Betrayed? I Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother novel Chapter 31

Chapter 31

As she spoke, Sylvia’s gaze swept over Elias.

She always said Elias and I were a match made in heaven–him gentle and easygoing, me soft–spoken and agreeable. Perfect, right? But the truth is. Elias and I have always just been good friends.

I was just about to say something when I felt it–a sharp, heavy gaze locked on me. No prizes for guessing it came from the ridiculously imposing figure seated across the table.

I pretended not to notice and smiled warmly. “Thank you for the kind wishes, but the whole divorce thing… it’s a misunderstanding. I actually cleared it up on the way over.” I kept my tone light but left no room for doubt. “I have no plans to get divorced.”

Clink.

A soft sound came from across the table–Gavin’s wine glass had tipped against his plate.

“My hand slipped,” he said, calm as ice.

But his eyes–deep, intense, sharp as blades–stayed fixed on me. Studying. Weighing.

I fought the urge to bolt right then and there. Instead, I held his gaze. Those sapphire–blue eyes…. so striking. When I was little, I used to love staring into them.

But now? As mesmerizing and hard to resist as they were, I hadn’t really looked at them in years. There was too much in them I couldn’t read anymore.

Still, there was one thing I’d never do in front of him: admit the truth about the divorce.

Never.

Sylvia looked surprised and reproached Colton, “Such a big thing, why didn’t you tell me? I even ordered a divorce celebration cake…”

“There wasn’t time.”

Colton asked nothing, only playing along for my sake. “We can still eat cake without a divorce. As long as they’re happy, right?”

Sylvia said, “True enough.”

“Thank you.”

I raised my wine glass for a light toast and took a small sip.

I set down my glass, and Gavin’s unhurried voice cut through. “You’ve improved–you can swallow your pride quite well now.”

The remark didn’t surprise me at all.

When I married years ago, Gavin had disagreed.

I was desperate to escape the Windsor family then and wouldn’t listen to reason.

Besides, I genuinely thought Zane was a good choice back then.

He disagreed, so I insisted on marrying.

Now everyone knew Zane’s true love was his sister–in–law, so naturally Gavin would mock me.

My online clarification could only fool the public, not those who really knew me. Everyone had eyes-

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Betrayed? I Upgraded to His Billionaire Brother

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Chapter 31

who couldn’t see the difference between my situation and Amelia’s?

“I had a good teacher,” I shot back without missing a beat. All I wanted was to leave, but Sylvie had put too much care into this meal to walk out. So I’d

endure.

He raised a brow, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. “That’s because you have a talent for it–swallowing your pride, I mean ”

A humorless laugh escaped me. Years apart had only sharpened his tongue. “So I should thank you for helping me discover my natural talent for enduring things I shouldn’t have to?”

I nearly gritted my teeth, but forced my expression to stay calm, my posture gracefully composed. Still–few people could get under my skin like he

did.

Elias watched our exchange with wide eyes, his gaze darting between us. “Elara, you two know each other?”

“Of course not.”

“More than just know each other.”

God… Gavin and I answered at the same time, in perfect, horrifying unison.

Every face around the table shifted through shades of shock, curiosity, and secondhand embarrassment. The silence that followed was suddenly, utterly absolute.