Second Vows Adored by the Billionaire novel Chapter 32

He did feel brushed off and honestly kind of insulted. Eloise clearly didn't care about him the way she used to anymore.

But when he met her eyes, when he saw how red and defiant they looked but also how much hurt seemed to be hiding there, all those accusations and complaints he'd been ready to throw at her got stuck in his throat.

In just a few days, she really had gotten darker and thinner, and her voice sounded hoarse.

"I... Of course I don't look down on it!" Victor almost instinctively swallowed his irritation and rushed forward to grab Eloise's hand. "The fact that you went to the Rockies for me means more than anything else! And you were sick but still tried to find something for me. I just need you to come back safe and sound. Nothing matters more than you being okay."

Eloise stared into his eyes, and her tone stayed level. "I knew you weren't that shallow. I'm tired, so I'm going upstairs to rest now."

Victor opened his mouth but said nothing.

Eloise had eaten her fill, and now she headed straight upstairs.

Anita glared at her retreating back, and the anger inside her flared up even hotter. "Victor, you actually believe that pathetic lie? She obviously didn't go anywhere—"

"Eloise doesn't lie." Victor didn't look away from the stairs until Eloise disappeared around the corner. Only then did he slowly turn to face Anita.

"She doesn't have parents. In this whole world, aside from her grandfather back in her hometown, she only has me. I'm everything to her. She'd do anything for me, and I don't doubt that for a second."

Anita stared at Victor in disbelief. The man standing in front of her looked just as refined and handsome as always, exactly the way she remembered him.

But right now, even though he was right there in front of her, he felt like a complete stranger. His heart seemed to be leaning more and more toward Eloise.

Anita dug her nails deep into her palms and forced down the resentment rising in her chest. This time, she didn't ask that question about whether or not he loved her.

"In all these years, you've never once visited her hometown, let alone met her grandfather. She told you she had no family, and you just believed her?"

"She cut ties with her hometown to marry me." Bringing this up only made Victor feel more guilty. "She's always wanted a family so badly... maybe... I should let her keep the baby."

Anita's eyes widened in shock. She covered her face with her hands and ran out of the room, but for the first time ever, Victor didn't chase after her.

*****

Eloise rushed upstairs and locked the door behind her. She covered her mouth to stifle her laughter and immediately pulled out her phone to share her victory with Chris.

Chris: [I'm shocked! Jeez! How full of himself does he have to be to actually believe that tree root was some amazing gift you brought back from the Rockies?]

Eloise: [Just shows how completely he's bought into this devoted wife act I've been putting on all these years.]

Chris: [Kick his ass to the curb already and make him regret everything!]

Eloise: [Soon. Six more days.]

Chris: [You threw out all the souvenirs and moved your paintings out, and that piece of shit still hasn't noticed?]

Eloise: [Nope. I was the only one who ever looked at those souvenirs anyway. As for my paintings? He said they were "too artsy," couldn't understand a single one, and never bothered to care.]

Chris: [This is driving me crazy! A genius painter like you marrying him? That's such a waste!]

Right then, a notification from Lucas popped up next to her chat with Chris.

Lucas: [Girl, that painting you had on consignment at my gallery, Despair? Some mystery collector just bought it for a million dollars.]

Eloise's heart jumped. Despair was something she'd painted when she was eighteen years old.

He used to worry about how the company kept growing while she remained the legal owner.

But now, the more insistent Eloise was about transferring it to him, the deeper that nameless panic in his chest became.

"Eloise..." Victor reached out to put his arm around her shoulders, but she smoothly shifted away. "You just got back from such an exhausting trip. Why don't we hold off on the ownership transfer? Tomorrow I'll go with you to the hospital first so we can check on the baby, okay?"

Eloise's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and her voice came out slightly rough. "The transfer paperwork won't take long, and it won't interfere with the hospital visit. If you're too busy, I can just go by myself."

Victor's warm hand covered hers. "No way, I'm coming with you. Anita just lost her baby, so we need to be extra careful. I can't let you be careless like she was."

Eloise's heart sank hard. She'd been wondering why he suddenly seemed so interested in this baby, thinking maybe he actually cared about the child she was carrying.

But now she understood everything. That phone call on the yacht, when he'd demanded to know if she'd taken her pills, the barely controlled rage in his voice.

It had all been because Anita lost her baby. So now the one in her belly suddenly mattered again. She was the backup plan.

Both she and the baby inside her would always be nothing more than Victor's second choice.

Eloise's lips twisted into a mocking smile. "Didn't you say before that my anemia was too severe and I shouldn't get pregnant?"

Victor didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed. "I talked to Brook about it. He said as long as you're careful during the pregnancy and get regular checkups, it should be fine. Medical technology's come a long way."

Eloise's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Oh really? So now you're okay with me suffering through pregnancy? You used to always say you couldn't bear to put me through that, and you'd rather we adopt..."

Victor gave an awkward laugh. "Of course I still hate the idea of you suffering. But since you're already pregnant, we obviously need to keep it. Besides, you don't have any family left in this world, so having your own flesh and blood would be good for you. Give you someone, you know?"

Eloise's entire body went rigid. Her chest felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer, and a suffocating pain spread through her instantly.