Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 100

Chapter 67: Uncle–1

(Author’s POV)

The next evening, Phineas walked into the hospital room carrying a basket – fruit, a good bottle of juice, some expensive chocolates that Leo would absolutely eat in one sitting. Martha was sitting by the window. She stood up when he came in, and Aurora watched her mother’s expression shift in real time: polite surprise, then a longer, more assessing look, then something careful and calculating settling behind her eyes.

“This is my – ” Aurora started.

“I’m her direct supervisor,” Phineas said smoothly, extending a hand to Martha. “Phineas. Please, don’t bother with any formality – just use my name.”

Aurora stood slightly behind him and tried not to look like she was holding her breath. She’d told Martha he was the company’s CEO. Martha had nodded and smiled and said of course, how thoughtful.

Leo was watching from the bed.

He studied Phineas the way he studied most things – quietly, carefully, without giving much away. Phineas didn’t look old, exactly, but there was something about him that made you feel like he had been through more than his face suggested. A stillness. A weight. Leo had met plenty of men with money and authority, and most of them announced it loudly. This one

didn’t have to.

Leo thought about it for a second. Then he said, “Thank you for coming. And for looking out for my sister.”

He paused.

“Uncle.”

Aurora went very still.

She looked at Phineas without meaning to. He was in his mid–thirties. Leo was seventeen. The math was technically defensible, but the word landed in the room with a particular kind

of awkwardness that Aurora felt in her spine.

Martha didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. He was an older superior; a respectful title made sense.

Phineas’s expression didn’t change. But something moved in his eyes – the faintest flicker- and the corner of his mouth shifted, just slightly.

< Chapter 67–Uncle 1

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“I don’t think I’m quite that old,” he said. His voice was easy, unhurried, but there was no room in it for negotiation. “Just Phineas.”

(Aurora’s POV)

The room went a little quiet after Phineas said it.

*Just use my name.*

Leo sat with it for a second, visibly uncertain. Phineas was nearly twenty years older than him. Calling a man that age by his first name felt almost rude, and I could see Leo working through that in real time.

I was working through my own version of the same problem. Phineas had just made it very clear that “uncle” hadn’t landed well. Had Leo actually offended him? I opened my mouth, trying to think of something to say that would smooth it over without making it worse.

Martha beat me to it.

“Oh, Phineas is so young,” she said, smiling warmly at Leo. “Just call him by his name, sweetheart. No need for titles.”

Leo and I both went quiet at exactly the same moment.

Phineas’s mouth curved slightly. “You’re too kind,” he said. His tone was easy, unbothered. “I’m not that young, honestly. Thirty–three this year. Sixteen years on Leo.” He glanced at Leo. “Not old, but not exactly a peer either.”

My ears went warm. I had no idea why. I looked at the floor.

Leo caught it. Of course he did. He watched me for half a second, then looked back at Phineas. “Phineas,” he said, testing it out.

Phineas nodded once, like that settled it.

Then he reached into the paper bag he’d brought and pulled out a small gift box. He set it on the edge of Leo’s bed and flipped it open. Inside was a leather wrist brace – slim, well–made, the kind of thing that looked simple but clearly wasn’t.

“I picked it up on the trip,” Phineas said. “Nothing major. Just something useful while you’re recovering.”

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