My Runaway Husband Returned to Find Me Pregnant

Jasper Oakley's first love, Pauline Simmons, is about to get married.

In order to make her regret her decision, Jasper volunteers to guard the border. In doing so, he chooses to abandon the General's Manor and me, his wife.

I've written 99 letters to him, yet I've never received a response from him.

On the third year, I don't write any letters anymore.

One day, I'm sitting on a chaise lounge while drinking supplements delivered from the palace when Jasper suddenly returns to the manor.

As he stares at my pregnancy bump of six months, he gnashes his teeth together angrily.

"You never came to the border to visit me in the past three years of our marriage. Whose spawn are you pregnant with?"

I remain nonchalant. "Since you refuse to treat your own wife nicely, someone else needs to pick up the slack, right?"

Jasper Oakley yanked me up from the daybed in one brutal motion. His hawk-like eyes looked like they were ready to kill.

He roared, "You shameless woman! I was only gone for three years, and you couldn't even wait? You got yourself knocked up! Speak! Who is the father?"

The cup of sage wine I had been sipping slipped from my hand and shattered onto the floor with a loud crash.

My mother-in-law, Agnes Dodson, hurried in. When she saw Jasper gripping my neck tightly, her face went pale with shock.

"Jasper, don't touch her!" she cried. "She's carrying—"

Before she could finish, Jasper cut her off with a furious shout. "Isabella Slade, I'm asking you a question!"

My eardrums throbbed with pain from his booming voice. The anger in my heart flared and burned bright.

I wrenched my hand free. "You left for three years without a word! And you dumped the debt-ridden household on me and vanished completely! According to our laws, if a man is absent for a year without cause, the marriage may be dissolved. You and I are no longer husband and wife."

Jasper's face flushed scarlet with rage. Without another word, he dragged me toward the door.

"You slept with another man! How dare you still argue with me? Fine. I'll let the people see exactly what a harlot you are!" he growled.

My pregnancy made me weak, so I had no strength to resist him.

Agnes burst into tears and rushed forward to block him. "Jasper, listen to me. Let go of Isabella—"

Jasper flew into a greater rage and struck me hard across the face. A metallic taste instantly filled my mouth.

His enraged voice rang out beside my ear. "What have you done to hoodwink my mother? She's so old, yet you're forcing her to cover for you? I'll deal with you myself today!"

Agnes froze, too frightened to step forward again. She was afraid that defending me would only make him beat me harder. If I lost the child I was carrying, she didn't know how to answer for it.

I was dragged straight out