The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 163

"Mrs... Mrs. Shawn?" The property manager was stunned at first, then his expression turned to one of shock and disbelief.

Elias was married?!

And this woman was his wife?

But wait, wasn't Elias supposed to be marrying that up-and-coming architect, Genevieve? This didn't look like Genevieve.

The property manager, his mind swirling with questions, turned to look at Victoria and instantly understood. He quickly greeted her. "I'm so sorry, I was blind. I had no idea Miss Sanger was Mr. Shawn's wife. I'm the property manager here at Willow Creek Estates. My name is Waldron."

Victoria's eyelid twitched. She hadn't expected Hawk to just announce her relationship with Elias.

She pursed her lips and calmly denied it. "Manager Waldron, I am not Mrs. Shawn."

Manager Waldron looked utterly confused.

The honking from the cars behind them continued relentlessly.

Manager Waldron was completely baffled. He looked at Hawk, who seemed to have anticipated his confusion and explained in a cold voice, "My Mrs. Shawn is having a little disagreement with Mr. Shawn."

Realization dawned on Manager Waldron's face. He scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. "Of course, of course. It's perfectly normal for couples to have disagreements."

Victoria frowned slightly and shot Hawk a glare.

Hawk maintained a professional smile and repeated, his patience wearing thin, "Mrs. Shawn, Mr. Shawn invites you to get in the car."

Hearing this, and remembering the dozen or so complaints he'd received, Manager Waldron turned to Victoria with an appeasing smile. "Mrs. Shawn, it's so cold and wet out here in the rain. It's much warmer in the car. You can be angry, but you shouldn't joke with your health, right? And look at all the cars behind us... why don't you get in and have a good talk with Mr. Shawn?"

"You know what they say, couples always fight and make up."

Victoria didn't know what to say.

She took a deep breath and walked toward the Maybach.

Hawk let out a sigh of relief and patted Manager Waldron on the shoulder twice. "Well done. I'll be sure to mention your name to Mr. Shawn."

Manager Waldron beamed, bowing repeatedly in gratitude.

Hawk immediately turned and followed Victoria, opening the rear car door for her. A respectful smile played on his lips as he thought to himself, *My neck is safe for now.*

The light rain continued to fall.

The soft sound of raindrops hitting the car made the atmosphere inside unusually quiet.

Shortly after Victoria got in, the Maybach started toward the Design Institute. Elias sat on the other side, his eyes closed in rest, his face expressionless.

She had thought he insisted on her getting in because he had something to say.

But until the Maybach stopped outside the Design Institute, the man beside her never opened his eyes or said a single word. It made her feel like she had been overthinking things.

The car came to a stop.

"Mr. Sanger, are you going out?" she asked quickly.

Grady paused for a moment, then he grunted, "Yes. Something urgent came up, and I have to go out of town. I probably won't be back for a few days. Tell Saul Flint to cancel my schedule for the week."

Hearing this, Abbey's hands tightened unconsciously. "Isn't Flint going with you?"

"This is a critical time for the company's partnership with James. We can't afford to be short-staffed. With Saul here, I can rest easy," Grady explained with rare patience. He then strode out of the office.

Abbey stood rooted to the spot, her head bowed, a storm of emotions warring behind her lowered lashes.

Then, biting her lower lip, she ran after him. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, she stuck her hand out to stop them.

Grady's eyes tightened. He quickly pressed the open button, pulled Abbey inside, and scolded her, "Abbey, are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

If he had been a second later, her hand would have been caught in the doors.

Abbey was also shaken, her face paling.

Grady's brow furrowed. Seeing her pale face, his intention to scold her further vanished. His tone was still a bit stiff. "Be more careful next time."

"I'm sorry," Abbey said, her head hung low.

Grady was taken aback. Seeing her remorse, he suddenly felt that maybe his tone had been too harsh. After all, she was just a college student. He shouldn't have been so severe.

"You rushed in here in such a hurry. Was there something else you wanted to tell me?" he asked.