The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 149

"Mrow!"

The kitten let out another cry, squirming uncomfortably in his grasp.

Elias stared at it, his expression unreadable.

After a long moment, he turned and walked back out the door, cat in one hand, car keys in the other.

Anne, the housekeeper, knew Elias was coming back to The Imperial Crest Estates today. She had just returned with groceries for dinner when she ran into him leaving. She was surprised for a moment, then her eyes fell on the kitten in his hand. "Sir, are you going out?" she asked.

"Yeah. You don't need to make dinner for me."

Anne opened her mouth to say something else, but Elias was already striding away.

***

That night, at Willow Creek Estates.

After leaving the hospital, Victoria had taken a taxi straight home. She was now half-lying on the sofa, scrolling through a food delivery app.

She had gotten used to Cerys bustling around the apartment these past few days. With Cerys gone, the place felt too quiet. She lost interest in browsing, randomly picked a highly-rated restaurant, and placed an order. Then she went into her study to deal with work emails and prepare for her return to the office tomorrow.

The doorbell rang.

Victoria, who was in the middle of replying to a client, instinctively glanced at the time in the corner of her computer screen.

7:13 PM.

It had only been ten minutes since she placed her order.

"Do they deliver that fast now?" she wondered.

Cerys was always the one on the lookout for new restaurants on the delivery apps, so it had been a long time since Victoria had ordered anything herself.

She didn't think much of it. When the doorbell rang again, she got up to answer it.

She opened the door.

The hallway was empty. There was no one there.

Victoria frowned in confusion, looking around, but still saw nothing.

Had she imagined it?

As she was about to close the door and check the delivery status on her phone, she heard a faint rustling sound from around the corner of the quiet hallway.

Her hand tightened on the doorknob. Her mind flashed to news stories about attacks on women living alone, and a jolt of fear shot through her.

"Meow~"

Just as she tensed up, she heard a cat's cry.

Victoria paused, thinking she must have misheard.

"Meow~ Meow~"

Two more meows, followed by a thud, as if something had been knocked over.

Victoria took a deep breath and cautiously approached the corner, mimicking the sound. "Meow?"

"Meow~"

"Meow~ Meow meow~" The kitten inched closer, its round, amber eyes looking up at her pleadingly.

"Are you hungry?"

She tentatively held out her hand. The kitten immediately rubbed its head against her palm, letting out a soft purr.

The soft fur tickled her hand, and Victoria felt her heart melt.

"Wait here. Let me see if I have anything you can eat," she said with a gentle smile, getting up and heading back to her apartment. She went straight to the kitchen cabinets, remembering a stash of snacks Cerys had bought. There should be a sausage stick in there.

"Found it!"

Just as she unwrapped the sausage, her phone started ringing from the study. She walked into the room while opening the package, glanced at the incoming video call, and accepted it.

"Victoria, don't tell me that sausage stick is your dinner!" Cerys stared at the item in Victoria's hand, grinding her teeth in mock anger.

"It's not," Victoria replied, realizing her friend had misunderstood. "It's not for me."

"Do you have a guest over?"

Victoria blinked, deciding to be mysterious. "Well, you could say that."

"What do you mean, 'you could say that'?" Cerys frowned, then a thought seemed to strike her, and her eyes widened. "You! Are you hiding a man in there?!"

Victoria's eye twitched. "Cerys, what on earth goes through your mind all day?"

Cerys rubbed her nose and mumbled, "Well, you were being all secretive. What else was I supposed to think? If it's not a man, who else could be in your apartment besides me—"

Victoria flipped her camera around, and the screen instantly filled with the image of a small black cat, its paws neatly tucked under its chest.