Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 234

(Author’s POV)

The whiskey had been doing its job for most of the evening, keeping the edges blurred, keeping the

thoughts at a manageable distance. But somewhere between the restroom and the corridor it had started losing ground, and the thing it had been holding back was surfacing again without permission.

A voice. Her voice. *Do you want something to drink? It might help.*

He pushed through the door to the terrace and let the night air hit him.

He lit a cigarette and stood at the railing. The city spread out below, indifferent and bright. He smoked

slowly and let the wind do what the whiskey couldn’t – clear his head, or at least give it somewhere to look

that wasn’t inward.

Two days. Then it was done, and this particular chapter would be closed in every legal and social sense

that mattered.

He finished the cigarette, flicked it away, and straightened his collar.

(Aurora’s POV)

I won four hands in a row.

The fourth one made Phineas’s friends groan loud enough to draw looks from across the room, and I

decided that was the right moment to stop.

“I’m done,” I said, setting my cards down.

“She’s walking away while she’s ahead,” someone announced to the table. “Ruthless.”

Phineas was already standing, one hand at my back, steering us toward the door with a composure that

was doing very little to hide how pleased he was.

“Beginner’s luck,” he said, to no one in particular, “belonging entirely to my wife.”

“You literally just said the winnings were hers if she won,” someone called after us.

“That’s what I said,” Phineas agreed, and closed the door.

We walked toward the end of the corridor. He waited outside while I stepped into the restroom, and when

I came back out he was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, the faint smell of whiskey still on him from the evening.

I reached for his hand to leave.

He didn’t move.

I looked up.

His gaze had dropped to my mouth, and there was something unhurried and deliberate in his expression.

< Chapter 199 Familiar

“How’s your tolerance?” he asked.

“One glass and I’m done,” I said. “Why?”

“Just checking.”

Claim

He caught my hand before I could pull it back, turned it, and walked me gently backward until the wall was

behind me and he was in front of me, one hand curved under my jaw, tilting my face up.

“Phineas –” I started.

He kissed me.

Not quickly. Not the kind of kiss that was over before it registered. His thumb pressed lightly against my

chin and he kissed me like we had all the time in the world and the corridor was entirely private, and my heart was doing something completely unreasonable in my chest.

“Someone will see,” I managed, against his mouth.

He didn’t stop.

(Author’s POV)

Jasper stepped off the terrace and back into the corridor.

At the far end, a woman was pressed between the wall and a tall man who had her entirely enclosed, his

back to the corridor, blocking her from view. Jasper heard her voice – low, a little breathless – saying

something about someone coming.

The man didn’t move.

Then, slowly, he lifted his head and looked down the corridor. His eyes found Jasper’s, and his expression was cool and entirely unbothered.

“Never seen people kiss before?” Phineas said. “Or do you just find it particularly interesting?”

Jasper cleared his throat. “No. Sorry. I just thought I recognized someone.”

“You’ve seen enough.” Phineas’s gaze stayed flat. “Go back to your room.”

“Right.” Jasper turned and walked away at a pace that was almost natural.

He didn’t look back.

The woman’s voice had been low, half–muffled, and he’d only caught the shape of her from a distance – small, dark hair, held close. He’d had one clear thought before Phineas had looked up: *she looks like

Aurora.*

He almost laughed at himself.

He shook his head once and kept walking.

He’d had too much to drink. That was all.

213

< Chapter 199 Familiar (Aurora’s POV)

Jasper disappeared back into his private room, and only then did I lift my head from Phineas’s chest.

My face was burning. I pressed my fingers against my cheeks and felt the heat radiating off them.

“That was so embarrassing,” I muttered. “We almost got caught. What were you thinking?”

Claim

Phineas looked down at me, unhurried, and ran his tongue slowly along the corner of his mouth. There

was not a single trace of remorse on his face.

“Well continue when we get home,” he said.

Before I could respond, he bent and scooped me up, one arm under my knees and one at my back, and

started walking toward the exit with long, even strides.

I grabbed his neck on instinct, my heart lurching.

“Put me down,” I hissed. “People will see.”

‘Let them.”

‘Phineas –”

‘Mrs. Everett performed exceptionally well tonight.” His voice was low, and the amusement in it was

entirely deliberate. “She deserves a proper reward.”

‘That is not a reason to carry me through a hotel corridor.”

He didn’t put me down.

The elevator arrived. He stepped in without breaking stride.

I stopped arguing.

He settled me into the back seat of the car, then slid in beside me. His hand found the console panel

between the seats, and the partition rose without a sound, sealing us off from the driver.

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