Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 158

Chapter 123: A Visit

(Author’s POV)

Aurora stared at the pot for a long moment after Phineas left.

Then she picked it up and poured the entire bisque down the drain. All of it – the oversalted soup, the bread she’d set out, the leftover shrimp she’d been planning to serve on the side. Eating that much salt was bad for anyone, and she couldn’t in good conscience leave it sitting there for him to come back to.

She found a carton of milk in the refrigerator and a brioche loaf in the bread basket. She set both on the table. Then she pulled a notepad from the kitchen counter and wrote:

*“Sorry, Phineas. I was off tonight and my cooking showed it. I’ve cleared everything away. If you come back hungry, there’s milk and bread. That should hold you.”

11

She read it over. The wording was fine. She folded it and propped it against the milk carton, then went to

wash up and go to bed.

Phineas came back to a dim apartment. One lamp on in the living room, everything else quiet. He walked

into the dining room and found the table cleared – just the milk, the brioche, and a neatly folded square of

notepaper.

He picked up the note and read it under the lamp.

Something shifted at the corner of his mouth. He folded the note carefully along its original creases, walked to his study, pulled open the top drawer of his desk, and set it inside.

Then he took out his phone and called his assistant.

“I need a medical report prepared,” he said. His voice was even. “Clinical documentation. Relevant to sexual dysfunction.” He paused. “Make it credible.”

There was a silence on the other end that lasted nearly three seconds.

“Understood,” Benny said finally, in a tone that suggested he was exercising considerable restraint. “I’ll

have it ready.”

Phineas hung up and looked at the milk and bread on the table. He sat down, poured himself a glass, and

ate in the quiet.

Eleanor did not go home that night.

She took a detour to her brother’s house – Professor Walsh’s place, a twenty–minute drive from the estate. She brought a box of pastries from a bakery she’d passed on the way, and when Mrs. Walsh opened the door, she made a point of keeping the conversation light for the first few minutes. Just a visit. Just passing through.

Once they were settled, she pulled Professor Walsh aside.

“I need you to invite Aurora over for dinner this weekend,” she said. “Tell her it’ll be good for her she’s

been through a difficult year, a change of scenery will help. You’ve always looked out for her. She won’t

question it if it comes from you.”

Professor Walsh frowned. “That’s a bit sudden, isn’t it?”

“Please. Just do it.”

He studied her face for a moment, then nodded. “All right.”

Eleanor exhaled. Then she sent Mrs. Walsh to check on the pastries and dropped her voice.

“There’s something else.” She told him what Phineas had said. All of it – the condition, the years of silence, the reason he’d never pursued anyone seriously. She watched her brother’s expression shift as he

processed it.

Halfway through, he gave her a careful look. “Eleanor. Are you sure he’s not just – I mean, some men aren’t

interested in-”

“No,” she said flatly. “That’s not what this is. Let me finish.”

He let her finish.

When she was done, he was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “I know someone. Good doctor, discreet,

doesn’t ask more than he needs to. I can get him there Saturday, make it look like a social thing. A dinner

guest.”

“Yes,” Eleanor said. “Exactly that.”

“Phineas won’t like it.”

“Phineas doesn’t need to know in advance.”

Professor Walsh looked like he had several thoughts about that particular approach, but he kept them to

himself. “I’ll arrange it.”

Eleanor nodded, and the tension in her shoulders eased slightly. Somewhere across the city, her son had

no idea that his Saturday had already been planned for him.

Saturday arrived with good weather.

Aurora stopped at the farmers‘ market on her way to the Walsh house and picked out a basket of fresh fruit – strawberries, a bunch of white grapes, two peaches that smelled the way peaches were supposed to

smell. She’d been to Professor Walsh’s place twice before, and the stiffness of the first visit had worn off by now. When Mrs. Walsh opened the door, Aurora handed over the basket and got a mild scolding in

return.

“You don’t need to bring something every time.”

“It was on the way,” Aurora said.

2/0

༈

། ༣། |

“That’s what you said last time.”

“It was on the way last time too.”

Mrs. Walsh shook her head but took the basket, and they went inside.

The house smelled like roast chicken and rosemary. Professor Walsh was in the kitchen, apparently

committed to the project. Aurora settled on the sofa in the living room and noticed a man she didn’t

recognize sitting in the armchair across from her mid–thirties, clean–cut, an easy smile.

Professor Walsh came out of the kitchen long enough to make introductions. “Aurora, this is Daniel North. A colleague of mine, doctor, good company. Daniel, this is Aurora – one of my best students.”

Daniel raised his coffee cup in a small salute. “He’s told me good things.”

“He’s told me nothing about you,” Aurora said, “which means he’s being strategic.”

Comments

LUCK DRAW >