Chapter 172: A Dog’s Godmother?

The day came for Ellis to visit Casey’s house. The moment she stepped through the gates of Petal Estates, she slowed her pace to a crawl, practically moving at a turtle’s speed. After a full day of work, the last thing she wanted was to spend her evening “watching” a kid. She was tired and had no problem dragging her feet a little.

As she walked, a fluffy white blur came charging at her, finally circling around her feet. The soft fur brushing against her legs and the way its bushy tail wagged eagerly gave her all the information she needed. She didn’t even have to look—it was Morty’s Samoyed.

This big guy had to be at least fifty or sixty pounds. Standing up, he probably wasn’t much shorter than she was. She had never petted him before, but she had seen him plenty of times. He seemed to recognize her, too.

She vaguely remembered learning somewhere that this breed was known for being gentle. She wasn’t afraid of his excited greeting, but out of habit, she glanced around, looking for his owner.

“Ms. Harper.”

Morty approached at a relaxed pace, casually lifting the leash in his hand.

“Maya, come here.”

After greeting Ellis, he bent down to fasten the leash around the Samoyed’s neck. Ellis stayed still while Maya, clearly intrigued by her, kept circling her legs, sniffing at her clothes. Morty had to turn a few times before he could finally secure the leash.

Once he pulled Maya back a little, Ellis gave them both a good look. Did Morty take his dog on long walks every day? She had been coming here for a while now, and there hadn’t been a single time she didn’t see Morty walking his dog. It was almost like he was an NPC in a video game, programmed to appear at the same time, doing the same thing. The thought struck her out of nowhere, and she immediately realized how ridiculous it was. Because if he was an NPC, then so was she. Her routine was just as predictable—going back and forth, doing the same tasks at the same times. Maybe that’s just how most people lived.

“You’re here to do work for Madam Lois’s son again?”

Ellis wasn’t sure how Morty had figured out that Casey was Lois’s son, let alone how he knew that every time she came here, it was for work. But the second he said that, she suddenly remembered his little stunt from before—secretly snapping photos of her and Casey together and sending them to Easton, making it seem like she was cheating. She had almost forgotten about that. Now, it resurfaced out of nowhere. She didn’t give him an attitude, but her expression turned unreadable as she looked at him.

This guy was so contradictory. One moment, he was polite and mild-mannered. The next, he was passive-aggressive. And then, without warning, he’d go behind someone’s back and do something straight-up shady. He switched between these roles so effortlessly it was almost impressive.

“Mm.” She gave a half-hearted nod and started walking toward Casey’s house.

But Morty stopped her. She paused, remembering that text. The one where he asked her to like his post. She turned back and stared at him.

Seriously? What kind of post was so important that he had to personally message people to get likes? Wait a minute—since their social circles overlapped a little, they probably had some mutual contacts on WeChat. Did he ask everyone to like his post? Or just her?

She walked back and stood in front of him, puzzled. “What exactly did you post? And what difference do my likes make?”

“Maya’s glamour shots! Didn’t you notice how much she likes you?”

Ellis immediately understood—Maya was the dog’s name. She glanced down at him. The moment she did, his tail wagged even faster. If Morty weren’t holding onto the leash, Maya probably would’ve spun around her feet again.

“And?” She couldn’t believe Morty was this childish—actually going out of his way to DM people to like his dog’s photos.

“She likes you, and you’re always around here, so why not…” Morty paused as if considering something. “Why not let her recognize you as her godmother?”

…Godmother? Did he just say…godmother? To a dog? At first, it sounded completely ridiculous. But then again, these days, a lot of pet owners called themselves their pet’s “mom” or “dad.” In that sense, it wasn’t that strange. Still… Is Morty suggesting this? Now that was insane. Ellis had no idea what kind of relationship she had with him. He was her ex-husband’s childhood friend. He was also her boss’s business partner. As long as they didn’t cross paths too much, basic politeness was enough. But now he was out here trying to make his dog recognize her as its godmother? That was beyond bizarre. How much free time did this guy have? He must have been bored out of his mind.

“I refuse.” She shut him down coldly.

“Come on, she’s smart, adorable, and beautiful! You wouldn’t lose anything by being her godmother.” Morty hugged Maya and nudged her toward Ellis. “You won’t regret it.”

Maya was cute. Ellis couldn’t resist petting her, running her fingers through the fluffy white fur.

“Too bad her owner is annoying,” she said bluntly.

Morty cleared his throat. “If we’re talking about being annoying, we both have our moments.”

“Nope. Just you.” Ellis refused to admit anything.

“No one can be liked by everyone.” Morty casually shifted Maya to one arm and extended his other hand toward Ellis. “Let’s think about it. We’ve never properly introduced ourselves, have we? Let’s start fresh today and drop all the past biases.”