Chapter 182

“I’ll negotiate a few more projects for you first, to build your momentum. Once you earn their complete trust, that’s when we start making our move.” James was fully supportive of Abigail’s retaliation against the Gibson family.

Wyatt gave her the largest share of stock and wanted her to be CEO. With her abilities, if one day Wyatt really couldn’t hold the company up anymore, as CEO, she would be the one to shoulder the responsibility.

If she ended up running the company successfully, the rest of the Gibson family would all benefit from it too. Wyatt hadn’t thought of that, but Abigail had.

“Alright.” Abigail nodded. At this point, as long as they didn’t give Daniella any shares, she didn’t care about anything else the Gibson family did. “Seb will try to come back early. Then someone will be around to cook for you,” James said seriously, then started teasing Abigail again.

“I think I should go learn how to drive,” Abigail felt a bit bad that Sebastian, despite being so busy, still worried about whether she’d eaten. “You want to learn to drive just to eat out nearby?” James laughed, “If you don’t take advantage of him now, who knows – your future boyfriend might not be as good as him.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Abigail immediately cut him off. She hadn’t thought she’d become so emotionally reliant on any man other than Sebastian.

James laughed, “This isn’t nonsense. Weren’t you still hung up on that guy named Clark?”

“I said, I never really liked him,” Abigail explained.

“What about Seb, then?” James pressed her, not giving up.

“You’re asking what you already know.” Abigail figured she definitely liked Sebastian – otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to stay here. But liking someone didn’t necessarily mean she had to confirm a relationship with him.

“Then you like him. Good enough,” James said.

“I also really like you and Warren,” Abigail said deliberately, trying to tease him.

James was stunned for a second, then responded, “Oh, so that’s the kind of ‘like’ you mean? I was talking about romantic love.”

“Just because I don’t romantically like you guys doesn’t mean I can’t hang out with you,” Abigail said seriously.

James scratched his head. “Of course you can hang out with us. I’m just a bit worried about my buddy’s happiness.”

Abigail replied, “When the time comes, happiness will knock on the door.”

James burst out laughing at her words.

After dinner, Abigail rested, and James left.

On the weekend, Abigail had lunch nearby and planned to walk around for a bit. She’d just been out for about half an hour when James called.

“Where are you?” As soon as she picked up, James’ voice was tense.

“I’m shopping in the commercial district. What’s wrong?” Abigail asked.

James was silent for a moment before finally saying, “Orange was poisoned. Seb’s on the plane coming back. I thought you were at the villa.”

“Poisoned?” Abigail found the word very unfamiliar. At least at Sebastian’s villa, it should be extremely difficult to poison the cats. After all, even getting into the villa area was difficult – let alone pulling off a precise poisoning.

“Yes. Orange was his oldest and most gluttonous cat. I checked the surveillance but couldn’t find out who did it,” James said seriously.

Abigail hailed a cab and rushed to the villa. “I’m already on my way back. He’s been here so long, and nothing ever happened to Orange. Is this time because of me?”

She suspected it might’ve been the Gibson family. The suspects could very well be Christian or Daniella.

“Alright, don’t overthink it. Once Seb gets back, we’ll just be more careful,” James wasn’t sure whether Sebastian would blame Abigail or not.

Orange was different. It always slept with Sebastian, and Sebastian doted on it deeply.

Abigail hung up. When she returned to the villa, Daisy was still there.

Seeing Abigail return, she cried and said, “While I was cooking, I didn’t notice Orange. I had already walked far from the villa when the owner here noticed something off and called me back.”

She continued, “I couldn’t find it, so I called the housekeeper who usually cleans. In the end, we found Orange under the bed in his bedroom.”

Abigail walked to the box holding Orange. Orange was curled up. When Abigail touched it, she realized the cat that had always been soft and warm was now cold and stiff.