Chapter 537

The smell hit me immediately—thick, sour, unmistakable. Wine. Not just a glass or two, either. It clung to the air, soaked into the furniture, mixed with the stale bite of cigarette smoke. An empty glass sat crookedly on the counter, a faint red stain clinging to the inside like it had been abandoned mid-thought. Beside it, an ashtray overflowed with cigarette butts, some crushed out halfway, others burned down to the filter.

She really was stressed out of her mind, huh?

Tessa clapped her hands once, breaking the silence. "Sorry we didn’t bring anything."

"It’s okay," Eleanor replied softly. "Did you guys need something or..."

"Not really," I said. "We just wanted to check on you."

She let out a breath and leaned back slightly. "Yeah... I appreciate that. I just... I don’t know, Evan." She shook her head. "Sophia saved me. I keep thinking about that. I hope she’s okay."

"I saw her today," I said. "She’s fine. Tough as hell, too."

Eleanor nodded with a small smile. "That sounds like her. Why were you there?"

"Just checking things out," I replied. "Doesn’t matter. How are you holding up?"

"I’m... okay, I guess." She forced a faint smile. "And honestly, the black eye kind of looks cool."

I raised an eyebrow. "Looks more like someone punched you."

"She’s trying to cope, man," Tessa muttered, shaking her head. "Let her."

"Alright, alright," I said, raising my hands slightly. "Just joking."

Eleanor didn’t laugh. She looked down for a second, then spoke again.

"They told me the debt is two million now," she said quietly. "Can you believe that?"

I already knew that. Two million dollars, borrowed from fifty thousand. That was outright criminal. How could anyone ever hope to repay such an amount? And aside from the idiotic interest rate, who in their right mind would take that kind of money from a shady-looking character like him? Was Mark really that desperate to gamble? The word "idiot" didn’t even begin to cover what Mark was.

"You don’t sound surprised."

I exhaled slowly. "I talked to Brok today."

Her head snapped up. "WHAT? Evan, you shouldn’t go near someone like him. He’s dangerous."

"I offered to pay the original amount. Fifty," I said. "He refused."

"Of course he did," she muttered.

"He doesn’t want the money," I continued, leaning forward slightly. "Not really. His aim is somewhere else."

Eleanor went still.

"He’s aiming at you," I said bluntly. "He thinks this whole thing works on porn logic. Like if your brother can’t pay, you’ll step in and ’settle’ it yourself. That’s what he wants."

The room went quiet.

Eleanor’s jaw tightened. "I figured as much." Her voice hardened. "But there’s no way. NO WAY I’d ever do that. I’d rather die."

"Tell that to Nala," Tessa muttered under her breath.

Eleanor frowned. "Who?"

"Nothing," Kim said quickly, waving it off. "Forget it. So... it started at fifty, and now it’s two million?"

Eleanor nodded slowly.

Jasmine let out a quiet breath. "That’s insane."

"Yeah," I said, leaning back slightly, my expression darkening. "Fucking bastard."

Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, I pulled it out and saw Delilah’s name on the screen. At this hour, it had to be important.

"Sorry," I muttered, pushing myself up. "I’ll be right back."

There wasn’t a balcony here like in the penthouse, so I stepped into the kitchen instead and leaned against the counter before answering. From where I stood, I could still see the living room. Jasmine and Tessa were talking to Eleanor, while Kim and Minne stayed quieter, listening in.

"Hey, you," I greeted. "What’s up?"

"Evan, hey," she replied, voice a little uneasy. "There’s been some strange stuff going on. I don’t even know how to explain it. I might be hacked or something."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I checked my browser history today," she went on. "You remember that Ballinne face mask I told you about? When I typed it in, the search bar autofilled ’baby names, top ten unique ones.’ Like I had searched that before. Can you believe that?"

Yeah. I could. I just couldn’t tell her why.

"That’s... weird," I said, keeping my tone neutral.

"And it gets worse. Ivy found pregnancy tests in my room. I don’t even know how they got there." She let out a small breath. "You think someone’s messing with me?"

"Could be a prank," I offered, even though the excuse felt weak the moment it left my mouth. "Or maybe something got mixed up? Like someone else’s stuff ended up with yours."

"Mixed up?" she repeated, a bit skeptical. "Evan, I don’t randomly collect pregnancy tests."

"Yeah, fair," I admitted. "Still, weird things happen."

She sighed. "Ivy didn’t believe me, by the way. Made me take the test just to prove I wasn’t pregnant."

"And?"

"Negative," she replied. "Obviously."

"Good," I said quietly.

There was a short pause before she spoke again. "We went shopping after that. It was... awkward. But I think we’re getting somewhere."

"That’s good," I said, nodding to myself.

"You sound off," she added. "Something happen?"

I rubbed my face with my free hand. "You remember Eleanor? The one I told you about."

"Yeah?"

"Her brother owes money to some bad people. He couldn’t pay, so now they’re bothering her instead. I’m trying to sort it out."

"Damn..." she murmured. "That’s messed up."

"Yeah. I’m at her place right now, actually. Didn’t want to leave her alone after all that."

"You’re too good sometimes, Evan," she said, softer now. "Hope no one takes advantage of that."

I huffed out a quiet laugh. "Too good? That’s new."

"I mean it."

"Alright, Ms. Komb," I teased. "Didn’t know you had a soft side."

She let out a small chuckle. "Anyway, I won’t keep you. You sound busy."

"Yeah. Talk later?"

"Of course."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

The call ended, and I slipped the phone back into my pocket before heading into the living room.