Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 117

< Chapter 82: Intercepted

Chapter 82: Intercepted

(Aurora’s POV)

I held out the pudding. “Everything okay?”

“Fine.” He took the dish. “Work.”

I looked at him for a second. He looked back, perfectly composed.

I let it go. But I thought about it later, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.

He’d hung up the moment he saw me. That wasn’t how people ended work calls.

What is his secret?

The next morning, I went to a men’s clothing boutique on the west side. The kind of place with dark wood shelving and a tailor on site and no prices on anything until you asked. I found a white dress shirt in a heavy cotton poplin – the kind that held its shape and didn’t wrinkle after twenty minutes – and had it boxed properly.

The price made me pause for exactly one second. Then I handed over my card.

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If I was going to thank someone who’d gotten my brother into a school like Pinecrest, I wasn’t going to do it with something forgettable.

Gavin’s office was on the fourteenth floor of a building downtown. His assistant waved me through, and he looked up from his desk when I came in, visibly surprised.

“You didn’t have to come in person,” he said.

“I wanted to.” I set the box on his desk. “Thank you. Genuinely. I don’t think I can overstate what that school means for Leo.”

He opened the box, looked at the shirt, and was quiet for a moment.

“This is too much,” he said, but he didn’t push it back.

“It’s not.” I sat down across from him. “How are we looking for tomorrow?”

“Solid.” He leaned back. “Their side doesn’t have much to work with. As long as you’re composed on the stand, it should be straightforward.” He paused. “Are you?”

“Composed?” I thought about it. “Yes.”

“Good.” He closed the box. “Then we’re in good shape. Get some sleep tonight.”

<Chapter 82: Intercepted

“You too.” I stood. “Good luck tomorrow.”

“I don’t need luck,” he said, but he was smiling.

I took the elevator down and walked out through the lobby into the afternoon sun.

(Author’s POV)

Phineas walked into Gavin’s office less than three minutes later.

Gavin was still at his desk, the white shirt box open in front of him. He looked up.

“That was fast,” he said.

“Where’s the shirt?” Phineas asked.

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Gavin glanced at the box, then back at Phineas. “Aurora brought it. It’s a thank-you gift. For

the school.”

Phineas looked at the box. “I handled the school.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

“Which is why she thanked you.” Phineas’s tone was unhurried and entirely final. “The shirt should go to the person who actually solved the problem.”

Gavin opened his mouth. Phineas had already reached across the desk and picked up the box, turned it over to check the size label, and tucked it under his arm.

He walked out without another word.

Gavin sat in his chair for a long moment, staring at the empty space where the box had been, not entirely sure whether to laugh or file a formal objection.

***

Aurora got back to the apartment and couldn’t sleep.

She lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling, running through tomorrow’s sequence in her head – what Gavin would say, what Jasper’s side would counter, what she needed to hold steady for. Around midnight, her phone buzzed.

Leo: *I know you said not to come. But I want to be outside the courthouse tomorrow. When you walk out, I want to be the first person you see.*

She read it twice.

Leo: *Doesn’t matter what the ruling is. Just – family should be there.*

Chapter 82. Intercepted

She typed back: *Okay. But wait at the coffee shop across the street. It’ll be at least two hours. Don’t just stand on the sidewalk.*

A pause. Then: *I’m almost eighteen. I think I can handle a sidewalk.*

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