Chapter 7
When Eloise came out of the ward, she noticed that Jacob had crouched down, seemingly unable to hold on any longer.
He had been through quite a lot–getting injured the night before, losing a lot of blood, flying into a rage, leaving the hospital only to rush back again, and now spending the whole night in turmoil. He was torn between anger and heartache.
This man was the epitome of devotion–one of those “to death and beyond types.
How had she not seen this side of him before? How could she have been so foolish as to think he might fall in love with her one day?
“How is she?” Jacob stood up immediately when he saw her, running a hand through his messy hair.
“The cut on her wrists is shallow. It doesn’t seem like she was really committed to dying.” Eloise replied plainly.
Jacob frowned. “How can you talk like that?
“I’m just stating the facts.”
Jacob stared at Eloise and said, “Last night, I proposed to you, didn’t 1? You must’ve been thrilled–probably got up early, grabbed your ID, and waited at the registrar’s office. Then, you got mad when I didn’t show up. That’s why you’re being so difficult now, right?”
He stared at her quietly. His confidence was truly unmatched.
“Give me some time. We can talk about us once I help Sophia sort out her issues,” he said
Eloise exhaled. “I told Sophia about your proposal last night.”
“What?” Jacob frowned. “Why would you tell her that? She needs me right now!”
“Oh, so you planned to hide it from her despite proposing to me?”
“I was going to tell her myself!”
“Eine, then you can explain it to her “Eloise turned on her heel and walked away.
One was proposing to marry her; the other was offering her compensation. Did they really think she was some kind of joke? Eloise couldn’t wait to see just how far they were willing to go
That morning, after Eloise finished up in the outpatient clinic, she went to the cafeteria with Celia.
“Did you hear? The news about Sophia’s suicide attempt and hospital stay got leaked online, but her PR team managed to contain it pretty quickly,” Celia whispered.
“Hmm,” Eloise replied nonchalantly. Sophia was the eldest daughter of the Whitmore family, and with Jacob’s backing, it wasn’t surprising that they could suppress the rumors
“People are speculating that she really did cheat with Shawn and that baby she’s carrying is his.”
“Oh,” Eloise replied calmly.
“But there’s also talk about Jacob. I mean, he’s the second son of Kilbourne Group. Would he really step in and take on someone else’s mess? Love can make people lose their minds, huh? I think it’s entirely possible.”
By the end of the lunch break, Eloise had a clear picture of the gossip. Apparently, Shawn’s wife came from a powerful background, someone Sophia wouldn’t dare cross. So, there was no way Shawn would divorce his wife for her.
In the afternoon, Eloise was doing her rounds in the inpatient ward. When she stopped by the VIP ward, Jacob was sitting with his head down, preling an apple, while Sophia lay on the bed, looking pale and frail as if she were gravely ill.
“Eloise, you’re here,” Sophia greeted softly as soon as she entered.
Eloise approached the bed. “Are you feeling any discomfort?”
“My chest feels tight.”
Eloise listened to her heartbeat with a stethoscope. Everything was normal. “I’ll arrange for you to have an
FCG‘
“Okay.”
Eloise nodded. As !
she was
was about to leave, Sophia stopped her.
“Eloise, I grew up with Jacob. I used to think our relationship was just that of childhood friends, but I’ve come to realize that I truly love him”
Eloise almost laughed. With Jacob right beside her, Sophia chose to confess through someone else. Sophia was truly an actress at heart.
Eloise crossed her arms, ready to watch the show.
“I’ve owed him for so many years, and I want to make it up to him. Our wedding will go ahead as planned. This time, I’m sincere -I want to marry him.”
Eloise tilted her head and glanced at Jacob. He continued peeling the apple as if none of this concerned him.
“Well, Mr. Kilbourne, you’re not deal. Aren’t you going to say something?” Eloise pointed out.
Jacob finally lifted his head and glared at her.
Eloise shrugged and turned to Sophia. “And then?
Sophia pulled out a check from under her pillow and slid it toward Eloise. “Jacob doesn’t love you. You should know that. You’re the third party between the two of us. However, since you’ve been with him for eight years, consider this one million dollars our
compensation to you.”
Eloise stared at the check. Her expression turned cold. So now she was the third party? Eight years of her life worth a million dollars?
“Not enough?” Jacob asked.
Eloise raised her eyes to meet his gaze. His expression mirrored Sophia’s–arrogant and condescending.
“Yes,” she said.
Jacob nodded. He pulled out a card from his wallet and said, “There’s five million dollars on this card. Are you satisfied now?”
“Not at all,” she replied.
“Ha! Eloise, do you really think you’re worth that much?
Eloise bent down and picked up the check and the card. She looked at them for a long time before tossing the card back at him. She kept
only the check
“This isn’t compensation,” she said coldly, “It’s repayment.”
She turned to Jacob. “In our second year together, you had a falling out with your family and left home. You said you wanted to start a business and prove yourself to those who doubted you. But you had no money. So I sold the house my parents left me to give you a million dollars to get started.”
She held up the check “Consider this the principal. As for the interest, let’s just call it a tip for your… ‘services.“”
Jacob’s face turned dark “Eloise!”
“But my love? That’s priceless, Jacob. You can’t afford it not now, not ever.”
She turned and left the room. As she stepped into the hallway, she spotted a man in a cap holding his phone.
Frowning, she started toward him, but the man quickly bolted.
“Hey! What are you doing?” a nurse shouted after him.
Eloise only managed to catch a glimpse of his retreating back, guessing he was a paparazzi sniffing out celebrity gossip. She brushed off the incident–after all, she wasn’t a star.
Back in her office, Eloise couldn’t wait to call Clara Smith, a real estate agent she knew.
“Clara, I want to buy back the house my parents left me. Can you check with the current owner to see if they’re willing to sell? I’m willing to pay above market price.”
“The house has been sitting empty. It’s not much use to the owner, so they might be open to selling. Hang tight–I’ll find out for you right away,” Clara replied.
That house was her parents‘ legacy. Back then, she couldn’t bear to see Jacob’s despair, so she gritted her teeth and sold it. Since then, she had been saving up, hoping to buy it back one day.
She could have asked Jacob for the money, but she had willingly given him that million dollars back then. Asking for it now would only complicate things.
Crapher
What stung the most was that he knew she had sold her parents‘ house to help him, yet he never thought to buy it back for her, even after his company succeeded. As she waited anxiously for news, Celia came rushing in.
“Eloise, you’re trending online!”
Eloise froze for a moment before quickly grabbing her phone. She was indeed on the hot topics list. At the top was a video. It was the scene from earlier–the one where she accepted the check in Sophia’s ward.
