Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 233

Chapter 233 

Aurelia was the textbook definition of a workaholic. She couldn’t stop talking about work all through dinner. 

After dinner, Gideon walked them to their car himself. 

He stood there, staring after the car long after it disappeared, not budging an inch. 

Mia kept her eyes glued to the rearview mirror until Gideon was finally out of sight, then sighed. “Man, he’s hopelessly in love.” 

“What?” Aurelia looked lost. 

Mia smirked at her. “Don’t tell me you seriously haven’t noticed Gideon’s got a thing for you.” 

Aurelia was always honest with Mia. 

So she admitted, “Yeah, I can tell.” 

“So, what’s your take on it?” Mia really wanted to know what Aurelia thought. 

“Nothing, really,” Aurelia replied. 

Mia was getting impatient on her behalf. “Seriously, is chasing money the only thing you care about now? Not every guy is like Cassian. You can’t just swear off all guys because of what he did.” 

“It’s not that dramatic,” Aurelia said. “I just haven’t met anyone who makes me feel that way.” 

She wasn’t some relic from the past, and she definitely wasn’t saving herself for anyone. 

After seven years with Cassian, she was just worn out and needed a break. 

For now, she was treating herself like a houseplant, just watering herself, eating, and basking in the sunlight. 

There were no feelings, no drama, just soaking up the sunshine. 

She didn’t care about blooming or bearing fruit, wasn’t afraid of withering either. All she wanted was to dig in and focus on her own growth. 

After going through a failed relationship, she realized something important about life. 

In the end, the only person who’d stick with her through thick and thin was herself. 

Her own protection beat relying on anyone else’s roof any day. 

Aurelia was honestly done with men. “Don’t act like you don’t know how men are.” 

Mia couldn’t even argue with that. 

Truth was, she’d never run into a good one herself. 

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Chapter 233 

All she ever saw were dogs in disguise. 

Mia had meant to cheer Aurelia up, but somehow, Aurelia ended up convincing her instead. 

“Honestly, men are just so practical,” Mia said. “When they’re little, they love their moms because they need them. When they grow up, they love their dads when they need them. 

“Get married, they love their wives. Get old, they love their kids. And if their wife passes away and a nurse is taking care of them, they’ll probably end up falling for the nurse too.” 

“When you put it like that, it really doesn’t sound worth it,” Aurelia said. 

So, Mia came to a conclusion. 

“Guess being single’s the way to go. You can hook up with whoever you want,” she said. 

Aurelia couldn’t help but laugh. “You and my mom would totally vibe.” 

“Oh yeah? What does your mom say?” Mia asked. 

“She 

says the best thing about love is when it’s him, him, him, and him. All of them are head over heels for you, but you only love yourself,” Aurelia replied. 

Mia was genuinely impressed. “Your mom’s thinking is next level!” 

Just as they were pulling up to their place, Mia’s phone buzzed. 

A message popped up. 

She unlocked her phone and checked it. 

Her good mood vanished in an instant. 

‘Men, figures. Always killing the mood, Mia grumbled to herself. 

The message was from someone she’d saved as “Arturo the Jerk.” He said he was coming to Ashmont tomorrow and wanted to meet up. 

She was about to reply that she was busy. 

But he beat her to it with a follow–up message. [Grandma’s coming too.] 

Mia was speechless. 

‘Figures. The guy’s a master manipulator. He always knows exactly how to get what he wants, Mia thought. 

Meanwhile, Gideon had just gotten home and found Jasper sprawled out on the couch, playing a game. 

Hearing the noise, Jasper glanced up from his screen for a second. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting forever.” 

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Chapter 233 

“What’s up?” Gideon asked. 

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Jasper just shut off his phone, didn’t give a damn if his teammates flamed him. He was laser–focused on getting an answer. “Was what Tessa said on the phone at noon for real, or was she just messing with me?” 

He was dying of curiosity, 

He just couldn’t hold it in anymore, so he came straight to Gideon’s place to get the truth. 

Of course, he’d been trying to figure it out all day. 

After thinking it over and over, he finally came to a conclusion. 

He figured Gideon was just saying all that just to mess with Tessa. 

That was all there was to it. 

Guys always got possessive over their exes. 

After a breakup, they got hit with that ‘something’s missing‘ feeling, so they talked trash just to get a reaction out of their ex. 

“It’s all fake, right? You only said that to mess with Tessa. No way you actually like Aurelia,” Jasper said, finally relaxing after convincing himself. 

“Who told you it was fake?” Gideon took a sip of water, then answered slowly, each word clear and deliberate. 

He sounded calmer than usual, but there was a kind of certainty in his voice Jasper had never heard before. 

Jasper’s mind blanked out for a second, then suddenly it was buzzing with noise. 

His brain felt like it was about to blow up, and he just stared in shock. 

Hearing it on the phone was nothing, but having Gideon say it to his face was on a whole other level. 

He just stood there, mouth hanging open, totally speechless. 

“What about Tessa?” Jasper finally managed to get the words out. 

As soon as he found his voice, all he could think about was Tessa. 

“She’s been with you for six years! How many six years do you get in your life?” he blurted out. 

Gideon sounded cold, his face blank. “You really buy everything she says?” 

“But…” Jasper tried to protest, but nothing came out. 

Gideon cut in first. 

“So you’re saying she followed me overseas, stuck around for six years, and was totally devoted, huh?” Gideon’s eyes were icy, his tone flat. 

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Gideon’s eyes were cold, his voice thick with sarcasm. “I was in one continent, she was in another. We barely saw each other, maybe once a year if that. Are you really convinced she was following me? 

“I was gone for six years, but somehow, back home, everyone kept hearing we were still together. Did you ever stop to think how those stories kept spreading? 

“And then, after six years, right when Gold Gauntlet started running into trouble, suddenly there were rumors about us breaking up. Isn’t that a little convenient? 

“I never bothered to clear things up because I didn’t see the point, but that doesn’t mean it was ever real.” 

Jasper stammered, “Wait, are you saying those rumors were spread on purpose? That you and Tessa never even dated?” 

Gideon replied clearly, “You could say that.” 

Jasper was left reeling again. 

Two shocks in one night. He was so stunned, he felt completely numb. 

Everything he thought was real turned out to be fake. 

And the stuff he thought was fake? That was actually real. 

Jasper couldn’t even tell what was real anymore. 

Jasper felt like his brain was fried. He just couldn’t keep up. 

Right then, Gideon patted his shoulder, sounding half–comforting, half–serious. “I know your brain’s not always firing on all cylinders, but let me give you some advice: don’t go trusting everyone so easily. You might get sold out and not even know it.” 

Jasper wanted to defend Tessa, to say she wasn’t like that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it. 

His mind was in a total mess. 

“Oh, and my uncle went out of his way to set Gold Gauntlet up with a solid future. Maybe you should learn a thing or two from Aurelia and quit getting hung up on all this pointless drama. You can’t keep letting my uncle down forever, right?” Gideon said. 

Jasper just felt all kinds of frustrated inside.