The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 80

The rain poured down all night.

Inside the attic, Victoria sat huddled against a wall, her knees drawn to her chest, her head buried in her arms. She felt groggy and disoriented.

She had barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, the image of Genevieve deliberately throwing herself over the railing and the look in Elias's eyes would flash through her mind.

The attic door was pushed open from the outside, and a sliver of light cut through the darkness.

Victoria's temples throbbed violently. Hearing the noise, she jolted awake from her stupor and looked up at the figure in the doorway.

The man stood silhouetted against the light. Whether it was because the light behind him was too blinding or because her nerves had been stretched taut all night, it took Victoria a long moment to recognize him.

She pushed herself up against the wall, slowly getting to her feet, her voice low and hoarse.

"Elias..."

Elias stood before her, looking down at her without a word.

Victoria could feel his gaze on her, utterly glacial. It was so cold that the very air she breathed felt like it was filled with shards of ice, piercing and painful.

She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, trying to use the pain to stay lucid. She asked him, "Genevieve, she..."

"Her baby is gone."

Victoria's entire body shuddered.

But before she could speak, Elias closed the distance between them. His cool, long-fingered hand gripped her chin, forcing her to look up at him. The words Genevieve had said on the phone last night flashed through his mind, and the pressure of his grip unconsciously tightened.

So, in her eyes, fifty billion was the price for the title of Mrs. Shawn!

What a brilliant scheme!

Pushing someone down the stairs, causing a miscarriage, using her status as Mrs. Shawn to extort money!

He had truly underestimated this woman's venom and greed. And to think he had actually believed she might have changed!

Elias sneered, "Victoria, you must be thrilled to hear that, right? After all your scheming, you've finally eliminated the one threat to your position as Mrs. Shawn."

Victoria winced in pain, struggling to explain, "Elias, I didn't push her."

But a second later, Elias grabbed her, dragged her out of the attic, and slammed her against the hallway railing.

She lost her balance, her body lurching backward until her entire upper body was hanging over the edge. A quick glance down revealed the empty, cavernous hall below, a bottomless space that looked like the gaping maw of a beast, radiating a terrifying chill.

"Elias! Don't!" Victoria screamed in terror.

"Victoria, I'm giving you one last chance. Did you push Gen or not?!"

Looking at Elias's merciless, cold face, Victoria was certain that if she dared to say the word "no," he would release his grip without a moment's hesitation and let her fall, just like he had ruthlessly pushed her from a hundred meters up.

Her pupils constricted violently, a look of utter despair in her eyes. Her voice was fragile and broken as the words she had kept buried in her heart finally escaped.

"Elias, why can't you just believe me once..."

Elias caught the glint of tears in her eyes, and his heart seized for a moment.

But just as quickly, his coldness returned, his eyes filled with scorn. "Five years ago, you impersonated Gen and lied, claiming you were the one who ran into the fire to save me. You made me believe you were my savior, using the Shawn family's resources to help the Sanger family establish themselves in the Imperial Capital. If the police hadn't shown me Gen's photo and exposed your little act, you'd probably still be smugly congratulating yourself for fooling everyone, wouldn't you?"

"Victoria, with a track record like that, why on earth should I believe you?!"