Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 177

(Aurora’s POV)

So before I left, I went upstairs.

Phineas was at his desk, jacket off, reviewing something on his laptop. He looked up when I came in.

His gaze dropped to my hand. Then back to my face.

“You’re not wearing it,” he said.

“I was going to ask you about that, actually.” I held the ring up. “I’m going to Jasper’s office. It felt strange to wear it there.”

He considered me for a moment. “Put it on.”

“Phineas-”

“Aurora.” His voice was patient but final. “Put it on, and then go.”

I didn’t understand his reasoning. I still don’t, entirely. But I slid the ring back onto my finger, said I’d be back by noon, and left.

Walking toward the Aether Life Sciences building, I kept glancing down at my hand. The diamond caught the morning light and threw it in every direction. It was the most conspicuous thing I’d ever worn, and the thought of scratching it against something made my stomach clench. I tucked my hand into my coat pocket and kept walking.

(Author’s POV)

Jasper was already at his desk when Aurora arrived.

He’d told himself he was simply tying up a loose end – a routine financial matter, nothing more. He’d dressed carefully anyway. The white shirt with the collar open at the throat. The watch he knew she’d always noticed.

She walked in, and his carefully maintained composure shifted.

She was wearing a simple apricot dress, minimal makeup, hair down. Nothing remarkable. But there was something different about the way she moved unhurried, unguarded, like a woman who had stopped bracing for impact. He’d seen her tense for three years. This wasn’t that.

He gestured to the chair across from his desk. “Sit down.”

She sat. “Which figures need to be verified in person?”

He started to answer, and then his eye caught the ring.

It was impossible to miss. An emerald–cut diamond in a platinum setting, the kind of piece that didn’t come from a jewelry store – it came from a vault. He stared at it for half a second longer than he should

Chamer Id The Sortiennent

have.

“Since when do you wear jewelry like that?”

Aurora glanced at her hand, then back at him. Her expression didn’t change. “I came to settle the remaining property division. If you have something to say, say it.”

“I’m just curious.” He leaned back, keeping his voice light. “Three years of marriage, and I never saw you wearing anything like that. Funny how quickly things change.”

She said nothing.

He pressed it. “You took half of everything in the settlement. I didn’t think you’d spend it quite this fast.”

The corner of her mouth lifted – not a smile, exactly. More like the expression of someone who has heard a bad joke and can’t be bothered to pretend it landed. “Is that what you think?”

“It’s what the evidence suggests.”

“Then your evidence is wrong.” She set her hands flat on the desk. “Can we move this along? I have somewhere to be.”

Jasper’s jaw tightened. He’d imagined this meeting differently – some version of it where she came in uncertain, where the distance between them felt like something that could be closed. Instead she was sitting across from him like he was a contractor she was obligated to meet with once and never again.

“I’m just saying,” he said, his voice dropping, “that you should be careful with that money. Don’t waste it on things you can’t afford to keep.”

She looked at him steadily. “Are you done?”

He was not done. But he couldn’t figure out how to say what he actually wanted to say without handing her something she’d use against him.

“The ring,” he said. “Where did it come from?”

“That’s not part of the settlement discussion.”

“Aurora-”

“Jasper.” Her voice was even. “Call your finance team in. Let’s get the transfer done.”

He pressed his mouth into a line and picked up the phone.

The finance manager came in with the figures. Aurora reviewed them without rushing, asked two precise questions, confirmed the amounts, and signed where she was asked to sign. Jasper watched her across the desk and said nothing.

The transfer went through. She checked her phone, saw the confirmation, and stood.

“Thank you,” she said, in the tone of someone thanking a bank teller.

“Aurora.”

Cluate 147 The Bottlewent

She paused at the door but didn’t turn around.

Clas

He’d meant to ask directly – *are you married?* – but the question died before it reached his mouth. Asking it felt like handing her a victory he wasn’t willing to concede.

“Don’t forget Rosalind’s support payments,” he said instead. “The schedule is monthly.”

She turned then. Just enough to look at him over her shoulder.

“Every payment, on time, as agreed.” A short pause. “Though I have to say – you’re a CEO of a company, and you’re nickel–and–diming me over pocket change. That’s a new look for you.”

She walked out.

Jasper stood at his desk and listened to the sound of the elevator arriving, the doors opening, the doors closing.

She was gone. Not just from the room – from everything. He’d known it intellectually since the divorce was finalized, but standing here now, watching the space she’d occupied for three minutes become empty again, something in his chest registered it differently.

She was really gone. Completely. And she hadn’t looked back once.

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