The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 11

"Elias!"

Candice was unwilling to back down, but when she met Victoria's cold, serious gaze, fear crept into her heart, and her expression faltered.

Elias's dark eyes turned icy, and he frowned in annoyance. He was convinced Victoria was just putting on another one of her defiant acts, stirring up trouble. It was infuriating.

"One!"

"Ah!"

As Candice shrieked, Elias tightened his grip, his fingers pressing right on Victoria's sprained wrist. His voice was colder than the winter wind.

"Victoria, you never change, do you?"

Pain shot through Victoria, and her grip loosened instantly.

Candice hastily pulled her hand back and retreated, her eyes wide as she screeched, "Elias, you can't just let her off the hook! That slap Genevieve took can't just be forgotten! They have to apologize to her!"

"Candice, that's enough..." Genevieve urged in a low voice.

But Candice, having finally found an opportunity to strike back, wasn't about to let it go. "Genevieve, don't stop me. I have to say it!"

"Elias, Genevieve had picked out a tie to give you as a gift. But Victoria saw it and couldn't stand the thought of Genevieve giving you something, so she had to stick her nose in and snatch it away. When she couldn't win, she goaded Cerys into hitting her!"

"That's bullshit!" Cerys blurted out.

"Elias, I'm telling the truth! It was Victoria! She's jealous of you and Genevieve, so she's deliberately making trouble for her!"

"Candice, stop!" Genevieve cut in, giving Elias a soothing look. "Elias, please ignore her. She doesn't mean any of it, she's just upset…"

"Is what she said true?" Elias ignored Genevieve, his cold gaze fixed on Victoria from above.

"What if I said it wasn't?"

As the words left her mouth, Victoria looked up into his frosty eyes and realized how ridiculous her question was.

He would never believe her.

"Victoria, apologize to Gen."

Victoria's lips pressed tight. She said nothing.

"Elias, are you a goddamn man or what! Victoria did nothing wrong, so why should she apologize? Are you blind?! Victoria is your wife! It's one thing not to protect her, but now you're going to let some mistress walk all over her?" Cerys pointed at Genevieve, her voice filled with righteous anger.

Elias's face darkened, and the atmosphere around him dropped. He shot a glacial look at Cerys.

"Cerys, if you still want the partnership with the Thorne family, then shut your mouth."

Too furious to care about family business, Cerys's eyes reddened as she started to retort, "You—"

"Cerys!" Victoria cut her off just in time.

Cerys saw Victoria shake her head, and the words died in her throat.

"Let's go." Victoria didn't want to stay here a second longer.

Cerys opened her mouth to say something more, but seeing the pain in her friend's eyes, she swallowed her words and nodded. "Okay, let's go. This place is an eyesore."

Out of the corner of his eye, Elias saw the red mark circling Victoria's wrist. It looked a little swollen.

His expression darkened.

He was sure he hadn't used much force...

Cerys gave the store clerk an address, telling them to pack up their selections and deliver them to the Thorne estate, then prepared to leave with Victoria.

Victoria took two steps toward the exit before a thought struck her.

She turned back to Elias. "Since you're back from your business trip, when can you find the time to finalize the divorce?"

"Are you in that much of a hurry?" Elias hadn't expected to hear about the divorce the moment he got back. Annoyance flared, and his expression soured again.

Victoria gave him a placid look, then glanced at Genevieve, saying nothing.

At the mention of divorce, a clear spark of light had appeared in Genevieve's eyes.

Elias frowned impatiently. "I just got back from my trip. The legal team needs time to draft the divorce agreement. Hawk will contact you when it's ready."

Victoria nodded, and without another glance at either of them, she took Cerys's arm and walked away without looking back.