The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 99

On the last afternoon of her break, Victoria paid a visit to The Sanger Group.

"Miss Sanger, Mr. Sanger is still in a meeting," Grady's secretary said, coming in from outside the office.

Victoria understood. "That's fine, I can wait here. You can go back to your work, don't worry about me."

The secretary nodded and didn't insist.

The Sanger Group had nearly gone under not long ago and had only just started to recover. As the CEO's secretary, he indeed had a lot of work to attend to.

He set down the prepared coffee and snacks and left.

Victoria stood up and looked around the office, her gaze finally settling on a photo frame displayed in a cabinet behind the desk chair.

She walked over, took it out, and gently traced the faces in the picture, her eyes stinging slightly.

In the photo, a five-year-old Grady stood in the middle, holding hands with Garnett on one side and his mother, Mrs. Sanger, on the other. At the time, she was eight months pregnant, her hand resting gently on her belly, a soft expression on her face.

Though there were only three of them, it was the only thing their family had that could be considered a family portrait.

Victoria's finger lingered on her mother's face, a face that was both strange and familiar.

Strange, because Mrs. Sanger had passed away from a sudden hemorrhage shortly after Victoria was born. It happened without warning, catching everyone off guard. As an infant, she had never even had a chance to clearly see her mother's face.

Familiar, because after her mother's death, Garnett had been despondent for five long years. He spent his days clutching her photo albums and his nights drinking himself senseless. So, while Victoria had never truly met her mother, she knew her face by heart.

"Why did you suddenly take that picture down?"

Victoria had been so absorbed that she hadn't noticed when Grady opened the door and came in.

"Grady," she said, turning around.

"The secretary told me you were here. I was quite surprised. You rarely come here to see me. What brings you here all of a sudden?" Grady took the frame from her hand, gave it a deep look, then carefully placed it back in its spot. He continued, "Are you missing Dad? I had a friend check on his condition a few days ago. He said Dad's recovering well, so don't worry."

It wasn't that Victoria had always disliked coming here. When she was in college, Garnett had been training Grady, and the two of them often worked late into the night at the company. Worried they weren't eating properly, she would bring them meals every day and watch to make sure they ate.

But after Garnett was imprisoned, she stopped coming as often.

Victoria sensed his gaze and understood. She raised her hand and brushed back her hair, revealing the faint scar on her forehead, a slight smile on her lips.

"Grady, you've protected me very well. You don't need to blame yourself. This scar isn't your fault; it was my choice. And look, it's already faded so much you can barely see it, right?"

Grady gave her an affectionate but helpless look. Seeing her insistence, he relented. "I won't assign you bodyguards, but if anything happens, you can't hide it from me."

"Okay, I promise that from now on, no matter what happens, if you ask, I'll tell you everything! And likewise, you can't lie to me either. Otherwise… we’re done being brother and sister."

"Pinky swear!" Victoria hooked her pinky around Grady's and shook it three times, then held up her thumb towards him.

"You're an adult, still playing such a childish game, and you say you're not a child." Though his words were teasing, Grady still played along, touching his thumb to hers and finishing her sentence, "Deal. No backing out."

Victoria smiled, her bright eyes sparkling with a light that had been missing for a long time.

They chatted for a while longer, catching up.

Finally, Victoria revealed the reason for her visit, telling him about Genevieve's setup and the things she had said that night...