Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 156

Chapter 121: The Glass

(Author’s POV)

The glass slipped out of Martha’s hand.

It hit the floor and shattered, and the sound of it was very loud in the quiet apartment.

She had gone white. Her hands were shaking. She pressed one of them against the wall like she needed it to stay upright, and when she spoke, her voice was barely there.

“You said – who came?”

Leo grabbed Martha’s hand before she could move.

“What’s wrong? Who is he?”

Martha shook her head. She pressed her lips together and turned away, and for a moment she just stood there with her back to him, one hand still braced against the wall.

“Mom.”

“I’m fine.” She pushed off the wall and went to the kitchen. He heard the broom closet open, then the scrape of the dustpan being pulled out. She came back into the living room and crouched down over the broken glass without looking at him.

“Mom, talk to me. Who is Neil Dawson?”

“Nobody.” She swept the shards into a pile, her movements too fast, too rigid. “He’s nobody you need to

know about.”

“He knew your name. He knew mine. He was waiting outside my school.”

“Leo.” She stopped sweeping. When she looked up, her face was composed, but her hands were shaking. “Listen to me. If you ever see that man again – anywhere, on the street, near school, anywhere – you walk the other way. Don’t stop. Don’t talk to him. You hear me?”

“Why?”

She stood and carried the dustpan to the trash, tipping the glass in. Her back was to him again. “Because he’s trouble,” she said. “The kind that sticks to you once it starts. Just stay away from him.” She put the broom away and came back to the kitchen. The conversation was over as far as she was concerned. Leo sat on the couch and stared at the wall and said nothing more, but the unease in his chest

didn’t go anywhere.

Dinner was quiet.

Martha pushed her food around her plate. She’d made roast chicken with vegetables, Leo’s usual favorite, but she barely touched it. She kept her eyes down, cutting the same piece of chicken into smaller and

Chapter 121 The Glas

smaller pieces without eating any of it.

Leo watched her and didn’t ask.

He thought about the man at the school gate. The easy smile, the too-familiar tone. *Your mom and I go way back.* Something about the way he’d said it had made Leo’s skin crawl before he’d even consciously

registered why.

Martha set down her fork.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “My health hasn’t been great lately. I don’t have the energy I used to, and I’m not keeping up with things the way I should.” She looked at him. “I think it would be better if you moved back into the school dormitory for a while. Full residential. It’s easier for your schedule anyway.”

Leo looked at her.

“This is about him,” he said. “Isn’t it.”

“It’s about my health.”

“Mom-”

“Leo.” Her voice was flat. Final. “I’ve already called the school. They have a spot in the dorm. I’d like you to

pack tonight.”

He stared at her for a long moment. She met his gaze without flinching, and he recognized that expression – the one that meant she’d already made up her mind and nothing he said was going to change it.

He packed.

She drove him to school herself, waited until he’d checked in with the residential supervisor, and didn’t leave until she’d seen him go through the doors. Leo looked back once from the entrance. She was still standing by the car, watching him. She lifted a hand when she saw him look.

He went inside.

Martha drove back alone.

She was still two blocks from the apartment when she saw him – Neil, leaning against the wall near the building entrance with his hands in his pockets, watching her pull up. She sat in the car for a moment with the engine running, then turned it off and got out.

“Where’s the kid?” he asked.

“Not here.”

Neil smiled. “Smart.”

They ended up at a coffee shop around the corner. The kind of place that was half-empty on a weeknight, with bad lighting and tables that wobbled. Neil dropped into his chair like he owned it, and Martha sat across from him with her coat still on.

enter

“I’ll keep this simple,” he said. “Aurora isn’t Stephen Caldwell’s daughter. She’s mine.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded document, sliding it across the table. “DNA doesn’t lie.”

Martha looked at the report without touching it

“She divorced that husband of hers,” Neil continued. “From what I hear, she walked away with a very comfortable settlement. A woman like that, connected the way she is now she can afford to be generous.” He leaned back. “I’m thinking one million. Call it back pay. Twenty-plus years of missed fatherhood. That’s not unreasonable.”

“She cut me off.” Martha’s voice was tight. “We don’t speak. I have no way to contact her and no way to ask her for anything.”

Neil’s smile didn’t move, but something behind his eyes went flat.

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