The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 108

Mrs. Thorne was allergic to pet dander, so Cerys had never been able to be around cats or dogs growing up.

Now, as she studied the kitten, she found it rather interesting.

"This little kitten is actually quite cute," she said. "It's jet black, so it practically disappears in the dark. No wonder property management hasn't found it."

The kitten was barely bigger than her palm, and the full shopping bag seemed enormous to it. It struggled to claw its way up, failing several times to get inside to the food.

Watching it, Victoria stepped forward to help.

But as soon as she reached out her hand, the kitten sensed danger. It leaped back and disappeared into the bushes.

Cerys chuckled. "You'd think it's timid, but it was bold enough to snatch my sausage and try to sneak into our bags for more. Yet you barely moved, and it bristled up and ran away like a coward."

"It's probably just been hungry for a long time. A kitten this young should still be with its mother. For it to be looking for food on its own, it either got separated from her, or... the mother is gone." Victoria crouched down, pulled a few sausages from the shopping bag, and broke them into small pieces on the ground.

Cerys crouched down beside her and glanced at the bushes.

Its green eyes, bright as emeralds, stared longingly at the sausages, but it still didn’t dare come out.

Cerys pushed the pieces a little closer to it, but the kitten only shrank back further.

"Why isn't it eating now?"

Victoria tore open a pack of tissues, wiped her hands, and picked up the shopping bag. "Let's go. It's on guard now. It won't come out to eat until we're gone."

Cerys had no experience with stray cats, so she reluctantly stood up. "Victoria, how do you know so much about this? Wait, I remember you got scratched by a cat when you were little. Weren't you afraid of them?"

"I got over it a long time ago," Victoria said.

"Huh? When? How did you suddenly stop being afraid?"

Victoria fell silent for a moment before saying quietly, "I don't know. Maybe it was so long ago that the memory of being scratched just faded, and I wasn't so scared anymore."

"Really? I would have thought someone as scared of pain as you would remember getting scratched by a cat forever," Cerys mused.

Victoria pressed the elevator button. "...Some things are easy to forget."

Cerys didn't dwell on why Victoria was no longer afraid of cats. She glanced back and said excitedly, "Victoria, look! It's coming out to eat the sausages!"

Victoria followed Cerys's gaze. The kitten was crouched on the ground, eating with intense focus.

A faint smile touched her lips.

The truth was, she had lied to Cerys. She hadn't forgotten the memory of being scratched.

Just as Cerys said, she was afraid of pain. She remembered every single moment that had ever cut her.

The reason she was no longer afraid of cats was, ultimately, because of Elias.

It yelped, its four paws curling up in a gesture of surrender.

But the owner of the hand had no intention of letting it go. He carried it toward the Maybach.

The driver got out of the car, stunned to see the jet-black kitten in Elias's hand. "Mr. Shawn, this…"

He had thought Mr. Shawn had gotten out of the car to find his wife.

But after she and Miss Thorne had gone inside, Mr. Shawn had walked over and caught this cat.

If he remembered right, wasn’t Mr. Shawn supposed to be a germaphobe? As he was thinking, Elias tossed the cat into his arms. "Get it cleaned."

The driver fumbled to catch it. "Mr. Shawn, after it's clean, should I take it to a shelter or to The Imperial Crest Estates?"

Elias glanced down at the kitten.

It was smart enough to know it couldn't escape and had given up struggling.

He hadn't intended to bring the cat back with him. He had just been curious about what Victoria was doing, crouched on the ground for so long. But seeing it eating so peacefully, he was inexplicably reminded of Victoria's face, and his thoughts had wavered.

By the time he snapped out of it, the cat was already in his hands.

His face was expressionless. "...Take it to a shelter."