The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 51

"I'm carrying Elias's child. This is a Shawn family baby!"

Victoria looked at her, her tone placid. "And?"

Genevieve froze.

Impossible! How could Victoria be so calm? She loved Elias so much, shouldn't she be breaking down right now? Shouldn't she be losing control?

She's faking it! She has to be!

A shadow fell over Genevieve's face, and she pressed on through gritted teeth. "You're only acting so arrogant because you have the old man backing you, but Elias doesn't love you. Once I give birth to this child, Old Mr. Shawn would never let his own flesh and blood remain on the outside! When that happens, you'll be cast aside, thrown out of the Shawn family, whether you like it or not! And the child I bear will be the future heir of the Shawn family!"

"Hah," Victoria let out a cold laugh.

"What are you laughing at!"

Victoria took two steps toward her. "Because you're naive. And pathetic."

Genevieve's face hardened, and she was about to snap back when she suddenly felt an oppressive aura emanating from Victoria. The pressure was so intense it nearly stopped her heart, and she instinctively took a few steps back.

"Genevieve, Old Mr. Shawn would never allow a Shawn to be raised outside the family, that's true. But what makes you think that just because your child is accepted, you will be too?" Victoria looked down at her, her gaze falling to Genevieve's stomach. "You've been with the Vale family for so many years. Surely you've heard stories about keeping the child and getting rid of the mother?"

Genevieve's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible! Elias would never agree to that!"

"And what if he doesn't? Didn't you just say it yourself? The one who has my back is Old Mr. Shawn. Genevieve, as long as he is around, my position as Mrs. Shawn is secure. And you? You'll be nothing but the other woman, and your child will be nothing but an illegitimate heir, despised by everyone, with absolutely no right to inherit the Shawn family fortune!"

With that, Victoria walked past her and headed for the exit.

Genevieve trembled with rage, a hot, metallic nausea clawing up her throat.

She spun around and screamed at Victoria's retreating back. "Victoria! You won't be Miss Sanger for much longer! Once Garnett is dead, you and your brother will be nothing but homeless dogs! When that happens, the old man might not be so quick to side with you!"

"Victoria, I will never lose to you! Not then, not now, and not ever!"

Victoria's steps faltered for a second, but she quickly resumed her pace and walked out of the coffee shop.

-

"Victoria, what's wrong with you? And don't you dare tell me it's nothing. Look at those dark circles. You look like a panda. We could drop you off at the zoo and no one would bat an eye."

"It's not that bad!" Victoria laughed at Cerys's exaggeration. She flipped down the vanity mirror and took a look. On second thought, maybe Cerys wasn't exaggerating that much after all.

She touched the skin under her eyes. "Remember I told you I took on that Shawn Group project? I've been buried in documents these past few days, probably overdid it a little. But I'm done with the first phase now. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Cerys knew how hard she worked, so she didn't push it.

"By the way, the application review for that competition should be ending soon. You got through, right?" Cerys asked.

Victoria's eyes darkened slightly.

Cerys caught the flicker of emotion. "What's wrong?" she asked, frowning.

Victoria flipped the mirror back up and told her about her meeting with Genevieve a few days ago.

And then-