you fall for the look of him and not his personality?" Damien wondered.

"Hayden was a gentleman," Camille added quickly.

"You were Camille Hawthorne. Of course, every man before you would be a gentleman to get your hand. Admit it," Damien said, seeing through her hesitation. "You picked a man who would ensure you had a good season, and now you’re realising who he truly is."

"I have spent years married to Hayden. I know him just as he knows me," Camille argued.

"Does he? Would he speak of your interests, or would he speak of what every other lady in town enjoys? Does he know what you personally like? I don’t doubt that you know his interests, but does he know about you?" Damien asked.

He saw the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.

Damien decided to throw Camille a bone to ease her discomfort. "Perhaps it is that I have not been married for more than a year that I have noticed what my wife likes. From the books she enjoys to her interest in decorating the garden."

"That reminds me. I must have the servants rearrange the books to make it easier to reach her next read," he added, almost smugly.

"I will allow you to gloat about your marriage since I have once done it. You may think your marriage is perfect-"

"I do not think it is perfect," Damien interjected swiftly. "I think my wife is wonderful, as well as our marriage, but it isn’t perfect. You see it so when you start, but that is not the word to use now. If it were perfect, we wouldn’t have fools bothering us."

"You two always act like nothing is amiss. As though you have never disagreed," Camille said, pointing out their facade.

"Eloise and I don’t always agree, but we speak. There are troubles at times, but why would I address them before anyone?" Damien asked, tilting his head. "My wife and I will keep our marriage private. Sharing too much leaves room for unwanted opinions."

Camille remained silent.

"What occurs in your marriage seems to work for you. At the very least, Hayden wasn’t having an affair. He merely wanted peace from you and the children. How fortunate for you," Damien said with a soft chuckle.

Camille stared at Damien, her eyes brimming with tears she fought to hold back. "Did you bring me here to attack my marriage? To turn me against my husband?"

"No. Besides, no matter what I say, it should be impossible for anyone to get in your ear and succeed in turning you against Hayden. That should only work if you have doubts about him. Which makes me wonder. Do you?" Damien inquired.

Camille looked away from Damien. "He is my husband. I don’t have any doubts."

"Then, look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t have any doubts," Damien instructed Camille with a commanding tone.

Camille turned to face Damien and dug her nails into the palm of her hand. "I don’t have any doubts, and I don’t like how all of you turn the focus onto my marriage. It will never be a good feeling for me, and I must remind you that you hated it when I did it to you."

"Well, perhaps this is needed for you to see how it affects others. You didn’t have any place questioning my marriage," said Damien coldly.

"I know," Camille softly replied.

"You’re judging Eloise like everyone else in town does because she didn’t grow up in our world. I married for love rather than appearances, and she’s wonderful as Lady Hawthorne," Damien said proudly.

"Let us agree that unless one of our spouses troubles one of us, we won’t speak on each other’s marriages," Damien said, offering his hand to be shaken.

Camille started to raise her hand, but froze as Hayden’s plans flashed in her mind. "I," she started, but the words caught in her throat.

Damien lowered his hand. "Your husband intends to come after me, doesn’t he?"

"He does. You tried to kill me, so it is only fair he will come after you. It is too late for me to stop it, but you can offer an apology," Camille suggested.

Damien laughed at her absurd suggestion. "I will not apologise. I think we have spoken enough about other people who are not here, and we’ve wandered far enough from your little spy."

Camille looked back at her guard, her heart pounding. "He is not a spy."

"You will never be able to fool me, even on your best day. You brought him here for more than protection. I do wonder how long this meeting will remain a secret," Damien said, glancing at the man standing by Camille’s horse.

"I won’t tell Hayden," Camille promised.

For the sake of her marriage and to avoid future arguments, Camille had to let this stay a secret.

"You won’t, but will he? I hope you picked a guard who is on your side and won’t speak of this. I don’t want you to get in trouble with your husband."

"Hayden and I have our own servants who are loyal to us. You don’t need to worry about this reaching his ears. Let us go back to speaking about us," Camille said, forcing herself to move on.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!