Betrayed? I Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother novel Chapter 237

Chapter 237

I was mortified. “We’re on… the level you just saw.”

My answer made her blink in confusion.

“Huh?” She clearly hadn’t expected someone who moved like Gavin to be… that ‘pure‘.

This was supposed to be a big bad wolf devouring a little white rabbit scenario, not something that felt almost as chaste as a schoolyard crush.

I quickly kicked off my shoes, darting to the kitchen island to pour myself a glass of water.

I drank deeply, trying to change the subject.

“I thought your flight wasn’t landing until tomorrow morning. What are you doing back today?”

I’d planned to get to bed early so I could pick her up.

Chloe gave me a look. “Have you even looked at the date?”

My oxygen–deprived brain was still catching up. I was a beat slow. “What’s the date?”

“January 25th.” She walked over and poked my forehead. “Hello? Your birthday is at midnight. There was no way I wasn’t rushing back for that.”

A guy like Gavin, with his crazy schedule, probably wouldn’t even remember my birthday.

She didn’t want me waiting alone in this apartment to ring in another year. She wanted to be with me.

She’d always been there for me.

She’d never let me be alone.

The realization dawned on me.

“Your original flight got in tomorrow morning… which is still my birthday.”

“Is it the same?”

Chloe retorted, grabbing a beer from the fridge before face–planting onto the sofa.

“I’m dead.” She’d pulled an all–nighter yesterday and rushed through a court hearing today just to get back tonight.

I could see the exhaustion on her. I shuffled over in my slippers and started kneading her shoulders and legs. “You’re the best, you know that? Are you hungry? I can order takeout.”

Chloe looked pleased with my fawning. “Nah, I’m good. Your bestie already ate dinner.”

My radar went off. “With who?” Chloe hated eating out alone. Unless absolutely necessary, she’d rather starve and order delivery at home.

She called eating by herself ‘wilderness survival.‘

Chloe’s expression sobered for a second. She glanced toward the door, not wanting to hide it from me. “Aiden.”

“Oh…” I pretended to be upset. “He knew you were landing tonight, and I didn’t.”

“Ungrateful! I was trying to surprise you!” She pinched my cheek. “And I didn’t tell him. No idea how he found out.”

Chapter 237

We took showers and curled up on the couch to watch a variety show, the easy comfort of our friendship settling back in.

Chloe was munching on a bag of chips, I’m not big on snacks, so I just watched quietly.

When something hilarious happened, we burst out laughing in perfect unison. One big reason we were such good friends was our sense of humor was totally in sync.

In the middle of an episode, Chloe’s phone alarm suddenly blared.

She didn’t even bother turning it off, instead producing a beautifully wrapped gift box from seemingly nowhere and shoving it into my hands.

“Happy birthday, my love! May everything go your way! And may your research go smoothly!”

My heart felt so full. I took the gift, a genuine smile touching my eyes. “What is it?”

Chloe made a heart shape with her fingers. “It’s my heart, full of love for you.”

“…” The cheesy line made me laugh despite myself.

“Received, received. Now, can you please go to sleep?” I’d seen how tired she was, forcing herself to stay awake just to be the first to wish me happy birthday at the stroke of midnight.

She wrapped her arms around my arm. “I want the birthday girl to sleep with me tonight.”

The clinic never scheduled appointments for me on my birthday. After I woke up, I lazed in bed for a good long while before finally heading out with Chloe–her to the law firm, me to the research institute. We all have our own beasts of burden to tame.

We’d planned to have dinner tonight with Elias to celebrate.

Staying home alone with nothing to do seemed pointless, so I went to work.

Elias saw me in the lab and couldn’t help but laugh. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t just stay home and relax.”

“Just want to get this project finished sooner,” I said with a smile, stashing my bag and jacket and heading for the lab bench.

Around noon, Elias and I came back from grabbing a quick bite downstairs to find Vera waiting outside the lab.

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