The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 363

Victoria was about to put the game board away. Hearing her father’s question, her movements paused almost imperceptibly. “Oh, he went to Bayside City on a business trip a couple of days ago.”

“A business trip?” Garnett looked at her with suspicion. “Did he say when he’ll be back?”

Victoria answered casually, “He won’t be back until after your surgery, Dad.”

Garnett stared at her intently, his gaze seemingly able to pierce right through her.

Victoria felt a little uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Catching sight of Mr. Flint returning out of the corner of her eye, she immediately stood up. “Dad, it’s lunchtime. I’ll go get you something to eat from the cafeteria.”

Then, without waiting for Garnett to say another word, she turned and walked out.

Victoria was lying.

He knew his daughter too well; she had never been a good liar.

Garnett watched her back as she practically fled, his brow furrowed in thought.

Then, with a glint in his eye, he pulled his phone out from under his pillow.

He thought to himself that it was a good thing he’d gotten Elias’s contact information when he came to play chess the other day.

Opening his contacts, Garnett quickly found the familiar number and tapped the screen to dial…

-

The cafeteria was on the second floor of the inpatient building. Since it was still early, there weren't many people in line.

Victoria didn’t have to wait long and was soon heading back with the take-out containers.

On the way, she got a call from Saul Flint.

“Miss Sanger, because Genevieve previously exhibited self-harm and accidentally caused someone to lose consciousness, the justice department arranged a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation for her a couple of days ago.”

“The results came back today. She’s been diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and depression. I spoke with the criminal investigation unit. Their opinion is that Genevieve is now considered to have diminished legal capacity and no longer meets their criteria for investigation.”

“Furthermore, in Mr. Sanger’s case, apart from Abbey’s testimony, there is currently no clear evidence directly linking Genevieve to what happened to him…”

“So, they’ve decided to temporarily suspend the investigation into Miss Vale.”

Ding!

The elevator stopped smoothly on the twelfth floor. As Victoria stepped out, Saul’s words replayed in her mind.

Victoria wasn’t too surprised by the outcome. She had been mentally prepared and could understand the police’s reasoning. After all, Abbey’s testimony alone was too weak.

But, Genevieve accidentally causing someone to lose consciousness…

Victoria thought of the night with Elias at The Cloudscape, when Laurel had hit her head and fainted.

Her lips tightened, and her gaze grew colder, as if coated with a layer of frost.

Just then, Garnett’s deep, strong voice came from the inner room.

Victoria froze. She slowly turned to see Garnett standing by the doorway of the inner room, looking at them with a puzzled expression.

Victoria was speechless.

Her eyelid twitched involuntarily as she met Garnett’s gaze. She felt a pang of guilt, and her eyes started to dart around.

“Dad, it’s nothing. I just got back from my trip and hadn’t told Victoria yet, so she was just surprised to see me.”

Compared to Victoria’s flustered state, Elias was much calmer. He took her hand in his, turned his head slightly, and looked down at her, his usually cold voice now carrying a rare gentleness.

“Right, Victoria?” he asked.

Victoria could clearly feel the warmth and dryness of the large hand holding hers. The heat seemed to spread from the back of her hand to her heart, making it beat erratically for a moment.

Hearing Elias say “got back from my trip,” Victoria was stunned.

How did he know she’d told Garnett he was on a business trip?

Before she could think it through, Garnett’s next words cleared up her confusion.

“So that’s what it was. Victoria, I was the one who called Elias. It was just a coincidence, I didn’t expect him to be back from his trip already. I just asked him to come have lunch with us.”