The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

After hours of no success in the search for Iris, Damien returned to the estate and brought Reece along with him to see Eloise.

Damien sent the butler to fetch Eloise while he waited with Reece at the front door.

Reece looked up, in awe of the inside of the estate. It was his first time stepping into the Hawthorne estate. It was like a dream that Eloise got to live here.

Damien watched from the side as Reece observed the home. His eyes seemed to scan every item, from the vases to the frames, as though trying to calculate their worth.

Now that Damien had a good look at the two cousins, he was curious about one important detail.

"Were you and your sister raised by another relative?" Damien inquired.

Reece lowered his head and faced Damien. "No, we were raised by my parents. My father worked while my mother cared for us throughout the day. Why?"

"Nothing. A good apple spoils over time. You are nothing like your parents. It must have been the desperation to pay their debts that changed them," Damien concluded.

"I don’t think so. My father was always a good man. A bit stressed about money, but still good at heart. My mother has always wanted the best for us, which was whatever benefited her. I wouldn’t say she has changed much. This being Iris’s season has just made it worse," Reece explained.

"It would take living with her to understand-"

Damien held his hand up to stop Reece. "Please, don’t fill my estate with such negative plans. You asked that I have nothing to say about her, but you are making it quite hard for me to do so."

Reece chuckled and lowered his head to hide his smile. "Perhaps it is that she is my mother that I still love her. I can still see some good in her despite her faults. I know that she is wrong many times, but you only get one mother, so I can’t abandon her."

"You shouldn’t. It would be wrong of you to cast that responsibility on anyone else. I know a good town in which you should take her to start anew," Damien said.

"I get the feeling that you will have me go far, far away. I already have a place which I must return to, so I will take my mother. I have a request. If Iris doesn’t wish to leave, could you allow her to stay here until she finds a husband? I want to sell our family home," Reece shared.

There was no point in keeping the home when they were struggling to keep their heads above water.

"Keeping your sister here means that your mother will come here eventually," Damien said, against the idea.

"My mother won’t return. I shall make sure of it. She- Eloise!" Reece called, spotting her coming down the stairs.

"Reece? Reece!" Eloise exclaimed, running down the stairs to get to her cousin.

Reece passed Damien and ran to Eloise to embrace her. "Look at you, all dressed up. I almost didn’t recognise you."

"You couldn’t recognise me? You are the stranger who has been away for so long. For a moment, I thought you were never going to return. When did you return?" Eloise asked, pulling away from Reece to get a good look at him.

"This morning. I would have arrived sooner, but I had some matters to settle before I did. I am sorry I was not present to help with your father. Perhaps I could have done something to prevent it from happening. I failed this family," Reece confessed, riddled with guilt.

Eloise touched Reece’s face. "You didn’t fail this family. Not you, me, nor Iris could have predicted what your father had done. I know for certain you had been sending him money, so even if you were here working beside him, he would have continued with his plans."

"Still, it feels as though I should be around more. My mother wants me to stay around to help her and marry a young lady of her choosing, but that will be difficult," Reece said, scratching the back of his head. "It is not news I can share out in the open."

Reece turned to look back at Damien.

"Your life so far has been nothing but dull. I have no interest in repeating what you say now, but if you want privacy, there is a drawing room nearby," Damien said, ready to walk away.

"Damien won’t share your secret, so he may stay," Eloise said, failing to notice how she made Damien frown. "We can speak there."

Eloise linked her arm with Reece and walked beside him to the drawing room.

Damien followed behind alone, disliking that Eloise had abandoned him, even if it was for her relative.

Once inside the drawing room, Eloise sat beside Reece while Damien sat alone.

"My mother shared that she has a gentleman placed to marry who has children to marry Iris. She said that she made an agreement for me to marry his niece as long as Iris marries him. There would be a home and money at my disposal if I did so," Reece shared.

"You don’t like it," Eloise noticed. "I’m sure Iris didn’t like it as well."

"That marriage is our way out of struggling in my mother’s eyes, but I can’t do it. I can’t do it since I got married during my time away from home," Reece shared, nervous about how Eloise would take the news.

The news caught Eloise off guard, but she was excited for Reece.

"That is good news, Reece. You have been away so long that we should have expected it. I am happy for you," Eloise said, placing her hand over his. "You don’t look too happy," she noticed.

"It is not just that I have gotten married. We are expecting a child. That is why I cannot stay here for long. Her family is all there, and I have settled down there," Reece revealed.

"You have a child on the way?" Eloise asked, even more surprised by this news.

"Well, his life just suddenly got interesting," Damien said, gaining an interest in Reece.

Damien wanted to be the one to tell Agatha that her son was not only married, but he was expecting a child. The shock just might kill her, and it would take away one of their greatest headaches.

"Does your wife know that your family is unaware of her existence and the child?" Eloise questioned.

"She does. I have explained how difficult my mother can be. I was going to bring my wife here, but then all of this happened. I brought the money we were saving for a home to help my mother. That is why I need to sell our childhood home," Reece shared his plans.

"Well, that was foolish," Damien commented.