Marry Ex's Billionaire Uncle After Divorce (Aurora and Jasper) novel Chapter 286

Chapter 251 Sharing the News

Chapter 251: Sharing the News

(Aurora’s POV)

I took a slow breath.

Then I held out my left hand.

He slid the ring onto my finger. His movements were unhurried, as if this were something that required care. When the band settled against my knuckle, his hand trembled slightly. He didn’t let go.

He looked up at me, and his voice came out rougher than usual. “Have you ever – even a little – liked me?”

My face went hot immediately. I turned away, staring at a point somewhere past his shoulder.

Several seconds passed.

“Probably,” I said, quiet enough that I could barely hear myself. “A little.”

He didn’t say anything.

He stood up, and he kissed me.

It was slow. It didn’t ask for anything. It just stayed, and stayed, and stayed.

I closed my eyes. Behind them, things replayed in fragments – Gavin handing me a business card, a

contract placed on a desk, Phineas appearing at every moment I thought I’d have to manage alone. I’d told myself I was clear-headed. I’d told myself I hadn’t fallen.

But I had. I just hadn’t been willing to say so.

When he pulled back, his forehead came to rest against mine.

“Again,” he murmured.

I didn’t refuse.

This time, I kissed him back.

When we finally separated, he bent down and lifted me into his arms without any preamble, turning toward the car with long, unhurried strides.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“The estate.” He didn’t slow down. “I’m telling my parents tonight. Properly”

(Author’s POV)

Before Phineas and Aurora arrived, Richard Rathbone and his son Stefan had already been waiting at the Everett estate for nearly three hours.

Butler Alfred had shown them into the sitting room with impeccable courtesy, offered them coffee, and then left them there. No explanation. No timeline.

Chapres 253 Sha

They sat in silence mostly, the ornate room doing nothing to put them at ease.

William Everett finally appeared looking entirely unhurried, as if he’d just come in from an evening walk. Richard stood immediately, his posture deferential in a way that sat awkwardly on a man of his standing. He was careful with his words. He placed all responsibility on Sienna – her recklessness, her poor judgment, her failure to understand proper conduct. He invoked the history between their families. He asked, with considerable delicacy, whether Phineas might be persuaded toward a more lenient resolution.

William listened. He picked up his cup, took a measured sip, and set it back down.

“I’m too old to involve myself in my son’s affairs,” he said pleasantly. Then, without raising his voice: “Though I’ve always believed the reputation of a family reflects the man at its head.”

Richard had nothing to say to that. He rose, thanked his host, and left.

William watched them go.

He exhaled slowly. The Rathbones had made a serious miscalculation. Because his son – his difficult, relentless, iron-willed son – had loved that woman down to his bones, and there was no version of this that ended gently for anyone who’d hurt her.

(Aurora’s POV)

Richard and Stefan had just cleared the front gate when Phineas’s car turned into the drive.

Richard stepped forward almost reflexively, pulling his son with him. They stopped in front of the car

Phineas got out. He looked at them the way he looked at problems he’d already solved – with cold, impatient indifference.

Richard spoke first. His voice was measured, but the ease he’d once carried was completely gone. He asked for a way through. For the company. For the family.

“Sienna broke the law,” Phineas said. “If the evidence holds, I’ll put her in court myself.”

Richard’s expression shifted. “There must be another way-”

“There is.” Phineas’s voice didn’t change. “If the Rathbone family publicly severs all legal ties with Sienna every one of them – I’ll consider leaving the company alone.”

Richard and Stefan looked at each other.

Neither spoke.

Phineas gave them a moment, then said, “The offer is on the table. What you do with it is your problem.

He turned, settled his hand against the small of my back, and walked me through the front doors.

Find us, I heard Stefan’s voice, low and uncertain, asking his father what they should do

ard didn’t answer right away.

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< Chapter 251 Sharing the News

I didn’t look back, but I heard it – the long, heavy exhale of a man who had run out of options.

“Let’s go home,” he said finally. “We’ll figure it out.”

(Author’s POV)

Phineas walked Aurora through the front doors of the estate, and William’s expression transformed instantly. One moment he’d been wearing the stern, measured face of a patriarch who’d just sent the Rathbones packing. The next, he was on his feet, both hands reaching for Aurora’s.

“You must be exhausted – was the drive too long? Have you eaten anything?”

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