The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 174

Victoria waited a long moment, but Elias didn't loosen his grip. Finally, she yanked her arm free herself.

Fearing he would hurt her again, Elias let his fingers go slack.

The moment she was free, Victoria quickly hid her hand behind her back and stepped away, putting distance between them before she stopped.

Her attempt to avoid him was blatant.

Elias watched her, his cold eyes darkening. The hand that had just held her wrist curled slightly, as if to restrain the urge to grab her again. He swallowed hard, and a low voice escaped his lips.

"…I'm sorry."

Victoria was stunned.

She had considered what Elias might say if he stopped her, but she had expected only cold mockery. The apology caught her completely off guard, and for a moment, she forgot how to react.

"On the day of Grady's funeral, I didn't expect you to hit the urn."

The powerful head of the Shawn family, who had always stood above everyone else—when had he ever apologized to anyone?

This was the first time Elias had ever humbled himself, and his words came out with an unnatural stiffness.

Didn't expect…

What a convenient excuse.

A sarcastic smile touched Victoria's lips. "Elias, my brother is dead. I can't forgive you on behalf of a dead man."

A heavy weight settled in Elias's chest.

"If that's all you wanted to say, then we're done. I'm tired, and I don't want to stand out here in the cold with you," Victoria said with detached politeness, turning to leave.

Elias instinctively reached out to grab her again.

But this time, Victoria didn't give him the chance, sidestepping his hand. "Mr. Shawn, is there something else?"

"You…" Elias stared at her, his gaze shifting to Tobias, who was getting out of her BMW MINI. His dark eyes were unreadable. "Are you with Tobias now?"

Victoria followed his gaze toward the car and found the question laughable. A faint smile played on her lips. "That's my private business. I don't believe it has anything to do with you, Mr. Shawn."

"…" Elias was silenced by her response.

Victoria pursed her lips. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she saw a flicker of pain in Elias's eyes.

She took a deep breath. "Eli—"

Before she could finish, Elias suddenly held out a bank card and a visitor's pass. "There are five hundred million dollars on this card," he said in a low voice. "And this pass will allow you to visit your father during his medical parole."

Victoria stared coldly at the two items, making no move to take them.

Jonah Chase glanced at the man sitting at the bar, raised an eyebrow, and nudged Lucian with his shoulder. "Thorne, aren't you usually the one good at comforting people? Go talk to that heartbroken bachelor over there. He's been drinking for days. Any longer and I'm going to start smelling like stale whiskey just by being here."

Lucian shot him a sidelong glance, a smile that didn't reach his eyes on his face. "If you want to ask for trouble, go ahead. Don't drag me down with you."

Jonah fell silent.

Lucian picked up his glass, drained the remaining half, and asked in a low voice, "You've been investigating Grady's crash for half a month. Find anything?"

Jonah shook his head, leaning back lazily against the sofa. "Investigate? His body was never found, how am I supposed to investigate? Besides, the police have confirmed multiple times it was an accident. You think I can stare at that wrecked car frame and make a different conclusion appear?"

Lucian said nothing.

"I just don't get it. I can understand Victoria not accepting reality. Grady was her brother, and losing him so suddenly is a shock. That's normal. But why is Elias, who's usually so clear-headed, also questioning the cause of the accident?"

Jonah grumbled. He hadn't had a decent meal in days because of this mess.

"And I told him not to show Victoria the accident report and the video. But did he listen?"

"Now look. He went and lost his wife over it, didn't he!"

In the next second, a cold glare landed on Jonah.

He shivered involuntarily, looking up to meet the dark eyes of a certain newly single man who had just lost his wife.