The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

"After the death of your parents, I thought it was only right to end my time working there. I should have stayed long enough to train whoever was coming in after me, but there were others, so I didn’t think it was needed. Forgive me," James pleaded.

Damien’s eyes burned with fury. "You were quite special, as you got to tend to their carriages. I already spoke to the others you worked with, and they revealed you checked the carriage before they headed out. It was in good order before your hands got on it."

Damien knew that James believed his lie as he panicked right away.

James stared at Damien, his mouth wide open and words caught in his throat.

"Speak, James. Use your voice, as I am not capable of hearing your thoughts. Is it that you need motivation?" Damien’s hand moved to his coat.

James dropped to his knees, clutching Damien’s pants. "You don’t understand the position I was in. Your parents were good to me."

Damien’s fingers grazed the coldness of the gun hidden in his coat. "You don’t kill people who are good to you unless you are evil!"

Zayne returned to the front door, alarmed by the sound of Damien’s voice.

James lowered his head as tears streamed down his face. "My daughter was ill. Your parents were kind, but I had to think of my daughter first. I thought against it for many days."

Damien’s voice was cold, yet trembling with pain. "What did you do?"

"I was approached with an offer to meddle with the carriage, but at the last moment, I changed my mind. I didn’t want to harm two people who were so kind to me. He would have been angry anyway. Neither you nor your siblings were in the carriage, so I thought I would save it for another day," James confessed, his eyes pleading for mercy.

"I assure you that I placed all the parts for the wheel back in good order. It shouldn’t have come out of place. It was the snow," James insisted, desperate to clear himself.

Zayne stepped closer, listening intently.

It was sheer luck that the man was still alive to speak.

"Who put you up to it? You should tell me," Damien demanded.

James lowered his head, but Damien seized his chin, forcing him to look up. His nails dug into James’s skin. "I said who!"

"It was your aunt’s husband," James whispered, his tears staining his cheeks. "He sought me out during a ball at the Hawthorne estate and mentioned my sick daughter. I do not know how he gained knowledge about her. He paid me more money than I could ever dream of."

"It was for my daughter. It granted me a year with her-"

James’s eyes widened as Damien released his chin and reached inside his coat as though a weapon lay hidden there.

Zayne rushed forward, grabbing Damien and restraining him. "I know your anger, but there is a crowd watching. This one you cannot kill. You need him alive to properly end the case."

"Unhand me!" Damien cried, his voice breaking into a ragged shout. "You helped take their lives! They would have given you the money to care for her. You could have spoken up!"

His cries tore through the air. Each word heavy with grief.

Damien fought against Zayne, blind to the fact that it was his friend holding him back. All he wanted was to reach James, to punish him for the betrayal that had stolen his parents.

Zayne held on tightly, taking blows to his face as he dragged Damien back towards the carriage. "I promised your wife that you would return to her. You’ll be arrested if you shoot him now, even if it is on your land. So, let me take this one."

Zayne’s chest ached as Damien’s cries echoed in his ears. The sound was unbearable to listen to. He couldn’t fathom the depth of Damien’s pain, knowing now that his parents had truly been murdered.

Zayne pressed Damien against the carriage, his back hitting the wood. There was no room left to drag him further. He held on, waiting for Damien to exhaust his fury.

He wished they had travelled with guards to shield Damien from the crowd’s eyes, but perhaps it was better this way. The truth would spread, and Hayden’s name would be whispered with suspicion.

Zayne waited patiently, even after Damien’s cries subsided. He didn’t dare let go.

"Let go of me," Damien said at last, his tone calmer, though his eyes still burned from tears. "I won’t kill him."

Zayne didn’t believe Damien just yet. "Damien, I’ve known you since I was a boy. If I let go of you now, then you’re going to reach for your gun to kill him. It hurts my mind that I can’t remember when you grabbed the gun."

"He’s your evidence to close this case and to be your reason for getting rid of Hayden. Trust me, it is taking every bit of strength within me to hold you back and not let you have your justice, but I will not have you imprisoned," Zayne said, his eyes scanning the crowd.

"I’m not going to kill him, Zayne. So, let go of me," Damien said, though his hands still shook.

"I’m going to let go of you, and you’re going to get in the carriage. Let me get him and take him to the court. Your anger needs to be directed at Hayden," Zayne said, reluctantly loosening his grip.

Damien looked ahead, his gaze locking on James, who still knelt with his tears flowing more freely than Damien’s had.

James rose slowly, fearing for his life. "I will confess to what I was told, but I assure you that I fixed what I meddled with."

Zayne stepped past Damien, seizing James by his shirt. "You helped to lead to their deaths. It was snowing. That wasn’t the time for anyone to meddle with their carriages. You must have heard of how wrecked that carriage was."

"I did," James admitted.

"You should have come forward sooner to offer answers to their children. You could have saved them both, and your daughter too, had you just spoken up then. You’ll pay for it now," Zayne said, dragging James towards the carriage.

James went along, accepting that his past had caught up with him. His daughter had not lived another year, and every day since, he had thought of how he might have ended two lives all for nothing. The guilt troubled him, but fear of punishment had kept him silent.

Zayne shoved James into the carriage, his body hitting the hard floor. James looked up, meeting Damien’s eyes, and in that moment, he doubted he would make it to the court alive.

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