Second Vows Adored by the Billionaire novel Chapter 35

With that, he walked straight toward the door.

Those few casual words landed on Victor like a ton of bricks dropping onto his shoulders. His mind went completely blank.

What the hell did that mean?

Was Orion, that untouchable heir, actually standing up for Eloise?

*****

Eloise had just managed to fall asleep when Brook's call jolted her awake. She was pissed as she hit the answer button, and Brook's voice came through on the other end. "Eloise, Victor's wasted. Can you come pick him up?"

Her drowsiness vanished instantly as she glanced at the time. It was past 3 a.m.

"Not really convenient. I'm already in bed. Can't you just call him a rideshare or something?"

These days, she couldn't be bothered to lift a finger for him anymore.

"I tried that, but nobody's accepting rides at this hour," Brook said, his voice strained with awkwardness.

Eloise gave in with a reluctant sigh. "Fine."

She rubbed her throbbing temples and dragged herself out of bed, threw on a coat over her pajamas, and slipped on some shoes before heading out.

Every autumn rain brought another wave of cold, and the late nights after the season changed were bone-chilling.

Eloise parked the car, and as soon as she stepped out, the brutal autumn wind hit her and made her shiver.

She pushed open the bar door and found Brook already waiting at the entrance. "Eloise, you really do care about him the most," he blurted out without thinking.

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake, but it was too late to take them back.

Eloise gave him a cold smile that didn't reach her eyes. "That's an interesting thing to say. Is there someone else you're comparing me to?"

Brook froze, completely caught off guard. His instinct was to make excuses for Victor, but when he met Eloise's penetrating gaze, he couldn't get a single word out. He wasn't even the one who'd done anything wrong, but somehow, he felt guilty as hell.

"That better be true." Eloise's smile widened slightly and she turned her gaze away from Brook's uncomfortable face to look at Victor passed out on the couch.

Her voice came out clear and ice-cold. "Everyone in our circle should know by now that I have standards. I don't tolerate cheating. Not even a little bit."

Brook felt a chill run down his spine for no reason. That phrase sounded weirdly familiar, like he'd just heard someone say it recently.

Eloise was already bending down and trying to help Victor up from the couch, so Brook didn't have time to think about it. He rushed over to help her lift Victor up.

Something had gotten under Victor's skin tonight. Maybe it was what Brook had said earlier, or maybe it was Orion showing up out of nowhere, but Victor had been on edge all evening.

The second Orion left, Victor snapped at Anita over nothing. She argued back and then stormed out of the bar, and he didn't even go after her.

Victor, who was usually so calm and collected, had gotten himself absolutely wasted for the first time ever, and Brook and the other guys couldn't talk him out of it no matter how hard they tried.