Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 233

Chapter 198: What Martha Was Worth

(Aurora’s POV)

Patrick raised both hands immediately, the picture of a man backing away from a fire he’d accidentally started. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything. Forget I mentioned it.”

The room had gone slightly quieter. Not silent – the others were still talking, glasses still clinking – but the energy had shifted in that particular way it did when Phineas’s expression went below a certain

temperature.

I felt it.

I reached over and found his hand where it rested against his knee, and pressed my fingers into his palm.

Just once, steady and quiet.

He didn’t look at me. But some of the cold in his face eased, the set of his jaw loosening by degrees.

He nodded toward Patrick’s empty glass.

“Pour yourself one,” he said. “Consider it an apology.”

Patrick didn’t argue. He picked up the bottle, filled his glass, and drank it clean in one go. The others exhaled. Someone across the room made a joke about the efficiency, and the tension broke apart like

smoke.

Phineas’s hand turned under mine and held it.

Across the room, someone had produced a deck of cards and was already shuffling with the theatrical enthusiasm of a person three drinks in. Two of Phineas’s friends were waving him over, calling out something about needing a fourth.

Phineas looked at them, then looked at me.

He stood and drew me up with him, one hand settling at the curve of my waist as he steered us both

toward the card table.

“I don’t really know how to play,” I said quietly.

“I’ll teach you.” He bent his head close enough that his voice was only for me. “If you lose, it’s on me. If you

win, it’s yours.”

“That’s a very convenient arrangement for you,”

“It’s an extremely generous arrangement for you,” he corrected, and there was something warm

underneath the composure.

We sat down together. Someone dealt the cards.

Someone else, further back in the room, made a comment under their breath – something about finding a

private corner. I caught the tail end of it and didn’t look up.

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<Chapter 198 What Martha Was Worth

Then movement at the edge of the group. A woman I recognized pushed forward through the loose cluster of people, all bright smile and deliberate eye contact aimed directly at Phineas.

Zoey Brooks. Patrick’s cousin. I’d seen her before, briefly, at one of the earlier gatherings – the kind of woman who entered a room already calculating her angles.

Claim

“Phineas,” she said, warm and practiced, “could you teach me too? I’ve never been good at cards either.”

Patrick stepped sideways and put himself between her and the table. “Zoey.”

She ignored him. Her gaze slid to me, and the smile stayed fixed but sharpened at the edges. “I just think it’s a bit funny – if you don’t know how to play, how are you sitting at the table? Is that just how it works when you’re good at keeping the right people happy?”

The room went quiet again.

Phineas set his cards face–down on the table.

“Three minutes,” he said. He wasn’t looking at Zoey. He was looking at Patrick. “Get her out of here. Or I call the manager and have it done for you.”

“Phineas –” Zoey started.

“You have no sense of occasion.” He cut across her without raising his voice. “And you have no place at this table.” He picked his cards back up. “I’m looking at my wife. I’m not looking at anyone else. That’s the

only answer you’re getting.”

Zoey opened her mouth.

He didn’t look up again.

Patrick grabbed Zoey’s arm, his expression tight with the particular fury of someone being embarrassed by a family member in front of people who matter.

“Walk,” he said, low and hard, steering her toward the door. “Right now. Your choice whether you do it yourself or I make it worse.”

(Author’s POV)

Patrick pulled Zoey into the corridor and let the door fall shut behind them.

“What is wrong with you?” He kept his voice down, but only barely.

“I was just –”

“You were just nothing.” He turned to face her. “Do you understand where you are right now? Every family in that room has more money than yours. Every single one. And Phineas only didn’t make a scene because he was doing me a favor.”

Zoey’s chin lifted. “I just don’t see what’s so special about her.”

“That’s the wrong question.” Patrick’s voice flattened. “The right question is what’s so special about you.

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Claim

And the answer, tonight, was nothing. There have always been women trying to get near Phineas. None of them got anywhere. That ship sailed. It docked. It’s not coming back.” He pointed toward the elevator. “Go

home.”

Zoey went.

Patrick stood in the corridor for a moment, exhaling slowly, and then turned to walk back.

He almost ran directly into Jasper.

Jasper had come from the direction of the restrooms, jacket slightly loosened, the faint smell of whiskey preceding him. He was the reason for the gathering next door – bachelor party, wedding in two days. The

whole thing had the atmosphere of a formality being observed rather than a celebration being felt.

“Didn’t see you,” Patrick said.

“Likewise.” Jasper nodded toward the door Patrick had just come out of. “Everything alright?”

“Family situation. Handled.” Patrick waved it off and headed back inside.

Jasper continued down the corridor toward his own room.

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