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

Chapter 8

Word Count: 998 | Released on: 22/06/2026

thick with tension. The clinking of s

nus, servants, guests, and household accounts with the certainty of a woman who believed power became hers simply because she had held it long enough. Princess Victoria might hav

one's eye. Across from them, a younger woman, Lady Cordelia, th

er voice loud enough for the entire room to hear. "It is

manor hours, coming from the co

teacup down with a decisive click. The sound cut off any furthe

, Seraphina ma

her hair glittered, drawing every eye. She was not the timid country gir

and executed a flawless curtsy to

ologies for my tardiness." Her voice

pology is insufficient. Your lack of co

look ill-bred, selfish, and unfit for command on her first morning, then the new Duchess would begin her reign alr

t Philippa. Instead, she turned to Princess Victoria, her

Highness. I lost track of time. I rose

fted instantly. Every ea

g. "I sat with him for a while. I bathed his face and hands.

improper for His Grace to wake, however briefly, and find only servants at his

ntly, "Especially in a house where gentlemen have l

d, caring wife. Philippa's accusation o

ion softened. "And how is he, chi

l, hopeful, yet uncertai

perhaps it was only my imagination... but when I held his hand to c

tronger than one might expect from a man some me

to the silent room like

A sign of life.

or Alistair, it was the first g

scraping against the marble floor. "Truly

o physician, my lord. It may have been nothing more than

ss Victoria's face. She reached out and patted

f you are tired from caring for my son, you may sleep unt

of favor. It was a shield for Serap

us click. She had tried to brand Seraphina as lazy, disrespectful, and unfit for the household; instead, the girl had turned tardiness into devotion, country igno

sound like an attack on a devoted wife caring for a wounded husband. She

ly accepting a cup of tea from a servant. She ignored

she had won. She had successfully tied herself not ju

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.”