The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 7

He stood tall and imposing in the entryway, his suit jacket draped casually over his arm.

He looked like he hadn't slept all night, with faint shadows under his eyes, but it did nothing to soften his presence. If anything, it made him seem even more focused.

Victoria hadn't expected him to be back so soon.

The memory of his tense expression when he'd gotten Genevieve's call last night sent a sharp pang through her heart.

The sound of boiling soup bubbled from the kitchen.

Victoria pushed the thought aside, walked past him without a word into the kitchen, turned off the stove, and ladled some soup into a bowl.

Elias, thinking of the text message she had sent, felt a surge of irritation. "You've got my attention. What is it you want this time?"

CRASH.

The sound of shattering ceramic echoed from the kitchen.

Elias strode in to find soup spilled all over the floor, the bowl shattered into pieces. In the middle of the mess, Victoria was crouching down, frantically trying to pick up the shards.

Her skin was naturally pale, making the red splash marks on her arm where the hot soup had scalded her stand out starkly.

Elias's jaw tightened. He wanted to ask if she was alright, but the words that came out were laced with impatience. "Are you an idiot, Victoria? You can't even carry a bowl of soup without dropping it? Clumsy fool. If you can't do it, why didn't you call for Anne?"

Victoria's movements paused for a fraction of a second. "Anne... took the day off."

Elias saw the way she kept her head down, as if she were the wronged party, and a fire of inexplicable frustration ignited in his chest.

What right did she have to act pitiful?

She had the title of Mrs. Shawn. What more could she possibly want?

His face darkened. "I have a business trip later. Call Anne and tell her to come back. My family hired her to work, not to take vacations."

With that, he turned to leave.

So that was it. The only reason he had come back was to pack for a trip.

"Ah..."

Lost in thought, Victoria's finger slipped and caught the edge of a shard of glass. Blood welled up instantly.

"Alright."

She clenched her fist, hiding the cut from view. After a moment, she stood up. "When will you be back from your trip? We need to go to city hall and file the divorce papers."

Elias's dark eyes narrowed, his gaze frosty as he studied her. "A divorce? Victoria, there's a limit to these games. Don't forget, you're the one who wronged Gen in the first place."

Victoria replied, "You're right. The title of Mrs. Shawn was never meant to be mine. Now that Genevieve is back... I'm willing to step aside."

Elias gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Give it back? How generous of you, Mrs. Shawn."

The front door crashed shut.

Victoria clenched her hands, the cut on her finger a throbbing, constant reminder of the pain.

That evening, Anne returned.

Still recovering from the miscarriage and a severe fever, Victoria decided to take all her accumulated vacation time at once. She only returned to work after she felt she had mostly recovered.

Victoria had been working at Aurelian Central Design Institute ever since she graduated.

In just under two years, she had worked her way up from a design assistant to an architect capable of managing her own projects.

After a week off, Victoria had a mountain of work to catch up on.

By the time she sent the last email to a client, the sky outside was completely dark.

Knock, knock.

A sound came from her office door.

She looked up sharply.

Cerys Thorne was leaning against the doorframe, sunglasses dangling from one finger, a playful smile on her face.

"Excuse me, is the ever-diligent Designer Sanger ready to grace the world with her presence and clock out for the day?"