Royally Bounded

Chapter 36

Clara

I jumped when I heard the door slam behind me. I slowly turned around to see Hayden stomping inside. His hazel eyes darkened, blazing with rage as he gripped my wrist, forcing me to stand in front of me. I attempted to tug my hand away from the stinging burn against my skin.

"What the fuck did you tell Maurice?" He snarled, raising his voice. I had never seen him act this way before. I was almost terrified by his attitude because it seemed like he was possessed by a dark soul that was controlling him.

"I-I didn't tell Maurice anything," my voice was shaky as I whispered. I swallowed hard, reading his unconvinced expression. His fingers tightened, trailing behind evident marks as my lips quivered. He let out a dark scoff that frightened me even more.

"All you fucking do is lie to me. If you didn't say a word to Maurice, how the fuck does he know about us? He told me about what you did."

"You rather believe in him instead of me? Why don't you trust me?"

"Trust you? Where the fuck did that got me?"

Tears rimmed the edge of my eyes, and my heart was throbbing against my chest. I couldn't recognize who he was anymore. The Hayden I fell in love with was gone, and he was only blinded by the truth. Maurice and Arnaldo were trying to divide us, but Hayden could no longer see what they were planning. It was only anger that took over his mind.

The back of my hand went to my lips. I tried my hardest to suppress my tears, but the pain was causing me to break down. If this was karma for what I had done to him, I was truly broken like how I had broken him.

"Whether or not you believe me, I didn't say a word about us," I clarified, trying to sound confident. I took slow breaths to steady myself from turning hysterical. "I would never do anything to hurt you."

He stared straight at me in the eyes. I didn't know if he truly believed me this time, but he released his grip. He paced around the room, his hands on the sides of his hips. Maurice did talk to me, but I had never revealed anything to him. He only asked about how my flight was and how I was fitting into the role. It was a normal conversation between us.

"What did Maurice tell you?" I asked, timid.

"Do you really want me to repeat all the nasty words?" He snapped his head over at me.

I didn't know what else to say. It was hard to convince Hayden of anything when our relationship was at a rocky path. I knew it would take time, but at the moment, it seemed like we didn't have time to fix us when Arnaldo and Maurice had something against us.

"I really didn't tell him about it," I repeated. "It must be his plan to hurt us. We can't give into his tricks, Hayden."

"His plan is clearly working," he pointed out harshly. "As soon as Nascadian citizens know about us, there's no fucking end to this. People will lose confidence in me, and Arnaldo will get what he wants which is having the country fall in my hands."

I was shocked, unable to accept what Hayden said was true. I was still trying to process what was happening, but Arnaldo and Maurice was miles ahead of us. They were trying to take Nascadia away for themselves, and they wanted to paint Hayden as the villain.

"It can't be that serious," I went towards him, grabbing onto his arm. "Tell me it's not."

He ripped his arm away from me, and I tumbled a few steps back, nearly landing on the ground. The tears kept building in my eyes, and from his face, I could tell the country was in great danger. Our strongest enemy had a weapon that could hurt us once and for all.