Second Vows Adored by the Billionaire novel Chapter 33

So he'd known all along.

He'd known perfectly well how desperately she wanted a child of her own, how much she craved that blood connection to someone.

But for five whole years, he'd let Anita get pregnant over and over again while he secretly slipped birth control pills into her vitamin bottles.

And even now, the only reason he wanted her to have this baby was that Anita had miscarried. It had nothing to do with love. He just wanted his bloodline, and it didn't matter who gave birth to it.

Eloise's chest felt tight, and she couldn't speak.

Victor was about to say something when his phone suddenly rang. It was Brook. "Victor! Get to the bar right now! I just saw Anita drinking with some hot guy. She had a miscarriage like three days ago! This is insane!"

Victor immediately stood up and walked to the side, but Brook's voice was loud enough that Eloise heard every word.

"What?! I'm on my way!" Victor's face darkened instantly, and he ended the call, grabbed his jacket, and rushed toward the door.

He only seemed to remember she existed when his hand hit the doorknob. He turned around quickly. "Something came up. I'll be back soon!"

The door slammed shut with a bang.

Eloise stared blankly at the closed door for a long moment, then slowly turned her gaze to the empty nightstand.

So it turned out Anita had taken the bait and swallowed those pills Eloise had deliberately left behind.

When Eloise heard about Anita's miscarriage, she felt nothing. Not a flicker of emotion. Just emptiness.

Anita's baby was her own doing, her own fault. But the child in Eloise's womb, the one whose fate was still uncertain, that was entirely Anita's doing.

Just thinking about it made Eloise's chest tighten with pain. She leaned back against the headboard, her hand resting gently on her slightly rounded belly as silent tears slid down her cheeks.

Her phone buzzed. It was a message from Orion, her arranged fiancé: [Six days left. Want me to pick you up in New York?]

Eloise stared at the screen for a moment.

God, what a stiff and cold way to talk. He sounds like some emotionless old man.

She clicked into his Instagram profile and scrolled through it. Other than his profile picture, which had recently changed to a photo of an Alaskan Malamute running through a field, everything else was completely blank.

It had no photo, no bio, no posts—nothing.

Was this really what the rest of her life was going to look like? Even without love, did she really have to spend the rest of her days with someone this boring?

Eloise suddenly felt a wave of dread about the endless, colorless future stretching out ahead of her.

After hesitating for a long time, her fingers finally typed out a message on the screen: [About the arranged marriage... could we maybe wait a bit longer? I need some time to think it over.]

She and Orion barely ever talked. They'd been following each other on Instagram for five years now, but their entire chat history added up to less than five messages total.

The first message she'd ever sent him was five years ago, right when she'd decided to defy her grandfather and run off to be with Victor.

She'd texted him from the airport: [I'm sorry, but I found real love. I can't go through with an arranged marriage. Please find someone else.]

The guy had responded with exactly one word: [Okay.]

Now, after she sent this new message, about ten minutes passed before he replied. Once again, just one word: [Okay.]

Short and simple, completely emotionless. It felt like they were negotiating some kind of business transaction, not discussing their future marriage.

God, he is cold.

Even through the phone screen, Eloise could already imagine how suffocating it would be to actually marry this guy and live under the same roof.

Victor used to be so different, though. He'd respond to everything she said, constantly sweet-talking her and making her feel like she was living in a fairy tale.

But the truth? He'd been keeping another woman on the side the whole time. She'd dreamed of spending her life with just him, but he turned it into a permanent threesome.

So honestly, what kind of man she ended up with probably didn't matter in the end. They were all the same. But at least an arranged marriage guaranteed that her family's interests would be protected.

Eloise suddenly felt a pang of regret about the message she'd just sent, but whatever. It was already out there, and she wasn't about to unsend it.

Screw it. It's an arranged marriage anyway.

As long as the family benefits lined up, it didn't really matter who she ended up with.

Victor got the message. He gently eased Anita off him and laid her down on the couch, then took off his suit jacket and draped it over her like a blanket before following Brook out to the hallway.

Brook pulled out his cigarettes and lit one for Victor, then one for himself. He took a long drag and blew out a smoke ring.

"Victor, I'm gonna be real with you," Brook said with a frown. "I can't keep watching this anymore. What the hell has Eloise ever done wrong? She loves you with everything she's got. She's done so much for you, and what does she get in return? A title on paper and nothing else. Meanwhile, Anita gets everything that actually matters."

Brook paused, taking another drag. "You just promised Anita you'd make Eloise get an abortion. Eloise hasn't done anything wrong. Don't you think you're going too far?"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Victor leaned back against the wall, exhausted. Through the smoke curling around his face, he gave a bitter smile.

"Anita's got a temper. If I don't give her what she wants, she threatens to kill herself. Eloise isn't like that. She's always been reasonable and easy to deal with. I can smooth things over with her after the abortion, and she'll get past it. Besides, her health is really too fragile for pregnancy..."

"I've told you a million times, anemia does make pregnancy harder, but it doesn't mean she can't have kids." Brook's brow furrowed. "You know what they say about the squeaky wheel getting the grease? Well, what about the one that never makes a sound? Does she deserve to get screwed over just because she doesn't throw tantrums?"

Brook was Victor's best friend, and over the years, he'd watched him juggle these two women.

Every single time there was a conflict, Victor's scales tipped toward Anita. But did being sweet and understanding mean a woman deserved to be treated like garbage?

Brook wasn't claiming to be some kind of saint himself, but this had gone too far. He couldn't just stand by and watch anymore.

Victor went silent. He stared at the ground for a long moment before finally speaking. "When Anita's pissed off, she's capable of anything. But Eloise has been devoted to me for years. There's no way she'd suddenly start screaming at me or demand a divorce without even trying to work things out."

Brook couldn't take it anymore. He let out a sharp laugh. "Eloise doesn't have parents or family to back her up, that's all. She doesn't owe you anything."

He paused, then couldn't help adding, "And don't forget, Anita's the one who almost destroyed your career back in the day. If Eloise hadn't borrowed money from everyone she knew and taken out those loan shark loans to help you start your business, you'd probably still be stuck in that mess."

Victor pressed his fingers against his temples, clearly irritated. "Brook, you've had too much to drink tonight. You're talking too much."

Brook knew Victor wasn't going to listen, but he couldn't help pushing one more time. "I just think this is completely unfair to Eloise. One of these days, you're gonna push her too far, and even if she doesn't have family, karma's gonna come for you."

"Well said."

A tall figure stood at the end of the hallway with one hand in his pocket, his eyes cold and his voice low and smooth.

Victor and Brook both froze. They looked up in confusion, and when they saw who it was, their hearts dropped. Their hands started shaking before they could stop themselves.