I didn’t understand. How did my plan to take Jasper to see his father for a family reunion lead to our eternal separation?
When James and I first got married, we agreed that we would follow common–law marriage rules.
In my opinion, since he was already married to me, he should have had the conscience to uphold his duty as a husband even if we
didn’t register our marriage officially.
I’d done my own part over the years.
Not long after our marriage, he’d secretly left for the military base.
In fact, he’d left in such a hurry that I hadn’t had the time to inform him of my pregnancy.
From Jasper’s conception to his birth, James never once returned.
Instead, he relied solely on the few things he would write to me in his letters to convince me to willingly give up on a better future
for his sake.
While pregnant with Jasper, I happened to receive the opportunity to enroll at the National Academy of Sciences for further
studies.
However, I’d passed on the long–cherished opportunity for the unborn Jasper’s sake, deciding instead to focus on protecting our
family for James.
But now, I was being told that everything about our relationship had been fake, and Jasper had even lost his life.
I deeply regretted my choices at that moment.
I regretted not discovering James‘ true colors earlier. If I’d doubted him even once over the years, Jasper wouldn’t have died so
unjustly.
But I hadn’t doubted him. Instead, I foolishly guarded this so–called “family” like an idiot.
I felt bitter, but my bitterness was overshadowed by anger.
I asked Dad to investigate what exactly had transpired back when James saved my life. I also requested that he find out about the
relationship between him and Isabella.
However, before Dad could return with results, James, who had been away on a mission, showed up.
He kneeled before me with tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry about our son, Linny. We’re not that old, so we’ll definitely be able to have another child in the future.”
I’d been married to him for seven years, but we’d only lived together for the first three months after our marriage.
We hardly saw each other beyond that.
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As I looked at his rosy skin and the clothes he was wearing–clothes that someone had clearly ironed for him–everything seemed to become clear to me.
I might not have believed that he was married to someone else before, but I wholly believed it now.
He’d hurried over as soon as I woke up, and he had also been promptly informed about Jasper’s death.
How could he have arrived so quickly if not for someone tipping him off?
I couldn’t help but feel nauseous at the thought of him cajoling me to bear a child for him while also coaxing another woman into taking care of his every need over the past seven years.
James hadn’t stopped talking. He kept crying about how hard he’d worked over the years and how much he’d sacrificed for the family.
Eventually, Dad couldn’t bear to listen to him any longer and kicked him in the back, then threw a stack of papers in his face. “Take a good look at what you call ‘hard work‘! You worked so hard typing up a report about your marriage to another woman!
“You were the one who got down on your knees in front of me back then and promised me you’d give Linny happiness! That was the only reason I agreed to let you follow the common–law marriage system! And yet, what did you do in the end?”
I was bewildered to hear that James had once begged Dad for my hand in marriage.
James crawled over to Dad on his hands and knees. “Mr. Chalder! Please, Mr. Chalder! This is all a misunderstanding!”
He then addressed me. “Believe me, darling! I definitely wouldn’t do anything to let you
down!”
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