The Heart System Nov Chapter 537

Chapter 537: Chapter 537

The sll hit

imdiately—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, so 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 sothing 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 . 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 soone 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

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 soone 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 sowhere 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 na 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 so strange stuff going on. I don’t even know how to explain it. I might be hacked or sothing."

I frowned. "What do you an?"

"I checked my browser history today," she went on. "You rember that Ballinne face mask I told you about? When I typed it in, the search bar autofilled ’baby nas, 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 soone’s ssing with ?"

"Could be a prank," I offered, even though the excuse felt weak the mont it left my mouth. "Or maybe sothing got mixed up? Like soone 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 , by the way. Made

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 sowhere."

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

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

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

"Yeah?"

"Her brother owes money to so 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 ssed up."

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

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

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

"I an 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.