Royally Bounded

Chapter 48

Hayden

Maisie walked into the living room with a sharp gaze at me. She had the audacity to be fucking arrogant when she framed Clara. Maisie stood there, crossing her arms and remaining silent. A dry scoff escaped my lips when I realized how disgusting she was. She was a Romano, and in her blood, it was no different than Arnaldo and Maurice.

"Are you serious?" Maisie snapped at me. "You ruined my party by telling Thomas to take me here. How could you?"

"You think I still give a shit about you after what you've done?" I said coldly, my dead gaze straight at her eyes.

I sat down on the couch as I twisted the wedding band around my finger. I had no time for her stupid acts anymore. The hatred sucked me in for nearly weeks, and I had to snap awake instead of being used again.

"What is going on, Hayden?" My mother questioned. She glanced back and forth between Maisie and me. "Why are you interrogating Maisie?"

"Your beloved Maisie schemed against my wife named Clara," I bit at each word, loud and clear for my mother to hear. The scene of her hitting Clara burned at my chest.

"What?"

My mother was in full disbelief as she slumped against the couch. My father furrowed his brow as I shot him a deadly glance. He told me I had no option but to accept King Marco's plan. Instead of helping me, he decided to ask me to give in, forcing me to betray Clara. Each and every one of them hurt me, and they never treated me as if I was their son.

Maisie then looked at me and gritted her teeth. "How dare you accuse me? Is this how you treat your wife, Hayden?"

"Wife?" I spat, ignoring her stare. "My wife would never use her own biological kid to frame someone else. She is out there alone because of you."

I slowly turned my head to see the colour draining from her face instantly. She took a few steps back as I stood up to walk towards her closely. Her green eyes displayed a hint of fear that Clara had never once given to me. I wanted to show Maisie who she was playing with.

"For once," I shook my head and let out a dry laugh. "I was stupid for once to trust you. Where did that lead me? You framed the woman I love the most. Remember the unlicensed doctor? He admitted to my face about the medications. How dare you fucking do this to Clara!"

She sucked in a harsh breath then tumbled a few steps back until she collapsed to the ground. She blinked rapidly, hiding her face but failed miserably when I squatted down in front of her, my fingers gripping her cheek harshly to match our gaze.

"I'm giving you a chance to tell me the truth," I threatened. "If not, I will have the news out to all the tabloids and destroy Verdeniao with my own hands."

"You want to punish me?" She snickered. "If you dare to hurt me, my father will never forgive you. This will start the war between us."

"You're talking to me about your father when he and your brothers planned the entire plot against me. Does it fucking look like I give a shit about him?"

My fingers tightened around her cheek. I could not even stand a minute to look at her. I chose to marry her because I had to save Nascadia, but most of it was the grudge I held for Clara. If they made me destroy my marriage with my own hands, I could make them pay for twice the damage.

"How could you even use our kid to do this?" I questioned, furrowing my brows. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

She pulled her face away from my touch, laughing with her tears escaping from her eyes. It was the laugh of the devil that officially came to the light. She was nothing but a duplicate of Arnaldo, cruel and nasty. People said I was smart, but I was a fucking idiot for the past three months.