Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 135

< Chapter 99 Falling Out of Favor

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Chapter 99: Falling Out of Favor

(Author’s POV)

Victoria had been home from the hospital for three days when she heard about the returned funds.

She was sitting in the sunroom with a cup of chamomile tea when her assistant told her. She set the cup down, folded her hands in her lap, and allowed herself a brief moment of satisfaction.

Five hundred million dollars, returned in full. That meant Rathbone had blinked. That meant someone in that family had enough sense to see the situation clearly.

But the satisfaction faded quickly, because the underlying problem hadn’t changed. Sienna was still in this house. Still at Jasper’s side. Still, as far as Victoria could tell, fully intending to stay there.

Victoria thought about the years Sienna had been married to Edmund. A long marriage, a wealthy one, and not a single child to show for it. The estate had passed to Sienna almost entirely. Edmund’s share of the family assets, his investments, his properties – all of it, gone to a woman who now wanted to move sideways into Jasper’s life and do it all over again.

Not while Victoria was standing.

She was in the living room when Sienna came home that evening. She didn’t get up.

“Sienna,” she said pleasantly. “Come sit down for a moment.”

Sienna stopped in the doorway. Her expression was already guarded.

“I’ve been thinking,” Victoria said, “about Jasper’s situation. He’ll have the decree soon, and Rosalind needs stability. A proper family environment.” She smiled. “I’ve been making some introductions. A few very suitable women – good families, warm personalities. The kind of person who’d be genuinely wonderful with a child.”

The color shifted in Sienna’s face.

“Jasper doesn’t need you to arrange his life,” Sienna said.

“I’m his mother. Arranging his life is precisely what I do.” Victoria tilted her head slightly. “You’re still young, Sienna. Genuinely. You should be thinking about your own future, your own happiness, not tying yourself to a situation that’s already so complicated.” She paused, as if the thought had just occurred to her. “There are so many men out there who wouldn’t come with all of this history.”

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< Chapter 99: Falling Out of Favor

The words landed exactly where Victoria intended them to.

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Sienna’s face went white. She stood there for a moment, perfectly still, and then she turned. and walked out of the house without a word.

Victoria picked up her chamomile tea.

The financial report on Jasper’s desk was not improving with a second reading.

He’d been staring at the same page for forty minutes. The revenue projections had been revised downward twice in the last quarter, and the gap between current income and operating costs was widening in a way that didn’t have an easy fix. He had three potential solutions and none of them were good.

The door opened without a knock.

Sienna crossed the office in six steps and stopped in front of his desk. “Did you know your mother is setting you up with other women?”

Jasper set down his pen. “She mentioned something.”

“And you’re letting her?”

“I’m not doing anything about it, which is different from letting her.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sienna, I’ve had a difficult day-”

“She basically told me to my face that I’m not good enough for you. That I should go find someone else.” Sienna’s voice was controlled, but only just. “And you’re sitting here telling me you’ve had a difficult day.”

“I’m telling you it wasn’t my idea and I’m not going to follow through on it.”

“Then tell her that. Tell her directly.”

He was quiet for a moment. Sienna watched his face.

“The timing is difficult,” he said. “Her health is still-”

“Jasper.”

“The company is in a critical phase right now. I can’t afford a major family conflict on top of everything else.” He looked up at her. “Give me a little more time. Once the decree comes through, once things settle-”

“You keep saying once things settle.” Her voice dropped. “When does that happen, exactly?” He didn’t answer right away. It was only a second or two, but Sienna had known him long

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<Chapter 99: Falling Out of Favor

enough to read the pause.

It wasn’t exhaustion in his eyes. It was something else. Something that looked, if she let herself see it clearly, a great deal like hesitation.

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She didn’t say anything else. She picked up her bag from the chair where she’d dropped it, and she walked out.

(Aurora’s POV)

I was in the break room at lunch, half-eating a sandwich and scrolling through my phone, when Sienna’s account appeared in my feed.

She’d posted a photo. A small beaded hair clip, clearly handmade, a little uneven at the edges. The caption read: *A daughter who makes things like this for you – what more could you ask for? So lucky.*

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