The Abandoned Wife's Second Chance (Scarlett and Jasper) novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27

(Jasper’s POV)

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I know when she sees me. I can tell by the way she freezes like a deer caught in headlights, her face going white, her eyes widening with panic, guilt, and something else, taking over them. For one moment, our eyes meet across the distance.

And then she’s moving, practically running, to exit the park.

“Scarlett!” I call after her, my voice carrying over the carnival noise, determination fueling every step as I break into a run behind her.

Oh, no she’s not.

She’s not disappearing again.

Not this time.

Not when I finally found her.

I catch up to her just as she reaches the park entrance, my lungs burning from the sprint. “Scarlett, wait!”

She stops but doesn’t turn around. Her shoulders are rigid, her whole body screaming tension.

“Please,” I breathe, trying to catch my breath. “Just… please don’t run.”

Finally, she turns. The woman standing before me isn’t the Scarlett I remember. This version is stronger, harder around the edges. Her face is carefully blank, but I can see the storm brewing in her eyes.

Four years. Four f*****g years, and she’s here. She’s been here this whole time.

“What do you want, Jasper?”

The coldness in her voice hits me like ice water. This isn’t the warm, loving woman who used to light up when I walked through the door. This is a stranger wearing my wife’s face.

But it’s still her. Still my Scarlett underneath all that armor she’s built.

“I want to talk to you.” I keep my voice gentle, non–threatening. The way I should have talked to her years ago. “I’ve been looking for you.”

She lets out a bitter laugh that cuts right through me. “Have you? Really?”

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<Chapter 27

“Yes. I’ve been to Nashville dozens of times-

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“How long?” Her voice is sharp as glass. “How long after I left did you start looking?”

I open my mouth, then close it. Because the truth is ugly. I waited. Convinced she was just throwing a tantrum, that she’d come crawling back like she always did.

Except she didn’t. And by the time I realized she was serious, she was gone.

“That’s what I thought.” Her smile is cold, nothing like the one from four years ago.

She shifts, and I notice for the first time a man standing next to her, so naturally, it feels as if he belongs there. As if he’s been standing there for a while now.

My chest constricts. “Who is he?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“The hell it’s not. You’re my wife-”

“I was your wife.” The words cut deep. “Past tense. Please remember that.”

“Scarlett, please.” I force myself to soften my tone, to push down the jealousy clawing at my throat. “Can we just talk? Five minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”

“There’s nothing to talk about between us anymore.”

“There’s everything to talk about.” I take a careful step closer, noting how she doesn’t back away. That has to mean something, right? “I know I hurt you. I know I was an ass, and I’m sorry. I’m so f*****g sorry.”

Something flickers across her face–pain, maybe. But it’s gone before I can be sure.

“Your apology is four years too late.”

“I know. But I’m here now. I found you, and I want to make this right.”

“Make what right? There’s nothing left to fix, Jasper. We’re done. We’ve been done for a long time now. Shouldn’t the divorce papers have made that clear?”

The coldness of her tone makes my stomach drop, but I refuse to accept it. She loves me. She has loved me for years. I know this better than anyone. How can she just forget and let go? That kind of love doesn’t just disappear.

So this has to be an act. It has to be. She’s trying to hurt me the way I hurt her.

“You don’t mean that.”

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< Chapter 27

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“Don’t I?” She tilts her head, studying me like I’m a stranger. “You seem confused. Let me make this clear for you–I’ve moved on. I have a new life now. One that doesn’t include you.”

She deliberately reaches for the man’s hand, threading their fingers together. The gesture is intimate, practiced. Like they’ve done it a thousand times before.

The sight makes me want to throw up.

“Scarlett-”

“This is Dorian,” she continues, her voice getting stronger. “He’s… important to me.”

Important. Not boyfriend. Not partner. She’s still figuring out what to call him. As I guessed,

this must be an act.

“How long?” The question comes out rougher than I intended. Even though I’m convinced she’s just acting to hurt me, I can’t stand the sight of her hand in another man’s.

“How long what?”

“How long have you been seeing him?”

She stares at me for a long moment, like she’s debating whether to answer. “Long enough to know he’ll treat me with more respect than you ever have.”

That hurt. A lot. But I don’t show it, because it’s true. “That’s not an answer.”

“Your problem. I don’t need to answer any of your questions.”

The man–Dorian–clears his throat. “Scarlett, can we go now?”

“Yes.” She squeezes his hand tighter. “Let’s go.”

“Scarlett, wait-”

“Jasper.” Her eyes meet mine, and for just a second, I see a flash of the old Scarlett. The one who used to look at me like I was her entire world. “It’s over. There’s nothing for you here

anymore.”

I want to say you’re wrong, there’s you. But the words don’t come out.

My throat feels dry, clogged up, pain searing my insides into molten lava. This can’t be happening. She can’t mean this.

“You loved me.”

“I did. Once. But that was before you showed me exactly how little I meant to you.”

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< Chapter 27

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“You meant everything to me-”

“I meant nothing!” The words explode out of her, raw and painful. “If I’d meant anything, you wouldn’t have left me on that highway. You wouldn’t have brought her into our home, into our

bed-”

“She was never in our bed-”

“She was in my clothes, Jasper. My pajamas. Sitting in my spot on our couch.” Her voice breaks slightly, and I feel gutted. “While I was carrying your child.”

Your child.

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