The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

Chapter 268: Lacking support [2]

"We don’t have to fight with Damien if we don’t want to. You have more influence when it comes to the ladies in town, and you are more loved by the other Hawthornes," Hayden reminded Camille.

"I would feel too much guilt turning the family against them," Camille confessed, worried her late brother would hate her from the afterlife.

"Then what are you bothering me for? What do you expect of me? To storm to the estate to confront Damien when it is evident he won’t let me inside? Would you have me face his gun and be the one to almost die?" Hayden asked, frustrated that Camille seemed uncertain of her own desires.

"I want you to support me, no matter what you might face. I want you to prove them wrong about our marriage. Just as he steps forward to protect his wife, why can’t you do the same for me?" Camille wondered, her eyes searching his face for reassurance.

Why couldn’t she experience the same support as others did?

Why did she need to be mature and always calm to not stir up trouble even though she was in the right?

"I am not Damien. I don’t need to do all that he does because my wife was raised right. You know how to act as a lady. You know not to place yourself in some mess, or so I thought. His wife wasn’t raised with your upbringing, so of course he needs to fight," Hayden reminded her.

Hayden married Camille because she knew how to act as a lady.

"Still, it would be lovely to see you protective of me. I do not like that you have heard I almost died, and your reaction isn’t to go to the estate to have a word man-to-man. If Damien finds an issue with my actions, do you not think he should speak to you?" Camille asked, her voice laced with hurt.

"He should. Indeed, he should. You are mistaken if you think I am not angry. However, you fail to realise that you placed me in this position. Whenever I tried to speak up about your family, you would step forward, dismissing my role," Hayden pointed out.

"I didn’t mean to. You were always so busy with work that I didn’t want to bother you with family matters. How has this become a talk about our marriage?" Camille wondered, pressing her hand to her forehead. The conversation was becoming a burden. "I don’t like what Damien did, and I certainly don’t like how Jane acted. I did so much for them."

"Now you finally see that it is time for you to stop. Take that time you were offering to them and turn it towards our children. They are the ones who need your attention. Why bother yourself with ensuring Jane has a season as grand as your own when you have a daughter?" Hayden asked, wanting only his children to succeed.

"I was doing it because of the love I had for my brother. I always felt it was my duty to take in Jane, but Damien wouldn’t allow it. He seems to think I am not capable of raising her or my children. They have all greatly insulted me," Camille said, her heart aching with betrayal.

"Then do not go back there until they have apologised to you. Do not accept any half-hearted apology, as you always tend to do. Do not accept them back into your life until they grovel. In the meantime, I will send for a town guard to take a look at you," Hayden said, walking away from her.

"It is about time Damien faces some consequences for his actions. We all know what he does, but he walks free each day because no one stands up to him. For your sake, I will," Hayden decided.

"I am most certain Damien will know some secrets about us. He always finds a way to wiggle himself out of punishment. I will do as you say, to use my influence with the ladies around the town and with the family," Camille said, desperate to avoid the court.

Hayden proceeded to remove his shirt."Good. He is Lord Hawthorne, but I always felt he was given too many chances to disrespect the family. You and your family should have spoken to him about the wife he selected. Imagine if one of our children wanted to marry the child of a servant."

Hayden wasn’t pouring so much money into his children’s futures just for them to ruin it.

"She is the daughter of the man who once helped me. There was an incident at one of my balls inside the estate that I didn’t speak of to you. There was a man who tried to harass me, but fortunately, Eloise’s father saved me," Camille said nervously. She toyed with her hands as she revealed the memory.

"In fear that he might speak, I cried to my brother for her father to be sent out of the estate. It was wrong, I know," Camille admitted, regret still haunting her.

"Why would it be wrong? If he was paid for his last days of work and sent on his way, then you didn’t do anything wrong. Do they try to hold it against you?" Hayden asked, his brow furrowed.

"Eloise hasn’t brought it up to me. I believe she isn’t aware why her father was sent from the estate, as she has been kind to me. But Damien knew about it. I don’t know how he came to know, but he didn’t hide it," Camille said, assuming Eloise now knew as well.

"Camille, dear," Hayden said, softening his tone to soothe her. "You must stop sitting around, letting this upset you. I know you would like to see me fight him, but you won’t get much out of it. There are better ways to put them in their places without lifting a finger."

Camille agreed with Hayden, though her heart still ached. It upset her that he didn’t react as she wanted him to. As she so desperately needed him to, so she could prove her marriage was perfect.

She looked down at the floor with a sad expression, and Hayden noticed it.

To keep Camille from questioning his love, Hayden said, "I love you, Camille. You know that I love you so much, but I have to be reasonable. I have to think about this family. Our children."

"I know. I know it wouldn’t be wise to send you to fight with Damien. I just wanted to see you defend me. I don’t want anyone to think you aren’t a good husband," Camille confessed, her voice breaking. "Or a good husband because you are both."

"I don’t care what others think of me. As long as you know I am a good husband, then I don’t care what others say. I will get even for you," Hayden said, imagining Damien’s wife bearing the same scars. "Just wait."