Jilted Bride: Marrying My Ex-Fiancé's Comatose Uncle

Chapter 4

Word Count: 894 | Released on: 22/06/2026

irm, reassuring presence on her arm. The core family members had be

e floor before the grand fireplace. Lady Philippa s

gument. "Due to Damien's dishonorable conduct, the marriage contract with

ping over the assembly be

h authority, "Seraphina Beaumont, the Dowager Duchess of Iro

e would have to call the woman he'd discarded Aunt? Th

again, this time from

oment that the great doo

o the room. A crimson gash was visible on his temple. Seraphina recognized him

Royal, his chest heaving, his voice chok

Duke... Duke Alist

silence descended upon the hall. Ever

as caught in a sudden rockslide in the mountain pass. The Duke's casket was thrown from the h

reath fogging the

he nearest Apothecaries' Guild outpost, and now, he was here,

back of a chair for support, her knuckles white. "Bring him in," she commande

tic activity. Servants ran, orders were shouted, and the oppressiv

ed to the spot, her

arried a

e dead man

pulled from his own coffin. The absurdity of it was so immense, she felt a hy

le as death itself, a stark white against the dark wood of the headboard. His eyes were closed, his

ngers followed them into the room. Master Hemlock

Alistair's eyelids, peering at his pupils with a small, enchanted lens. He pressed hi

eld its coll

ock straightened up,

for now," he announced, and a quiet

ff caused a severe trauma to his head. There is a significant cerebral he

incess Victoria asked

the blood on its own. If he does not regain consciousness within three months, the damage will become permanent. He will..."

nths. A

her husband. Not a ghost, not a memory, but a body without a

determined to be stranger

the comatose Alistair to Seraphina. A slo

t was worse. A widow could one day remarry. But Seraphina? She was no

as tr

Chapter End

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Jilted Bride: Marrying My Ex-Fiancé's Comatose Uncle

Er Ye History

“On my wedding day, I arrived at Ironwood expecting to become Damien Beaumont's wife. Instead, I found him in bed with my stepsister. She was wearing the bridal silk meant for me. He was kissing her like I was already nothing. "Must you really marry her?" Isolde purred. Damien laughed. He said he only needed me for a few months-just long enough to secure his dead uncle's inheritance. Then he would annul the marriage, brand me barren or mad, and marry Isolde instead. The best part? She was already pregnant with his child. They thought I would cry. They thought I would run home in disgrace. They thought a country-bred Hayes girl would quietly swallow the ruin they had made of her. They were wrong. I set the bridal suite on fire. By the time the servants and guests rushed in, Damien and Isolde were half-dressed, exposed, and surrounded by witnesses. Yet his family still tried to blame me. Poor upbringing. Too wild. Too vulgar. Not worthy of the Beaumont name. So I gave them a new scandal. I put on a black mourning dress, walked into the family chapel, and married Damien's supposedly dead uncle, Duke Alistair Beaumont. A war hero. A legend. A man declared dead before I ever met him. By a loophole in the marriage contract, I became his Duchess. Damien became my nephew. His mother became my sister-in-law. And everyone who looked down on me was suddenly forced to bow. But then my "dead" husband was brought back to Ironwood alive-breathing, silent, and trapped in a cursed, deathlike sleep. The Beaumont matriarch made me a ruthless offer: Give Alistair an heir, and I would have land, wealth, power, and protection no one could take from me. I accepted. Now I rule the estate that tried to bury me. My enemies are watching for one mistake. My comatose husband may not be as unaware as everyone believes. And if Damien thought betraying me was the end of my story, he should have listened more carefully when I said my vows. Because I did not marry a corpse. I married a Duke. And when he wakes, this entire house will learn what it means to cross his Duchess.”