Chapter 76

Chapter 76

"After this vacation ends, let's go handle the divorce."

"We agreed on one year. You're backing out now just to make things difficult for me."

Simon's eyes turned cold. "You should go."

All the stirrings in his heart vanished without a trace. At this moment, he only wanted Aurora to stay.

Aurora left without a trace of attachment.

The only topics left between them were divorce and separation.

But whose fault was that?

On the way back, Simon received a call from Yosef.

"Don't come back yet. Your parents had a fight over you and Aurora. If you come back now, there'll just be more fighting."

Simon laughed bitterly, staring at the road ahead with a moment of confusion. "So now I can't even go home."

"Whose fault is that?"

Yosef's tone was full of blame.

"Simon, don't say I didn't warn you. Blair is just like her sister—she's not ordinary. You shouldn't have gotten so involved with them! Now Aurora's been dragged into this..."

Simon fell silent. After a long while, he said, "Aurora's illness that left her unable to have children had nothing to do with Blair."

Even at that team-building event, Blair had actually saved him. She shouldn't be blamed so harshly.

Yosef huffed angrily. "You still have so much to say to me, but if you'd put any effort into protecting your marriage, it wouldn't have come to this! Let me remind you—the baby issue isn't easy to solve. You'd better figure something out."

"I'll talk to your parents. As long as you don't want a divorce, I can help you. But with Aurora, you're on your own."

With that, Yosef hung up. Simon felt irritated and pulled his car over to the side of the road.

Staring at the river view in the distance, his gaze gradually lost focus.

In winter, the streets looked bleak, and the river surface had frozen over. He stared absently at the scene, occasionally seeing a few passersby—couples or married pairs walking hand in hand, looking especially intimate.

He gripped his phone without moving. After a while, something suddenly occurred to him, and he opened an app.

Seeing an invitation sitting in his inbox, Simon paused, then clicked to find it was from Edward.

It mentioned a special party he was hosting, hoping Simon would bring Aurora.

He stared at the invitation, thought for a moment, then sent Aurora a message.

[Are you free in a few days?]

As expected, Aurora didn't reply.

He shook his phone again, not angry or annoyed, and simply took a photo of the river view in front of him and sent it to her.

Still no reply, but Simon seemed to suddenly find some leisure, sending Aurora several more messages.

Finally, she sent back a question mark, telling him to stop acting crazy.

Simon laughed out loud, resting his hand on the steering wheel and gently leaning his forehead against it.

Though Aurora didn't reply again, his mood settled considerably. He started the car and drove back to the company.

Though his relationship with Aurora was complicated, they'd been together so long that they'd developed an unspoken understanding.

At least at the Coldridge family gathering, in front of all those people, she'd never truly made him lose face.

But if you really counted the feelings between them, they definitely weren't as strong as before.

He suddenly felt confused, wondering what exactly he'd missed.

From that day on, Simon suddenly quieted down.

Several days passed without Aurora receiving any messages from him, but every day a package would arrive for her.

Gifts from Simon.

Most of the time they were accessories—expensive necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

One or two items each day, placed in a box and delivered, all requiring Aurora's signature in person.

At first, Aurora didn't think much of it, but when she returned to work at Summit Capital, Simon started sending her flowers.

A large bouquet of red roses was delivered to her office. Facing her colleagues' curious or envious looks, Aurora couldn't find a reason or opportunity to make a scene.

That would only make her seem ungrateful.

She didn't feel much about it, just found it annoying.

That evening after work, Aurora called Simon.

"Did you get the flowers I sent?"

Simon's voice held a hint of laughter, but also revealed a trace of exhaustion.

Aurora used to love his voice most, loved that tacit ambiguity when they talked on the phone, but such moments seemed to have disappeared long ago.

She said in a low voice, "Don't do this anymore. I don't need it."

"Then what do you want? Tell me, I'll buy it for you."

"Simon, I don't want anything."

Aurora's voice was flat, emotionless. "You don't need to give me anything. If you really want to give me a gift or compensate me, just sign the divorce papers."

But Simon hung up as soon as he heard that.

Aurora looked up, irritably setting her phone aside and staring at the bid proposal in front of her.

There was movement at the office door. Without looking up, Aurora said, "Come in."

"Busy?"

Daniel walked over and looked at Aurora. "How's the bid proposal coming along?"

"You have good judgment. You picked a really good one."

Aurora didn't hold back praise for her boss. "This bid is perfect. With the policy support coming in the next couple years, our investment will definitely pay off big time."

"That's exactly why I chose it, but you've been away from the company for a while, so you probably don't know about some changes we've made."

Daniel walked up to Aurora's desk.

Aurora stood up and went to get him some water.

"Do any of these changes involve me? Or is there something you need me to help with?"

As she handed the water to Daniel, Aurora looked at him directly.

She'd always been assertive at work, because in this industry, she truly had enough credibility to back it up.

Daniel shook his head. "Nothing you need to help with. Your position is the same as before."

"Then when you came to find me specifically, I thought it was..."

Aurora trailed off, noticing Daniel's gaze fall on the bouquet of flowers on her desk.

Looking at those bright red roses, Aurora frowned. "Did this behavior disturb people at the company?"

"Don't misunderstand. Employees receiving packages or flowers at the office doesn't violate company policy."

Daniel withdrew his gaze. "I just want to know what's going on between you and Simon right now."

"Do you want the truth or the polite version?"

Daniel smiled slightly. "As your boss, I'd like to hear the truth, of course."

"The truth is we've already discussed getting divorced, but he keeps refusing to agree."

Aurora patted her forehead and sat back down at her desk.

"I already called him today and told him to stop bothering me like this."