Abadoned By My Husband, Claimed By His Billionaire’s Brother

Elias' POV

The room fell silent for a moment. My girlfriend, Ivy Bennett, seemed genuinely surprised that I had actually agreed to her setting me up with another woman.

She frowned, as if wanting to ask me something, but after a few seconds, under the expectant gaze of our friends, she sent me the contact anyway.

Ivy called the person and said, "Hey, didn't you say your family's been pressuring you to get married? Well, I'm setting you up on a blind date.

"His name is Elias Ashford. He has a PhD from a prestigious university and is now a senior researcher in our lab. You two should try getting to know each other!"

Then, Ivy walked away as the person on the other end of the line began thanking her.

Had our mutual friend, Aliya Brickham, not called out to her just now, Ivy would have kept her distance from me as she always did, staying ten feet away and treating me like I was invisible.

The bitterness of the whiskey hit me all at once, and I clenched my fists hard just to keep my expression neutral.

When Aliya heard that I was willing to go on a blind date, she immediately sent me another contact.

"She's been asking about you for a while, but you never wanted to meet her! She's got a lot going for her, Eli. Give her a chance!"

I instinctively glanced toward Ivy, who was standing beside her childhood sweetheart, Matthew Reed, with a smile on her face, not sparing me another glance.

One of Ivy's friends overheard the conversation and jokingly teased, "Ivy, everyone knows Elias sticks to you because he likes you. How could you set him up with someone else? That's just cruel!"

"Yeah, he's bought us thousands of coffees just to please you, and after five years, you still haven't given him an answer!"

Matthew swirled the wine around in his glass and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Surely it's not because you've been waiting for me to come back all this time, is it? Because I haven't seen you make a move yet, you know?"

Ivy gazed at him affectionately. "Oh, it's just that I haven't gotten around to preparing a proper proposal for you yet, Matt. You deserve nothing but the best."

Matthew laughed at her teasing words, but my throat tightened at what she said.

Back when Ivy and I got together, there had been no confession and no dating proposal. She had simply asked me, "Elias, do you like me?"

I had had a crush on her for three years by then, so I nodded immediately.

When she saw that, she said, "We can be together, but I won't make it public. If anyone ever finds out about our relationship, we're done."

At the time, I was so overwhelmed by the joy of being with Ivy that my judgment had been clouded.

I thought she'd seen how sincere my feelings were, and I thought that this secret relationship of ours would eventually see the light of day.

I forced my way into Ivy's circle, hoping that she would one day introduce me to her friends.

But not only did she not introduce me, she even pushed me onto someone else just to draw a clear line between us.

A bitter smile tugged on my lips.

When Aliya saw me add the contact she sent me, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"You've always rejected me by saying you had someone you liked, but she's been stringing you along for so long without ever making your relationship official.

"You should've moved on a long time ago! Trust me, you'll be happy with this one!"

I lowered my head.

Aliya was right. I should have moved on long ago.

After a moment, she cast a subtle glance at Ivy.

"She introduced you to Jenna Caldwell, didn't she? Don't bother meeting her.

"That woman plays around a lot. She's been with quite a number of male escorts. Everyone knows she's been getting pressured to get married these past two years. She's willing to marry any man who will take her!"

Before leaving, Aliya muttered under her breath, "How could Ivy say you and Jenna would make a good match?"

My smile froze awkwardly. So when Ivy said Jenna and I would make a good match, she'd meant that we were both desperate to get married.

Some time ago, I had messaged Ivy when my family asked when I was going to settle down.

I thought she'd agree to make our relationship public and come home with me to meet my parents, but she ignored my messages and didn't come home for an entire month.

If Ivy didn't want to be part of my world, then I wouldn't force my way into hers anymore, either.

So, I turned around and left to request a job transfer out of Silverport.

Just then, I saw a message from the person Aliya had set me up with.

"Are you free to meet tomorrow?"