The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 71

After leaving The Shawn Group, Victoria didn't go back to The Imperial Crest Estates. Instead, she crashed at the apartment Cerys had bought to catch up on sleep.

She ended up sleeping straight through until nightfall.

Whether it was from sleeping too long or the exhausting series of nightmares, Victoria woke up with a pounding headache.

She fumbled her way out of the room in the dark, flipped on the light, and headed for some water, hoping it would take the edge off her headache.

Just then, the fingerprint lock beeped.

Victoria's heart skipped a beat. She turned toward the door, and before she could even make out the person, a familiar voice reached her.

"Your phone was off, so I had no choice but to ask my brother to find out where you were. That's how I learned you'd left Elias's place this morning. I called The Imperial Crest Estates and your office, but nobody had seen you." The moment Cerys saw Victoria, the knot of worry in her chest finally loosened. She walked in and slipped into a pair of slippers. "I had a feeling you'd be here."

"Sorry to make you worry. I haven't checked my phone; it must have died."

Victoria walked over and took the bags from her hands. Looking down, she saw they were filled with beer, sodas, and snacks. "What's all this...?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're celebrating the fact that the Mr. Sanger situation is resolved. We're not stopping until we're drunk tonight! Well, I'll be drinking. You're on sodas." Cerys walked into the living room, pushed the small coffee table on the rug aside, and sat down cross-legged.

Victoria just looked at Cerys for a long moment, her lips pressed together.

"What are you standing there for? Get over here and see what else you want to eat. The lights weren't on when I came up, so I'm guessing you haven't eaten all day. Your stomach ulcer just healed; you can't be treating it like this."

Cerys waved her phone at her, the screen displaying a food delivery app. Before Victoria could speak, she started talking to herself, "This fried chicken looks pretty good. Let's get some of that. Oh, and this! You love this tomato broth vermicelli noodle soup. I'll get you a bowl!"

Victoria sat down across from her.

Cerys shoved the phone into her hand. "Here, check it out. I've been stuck eating at home lately and haven't had a chance to order takeout. Looks like a bunch of new places have opened up."

Victoria put the phone down and just looked at her.

She wasn't stupid. She could see that Cerys was trying to comfort her.

She had only just left Elias's place this morning after a whole night there. It wasn't hard to guess what had happened, and Cerys was no exception.

So Cerys wanted to ask but didn't dare, afraid of upsetting her, pretending like nothing was wrong.

Victoria said softly, "Cerys, if you want to ask, I can tell you."

"Are you crazy? Do you want to destroy your stomach?!" The sight of it made Cerys forget her tears. She quickly grabbed Victoria's wrist, snatched the beer away, and then opened a soda from the bag, shoving it into her hand instead. "You can lose your mind if you want, but I’m not doing it with you. I need you sticking around for a long time. Who else is going to be my maid of honor?"

Victoria couldn't help but laugh at her words.

Cerys clinked her can against Victoria's bottle, her expression serious. "Victoria, no matter what happened yesterday, let's bury it in the mud. All you need to remember is that from this moment on, you are reborn."

Victoria nodded, raising her drink. "Alright! To my new life!"

...

The two of them drank until midnight.

Cerys was passed out drunk, sleeping on the rug.

Victoria got a blanket from the bedroom and covered her with it. At the same time, her phone, now fully charged, turned on. A flood of missed calls and messages popped up.

She replied to a few important work messages. Suddenly, a scheduled reminder she had set for herself shot up from the bottom of her chat list to the top.

[Don't forget Laurel's birthday banquet tomorrow at 7 PM.]