The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 31

For a moment, everyone passing by stopped and stared at Victoria. The members of Team Two, in particular, looked like they were enjoying the show. One of them said sarcastically, "Rose, you can't just make baseless accusations. Be careful, or Designer Sanger might sue you for slander!"

"Slander? Go on, ask her if what I said is true!" Rose sneered, a smug look on her face. "Victoria, say something. Why are you so quiet? They're all waiting for you to deny it!"

Victoria felt everyone's eyes on her like daggers. Faced with Rose's challenge, her throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, and she couldn't utter a word.

"See? I was telling the truth! She doesn't even dare to deny it..."

"Have you said enough?" Elias's voice cut right through Rose's rant. His dark eyes swept coldly over the group before landing on Victoria, who stood there quiet.

Startled by his chilling presence, Rose swallowed her words.

Genevieve's eyes flickered, and she stepped forward to comfort Victoria. "Victoria, don't pay any attention to what they're saying. No matter what, I believe you."

As she spoke, she raised a hand to gently pat Victoria's shoulder.

But Victoria sidestepped, causing Genevieve's hand to miss its mark. The smile on Genevieve's face nearly faltered.

"I have work to do. Excuse me."

Victoria walked away without looking back, but a careful observer would have noticed the frantic pace of her steps.

With Victoria gone, the crowd dispersed.

Rose, though unwilling to let it go, didn't dare say more with Elias and Genevieve present. She and the rest of Team Two quickly scurried away.

"Elias, let's go check out that exhibit up ahead," Genevieve said, glancing at Elias out of the corner of her eye.

Though his expression was still unreadable, she could sense his mood had darkened considerably after Victoria left.

The more a woman could affect a man's emotions, the more he cared about her.

A shadow passed through Genevieve's eyes, gone in an instant. She took Elias's arm and remarked casually, "I was actually quite surprised to see Victoria entering the competition."

"After all, she hasn't taken part in any competitions since that incident. But the fact that she's willing to compete now must mean she's finally moving forward. I'm really happy for her. With her talent, she's bound to win something."

"It's just... the plagiarism incident is a fact. This competition has a high profile, and if Victoria wins, someone is bound to dig into her past. If that happens, the public outcry could be..."

Genevieve trailed off, deliberately changing the subject. "But I hope I'm just overthinking things."

-

Night fell.

When Elias returned to The Imperial Crest Estates, Anne was surprised to see him.

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