Rift 40_The Abandoned Wife's Second Chance

(Jasper’s POV) 

 “Your anxiety levels are still elevated,” Dr. Morrison says, handing Virginia a printed report. “But the good news is we’ve caught it early. These new medications should help regte the panic attacks.”

 I nod, not really listening. My mind keeps reying the look on Scarlett’s face when she saw me at the hospital. Pure disgust. Like I was something dirty she’d stepped on.

 “Mr. ke?” The doctor’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “I need you to make sure Virginia takes these twice a day. Missing doses can trigger episodes.”

 “Right. Twice a day.” I take the prescription bottle, shoving it into my jacket pocket.

 Virginia slides her arm through mine as we walk to the parking garage. Her touch feels wrong. Heavy. Like a chain I’ve been wearing too long to befortable anymore.

 “Thank you for staying with me today,” she says softly. “I know seeing Scarlett was hard for you.”

 Hard doesn’t begin to cover it. Watching my wife–because she IS still my wife–leave with another man felt like being gutted with a rusty knife.

 “It’s fine.”

 “Is it?” Virginia stops walking, forcing me to look at her. “Because you’ve barely said a word since we left the ER.”

 Because I can’t stop thinking about the way Dorian touched Scarlett’s wheelchair. Protective. Gentle. The way I should have been touching her for three years.

 “I’m tired, that’s all.”

 Virginia’s blue eyes fill with tears. “I’m so sorry, Jasper. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t had the panic attack that day-”

 “Don’t.” There’s nothing to mention about that day.

 She was sick. She needed help. I don’t know why Scarlett couldn’t understand such a simple issue.

 She mes me for abandoning her on the road. But did I ask her to get off the car? Wasn’t it her order to stop?

 < Chapter 40

 More Rewards >

 I tried to get her to get back in the car. Virginia was in a critical situation. I couldn’t waste time appeasing her, sucking up to her while someone else was dying on the other side of

 town.

 We drive to the Stones‘ house in silence. Virginia keeps ncing at me, probably waiting for me tofort her, to tell her everything’s okay like I always do. But I can’t. Not right now.

 “Are youing in?” she asks when I pull into the driveway. “Mom’s making her famousmb

 stew.”

 The same stew Scarlett used to make for me when I had rough days at the office. She’d learned the recipe from ir, spent hours perfecting it because she knew it was my favorite.

 “Not tonight.”

 Virginia flinches like I pped her, and for a split second, I feel guilty. But then I remember the way Dorian’s hand rested on Scarlett’s shoulder, possessive and sure, and the guilt disappears.

 “I’ll call you tomorrow,” I lie, already pulling away.

 The house is dark when I get home. Our house. The one Scarlett picked out because she loved the big windows in the kitchen and the way the afternoon light hit the living room. The one where we were supposed to build a life together.

 I stand in the doorway for a moment, key in hand. The silence, the quiet emptiness–it’s the hollow echo of abandonment. Every corner of the house holds memories, ones I’ve been holding onto for thest four years.

 At the sight of the coffee cup, her coffee cup, still sitting on the kitchen counter, the memoriese flooding back.

 “Can we try for a baby?” she’d asked one night, her head on my chest, fingers tracing patterns on my skin.

 The question caught me off guard. We’d been married two years, and she looked so hopeful, so beautiful in the moonlight.

 “We’re not ready for that kind of responsibility,” I’d said. “My business is just getting started, and Virginia needs help settling into her new job-”

 The light died in her eyes. “Virginia.” 

 “Be reasonable, Scarlett. Babies are expensive, and with everything going on- 

 She’d pulled away from me then, wrapping herself in the sheet like armor.

 < Chapter 40

 More Rewards >

 “When do I get toe first, Jasper? When do I matter more than your friendship with her?”

 I couldn’t answer. Because the truth was, I didn’t know how to put Scarlett first when Virginia seemed to need me more. <fn3558> Read full story at Find_Novel(.</fn3558>

 Six monthster, she was pregnant anyway. And instead of being happy–instead of celebrating–I felt trapped.

 What kind of man feels trapped when his wife tells him she’s carrying his child?

 My chest tightens. The baby. Our baby.

 I shrug out of my coat and slump into the couch, burying my head in my hands.

 Scarlett had everything–parents who adored her, friends like Chloe who’d drop everything for her, money, education, love. She was surrounded by people who cared about her.

 Virginia had no one. Just me.

 Why couldn’t Scarlett understand this?

 Standing, I stumble to our bedroom–my bedroom now–and copse on the bed. Scarlett’s pillow still smells faintly like her shampoo. Something floral and sweet that used to drive me

 crazy.

 I press my face into it and remember.

 The front porch light was always on when I came home <ite. Always. Even when I was three hours <iter than I’d promised, even when I’d cancelled our dinner ns for the third time that 

 week.

 She’d be in the kitchen, usually reading a book at the counter, a te of food warming in the

 oven.

 “How was your day?” she’d ask, like she genuinely wanted to know. Like my problems mattered

 to her.

 “Long. Frustrating.” I’d kiss her forehead, breathe in that sweet scent. “Sorry I’mte.”

 “It’s okay. Are you hungry?”

 Always the same question. Always asked with a smile, even when I could see the disappointment in her eyes.

 She’d heat up whatever she’d made–usually somethingplicated because she was still learning to cook, still trying to impress me. Still trying to be the perfect wife.

 <Chapter 40

 And I’d eat it, tell her it was delicious, then fall asleep on the couch watching TV. 

 More Rewards > 

 Never asked about her day. Never wondered if she was lonely, eating dinner alone again. Never thought about how it felt to be married to a man who treated her like a roommate instead of the love of his life. 

 I close my eyes and try to remember thest time Scarlett waited up for me. Thest time she asked about my day with genuine interest instead of polite obligation.

 Thest time she smiled when I walked through the door instead of looking disappointed.

 But I can’t remember. Because somewhere along the way, I stopped being the man she fell in

 love with.

 For four years, I’ve been telling myself that Scarlett left because she was jealous, immature, unable to understand my loyalty to an old friend. I convinced myself that if she really loved me, she would have stayed and fought for our marriage.

 Nowying here in this empty room, surrounded by the ghost of what we used to have, I realize I haven’t been a good husband after all.

 Because Virginia had no one but me, I gave priority to her matters instead of my wife’s.

 I thought Scarlett would understand. I thought she was strong enough, loved enough by everyone around her, that she wouldn’t need me the way Virginia did.

 But I was wrong. Sopletely, wrong.

 I took Scarlett for granted, and now…

 She has a life without me. A man who looks at her the way I should have from the beginning.

 The front door ms downstairs.

 Hard.

 Violet Moon

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Rift 40