Royally Bounded

Chapter 40

Clara

"This is bloody ridiculous," my mother ranted. She stared over at me with clear disappointment on her face. She had been speaking for the past hour now. "What did you do, Clara? Do you know how terrible it means when a king has to marry a second wife?"

"Mother," Silas tried stopped her from speaking further. "Hayden is just—"

"Hush," she scolded him then turned to me again. "Clara, I thought marrying you into the royal family was a good thing for us. Look at what you've done now. Your father and Silas have to deal with so many business rejections."

I kept quiet as she continued to lecture me. I expected her to turn hysterical after the news broke out. I held the glass of champagne, untouched, as I stared around the backyard of the palace. It was filled with guests who were chattering about the new wedded couple. Some people still nodded their heads at me and did a proper bow, but most of them wanted to be associated with Maisie instead.

"Don't you forget that Maisie can take your title as a queen when she has a heir," my mother shouted at my face. "You need to do something about it before you lose your position."

"What do you want me to do?" I instantly snapped at her for the attitude. She hadn't asked me about how I was doing. She didn't care if I was crying for the past few days. She was only thinking about the fame and reputation as always. "Act desperate? Have you forgotten that you were the one who manipulated me to marry Arnaldo? Do you think I would end up here if I didn't listen to your lies?"

"Excuse me?" She raised her voice to a higher pitch. She nearly rose to her seat, but Silas calmed her down as she looked around the crow. "How dare you speak to me this way? I'm your mother. I—"

"That's enough," my father interrupted. "Stop the arguing. People will hear you. Have you not been embarrassed enough for the past few days?"

My mother closed her mouth. Silas pulled me away from our parents as we found a quiet place in the yard. I seated down on a chair before Rosie joined in with Ivor and Josephine.

"Clara," Rosie rushed to me immediately. She wrapped an arm around me as she squeezed me tight in her embrace. "I can't believe Hayden did this to you. He's such a jerk."

People were constantly staring at me, and I pushed the tears away because it would cause news. I seated beside Rosie quietly as my eyes wandered over to where Hayden and Maisie were. She was standing close to him, her arm hooking around his. I could still hear how people praised they were the perfect match, the true pair to the royal family.

"You know, if your brother wants to marry someone else, send Clara divorce papers to let her find a husband who would treat her properly," Rosie gritted her teeth and glared over at Ivor with a threating look.

"Rosie," Silas shook his head, telling her to quiet down. "We still have to respect them. You know how difficult it is to divorce in Nascadia. It damages reputation."

"And sleeping with another woman is very good for his reputation?" Rosie fired back. "He thinks he can keep Clara around because of some stupid stigma. I'll tell you that she can do much better than him. Even if Clara divorces him, she has so many men after her."

Everyone quieted down after what Rosie said. I had never thought about divorce even if he was marrying another woman. It was not the reputation that I cared about. It was just that if I left him, I knew it would truly hurt me.

"I'm sorry, Clara," Ivor frowned, his hand over my shoulder as comfort. "I didn't think it would turn out this way for both of you. I could tell that Hayden has always loved you, but father said it was the only way to save Nascadia from falling apart."