The Abandoned Wife's Second Chance (Scarlett and Jasper) novel Chapter 108

Chapter 108

(Virginia’s POV)

The new house is everything I imagined.

Modern. Clean. Nothing like the museum of memories that James and Blair called home. Every corner of that

place screamed Scarlett’s name – her photos on the mantle, her childhood artwork still hanging in the

hallway, her presence haunting every room like a ghost.

But this house? This house is mine.

“What do you think, sweetheart?” Blair asks, her voice eager as we stand in what will be my bedroom. “We

can paint it any color you want. Maybe that soft pink you loved as a child?”

I want to roll my eyes. She doesn’t know what I loved as a child. She wasn’t there for my childhood. But

instead, I smile sweetly and shake my head.

“Actually, I was thinking something bolder. Maybe emerald green? Or deep navy?”

The confusion on her face is almost comical. Pink was Scarlett’s favorite color, not mine. Bet she didn’t know

that. Blair spent so many years mothering Scarlett that she can’t separate us in her mind.

“Of course,” she says quickly. “Whatever makes you happy.”

Whatever makes me happy. If only she knew how simple that would be. All I’ve ever wanted was for Scarlett to disappear completely. And now, with this house, with them moving away from every trace of their precious adopted daughter, my wish is close to being fulfilled.

“I want to redecorate everything,” I tell James when he joins us. “New furniture, new curtains, new colors. I don’t want anything from the old house.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. “Some of those pieces are antiques. They’ve been in the family for generations.”

“They’re not antiques,” I say, letting just a hint of hurt creep into my voice. “They’re reminders of the life I

should have had but didn’t.”

James’s face crumbles with guilt, just like I knew it would. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. We’ll start

fresh. All of us.”

Three weeks later, the transformation is complete.

Gone are the warm, homey colors that screamed Scarlett’s influence. In their place, I’ve chosen stark whites, deep blues, and metallic accents that make the house look like a magazine spread instead of a home.

I stand in the foyer, admiring my work. This is what wealth should look like. Cold, imposing, awe inspiring. Not the cozy warmth of Scarlett’s old nest.

My phone buzzes with a text from Jasper: “How’s the move going?”

I smile and lift my phone, snapping a selfie with the grand staircase behind me. Then I post it to i****** with the caption: “New house, new beginning! Thank you to the most amazing parents in the world for this incredible gift. I’m never leaving your side again!”

With the hashtags blessed, family, newbeginning, and forever, the likes start pouring in. My rivals from

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school, jealous as always. Random acquaintances trying to get closer to the Stone family money. And buried in the comments, a few people who remember Scarlett, asking where she is in the family photos.

I delete those comments quickly. There’s no place for Scarlett in my life.

But it’s not enough. The post feels incomplete without the final touch.

“Jasper!” I call out when I see him helping James move boxes from the car. “Come take a picture with me!”

He throws me a cold glance, tired and listless. The past few weeks haven’t been kind to him. Good. Maybe now he’ll understand what it feels like to lose the person you love most.

“I don’t really feel like-”

“Please?” I put on my sweetest voice, the one that used to make him give me anything I wanted. “It would

mean so much to have you in my first post of the new house.”

He sighs but walks over, standing stiffly beside me as I hold up my phone.

“Smile,” I command.

He doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter. The photo shows exactly what I want it to show – Virginia Stone in her

beautiful new home, with the man who should have been hers all along.

I post it, tagging him before he can object.

The validation is immediate and intoxicating. Comments flooding in about how we look perfect together, how

lucky I am to catch a man like Jasper Blake. Each one feels like a small victory, proof that I’m finally winning

the war I’ve been fighting since the day Scarlett stole my life.

“Virginia.” James appears beside me, looking proud and sad at the same time. “Are you happy here?”

“So happy,” I tell him, and for once, I’m not lying. “This is exactly what I always dreamed of.”

He hugs me, and I let him, even though his affection feels foreign after so many years without it. But I need

him to believe in my gratitude, need him to think that moving here was the right decision.

Because once they sell the old house, once every trace of Scarlett is erased from their lives, there will be no going back.

(Scarlett’s POV)

The afternoon rush at the bakery is finally winding down when I notice Lily hunched over my phone at the

small table in the corner. She’s been unusually quiet today, content to color and play games while I worked.

“Mama,” she calls out, her voice strange. “Is this Aunt Virginia?”

I look up from the cash register, wiping flour from my hands. “Where?”

She holds up my phone, and my blood turns cold.

It’s Virginia’s i********: post. One of her posing in what’s clearly a brand–new house. Her smile is radiant,

victorious, and the caption makes my stomach clench.

But it’s not just Virginia in the photo.

No. Jasper stands beside her and even though he’s not smiling, even though he looks uncomfortable, his

presence in the picture tells a story of it’s own.

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“She says she’s never leaving grandma and grandpa’s side,” Lily continues, reading slowly. “And look, there’s Daddy in the picture too.”

“Let me see that.”

I take the phone with shaking hands, scrolling through the comments. Hundreds of them, all congratulating Virginia on her new home. Several people ask if she and Jasper are together now.

But I scroll through the comments, my focus on the house in the background. It’s massive, modern, nothing like the warm family home where James and Blair raised me. Everything about it screams expensive, cold, designed to impress rather than comfort.

The bell over the door chimes, and Chloe walks in, taking one look at my face and immediately coming over.

“What’s wrong?”

I show her the phone, watching as her expression darkens.

“That manipulative little-” She catches herself, glancing at Lily. “That woman certainly knows how to make a

statement.”

“They bought her a house,” I whisper. “James and Blair bought Virginia a new house.”

“So?”

“So they might sell the old house.” The hurt in my voice surprises me. I thought I was past caring about their love. But seeing them about to move to a new house, the thought of the house I grew up in getting in the hands of strangers reopens wounds I thought had healed.

“Scarlett-”

“I need to speak to Jasper. I need to know what they plan to do with the old house.” I’m already dialing his number, my fingers trembling. “If they’re selling it, I want to buy it.”

“Honey, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

But I’m not listening anymore. The phone rings, and my heart pounds in sync with it. All I can think about is that house the only real home I’ve ever known – being sold to strangers.

Jasper answers on the third ring. “Scarlett?”

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