The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 193

Victoria hastily raised her hand, cleaning her tears while pretending to brush back a stray strand of hair. She sat up straight.

"I've met her."

"Her name is Abbey Prescott. She's a senior at Imperial University and was assigned to intern in my brother's secretarial office a while back."

Her cover was good enough; Garnett didn't notice anything amiss. Hearing the girl's name, however, he found it vaguely familiar. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Prescott?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

Garnett thought for a moment. "It's just a bit of a coincidence."

Meeting Victoria's puzzled gaze, he explained, "Don't you remember? You had a roommate in college you were close with who was also named Prescott. I even met her once when I was helping you move dorms. What was her name again..."

"Tamara Prescott," Victoria answered.

She had never forgotten that name. She didn't dare to.

Tamara Prescott was the protagonist of the story Rose had shouted about at the art exhibition—the one who had accused Victoria of being a plagiarist. The one who, in an attempt to prove her innocence, had tried to commit suicide and ended up disabled.

To this day, Victoria still couldn't understand what had happened.

How could the design she had submitted, her own work, end up being announced as Tamara's at the competition's award ceremony?

She had investigated, but found no leads. Even the original submission email in her sent folder showed Tamara's design, not hers.

It was as if her memory of submitting her own design was nothing more than a dream.

Imperial University wasn't a huge campus, but it wasn't small either. Before Victoria could figure anything out, the rumors had spiraled out of control.

By the time she realized things were about to get serious, Tamara Prescott had jumped from a high place.

She survived, but was left with a permanent disability. She dropped out of school and vanished from public view.

"Right, Tamara Prescott," Garnett said with a smile. "Abbey Prescott, Tamara Prescott. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were sisters."

A jolt went through Victoria. "Dad, what did you just say? You think their names sound like they could be sisters?"

She finished the sentence in her mind.

Garnett gently stroked her back, feeling the dampness on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I scared you."

-

Victoria composed herself and chatted with Garnett about everyday family matters.

The thirty minutes passed quickly.

Garnett patted her head. "You should go. Drive safe on the way back. Next time... the three of us can be together as a family again."

After holding it in for so long, Victoria's eyes finally reddened with tears. She didn't dare show too much emotion, however. She just nodded, then left the quarantine building, looking back every few steps.

Once she was back in her car, she bit her lip and tilted her head up, but the tears she'd been holding back escaped anyway, sliding down from the corners of her eyes.

She slumped over the steering wheel. A long time passed before she finally pulled herself together enough to call Mr. Flint, and then she started the car, heading toward the Sanger estate.