The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

"We’ll stay here for the day to have the maids gather his belongings, and then I shall dismiss them. You’ll return to the estate with me in the morning. We can be rid of this house entirely, if you wish," Benedict said, prepared to erase every trace of Cole if that was what Rosalie needed.

Rosalie looked out at the garden she had given so much of her time to. She had spent hours turning the mansion into a home and loved every corner of it, but it wasn’t her home any longer.

She couldn’t move on from Cole whilst she was trapped inside walls filled with him.

"I want to sell it as soon as possible. There are a few things I care for, but I don’t want what he bought me. I want to start again," Rosalie decided.

"You can stay at the estate with me for as long as you need. I’ll work with the court to settle the divorce swiftly. He won’t see a drop of our money, nor will he keep this house. Leave it all to me," Benedict said, pressing a kiss to Rosalie’s forehead. "You should rest."

"I am not tired, just disappointed," Rosalie said, her eyes dropping to the ground. "If I go and rest, I’ll only lie there thinking of him and of this marriage. I must keep moving so I don’t dwell on it. I am weak, Father. I know I will think of him."

"You loved him. It would be strange if you didn’t. In time, it will become easier for you to go days without him crossing your mind. Without either of them crossing it," Benedict said, his gaze moving past Rosalie to settle on Victoria again. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Victoria stood frozen just beyond the doorway, unwilling to step forward and be forced into another exchange. She had a sense of what Rosalie had in store for her, but what was Benedict planning?

Rosalie followed her father’s gaze and found Victoria still hovering behind them, her face pale. Once, Rosalie would have pitied her and gone straight to her side. This time, she looked away without a word.

"They are both involved in Faye’s death. The town guards must be told so that Faye can have justice. Don’t kill him, Father. Let him face the court. Her too," said Rosalie.

Benedict would have preferred to deal with Cole quietly. Revealing that Cole had killed a maid could leave a long shadow over Rosalie’s name. Her former husband would be remembered not only as an adulterer but as a murderer. That was something Rosalie would never fully escape from.

"Rosalie, allow me a word with Victoria in private, and then I shall join you. I won’t be long," Benedict promised.

"She may be with child, so be careful. I don’t want that on my conscience. Just send her away when you are done," Rosalie said, the softness in her eyes the same one she had used since she was small. Whenever she asked her father for something, he would struggle to refuse.

Seeing Rosalie act this way only made Benedict’s fury burn hotter. All he could see was the little girl he had cherished from the moment she drew her first breath. His only daughter.

His face softened, though it bore no resemblance to what he felt beneath it.

"I won’t harm her," Benedict promised, and with that, he sent Rosalie on her way.

Rosalie managed a small smile before turning back, walking with her chin up and her eyes fixed straight ahead, careful not to glance at Victoria as she passed.

"It is time for you to leave, Victoria," Benedict said, his voice dropping as he turned to face her. "You are no longer a welcome guest here, nor at any of my homes."

"Mr-"

"Your Grace," Benedict corrected, lacking warmth. "We are no longer on familiar terms, so you will address me accordingly. I once thought of you as a daughter. I opened my home to you, shared Rosalie’s tutors with you, gave you dresses, and thought nothing of it."

"I don’t open my doors easily, but I made an exception because I cared for you. I involved myself in your father’s affairs and spent considerable time finding you a suitable match because Rosalie asked it of me. I could never have imagined you would turn around and bite the hand that fed you," Benedict said, looking down at her.

"I truly am sorry," Victoria said, her voice quiet. She felt as though she had let her own father down. "I should never have hurt her."

"No, you shouldn’t have and certainly not for that man. I should have held firm and never allowed the two of them to marry. At the very least, I no longer have to consider him family. A pity that your father’s business arrangements with me must also come to an end," Benedict said.

Victoria’s head snapped up. "Rosalie said she wouldn’t bring my parents into this. They are innocent."

"They are," Benedict agreed, without softening. "But in time, all of this will make things impossible between our families. Your father may be angry with you at first, but he will take your side eventually, as he should. And I will take my daughter’s. We must move on from each other."

"But my father depends on that arrangement," Victoria said, the consequences of her actions weighing heavily on her shoulders.

She had no wealthy family to fall back on the way Rosalie did. If Benedict closed that door, there was no other one to open. Rosalie had her mother, whose own family had considerable means. Victoria had nothing of that kind.

"Then you should have thought of that before you acted. You are the one who destroyed the ties between our families."

"I was not the only one at fault!" Victoria’s voice rose as she was tired of bearing most of the blame. "Cole is just as much to blame as I am. We both were wrong."

"He is," Benedict said evenly. "But we are speaking of your parents at this moment. Cole had no reason to think about what this would cost your father, but you did. And it is evident that you did not think."

"Be gone before I return from seeing my daughter. Do not make me into the sort of man who would raise his hand to a woman with a child. I am angry enough right now that I cannot promise I am above it," Benedict said before leaving Victoria standing alone at the door.

This was the last time Benedict ever wanted to see Victoria.