Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 273

Chapter 238: Mrs. Phineas Everett

(Aurora’s POV)

“I’m devastated,” said a third.

+25 Points

I laughed and told them to drop it. It was a small thing – the kind of thing that used to happen occasionally back in university, before marriage, before Rosalind, before everything got complicated. I hadn’t thought about it in years. I tucked it away as a minor footnote to the

afternoon and didn’t give it another thought.

Until dinner.

Phineas had arranged a group dinner for the whole team. Long tables, good food, the kind of easy noise that builds when people are finally off the clock. I was talking to someone across from me when I heard someone a few seats down mention the shop, the cashier, the i********: request.

I didn’t look at Phineas. I focused very hard on the bread basket.

But I felt his gaze.

When I finally did glance over, he was already watching me. One elbow on the table, wine glass loose in his hand, and that expression – the one that was barely a smile but somehow conveyed an

entire opinion.

I looked away immediately.

My stomach dropped slightly. I knew that look. That look meant tonight was going to be a

problem.

I was right.

After dinner, I turned down the invitation to walk along the lake. “Project’s behind,” I said, which was true enough. I made it all the way to my door, had my keycard out, was half a second from swiping it – and then an arm came around my waist from behind and I was steered, without ceremony, directly into the room next door.

The door had barely clicked shut before he kissed me. It wasn’t gentle. There was something possessive in it, something that had been building since dinner, and at one point his teeth caught my lower lip hard enough that I felt a sharp sting. He pulled back immediately after, like he’d surprised himself, and then the kiss changed – slower, careful, almost an apology.

Much later, his voice rough, he asked, “Did you give anyone your number today?”

“No.”

“Good.” He exhaled. “Because I was genuinely losing my mind a little.”

搖

Chouter 73 Mix Phines Eyemati

“Over an i********: request you weren’t even there for?”

+25 Points

“Someone told me at dinner.” He didn’t sound apologetic. “I’m telling you, if you’d actually given someone your number, I would have – I don’t know. Something unreasonable.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “That’s a you problem.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed, and gathered me up to carry me to the bathroom.

He turned on the shower, pushed the window open a few inches to let the night air in, and I stood there letting the warm water run over me while he stood behind me and said nothing, which was somehow more effective than anything he could have said.

The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed and full daylight.

I shuffled to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and felt my stomach fall straight through the floor.

My neck. Three distinct marks, high enough that no collar would hide them, dark enough that! already knew concealer wasn’t going to touch it.

I had colleagues to face today.

I wrapped myself in the bathrobe, walked into the living room, and found Phineas sitting on the sofa with his laptop open and one earbud in.

“Go get my clothes from the other room,” I said.

He pulled out one earbud and smiled at me. “Give me a few minutes. I’m in a meeting.”

I looked at the laptop screen.

Four senior executives looked back at me.

The silence lasted approximately one full second before I clapped my hand over my mouth, spun

around, walked directly back into the bedroom, and pulled the duvet over my head.

I stayed there for several minutes. The duvet was very soft. I considered living inside it permanently.

My phone started buzzing.

I surfaced enough to look at it. The department w******p group was moving fast.

*heard Mrs. Everett is here for the retreat??*

*wait WHAT*

*apparently staying in the presidential suite*

*ok but who IS she*

*could be someone internal tbh*

Chuple 258 Mpa Plumen Pirell

*no way*

*actually… think about it. who in our department is even that-*

I typed quickly: *No way…*

A beat. Then one of my colleagues – the methodical one, the one who color-coded his lab notes – weighed in with what I could only describe as a formal analysis.

*Okay let’s be logical. Good-looking women in our department: not many. Best candidate on paper? Aurora. But Aurora’s already married, so she’s out. Conclusion: not one of ours.*

I stared at that paragraph for a long time.

I was, simultaneously, deeply relieved and profoundly offended by the reasoning.

Half an hour later, Phineas’s meeting ended. He came into the bedroom, and I was sitting up against the headboard with my arms crossed.

“You could have warned me,” I said.

“You walked in. I didn’t have time.”

“You had time to smile at me.”

***

1

Comments

LUCK DRAW >

H

Vote

329