Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 201

Chapter 166: The Public Apology

(Aurora’s POV)

I arrived at the research building entrance fifty minutes early.

The same spot where Tiffany had cornered me. I stood there alone, hands in my coat pockets, watching the morning light spread across the empty plaza.

Two of the new security guards noticed me and drifted over. One of them cleared his throat.

“Ms. Caldwell, is there going to be – are we expecting any kind of physical altercation today? Because we were thinking, maybe we should have the riot gear on standby, just in case-”

I looked at him. “Do you have any snacks on you?”

He blinked. “Sorry?”

“Snacks. Chips, crackers, anything like that.” I nodded toward the convenience store across the street. “Go

grab a bag of something. Find a good spot. You’re going to want to be comfortable for this.”

He stared at me. “We’d get docked pay for eating on shift.”

I shrugged and turned back to the plaza. “Your loss.”

They hovered for another moment, then shuffled back to their post, whispering to each other. I didn’t

bother listening. I already knew exactly how this morning was going to go.

At eight–thirty on the dot, a black car pulled up.

Richard Rathbone stepped out first, straightening his jacket. Behind him came Marcus, then Zachary, then

Tiffany. They walked toward me in a loose cluster, and every single one of them looked like they’d rather be anywhere else on earth.

By then, a crowd had gathered. Colleagues who’d arrived early for work. People who’d heard something

was happening and found reasons to linger. A few who had clearly come from other floors just to watch.

Phones were already out.

Richard reached me first. He gave a polished, practiced smile.

“Ms. Caldwell. Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“You didn’t.” I smiled back, just as pleasantly. “I got here early. I was too excited to sleep in.”

The words landed exactly where I meant them to. Richard’s smile tightened. Zachary’s jaw flexed. Marcus looked like he’d bitten into something sour.

I checked my watch. “We can start.”

I held my phone out to the security guard nearest to me. “Would you mind recording this?”

He took it without a word. Around us, at least a dozen other phones were already raised.

Chapter 166 The Public Apology

Olaim

Zachary stepped forward. He had a folded piece of paper in his hand. He unfolded it, looked at it once,

then looked up at the crowd.

He took a breath.

“I, Zachary Rathbone, acknowledge that I failed to instill proper values in my son.” His voice was flat, like someone reading a grocery list. “My son Quentin’s behavior caused significant distress to Leo Caldwell and disrupted the school community. I also acknowledge that I used inappropriate personal pressure and

threats against Ms. Aurora Caldwell, which was wrong, and I apologize for it.”

Every word was loud enough to carry. The plaza was very quiet.

Then Tiffany stepped forward.

She didn’t look at me. Her eyes were fixed on the ground somewhere between us. She held her own paper

in both hands, and her knuckles were pale.

“I owe Ms. Aurora Caldwell an apology.” Her voice was low but steady. “I acted on incomplete information. I assumed things about her that were not true, and I confronted her publicly in a way that was unjust. I’m

sorry.”

She gave a stiff nod. Barely a dip of her chin.

I waited until the silence had stretched for two full seconds.

Then I reached into the bag at my side and pulled out the large black coffee I’d bought on the way in. Still

hot. I’d made sure of that.

I walked over to Tiffany.

“I bought this for you,” I said. “Seemed fair, since you were the one who got a drink thrown at her last time.”

Tiffany looked up at me. Something shifted in her eyes.

“But since your husband spoke for both of you today,” I said, turning to Zachary, “he can take it.”

I threw the entire cup at him.

The coffee hit his chest and soaked straight through his white shirt. He went completely rigid. His fists clenched at his sides. The cameras were still rolling, and everyone knew it, and so he stood there with his teeth pressed together and his face doing something complicated and ugly, and finally forced out a sound

that was meant to be a laugh.

“It’s fine,” he said. “No problem.”

I handed my phone back to the guard, picked up my bag, and walked toward the entrance.

Behind me, I heard Tiffany’s voice. Very quiet.

“Thank you.”

I didn’t turn around. I badged through the door and headed for the elevator.

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Chapter 166 The Public Apology

(Author’s POV)

The applause started before the elevator doors opened.

It was spontaneous – a few people clapping, then more joining in, rippling through the lobby and out to the

edge of the crowd still gathered by the entrance. Someone said she was unbelievable. Someone else said

Phineas moved fast. A third person was already typing something on their phone.

Harrison Cole stood at the edge of the group and watched Aurora step into the elevator. He watched the

doors close behind her. He watched the floor indicator climb.

He stood there for a moment after everyone else had already moved on.

He’d managed her onboarding paperwork himself. He’d reviewed her credentials, assigned her projects,

sat across from her in meetings. He’d thought he had a reasonable read on her.

He was starting to think he’d been wrong about that.

Outside, Zachary looked down at his ruined shirt.

The coffee had already gone cold against his skin. The apology was done. The video would go up. The Rathbone Group account would repost it, as agreed. He’d done everything that was asked of him, and he’d

done it in front of an audience, and he’d stood there and taken a cup of scalding coffee to the chest

without being able to do a single thing about it.

He turned to Tiffany.

“Tomorrow morning,” he said. “You go file the papers.”

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