Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 256

Chapter 221: The Lobster Bisque

(Author’s POV)

He had worked for Phineas Everett for six years. He had watched the man conduct billion–dollar

negotiations without blinking. He had never, not once, seen him look like that over a text message.

Whatever the CEO’s wife thought this arrangement was, Benny suspected she had significantly

underestimated her position in it.

(Aurora’s POV)

Olivia had booked a small private dining room at a restaurant tucked off the main street – the kind of place with low lighting and well–spaced tables where nobody could overhear you.

She poured us both a glass of water and looked at me with that particular expression she wore when she was about to ask something she’d already decided to ask.

“So. Phineas. How’s that actually going?”

I turned my glass on the table. “He’s been good to me. Genuinely. He’s always in my corner when it matters, and I’m grateful for that.”

“But?”

“But he keeps this – distance. Like he’s always perfectly calibrated. Just close enough that I start thinking

it’s real, and then I catch myself and have to pull back.” I shook my head. “It’s exhausting. I keep having to

remind myself what this actually is.”

Olivia tilted her head. “If I didn’t know it was a contract marriage, I’d think he was completely gone for you. The way you describe him-”

“Don’t.” My face went warm. “That’s exactly the problem. That’s what I mean.”

“Okay, okay.” She held up her hands. “But Aurora, seriously – you’re not made of stone. If he keeps doing all the right things-”

“There’s something else.” I lowered my voice. “From what I understand, he had someone. Before. A first love, a serious one. It’s part of why he’s always kept his distance from relationships. That history is still

there.”

Olivia straightened. “What happens if she comes back?”

“Then I step aside.” I said it simply. “That position was never mine to begin with. We have an agreement with a timeline. If someone from his real life walks back in, the least I can do is not be in the way.”

I meant every word. I said it calmly, the way you state a fact about someone else’s life.

Olivia looked at me for a long moment without speaking. I couldn’t read her expression exactly, but something in it made me want to change the subject.

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Chapter 221 The Lobster Bisque

“You didn’t ask me here just to check on me,” I said. “Is this about Gavin?”

Claim

She groaned and dropped her head back against the booth. “My family won’t let it go. My grandfather thinks it’s practically settled already. And honestly?” She looked at the ceiling. “I’m starting to wonder if trying to find something real in this world is just – naive. Maybe I should just sit down with Gavin and negotiate terms like a sensible adult.”

“I can’t exactly lecture you on marrying for love,” I said. “But for what it’s worth – Gavin’s not nothing. He’s

sharp, he’s composed, he shows up when it counts. He’s not the type who’s going to blow the family money at a casino and disappear for a week.”

“That is a very low bar.”

“I know. But it’s a bar a lot of people don’t clear.” I leaned forward. “Don’t decide anything tonight. Just – sit

down with him. Actually talk. Tell him what you need, what you won’t compromise on. See what he says.

Then go from there.”

Olivia was quiet for a moment. “When did you get so practical?”

“I’ve been practicing,” I said.

(Author’s POV)

Claim

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Your wife went out for the evening and didn’t bring you. Maybe focus on that

instead of calling me.”

Phineas opened his mouth to respond.

From the front of the house, the door opened.

He hung up without another word and walked to the hallway.

(Aurora’s POV)

I pushed the door open and nearly walked into him.

Phineas was standing in the entryway, hands in his pockets, looking entirely too composed for someone

who’d apparently been waiting.

I checked the clock on the wall. “It’s nine. That’s not late.”

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