The Fake Heiress and Her Purrfect Partner novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“What? Are they really planning to shut down the zoo?” Nina’s phone nearly slipped from her grasp as she heard the news. “Then why on earth did they hire me as the zoo manager?” Her mind raced back to Tommy’s hurried departure earlier that day. Was he deliberately trying to avoid dealing with the chaos?

She lifted her gaze toward the Forest Isle Zoo’s entrance. The wooden sign above the gate looked weathered and worn, its paint peeling with age. Yet, despite its tired appearance, the ticket booth was swarmed with visitors, all craning their necks eagerly to peek inside.

A flicker of hope stirred within her. It was only a weekday morning, yet the crowd was thick with people purchasing tickets. Maybe those sensational news stories were just exaggerating things to grab clicks.

Feeling a bit more confident, Nina clipped her staff badge onto her shirt and slipped through the employee entrance beside the ticket counter.

Almost immediately, the crowd noticed her badge and erupted in loud voices, “Hey, look! It’s the zoo manager!”

Nina blinked in surprise, unsure how to respond.

The young woman manning the ticket window froze, her eyes wide as she took in Nina’s unfamiliar face. But when she spotted the zoo manager badge, her expression shifted to desperation—silent pleas for help flashing in her eyes.

Before Nina could make sense of the situation, a middle-aged man stormed up to her, grabbing the collar of her shirt with a rough grip. His forehead was flushed, veins standing out as he spat, “So you finally show up. Your tiger killed my daughter, Zoey. You owe us. I want compensation!”

Nina was caught completely off guard. She flailed her hands in protest, voice trembling, “Sir, you’ve got the wrong person. I just started today—I don’t know what happened.”

“I don’t care if you’re new,” he growled, jabbing a finger at her badge. “It says ‘zoo manager’ right there. That makes you responsible!”

Suddenly, the pieces fell into place. Tommy had been desperate to get her hired so he could pass all the blame onto her shoulders.

Still gripped by the man’s hand, Nina felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “Look, today’s literally my first day. Can you please tell me exactly what happened?”

Around them, the crowd buzzed with whispers and gossip, everyone eager to share their version of the story.

“That tiger went wild and bit someone’s head clean off!” one bystander shouted.

“Yeah, and the head’s still missing—probably eaten by the tiger,” another added grimly.

Nina realized these weren’t genuine zoo visitors but rubberneckers drawn by the scandal.

Her brow furrowed. As someone experienced with tigers, she knew their habits well. Tigers typically target fatty organs and muscle tissue, not the head. If they wanted the brain, they would crush the skull—not bite the head off in one clean snap.

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