The Abandoned Wife's Second Chance (Scarlett and Jasper) novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71

(Jasper’s POV)

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The whiskey burns going down but it’s nothing compared to the fire in my chest. I stare at the amber liquid in my glass, watching it blur and shift like everything else in my life.

Mickey’s Bar. My bar. The one place I thought I could escape to when the weight of my mistakes became too much to carry.

But even here, surrounded by strangers and cheap alcohol, I can’t outrun what I’ve done.

“Another one,” I tell Mike, sliding my empty glass across the scarred wooden bar.

“Maybe you should slow down-”

“Another one.” My voice comes out harsher than I meant. Mike sighs but pours anyway.

The bar is nearly empty. Just me, a couple of regulars nursing their own demons, and the ghosts of my past that follow me everywhere I go.

I used to work here. Back in college, when I was nobody. When every dollar mattered and my pride was the only thing I owned.

Scarlett worked here too, for exactly three weeks. Three weeks that changed everything.

I down the whiskey in one gulp, the alcohol making my eyes water. Or maybe that’s something else entirely.

“Jasper?”

A soft voice cuts through the haze. I look up and see her standing there, concern written all

over her beautiful face.

“Scarlett.” Her name falls from my lips like a prayer. “You came.”

She slides onto the stool beside me, her dark hair catching the dim bar lights. “Of course I came. I got a call saying you needed me.”

I reach for her hand, surprised when she doesn’t pull away. Her skin is so warm, so soft. Just like I remember.

“I messed up, Scarlett. I messed up so bad.” The words spill out of me, years of regret pouring forth like water from a broken dam. “Do you remember when you worked here? When you tried so hard to be close to me?”

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< Chapter 71

She nods, her eyes never leaving my face.

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“You were terrible at it.” I laugh, but it sounds more like a sob. “You couldn’t hold a glass steady to save your life. Always dropping things, cutting your fingers on the broken pieces. Your tips never even covered the cost of what you broke.”

My vision blurs but I keep talking. I have to get this out.

“I knew you didn’t need the money. Hell, your monthly allowance was probably more than I made in six months. But you kept showing up, night after night, just to be near me.”

“Jasper-”

“No, let me finish.” I squeeze her hand tighter. “You worked so hard to make me notice you, to make me care. And I did care. God, I cared so much it scared me.”

The memory hits me like a physical blow. Scarlett in her ridiculous uniform that was too big for her, fumbling with orders, getting flustered every time I looked at her. The other workers making fun of her behind her back, calling her the rich girl playing dress–up.

“That last night… do you remember? It was raining so hard we could barely see the street. You’d cut your hand again on a broken bottle and I was helping you bandage it up.”

She’s crying now, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

“You looked at me with those beautiful eyes and said you’d do anything to make me happy. Anything, Scarlett. And I… I pushed you away.”

The words taste like ash in my mouth.

“I told you to stop embarrassing yourself. To stop pretending you belonged in a place like this with people like me. I said cruel things, horrible things, just to make you leave.”

Her hand trembles in mine.

“I was so scared, Scarlett. Scared that you were just playing games, that you’d get bored and leave me broken. My pride was all I had, and the thought of you pitying me…” I shake my head. “So I pushed you away. I hurt you to protect myself.”

“Why?” Her voice is barely a whisper.

“Because I was a coward.” I bring her hand to my lips, pressing desperate kisses to her knuckles. “But I was wrong. I was so damn wrong about everything. Scarlett, my wife, please forgive me. Give me one, just one more chance, and I promise…”

The bar spins around me but I don’t care. Nothing matters except this moment, this chance

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< Chapter 71

to finally tell her the truth.

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“I should have kept you close. Should have treasured every second you wanted to spend with me instead of pushing you away.” My voice breaks as tears pour out. “You were everything, Scarlett. You were my whole world and now that you’re gone, I don’t know how to live

anymore.”

I look into her eyes, seeing my own pain reflected back at me.

“I pushed you away, but you never gave up. My classmates… when my classmates found out I worked here. They started making jokes, calling me the scholarship charity case.” The memory cuts deep even now. “You… you stood up for me. Right there in front of everyone.”

I laugh bitterly, the sound hollow in the empty bar.

“This little rich girl in her designer clothes, telling them all to shut up. Saying I was worth ten of them combined. You didn’t care about embarrassing yourself, didn’t care what they might’ve thought of you for defending someone like me.”

The whiskey burns in my throat but not as much as the regret burning in my chest.

“And what did I do? I pushed you away. Told you I didn’t need your help, didn’t need your pity. I upset you for caring about me.”

I gesture around the bar, my vision swimming.

“I bought this place later. Proved I could do it on my own, proved my worth. But by then…” My voice breaks. “By then you were gone. Never came back.”

The tears come again, hot and desperate.

“Even after we got married, I kept pushing you away. I thought if I acted indifferent, if I didn’t let you see how much you mattered to me, I could protect my pride. I thought…I could be worthy of you if I just… if I just didn’t love you so obviously.”

I stagger slightly, gripping the bar for support.

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