Chapter 43 Who Is Making Love with Vivian?
Chapter 43 Who Is Making Love with Vivian?
Elodie's POV
Back in the banquet hall, the flashy, noisy atmosphere felt like another world.
But my barely calmed emotions were quickly shattered again.
Several old men from the Council of Elders walked over with wine glasses, unceremoniously pulling Nelson aside.
"Wait here for me," he instructed in a low voice, his eyes carrying a hint of command that brooked no argument.
I nodded and sat down alone on a sofa in the lounge area, listlessly poking at the Black Forest cake in front of me with a silver fork.
The sweet cream melted on my tongue, but it couldn't ease the irritation in my heart.
I don't know how much time passed when a sudden dizziness violently seized me.
The lights before my eyes began to spin and split, the surrounding conversations became distant and blurred, as if separated by a thick layer of frosted glass.
The silver fork in my hand dropped onto the plate with a jarring clatter.
What's happening?
I shook my head, trying to shake off the increasingly strong drowsiness.
Was it the little bit of wine I drank earlier? Impossible—my alcohol tolerance wasn't that bad.
Then it could only be...
A terrible thought flashed through my mind, and my heart was instantly gripped by icy fear.
I had to find Nelson immediately.
I supported myself on the sofa armrest and stood up shakily, but my legs felt like they were stepping on cotton, too weak to obey.
I forced my eyes wide open, searching for that familiar figure among the crowd of elegant people, but all I saw were blurred, unfamiliar faces.
Panic flooded over me like a tide.
I couldn't hold on anymore. My body went limp, and I was about to collapse to the ground.
Just then, a strong arm caught me in time, drawing me into a steady embrace.
"Elodie, you look terrible."
A gentle male voice sounded in my ear. I struggled to lift my head, my vision focusing through the blur, and met Ethan's dark eyes filled with concern.
Him again.
This coincidental appearance, like something from a script, made my hair stand on end.
"Let go of me!" I tried to push him away, but I was too weak to have any strength.
Not only did he not release me, he held me tighter, ignoring my struggles and half-supporting, half-carrying me toward the exit of the banquet hall. "You need to rest in this condition. I'll take you back to your room."
"I need to find Nelson..." I fumbled for my phone in my pocket and, with my last bit of clarity, dialed that number I knew by heart.
The call connected, but all I heard through the receiver was the busy signal, over and over.
Why wasn't he answering?
My heart sank bit by bit, and the last bit of strength in my body was drained away.
Ethan helped me into the elevator, took out a room card, and easily opened the door to my suite.
How did he get the room card?
The enormous fear instantly sobered me up a bit.
As soon as we entered, I used all my strength to push him away, stumbling backward to the center of the living room, putting distance between us.
He didn't approach again, just closed the door behind him.
The sound of the lock clicking in the silent room was like a death sentence.
"You just need to lie down and sleep," he said, walking toward me.
I looked around in terror, my gaze suddenly fixing on a bottle of red wine on the bar.
The survival instinct overwhelmed everything. I rushed over, grabbed the wine bottle, and smashed it hard against the marble countertop!
The bottle shattered. I gripped the neck with its sharp, jagged edge and pointed the sharp glass at him, screaming hysterically, "Don't come closer!"
Ethan's footsteps stopped.
He raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Elodie, I swear to God, I won't do anything to you."
His calmness formed an ironic contrast to my breakdown.
"I just want you to rest properly. After you sleep and wake up, I'll let you see Nelson's true face."
My mind was spinning, the fever and weakness threatening to overwhelm me, but his last words cut straight through the haze.
"That drink Vivian had... you arranged it, didn't you?"
Ethan stopped pretending. The corner of his mouth curved into a faint smile of complete control.
"Yes. I had to find an opportunity to talk to you alone when your protector wasn't around."
He paused, as if seeing through my thoughts, directly breaking through that last layer of pretense.
"That's right, Vivian is my person. A woman blinded by jealousy is the most useful pawn, isn't she?"
So that's what killing two birds with one stone meant.
Using Vivian as a pawn, one drink to scheme against both me and Nelson.
"I really feel sorry for you," I looked at him, the burning heat and weakness in my body suppressed by an even stronger disgust. "Using such dirty tricks, do you think you've won?"
"I just want you to see reality, Elodie. The man you're infatuated with is equally vulnerable in front of a woman blinded by jealousy and desire."
"Shut up!" I screamed, the chaotic thoughts and surging drug effects making my head split with pain.
I couldn't collapse. I had to find Nelson.
I looked at the sharp broken bottle neck in my hand and, with almost no hesitation, dragged that sharp edge hard across my palm.
Sharp pain instantly came, warm blood rushing out.
The pain shocked my muddled mind back to awareness.
Ethan watched the blood flowing from my palm, his brow furrowing tightly. "Are you crazy?"
I ignored him, just using that sharp pain to support myself, staggering toward the door. "I'm going to find him."
"Fine," he didn't stop me, instead actively opening the door for me. "I'll take you. I'd really like to see what expression Nelson will have when you catch him at his worst."
He was certain that what I was about to see would be the last straw that broke me.
Ethan supported me as we entered the elevator.
I was completely weak, almost leaning on him, my palm sticky and wet with blood, but I didn't care at all.
The elevator stopped on the floor where Nelson's other exclusive suite was located.
Before we even got close, I could see a crowd gathered at the end of the hallway, voices and camera flashes intertwining, making it especially noisy.
My heart sank inch by inch.
"Make way, hotel security!" Several uniformed people pushed through the crowd. A manager-looking person was anxiously swiping a card at the door lock, but couldn't get it open.
"It's locked from the inside. Quick, break down the door!"
My body began to tremble uncontrollably. Ethan's grip on my arm tightened, and he whispered in my ear like a devil's temptation, "Ready for the show, Elodie?"
The next second, the door was forcibly broken open.
Reporters and onlookers swarmed in, camera flashes going off everywhere.
I was also swept along by the crowd and saw the scene inside the room.