Second Vows Adored by the Billionaire novel Chapter 31

Eloise caught the flash of greed in his eyes and had to bite back a cold laugh. She knew exactly what he was hoping for, but she didn't move an inch.

Instead, she sat there calmly, eating her food slowly, showing absolutely no sign of getting up.

Anita leaned against the railing and stared at Eloise's unbothered expression. Her nails dug deep into her palms.

The thought of it made her furious. Those abortion pills Victor had prepared for Eloise, the ones she'd greedily swallowed herself, thinking they were some expensive supplement. Because of that stupid mistake, she'd lost the baby boy that had already been forming inside her.

Every time she thought about it, she wanted to grind her teeth into dust. And watching Victor's eyes stay glued to Eloise's face from the moment she'd walked in the door only made Anita hate her more.

She couldn't help herself. She walked over with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Eloise, did you really go all the way to the Rockies for Mr. Clarkson? That must've been exhausting. We're all dying to see what you brought back."

All three of them stared at her now, waiting to see what she'd do next.

Eloise's gaze swept across their faces, one by one, and she saw the same exact thing in all their eyes—greed and anticipation. She couldn't help the cold laugh that rose up inside her.

Finally, she stood up and walked over to her luggage.

She pulled out a small, irregularly shaped object wrapped in plain cloth and held it out to Victor.

"Sorry, Victor," she said, her voice still hoarse. "I got sick the second I reached the base of the Rockies. I was flat on my back for two days and didn't have the strength to climb.

"I just looked around the area nearby and dug this up. The locals said anything from around the Rockies has medicinal properties, so I guess it's got some of that mountain energy in it, right?"

"Eloise!" Anita's voice rang out sharp and pointed, dripping with exaggerated shock and barely concealed glee. "Mr. Clarkson bragged to all his friends that you were going to bring him rare alpine bearberries from the Rockies! If you show up with this... you're making him look like a complete fool in front of everyone! That's just—"

Before Anita could finish, Eloise shot to her feet. Her gaze cut toward Anita like a blade of ice, and she interrupted coldly, "This root? I dug this up myself at the base of the Rockies while I was freezing my ass off and sick with a fever so bad I could barely see straight!

"Just because they're not expensive or pretty, just because they're not some precious rare herb, that means my effort doesn't matter? My intentions are worthless?"

She whipped around to face Victor, and her voice dropped low but stayed crystal clear. "Victor, you tell me right now. Do you think what I did means nothing? Do you look down on this too?"

Eloise had never raised her voice like this before, and she'd definitely never confronted Victor so directly.

Victor stood there gripping that ugly root in his hand, and the initial surge of humiliation and anger nearly overwhelmed him.