My Cat Said I Was Cheated On Chapter 03
The boutique associate took the designer handbag and checked the product code.
“That’s right.”
“Congratulations! You’ve won a jackpot worth $450,000.”
“Please come with me.”
The whole process took less than a minute.
A bank notification popped up on my phone.
About $400,000 after taxes had already hit my account.
Still, Adrian and Chloe would find out about the money soon enough.
The boutique was putting up a sign out front next week to promote the win.
So I immediately called a real estate agent and bought the riverfront condo I’d had my eye on for ages.
Paid in full.
Once everything was settled, I took the property deed home and told Mom and Dad about it.
They were shocked to learn that Adrian and Chloe had been together behind my back.
But they believed me.
They told me to do whatever felt right.
I’d just finished dinner with Mom and Dad when Adrian and Chloe added me to a group chat.
Chloe immediately sent a cheerful voice message.
[Serena! You skipped Korean BBQ with me tonight, so you’re paying!]
Adrian jumped in right after her.
[It’s only a thousand dollars. Just send it over.]
I went to shower and pretended I hadn’t seen a thing.
By the time I came back, the group chat showed 99+ unread messages.
Chloe: [Serena, why aren’t you saying anything?]
Adrian: [It’s been ten minutes. They’re waiting for us to pay.]
Chloe: [Hey, girl. Seriously? What kind of friend ignores my messages like this?]
The last message was from Adrian.
[Serena, you’re so cheap.]
[Forget it. We’ll pay for it ourselves!]
Only then did I reply.
[Just got out of the shower.]
Neither of them answered.
Stuff like this had happened before.
Back then, I’d even sent Chloe and Adrian $500 each on Venmo just to get them to stop being mad at me.
Not this time.
I didn’t have time to coax either of them.
I gave Ginger a handful of freeze-dried cat treats, opened my laptop, and got back to work.
I refined my marketing proposal and prepared for Monday’s presentation.
Ginger hopped onto my desk and stared at my screen.
Then his inner voice came through again.
[The cats at Brightwell Consumer Group say the Board Chair loves cute pets.]
[But he’s got that aloof executive image to maintain, so he never lets it show.]
[He’s always going on about how he wishes someone would come up with a pet-themed marketing campaign.]
An idea hit me instantly.
If that was what he liked, I could work cute pets into the campaign.
I worked straight through the night and into the morning.
Just as I was about to take a break, Adrian called.
“Serena, what you did yesterday was way out of line.”
“You seriously wouldn’t pay?”
“That’s pretty hurtful.”
“You made Chloe cry.”
Then he continued,
“She saw a necklace at the mall a while ago.”
“Buy it for her.”
I almost laughed.
He really was determined to use my money to support Chloe.
Adrian kept going.
“This is about keeping the three of us close.”
“So what if you have to give a little?”
“You cover it.”
“Chloe will be happy, and I won’t be mad at you anymore.”
I replied calmly,
“I was up all night working.”
“I’m too tired to go to the mall.”
“You go check it out.”
“Okay!”
Adrian sounded delighted.
He clearly thought I’d agreed to pay.
Then he hung up.
At the same time, a message from Chloe popped up.
[Serena! See? I knew we were best friends!]
[You’re the best!]
[I’m not mad at you anymore.]
[Love you! Love you!]
I didn’t reply.
I tossed my phone aside and went straight to sleep.
That evening, when I woke up, several more messages were waiting for me.
Chloe: [I found an even prettier one!]
[It’s $25,000. Buy this one for me!]
Adrian: [No answer means yes.]
[Chloe’s going to put it on a financing plan for now.]
[You can come by later and pay it off early.]
Chloe: [If you pay it off within a month, there’s no interest!]
[Serena, don’t forget!]