Second Vows Adored by the Billionaire novel Chapter 28

He called Brook directly, "Hey, wanna grab drinks at the bar?"

"This late?" Brook laughed on the other end. "Let me guess, Eloise surprised you, and now you're dying to show off?"

That only made Victor more anxious. "No. She's not back yet."

Brook went quiet for a couple of seconds. "Alright. See you at the bar in a bit."

Victor grabbed his jacket and heard a ghostly voice behind him. "Where are you going this late?"

Anita stood in the shadowy hallway—he hadn't heard her approach. She wore a white nightgown, with deep, sunken dark circles under her eyes. In the dim light, she looked gaunt and lifeless.

A chill ran down Victor's spine. "Why aren't you resting in your room? What are you doing out of bed? The doctor said you need to rest properly..."

Anita stared at him. "Victor, do you even love me anymore?"

She'd asked him that same question at least a hundred times since she woke up from the miscarriage, and Victor was getting tired of it.

He tugged at his collar impatiently. "Anita, can we please not do this again? It's my birthday today."

He didn't want to compare, especially since Anita had just lost their baby, and he knew she was going through hell.

He was hurting too. But no matter how much pain they were both in, today was still his birthday, and she hadn't even bothered to plan anything for him. Instead, she'd been throwing a tantrum and giving him the silent treatment since this morning.

He couldn't help complaining, "Eloise already left early this morning to go prepare a surprise for me."

Anita suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Let's hope she's actually preparing a surprise for you and not off screwing around somewhere."

Victor froze. His expression went ice cold in an instant. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Eloise isn't that kind of person. What are you talking about?"

Anita held up her phone and showed him a photo someone had posted on social media. "Have you even checked your feed? Someone posted pictures from the Maine sea yacht party last night. That woman right there? Isn't that Eloise?"

The Maine sea yacht party? That hit Victor like a thunderclap inside his head. He'd heard about it.

Lucas, that notorious New York playboy, had thrown the whole thing together, and practically every trust fund kid and socialite in the city had shown up.

The party was basically a symbol of elite status. Even self-made guys like Victor didn't rate an invitation, so how the hell could Eloise have been there? This had to be bullshit.

Victor grabbed the phone out of Anita's hand and stared at the photo. A good-looking guy in red swim trunks stood between two women in bikinis.

He recognized the one in the leopard print swimsuit. That was Chris, Eloise's best friend, who'd always loved hanging around the elite party scene.

Victor cut her off, "We'll talk about everything after Eloise gets back, okay?"

He practically bolted out the door, desperate to escape before Anita said something that would back him into a corner he couldn't get out of.

He'd been so determined before about wanting Eloise to terminate her pregnancy, but now, for some reason, Anita's words made him feel inexplicably disgusted. He didn't want to hear another word about it.

The front door slammed shut with a bang.

Anita stood there in the shadows, her fingers clenched tight and a twisted, malicious smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

Brook stayed with Victor and kept him company while he drank straight through until sunrise.

Victor kept pulling out his phone to check it, but the screen stayed quiet. Not even a single spam text came through.

"Let's head back. Stop waiting," Brook said, giving Victor's shoulder a reassuring pat.

Victor rubbed his temples. "From the time we started dating until now, she's always been right on time with my birthday surprises every single year. This is the only time she's been late."

Victor's brows furrowed into a hard line. He couldn't make sense of it, and his whole chest felt tight and uncomfortable.