The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

Peter’s wife, Laura Knight, stared at the pair who were the talk of the market. The murmurs started as Damien caught the attention of the crowd.

Laura had been looking forward to speaking with Eloise, and after all she had heard of late, she felt there truly needed to be a conversation.

Laura approached Eloise, and Peter didn’t follow her. "It has been so long since I last saw you, and now you are a married woman. I first want to say congratulations on your marriage."

"Thank you. You as well," Eloise returned the greeting.

Laura offered Damien a smile, hoping he didn’t think she was a threat. "I was looking to meet with you tonight. I wanted to speak in private."

"I do not think it is a good idea," Eloise replied, rejecting the offer. "I only seek to enjoy the night with my husband."

Laura glanced over her shoulder at where Peter lingered, not hiding from Eloise but from her husband. "It isn’t as you think. There are some rumours I wish to clear up. Not only for your sake, but for mine. It concerns my life and marriage. Please," she pleaded.

Eloise looked to Damien for his thoughts. "Should I?"

"As long as you aren’t too far from my reach and he doesn’t approach you," Damien answered, his gaze fixed on Peter, memorising his face.

"Very well. We shall stand in the middle so our husbands are both near," Eloise agreed, letting go of Damien’s hand.

"Thank you," Laura responded, stepping back to the middle. "I assure you that I didn’t come here to pick a fight with you. We have always spoken to each other in passing."

"We have," Eloise nodded.

"I had also heard the tales of everyone wanting you to marry my husband. After he proposed to me, I thought nothing of it. Everyone then spoke of you simply being friends. Your arrival brought on an uneasiness I cannot ignore," Laura confessed, an ache settling in her chest. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"You think there is something between Peter and me?" Eloise questioned, reading between the lines.

"No," Laura shook her head quickly. "Goodness, no. Seeing how you are with your husband, you are smitten with him. What brings me doubt is my husband. He has been unusual since you came back."

"Peter said he spoke to you at some point, and that during that talk you tried to be more than friendly with him. Before you speak, I do not think it is true," Laura assured Eloise.

"Then why have you approached me to speak?" Eloise asked, puzzled by what Laura needed.

"I want to know what part of what he said is true. Please tell me what happened between you two," Laura said, searching for the missing pieces of the story told to her.

Eloise held Laura’s hands. "Peter and I disagreed. I didn’t like the way he spoke of my marriage. He made it sound as though I married my husband solely for his money and that was the reason I didn’t marry him. I didn’t speak to him for long."

"He certainly knows how to twist a story. He said you crossed paths and you tried to rekindle something between you two. That you wanted to keep it a secret so when you were done, you would leave with your husband," Laura shared.

"I hate to think of why he is so angry with you. Why concern himself with your marriage when we have our own? I want him to only see me. It’s silly, I know," Laura admitted, momentarily avoiding Eloise’s gaze. "But I’m the hopeless kind."

"I understand why you think that. I am grateful that you didn’t jump into believing it and addressed it with me. I understand you wanted to have the answers for your feelings, and it isn’t wrong," Eloise said, pitying Laura.

"I also wanted to approach you because Peter hasn’t been speaking only to me. I can’t control what he says and to whom. He has been helping with my father’s work, and I have been warned that a man like your husband will not take this well. My father isn’t part of this," Laura said, her voice low.

Laura didn’t want to anger Peter. He seemed to anticipate she would be angry with Eloise and address her for the crowd to witness, painting Eloise in a bad light. What Laura wanted was to hear it from someone else that he seemed swayed by Eloise’s return, and it was not all in her head.

"My husband has not thought of troubling you or your family’s business. All we want is to avoid Peter. I had been looking forward to reuniting, but I don’t know why he is so angry. I will avoid him until I leave," Eloise promised Laura.

"Would it all go away if I apologised in his place? You will leave and go back to your life, but I will be stuck in this. I want to make it peaceful as fast as I can before it changes him even more and spoils my marriage. I am sorry for all he said," Laura apologised, her voice breaking.

"I understand what you are doing and why, but you aren’t the one who needs to apologise to me. If he spread all the rumours, then he spoke about my father. That can never be forgiven, and I won’t let it go all because you apologise," Eloise said, moving her hand from Laura’s.

"I can promise you that we are not here to start a fight. If you can have Peter not approach us, then I will also keep my husband away. We can both enjoy the night without a fight," Eloise said, certain her side could be civil.

"I truly want that. Thank you for being so honest and understanding of this. I will do my part to clear up the rumours he started. You mustn’t let this stop you from returning because this is your home as well," said Laura.

Eloise laughed lightly. "I wouldn’t let Peter, of all people, keep me from here."

"Good, I- Eloise, your husband," Laura said, startled by Damien coming toward them. She panicked and looked back to see where Peter stood, realising he was already walking towards her.

"It is time to go," Peter said, grabbing Laura by the arm. "I won’t have her get in your head."

Eloise backed away, returning to Damien’s side.

"It’s time to move on," Damien said, more concerned about Eloise’s safety.

"You should control your wife. If you did, she wouldn’t have tried to be with me in secret," Peter accused Eloise. "Don’t let the innocent act fool you. She’s after money just like the rest of them."

Eloise sighed, refusing to hold onto Damien as he stepped forward to address Peter.

She was so close to peace.