?Chapter 45:
Today, dinner had an oddly tense undercurrent that no one could quite name.
Everyone had expected Elliana toe down looking rattled after Ruben’s scolding, but she appeared calm, almost serene—and Cole, for his part, acted no differently than usual.
The contrast between expectation and reality left everyone baffled, each wondering what exactly Ruben had said to the couple behind closed doors. Was Elliana now permitted to join the entertainment industry or not?
As that silent question hung in the air, the butler arrived with a steaming bowl of soup, which he set down beside Cole with careful precision.
Jeff, still too young to grasp the full meaning, simply nced at it, but the older family members exchanged knowing looks.
Years ago, when Bertram had been a college student, he’d fallen for someone else. But his family arranged for him to marry Irene instead. After the wedding, he’d refused to touch her, prompting Ruben to resort to a drastic measure—a bowl of spiked soup and a locked room. The aphrodisiac’s effects had peaked around midnight. Ovee by its influence, Bertram had finally fulfilled his marital duty with Irene. Now, the same kind of soup sat in front of Cole, and its message couldn’t have been clearer. Cole hadn’tid a hand on Elliana on their wedding night, and all his recent tenderness had been nothing more than an act—an attempt to fool Ruben. But Ruben had seen through the performance. After dragging the couple in for a stern warning, Ruben had chosen to resolve things the old-fashioned way: with that fateful bowl of soup.
Realizing the implication, everyone cast sympathetic nces at Cole. How could any man willingly be tied to someone the world saw as ugly as Elliana? If the aphrodisiac had forced him into it, wouldn’t waking up be a nightmare? Cole’s predicament struck them all as painfully unfair.
Completely unaware of the tension, Jeff blurted, “That soup smells amazing, Cole! I want some too!”
Trinity, seated next to him, gave his sleeve a discreet tug and murmured, “Jeff, don’t say things like that.”
But Jeff, driven by his bottomless appetite, red up at the rebuke. “What did I say? We can’t even split a bowl of soup? I’m still growing, and I can’t even get a spoonful?”
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Bertram, suddenly hit by bitter memories the soup stirred up, snapped. He shoved a chicken leg into Jeff’s mouth and barked, “Shut up and eat what’s on your te! Cole’s out there breaking his back for this family—he needs the nourishment. You, on the other hand, do nothing but eat and fool around. What the hell do you need supplements for? Just look at you—chubby enough as it is. You take any more, and your nose’ll start bleeding again!”
Jeff shut his mouth at once, cowed by the reprimand and too shaken to argue.
Irene, who had been eagerly waiting for Elliana to lose face, now ducked her head, cheeks burning with embarrassment, wishing she could vanish into the floor. The steaming bowl sat there like a silent reminder—she was an unloved wife.
The grand dining hall fell into a heavy hush, all eyes flicking to Cole, waiting for his response.
Back then, Bertram had no choice—defying the Evans family would’ve left him destitute. But Cole wasn’t like Bertram. The family’s sess revolved around him now. Even if he walked away, he’d still rise as a business titan. So if he tly refused, Ruben couldn’t do anything about it.
Across the table, Trinity bit her lip, dread curling in her gut. She was terrified Cole might actually drink the soup.
And then Cole did—once he’d cleared his te, he lifted the bowl with steady hands and drained everyst drop without flinching.
Shock painted every face in the room. Cole had proven himself worthy of Ruben’s deliberate choice, showing unwavering loyalty to the family’s legacy. To uphold their traditions, he was even prepared to give up his own desires and bind himself to someone the world dismissed as in.
Everyone’s mood shifted in an instant—admiring silence reced idle chatter, and their expressions grew reverent. In Cole, they saw a determination and unwavering loyalty that theycked.
Trinity nearly bit through her lip. Watching Cole drink the soup was like watching him swallow his fate—an unspoken vow to ept Elliana and keep her by his side in the Evans household. What was left for her now?
But Ruben sat with an air of quiet triumph, entirely satisfied with how things had yed out. To him, Cole marrying Elliana was a tradeoff—but a smart one, and the best possible resolution. After all, it was because of Cole that he found himself indebted to Hilliard—a debt that, in Ruben’s mind, ought to be settled by Cole himself.
When Cole was a child, he’d teetered on the edge of death from a vicious illness. His life had only been spared thanks to a miraculous pill Hilliard had delivered at thest moment.
Muchter, Ruben discovered that the pill had actually been formted by Rita—Elliana’s mother and the Jones family’s reclusive daughter-inw, who never showed her face in public. In the end, it was Elliana’s mother to whom the Evans family owed their gratitude. Letting Elliana marry into their family wasn’t just fate—it was how Cole was meant to repay that life-saving debt.
Cole paid no attention to the sidelong nces around him. After setting his bowl down on the table, he turned and made his way upstairs without a word.
At first, Elliana hadn’t grasped the meaning behind the soup. But as she caught the furtive looks being exchanged, something clicked. That was what Ruben had meant when he’d said everything would be handled tonight. Wait a second… What was going to happen to Cole now that he’d drunk the soup? She’d been nning to confront him tonight—straightforward, no holding back.
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