Everyone in the casino turned their heads when Eren entered with the young man at his side. Conversations faltered, replaced by hushed whispers. Eren caught fragments of their words, but one name stood out clearly—the name they were calling the man beside him.
His steps slowed. "Are you… Adriel Ulrick?" Eren asked in disbelief, turning to look at him. He froze for a moment, stunned. This was James's uncle? This elegant man in a tailored suit bore no resemblance to the cold, ruthless figure the company's employees had described. Eren had pictured an older, harsh-looking man, not someone this striking, this effortlessly charismatic.
Adriel stopped and turned toward him, an amused smile tugging at his lips.
"Why? You look surprised," he said smoothly.
"You don't look anything like I imagined," Eren admitted.
"Oh?" Adriel tilted his head, intrigued. "And what exactly did you imagine?"
"Do you want me to be honest?" Eren asked cautiously.
Adriel chuckled softly. "Something tells me your picture of me wasn't flattering."
"You can't blame me," Eren replied. "The way people talk about you at the company… let's just say their descriptions weren't exactly generous. This is the first time I've actually seen you."
"Did I disappoint you then?" Adriel asked, his gaze steady.
"Disappoint?" Eren almost laughed. "Hardly. It's just… strange. Doesn't it bother you? Being seen with someone like me?"
Adriel's expression softened, though his eyes gleamed with a sharper edge. "Why would it bother me? You're not nearly as invisible as you think." He let the words hang before adding, "Now that I've admitted who I am, I still don't know your name. That hardly seems fair."
"…Eren," he said quietly.
"Well then, Eren," Adriel said with a faint, confident smile, offering his arm, "let's enjoy the evening. I imagine the night has more in store for us than either of us expected."
But Eren froze when his gaze landed across the casino. James was there—laughing, a glass in hand—with Tyler beside him. A wave of nervous heat washed through Eren's body. His throat tightened, his fists curled at his sides.
Adriel noticed and leaned in slightly. "I see. So that's him," he murmured, his voice low and calm. "Well then… shall we give them something to look at?"
Eren dreaded the possibility of being ridiculed, especially now that he was standing beside James's uncle. The weight of dozens of stares pressed on him as they stepped into the casino.
"Uncle Adriel?" James blurted in surprise, nearly choking on his drink when he saw the man approaching. Tyler turned too, his eyes narrowing in curiosity.
Eren instinctively tightened his grip on Adriel's arm. Adriel glanced briefly at him, as if to say Steady yourself, before shifting his attention to James.
"Who's this with you? I don't think I've seen him before. And what are you doing here?" James asked, his voice sharp with suspicion.
Adriel's expression remained calm, almost amused. "This is my cruise, James. Do I need a reason to check whether my event is going smoothly?" He paused, then added with a faint edge, "Though I was under the impression from your mother that you had… other plans tonight."
Eren glanced at James, his stomach tightening. Did James truly not recognize him? Only hours ago, James had thrown him out of their cabin. And before that—before the wedding ceremony—James had claimed he was on the phone with his uncle. But from what Eren could see now, the two clearly hadn't spoken at all.
"Mr. Ulrick." Tyler stepped forward smoothly, hand extended. "Tyler Wang, journalist. I've heard a great deal about you. I'm covering your group wedding event."
Adriel looked at Tyler's hand but didn't take it. His silence hung heavy until Tyler cleared his throat awkwardly and lowered his hand, retreating a step. He turned instead to Eren, squinting slightly.
"You look familiar. Have we met before?" Tyler asked.
Eren's chest tightened. Had the makeover really changed him so much that Tyler couldn't place him? His posture was different, his suit perfectly cut, and without the broken glasses, his gray-green eyes—sharp and luminous under the lights—were finally visible. The thought almost made him smile.
Adriel spoke before Eren could. His tone was deliberate, unhurried. "This is my date," he said, then, after a heartbeat of silence, he added, "Eren."
The name dropped like a stone in water.
"What?!" James and Tyler exclaimed in unison, both staring at Eren in disbelief.
They couldn't reconcile the sharp, confident figure before them—those piercing gray-green eyes, the tailored suit, the calm defiance in his stance—with the clumsy, overlooked Eren they had mocked and discarded. This man was someone entirely different.
And for the first time, Eren didn't shrink under their gaze. He let the silence stretch, almost savoring the shock written on their faces.
"Money really does change people. What did you do to trick my uncle?" James sneered, his Alpha presence pressing into the room like a storm.
Eren's gray-green eyes narrowed, his body instinctively tensing at the oppressive weight of James's pheromones. His Omega instincts screamed at him to lower his gaze, to shrink—but he forced himself to stand tall. "What did you just say?" His voice cracked with fury, not submission.
James smirked, his scent sharp and acrid with disdain. "Don't act innocent. You couldn't tie me down, so now you're clinging to a stronger Alpha. My uncle, of all people. Pathetic, even for an Omega like you."
Eren's hands curled into fists, his chest burning with both rage and humiliation. He clung tighter to Adriel's arm, finding a strange calm there. Unlike James's suffocating scent, Adriel's aura was steady, commanding yet strangely soothing.
Adriel's voice cut through James's posturing like a blade. "Is this the Alpha you were meant to marry?" He turned his gaze on James, his golden eyes sharp. "You chose a man who treats responsibility as a joke?"
Eren blinked in shock. Adriel wasn't chastising him for daring to stand beside an Alpha; he was chastising James. His own uncle.
James's face twisted. "Uncle Adriel, don't humiliate me in front of an Omega. He chose this marriage himself! I never asked for it!" His pheromones spiked, thick with anger, but his words sounded more like excuses than dominance.
Eren's heart squeezed in disbelief. So now I'm the fool? The burden? He raised his eyes to meet James's glare, his gray-green stare steady despite the tremor in his chest.
Adriel's expression softened when his eyes flicked back to Eren. Then, with deliberate slowness, he released a controlled wave of his Alpha pheromones—steady, protective, powerful. It blanketed Eren like a shield, pushing back against James's oppressive presence until the air felt breathable again.
"You made a grave mistake letting him go," Adriel said, his tone almost amused. "But I suppose it's for the better. Because if you hadn't discarded him, I never would have found him." His gaze lingered on Eren, and his voice dropped just slightly. "For that, James, I should thank you."
"What?!" James and Tyler barked together, their shock audible even above the quiet murmur of the casino crowd.
But Adriel ignored them. He turned back to Eren, his hand steady on the Omega's shoulder, anchoring him. "Come, Eren. The auction's about to begin. Let them choke on their pride—we've better things to do."
Eren's chest tightened at those words. For the first time that night, with Adriel's pheromones calming his storm, he no longer felt like the worthless Omega James had tried to brand him as.