The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 209

By the time Victoria drove back to her downtown apartment at Willow Creek Estates, it was nearly dark.

She unlocked the front door with her fingerprint and stepped into the foyer, immediately finding Cerys in a heated standoff with the cat at the dining table.

At the sound of the door, Cerys Thorne turned around. The moment she saw Victoria, her delicate face crumpled. "Victoria…" she whined.

"Meow~"

Dawn hopped off the dining table and rubbed against her leg.

Victoria scooped up the kitten, kicked off her shoes, and closed the door. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Cerys pouted and slumped into a chair, pointing at the black furball in Victoria's arms. "It's all his fault!"

Confused, Victoria carried Dawn toward Cerys. As she got closer, she noticed a pair of very familiar leather shoes on the dining table, their surface covered in bite marks.

Cerys looked at her with mournful eyes and explained, "I bought a cupcake on my way home today but forgot it in the car. I rushed downstairs to get it, but I didn't realize Dawn had followed me out…"

Victoria could guess the rest.

Dawn hadn't been able to keep up with Cerys and got locked out. Unable to get back in, he started wandering around the hallway, getting familiar with the new territory.

At only three months old, the kitten was teething. After waiting for Cerys for a while, his gums started to itch. He spotted the leather shoes on the neighbor's shoe rack and decided they would make a perfect chew toy.

Victoria picked up the mangled shoes, a twitch at the corner of her mouth. She didn't know whether to laugh or be angry.

"Mrow!"

As if sensing he'd caused trouble, Dawn snuggled into her arms, licking her wrist as she examined the shoes.

"I looked up the brand online, hoping to buy a new pair to replace them," Cerys said, pulling out her phone and showing Victoria her search results.

Victoria glanced down, puzzled.

[No relevant information found]

Cerys added, "I asked my brother about it, and he said they're usually custom-made. It's basically impossible to find an identical second pair."

At that, Victoria felt a throb in her temple.

Cerys looked miserable. "We can't even buy them, Victoria. What are we going to do?"

Victoria looked from Cerys to the kitten diligently licking her wrist.

What could they do? The only option was to contact the owner and offer to pay for the damages.

Victoria handed Dawn to Cerys. "I'll write a note and leave it on their door. We'll see if we can get in touch with them and figure out if we should have a new pair custom-made or just compensate them directly."

"Okay, I'll pay for it!" Cerys said, her eyes blinking. She then gently tapped Dawn on the head with her index finger, gritting her teeth. "Dawn! It's all your fault. Of all the things to chew, you had to pick someone's shoes! And you couldn't even pick a brand we could actually buy. You little monster!"

Dawn didn't understand the words, but he recognized the scolding tone. His ears flattened, and he let out a pathetic little meow.

Just then, her phone buzzed twice.

It was a message from Sunny Lewis: [Victoria, are you okay?]

Victoria was puzzled and replied: [?]

She sent the message just as she walked into the office.

Suddenly, the bustling room fell silent. The atmosphere became tense and strange.

Before she could figure out what was going on, Sunny ran over to her, asking nervously, "Victoria, are you alright? Don't worry too much. What happened isn't entirely your fault. If they dare to pin all the blame on you, I'll go raise hell! You—"

"What's going on?" Victoria's confusion grew, her brow furrowing as she cut Sunny off.

Sunny froze. "You… you don't know?"

"Should I know something?" Victoria asked, her gaze sweeping across the office. Everyone was staring at her with odd expressions.

Sunny was clearly not expecting this reaction. The words caught in her throat.

Suddenly, a scornful voice came from behind Victoria.

"Victoria, what are you still doing here?"