Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 154

Chapter 119: Sweetheart

(Aurora’s POV)

“Thank you.” I hung up.

I stood there for a moment in the rain, and felt something loosen in my chest. The man who had once made me feel like I was always one wrong step from disaster was now a person who had to answer my

calls and meet my deadlines.

The car app showed three minutes. I stepped closer to the curb.

Someone’s shoulder hit mine, hard enough that I stumbled sideways. My umbrella tilted. A sharp pain spread from my shoulder down my arm.

I looked up.

A tail, thin man in a dark jacket and a baseball cap was turning around. He had the kind of face that was difficult to read – angular, worn, with deep-set eyes that caught the light from the streetlamp in an odd way.

He smiled at me. It didn’t reach anywhere near his eyes.

“Watch it, sweetheart.”

The word landed wrong. I didn’t know this man. I’d never seen him before. But something about the way he said it – too familiar, too easy – made the hair on my arms stand up.

“You walked into me,” I said.

He didn’t answer. Just kept smiling.

My car pulled up. I checked the plate, pulled the door open, and got in.

“Can you go, please?” I said to the driver. “Now.”

The car pulled away from the curb. I turned and looked out the rear window.

The man was gone. Just people and rain and the ordinary blur of a Thursday evening.

I faced forward and told myself to stop being paranoid. Next time, I’d leave work earlier.

(Author’s POV)

What Aurora didn’t see, as the car turned the corner and disappeared from view, was the man still standing in the shadow of a tree across the street. His eyes tracked the car until it was gone. Then he laughed, low and quiet, to himself.

*Aurora,my sweetheart. Daddy’s home.

(Aurora’s POV)

I woke up at five-thirty in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Chapter 119 Sweethewil

I lay there staring at the ceiling, and every time I closed my eyes I saw that man’s face – the baseball cap pulled low, the smile that meant nothing good. I didn’t know if it was the rain or just my own nerves, but I’d been cycling through the same half-dream all night, and I was done with it.

I picked up my phone and opened sss.

Pepper spray. Personal alarm keychain. Reinforced door lock bar. I added all three to my cart and checked out before I could talk myself out of it. *Better safe than sorry.* Some things you didn’t wait on.

Then I opened my notes app and typed: *Find a boxing gym or MMA basics class weekend.* Not because I expected to become anyone’s idea of a fighter. Just because the thought of being completely helpless made my skin crawl, and doing something about it – even something small – was better than lying here feeling like a target.

a

At the lab, I kept it casual. I brought up the neighborhood security while we were grabbing coffee, mentioned I’d noticed some odd foot traffic near the building lately, asked if anyone had seen a man in a dark baseball cap hanging around. Nobody had. But the way I said it apparently landed, because by the end of the day three of my colleagues had already agreed to leave in pairs and everyone was booking cars

instead of walking.

The rain didn’t let up. It stayed grey and drizzling for days, and I started carrying a longer umbrella – practical for the weather, useful for other reasons if it came to that. I took only the main roads home. Busy streets, bright lights, other people. I checked the lobby every time before I walked through the door.

I told myself I wasn’t being paranoid. I told myself that repeatedly.

It was a Tuesday evening when I pushed through the lobby door, confirmed there was no one suspicious near the mailboxes, and turned toward the elevator.

A hand came down hard on my shoulder.

My body moved before my brain did. I spun around, hand already inside my bag, fingers closing around the pepper spray – and then I heard the voice.

“Aurora.”

Phineas.

He was standing there in a charcoal coat, slightly damp from the rain, looking at me with an expression that was somewhere between concern and careful neutrality. He was clearly trying not to react to the fact that I’d just nearly sprayed him in the face.

“The rain picked up,” he said. “You didn’t seem to notice. I was trying to get your attention.”

I let go of the canister. I pulled my hand out of my bag.

“You’re back,” I said.

“Just now.” He glanced at my bag. “Are you all right?”

Chapter 119 Sweehont

“Fine.” I exhaled. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been – I’m sorry”

We rode the elevator up in silence. I stared at the floor numbers and tried to remember how to breathe

normally.

By the time we reached our floor, I’d made a decision.

“I’ll make dinner,” I said. “Consider it an apology for almost assaulting you in the lobby.”

He didn’t argue.

The fridge was nearly empty – I’d been meaning to do a proper grocery run all week and hadn’t managed it. I found olive oil, a head of garlic, dried chili flakes, and half a box of spaghetti. I put a pot of water on, sliced the garlic thin, and let it go low and slow in the oil while the pasta cooked.

Fifteen minutes later I set a bowl in front of Phineas and sat down across from him.

He ate without saying anything for a while. Then he put his fork down.

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