Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 172

Chapter 137: A Divorced Woman

(Author’s POV)

“I heard she’s been divorced before.”

“She has.”

The room went quiet. Jasper kept his expression neutral, but his mind was moving quickly. Phineas – the man that half their social circle had privately speculated about for years, the one who had never once been linked to anyone, who moved through every function and dinner and event completely untouched – had gotten married. To a divorced woman. Today.

Eleanor was sitting to William’s left. She hadn’t spoken yet. Her hands were wrapped around a teacup, and Jasper noticed her fingers press slightly tighter against the ceramic.

William leaned forward. “You went off and married some divorced woman without a word to anyone in this family. Do you understand what that looks like? You’re dragging the Everett name-”

“Into what, exactly?”

Phineas’s voice hadn’t risen. But the faint, careless quality it had carried a moment ago was gone. What replaced it was flat and precise.

“A divorced woman,” Phineas said. “That’s your objection.” He let a beat pass. “Is that more embarrassing than cheating?”

The silence that followed was a different kind of silence.

Jasper felt it land. He kept his eyes forward and said nothing.

William’s face went red. “That’s not what I-”

“I’m just asking,” Phineas said. “Because you seem very concerned about appearances.” His gaze moved – slowly, deliberately – from his father to Jasper. “It’s interesting. A man cheats on his wife, walks out of that marriage, and no one in this room calls it dragging the family name through anything.”

Jasper set his coffee cup down carefully. “Phineas, I understand you have reservations about-”

“I don’t have reservations,” Phineas said. “I have observations. There’s a difference.”

“My situation with my ex–wife was complicated. I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but-”

“You’ve been divorced for what, two months?” Phineas’s tone didn’t sharpen. It stayed even, which somehow made it worse. “And you’re already here, sitting in this house, having coffee with my father, while you’re planning to marry your brother’s widow.” He tilted his head slightly. “That’s the complicated situation you’re referring to?”

Jasper had no answer for that.

Phineas looked back at his father. “It’s a done deal. Your objections won’t change anything.” He stood. “I’m

* 137 & Dworced Woman

going upstairs.”

He left the room without waiting for a response.

The silence he left behind stretched for several seconds.

Then William exhaled hard through his nose and turned to Arthur. Arthur, who had the particular skill of knowing exactly when to redirect, cleared his throat and mentioned the Harrington development project – the one that had been stalled for two quarters and needed fresh eyes on the logistics.

William’s expression shifted. He was still angry, but the anger had somewhere to go now. He looked at Jasper. “You’ve been working in real estate adjacent sectors. Arthur could use someone who understands the secondary market dynamics.”

Jasper recognized the gesture for what it was. An olive branch, and an opportunity. He accepted it without hesitation. “I’d be glad to take a look.”

Arthur nodded, already moving toward the study. Jasper followed.

But the question stayed with him as he walked down the hallway. Phineas – cold, solitary, famously uninterested in anyone – had married a divorced woman. Today. Quietly. Without telling a single person in his family.

Who in their circle fit that description? Who could possibly have been enough?

Eleanor appeared at the top of the stairs before Phineas reached his room. She didn’t say anything immediately. She just looked at him.

He slowed.

“Come in,” she said. “Just for a moment.”

He followed her into the sitting area off the landing.

“Your father will calm down,” she said.

“I know.”

“I’m not worried about your father.” She studied him for a moment. “Are you happy?”

Phineas was quiet for a beat. “Ask me in a year.”

Eleanor made a small sound that might have been approval, or resignation, or both. She reached out and straightened the collar of his jacket, the way she used to when he was twelve. Then she let her hand drop.

“Bring her to dinner,” she said. “Soon.”

“I will.”

Lunch passed without further incident. Phineas didn’t come back downstairs. By early afternoon, Jasper said his goodbyes to Arthur and William and drove away from the estate.

He called Sienna before he’d reached the main road.

17 ADIVOCed Woman.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Fine. Your name didn’t come up directly.” He paused. “Phineas got married.”

A beat of silence. “What?”

“Apparently today. A divorced woman, according to my father. He posted something on social media this morning and that’s how the family found out.”

“That’s–that’s unexpected.” Sienna’s voice had gone careful. “Did anyone say who she is?”

“No. Nobody knows.” He merged onto the highway. “What about your father? Have you talked to him?”

“I was going to bring that up.” Her tone shifted, lighter, coaxing. “Let’s not rush that. Why don’t we go see Grandma Joyce first? She’s always been fond of you.”

“Sure. I can do that.”

They went that afternoon. Jasper was easy with Joyce – attentive, well–mannered, asking after her health and the garden. He brought flowers. He made her laugh twice.

Sienna watched and felt confident.

Then she told Joyce that her father had already given his tentative approval, and that all they needed was Joyce’s blessing to move forward.

Joyce set her cup down. She looked at Sienna with the particular patience of someone who has spent eighty years watching people try to get away with things.

“Your father said that?” she asked.

“Essentially, yes.”

“Mm.” Joyce looked at Jasper. “And your previous marriage – how did that end?”

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