The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 101

That explanation sounded a little too much like a cover-up.

Victoria Sanger raised an eyebrow, her tone unreadable. "Is that so?"

"If you like her, you can have her as your assistant," Grady Sanger said, his tone casual as he unwrapped a set of disposable cutlery and handed it to her.

"I do like her. Her name feels strangely familiar." Victoria glanced up at Grady and saw a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. She couldn't help but smile, giving him a knowing wink as she took the cutlery. "But... I'm not one to steal what belongs to others. I think it's best if she stays with Saul Flint."

Even someone as oblivious as Grady could pick up on Victoria's teasing. He flicked her forehead lightly. "Get all that nonsense out of your head and eat."

Victoria stuck her tongue out playfully. Seeing Abbey Prescott about to leave, she called out, "Abbey, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Join us. There's way too much food for just my brother and me."

"Well..." Abbey froze, instinctively looking toward Grady.

"Go ahead, eat with us," Grady said.

Abbey stared down at the cutlery, impossible to read. After a long pause, she finally nodded and said softly, "Thank you, Mr. Sanger. Thank you, Miss Sanger."

"Don't be scared, Abbey. With me here, my brother won't dare eat you, ow—"

Grady tapped her on the head with his fork. "Can't you ever keep your mouth shut while you're eating?"

"Grady!" Victoria cried, rubbing her head and glaring at him. "Serves you right for being single at thirty."

"You're getting more disrespectful by the day."

Seeing Grady was about to tap her again, Victoria quickly grabbed her food and scooted over to sit next to Abbey. "I'd watch it if I were you, brother. You can scare me all you want, but if you frighten Miss Prescott, you might regret it later."

Grady was speechless.

Abbey, surprised by Victoria's sudden proximity, felt a bit overwhelmed. "I... I'm fine."

Victoria smiled and placed several different dishes into Abbey's bowl. "Let's eat."

They were halfway through their meal when Saul walked in. He was slightly surprised to see Abbey there but quickly composed himself and addressed Grady.

"Mr. Sanger, the video conference with SK Group starts in five minutes."

Grady nodded, set down his cutlery, and stood up to leave.

Abbey immediately stood up as well.

"You keep eating. Don't worry about it. Come over when you're finished," Grady said, glancing at her before grabbing his jacket and leaving with Saul.

She didn't see the way Abbey's hands, hanging by her sides, clenched into tight fists the moment she turned away. Her knuckles turned white from the force, a desperate attempt to restrain some impulse. Her eyes reddened, and a flicker of hatred crossed her gaze.

"By the way, you mentioned 'us interns.' Did The Sanger Group hire a lot of interns this year? I don't recall hearing about them having an intern program before," Victoria asked casually, looking back.

Abbey had already regained her composure and sat down. "You didn't know, Miss Sanger? The Sanger Group offers five internship spots to Imperial University every year, open to all majors. Although the company hasn't grown as much as other public companies these past two years, it's still a top 100 corporation in the country. Plus, since they don't restrict majors, they attract a lot of graduating students like us every year."

Victoria paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. "Open to all majors?"

"Yes, but it wasn't always like that. I remember an upperclassman telling me that two or three years ago, they said it was open to all majors, but they actually only hired architecture students. They said it was..." Abbey thought for a moment. "...in preparation for that one project."

The project that had caused The Sanger Group's downfall and sent Garnett Sanger to prison.

A thought flashed through Victoria's mind, so fast she couldn't grasp it.

Two or three years ago, Imperial University, interns, architecture department...

Victoria sent Grady a text:

[Bro, do you still have the intern lists from the last five years? I need a copy.]