Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 192

(Aurora’s POV)

Tiffany didn’t sit. “I want to know what grounds you had for expelling my son. Quentin has been on the honor roll for three consecutive semesters. His academic record is spotless.”

“I’m aware of his academic record.”

“Then you know this decision makes no sense.” She pressed both hands flat on his desk. “And I want to talk about the bruises on his face. He told me he fell, but I know my son. Someone hit him. He was assaulted on school property, and instead of protecting him, you expelled him. That’s not just wrong – it’s negligent. I’ll be taking this to the district board.”

Mr. Zimmer let her finish. Then he reached into his desk drawer and set a phone on the table between them.

“Before you do that,” he said, “I’d like you to watch something. Out of respect for Quentin, this footage hasn’t been shared publicly. Both families have seen it. That’s all.”

Tiffany picked up the phone.

The video was forty–three seconds long.

She watched it once. Then she watched it again, because the first time she’d been certain she was missing something – some context, some angle that would reframe what she was seeing. But there was no other angle. The footage showed Quentin approaching Leo Caldwell in the hallway with two other boys flanking him. It showed Quentin leaning in close, saying something. It showed Leo’s jaw tighten. And then it showed Quentin, loud enough that the microphone picked it up clearly, saying things about Leo’s sister that made Tiffany’s stomach drop.

She set the phone down.

She wanted to say something. She opened her mouth twice. Nothing came out.

“Even if Quentin made a mistake,” she finally managed, “expulsion is excessive. It’ll affect his transfer applications. Surely there’s another option – suspension, community service-”

“Mrs. Rathbone.” Mr. Zimmer’s voice was not unkind, but it was firm. “This wasn’t an isolated incident. Quentin has been using his family’s position to intimidate other students for over a year. The other children tolerated it. This time, the student he targeted didn’t.”

“So the student who hit him just gets to walk away?”

“Leo received his own consequences. But Quentin also threw punches – it’s on the same footage. The school holds both students accountable.” Mr. Zimmer stood. “What I’d encourage you to focus on, Mrs. Rathbone, is not the grades. Quentin is a bright kid. But a child’s character matters as much as his GPA, and right now, there’s a gap there that needs attention.” He moved toward the door. “His belongings are in

Chanter 15 Her Names Autora

his locker. You’re welcome to collect them today.”

Tiffany walked out of the building with her handbag clutched against her side and her face burning.

She stood on the pavement outside the school gates and called Quentin.

She heard it immediately – the rapid clicking of a keyboard, the low hum of a game in progress.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Still at school.” His voice was flat, distracted. “Why?”

“Don’t lie to me.” Her voice cracked on the last word. “You were expelled this morning. I just came from Mr. Zimmer’s office. Where are you?”

A pause. The keyboard sounds stopped.

“Friend’s place,” Quentin said. Then, without any particular remorse: “It’s not my fault. It’s that Leo Caldwell. His sister’s the one who got me expelled.”

“His sister.”

“She’s got connections or something. I don’t know. She pulled strings.” He sounded more annoyed than sorry. “Tell Dad when he gets home. Maybe he can fix it.”

“And if I can’t fix it?” Tiffany asked. “What then?”

Quentin was quiet for a moment. “I mean – you probably can’t,” he said. “You don’t really have that kind of pull, do you?”

She stood there on the pavement for a long time after she hung up.

She’d left her career to raise him. She’d given up a decade of her life, and in her son’s estimation, she didn’t have pull. She couldn’t fix things. She was a variable he’d already dismissed.

She called in a favor from a contact she’d kept from her old social circle – someone who could pull background information discreetly. The results came back within the hour: Leo Caldwell, seventeen, high school junior. Father deceased. Raised by his mother. One older sister, recently divorced.

There was a photo attached.

Tiffany stared at it.

She knew that face.

Not from the divorce announcement that had briefly circulated in certain social circles, and not from any formal introduction. She knew it because Zachary had mentioned it – casually, in that particular way he used when he was trying to seem casual – more than once in the past few months. A researcher at some biotech firm. Very talented, apparently. Very impressive.

She’d thought nothing of it at the time.

She thought about it now.

1 Chapter 15.

The Menge is Aurcia

The school reversal. The expulsion that had come out of nowhere, overturning what had initially seemed

like a straightforward outcome. Zachary had known about it before she did. He hadn’t told her. He’d let her find out from a teacher calling about a water bottle.

Tiffany sat in her car and felt the pieces rearrange themselves into a shape she didn’t want to look at directly.

Zachary had known. Zachary had stayed quiet. And the person who’d benefited was the sister of the boy her son had been targeting – a woman whose face her husband apparently knew well enough to mention by name.

She wasn’t powerful. She wasn’t connected. She was just the woman Zachary had decided to protect. Tiffany pressed her fingers against her eyes. Her family had lost most of their assets three years ago. She had no independent income, no fallback, no leverage. If Zachary decided to leave, she had nothing. She couldn’t afford to push. She couldn’t afford to confront him, because confrontation might give him the opening he was looking for.

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