Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 207

Chapter 172: A Stranger In The Corridor

(Author’s POV)

On the other side of the city, in the atrium of a shopping center, Phineas stood in the corridor outside the

bridal boutique, Aurora’s clutch tucked under one arm, his phone in his other hand.

He was scrolling through a message from Benny when something small and fast hit him squarely in the

leg.

The impact was enough to knock whoever it was backward. He looked down.

A little girl sat on the floor, blinking up at him. She had a high ponytail, a pink jacket, and the particular

expression of someone who was furious but also on the verge of tears and couldn’t decide which to lead

with.

Phineas recognized her in under a second.

He didn’t let it show. He pocketed his phone, crouched down, hooked one hand under her arm, and set her

back on her feet with the efficiency of someone relocating a piece of furniture. Then he stepped back,

putting a clear distance between them, and returned his attention to his phone.

Rosalind stared at him.

“You’re rude,” she announced.

He didn’t look up.

She huffed, flipped her ponytail, and marched into the boutique next door.

Inside the fitting room of the women’s clothing store, Victoria Everett was turning slowly in front of a mirror, assessing a wrap dress in deep burgundy.

The door rattled.

“Grandma.” Rosalind’s voice came through the panel, sharp and indignant. “Grandma, come out. There’s a man outside and he was horrible to me and you need to come say something to him.”

“Sit down and wait,” Victoria said. “I’ll be a moment.”

“Grandma-”

“Rosalind.”

A sulky silence followed.

Victoria finished her assessment, decided she liked the dress, and pushed the door open. She hadn’t even turned to look at the mirror properly before Rosalind grabbed her hand and pulled.

By the time the two of them reached the entrance and looked out into the corridor, it was empty.

Victoria crouched down to Rosalind’s level. “All right. What exactly did this man do?”

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Rosalind crossed her arms. “I fell down and he picked me up but he was rough about it. He hurt my arm.

And he didn’t even say sorry.”

“Did he actually hurt you, or did he just not say sorry?”

Rosalind considered this with the seriousness of a small judge. “Both.”

Victoria pressed her lips together to suppress a smile. “And what did he look like?”

“Tall. And mean.” Rosalind thought for a moment. “He had a bag. A small one. Like a clutch.” She frowned.

“It looked exactly like Mama’s.”

The word came out before she caught it. She slapped her hand over her mouth.

Victoria watched her granddaughter’s expression cycle through something complicated – embarrassment,

then a flash of something softer that she quickly buried.

“That style is popular this season,” Victoria said mildly. “Half the women in this city have the same one.”

She stood and held out her hand. “Come back inside and tell me which dress you think suits me better. I

need a second opinion.”

Rosalind let herself be redirected. But her eyes drifted once more toward the empty corridor before she

followed her grandmother back in.

Around the corner, the elevator doors were just closing.

Phineas stood with his arm around Aurora’s waist. They were the only two people in the car.

“I think I saw your daughter,” he said.

Aurora looked up. “Where?”

“She ran into me in the corridor. Outside the boutique.” He paused. “She fell. She’s fine.”

Aurora’s brow creased. She was quiet for a moment.

“She would have had someone with her,” she said finally. “She’s always supervised when she goes out.

She’ll be all right.”

Phineas glanced at her sidelong. “Do you want to go up and see her?”

Aurora shook her head.

The movement was small and quick, like she’d made the decision before he finished asking.

“No.” She looked at the elevator doors. A beat passed. “She has a new mother now. If I show up, it just – it confuses her. It’s not fair to her.”

She said it evenly, the way she said most difficult things. Like she’d already processed it, already put it somewhere manageable.

But the smile that crossed her face was the kind that had something quietly breaking behind it.

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Chapter 172 A Stranger In The Corridor

Phineas didn’t ask anything else.

He pulled her closer, his hand settling more firmly against her side, and held on.

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Across town, in a smaller apartment with a smaller kitchen, Martha had not seen Leo in two weeks.

She stood in the doorway of the living room and watched him drop his bag on the couch. He looked the

same – same height, same face – but something about him was different. Quieter. His eyes had changed.

“You look thin,” she said. “Are you eating enough at school?”

“I’m fine.”

“The pressure getting to you? Because I can talk to someone at the school if you need-”

“Mom.” He sat down and pulled out his phone. “I’m fine.”

She hovered. She couldn’t help it. Leo’s education was the one thing she had done right, the one area where she felt she had earned something. She asked about his credit card, whether the limit was enough, whether he needed her to transfer more.

He said it was fine. He said he’d been applying to skip ahead to junior year, that the coursework was heavy,

that was why he hadn’t been home.

She couldn’t help him with any of that. She knew it. So she just said, “Okay.”

She almost told him to go ask Aurora for help. The words were right there. But she swallowed them and

came at it sideways instead.

“Have you seen your sister lately?”

Leo looked up from his phone. His voice was flat. “No.”

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