Chapter 204: Pet Hospital Closes
Vivian Lowell breathed a small sigh of relief after finishing her conversation with Mrs. Sterling. Fortunately, the two elders of the Sterling family were incredibly clear-headed. With Wendy Wynn having messed things up to this extent, Mrs. Sterling wouldn’t tolerate her under any circumstances.
Satisfied, Vivian closed the chat window, only to notice that Julian Faulkner had also sent her a message.
"Are you up?"
Three simple words.
Vivian’s heart skipped a beat, and the corners of her lips curled up uncontrollably. She immediately replied, "I’m up. The sun is really nice today."
"Good. Don’t go to the pet hospital for now; there seems to be a situation over there. Be careful when you head back to the office, too. Let Eleanor Rhodes know as well," he replied.
Don’t go to the pet hospital? Seeing Julian’s message, Vivian immediately recalled what she had seen online earlier—many people were threatening to abandon the kittens they had adopted from the clinic and return them. She wondered if it was possible that those people had already started taking action so early in the morning.
Vivian was a little angry. These people kept insisting they were returning the kittens because of Eleanor’s behavior, completely ignoring the fact that their actions constituted animal abandonment! When they adopted the kittens, they had signed an agreement promising to care for them for life. If the pets got sick, they could even get a twenty percent discount on treatment by bringing them back to the pet hospital.
Medical care at Eleanor’s pet hospital was already cheap, priced much lower than other clinics on the market. That was because her family had connections to procure medical equipment and supplies at slightly lower costs. With an additional twenty percent discount, the prices were practically at cost. Eleanor had sacrificed so much for the kittens, even concerning herself with their follow-up treatments.
Yet these people still acted this way! It was completely irresponsible!
Biting her lip in anger, Vivian replied, "Okay, Julian, I understand. Thank you for telling me. But regarding the pet hospital, I think it’s necessary for me to issue a statement!"
She wanted to tell everyone coming to abandon their kittens that their actions weren’t driven by a sense of justice, but by a complete lack of responsibility! Giving themselves a righteous excuse to do terrible things was absolutely disgusting. The pet hospital would not accept these abandoned kittens either. They would provide three days’ worth of food, and if no one came to pick them up after that, the cats would be released into the wild.
This had always been the pet hospital’s standard practice. If people still wanted to smear the hospital’s reputation because of this, Vivian had no other solutions.
On the other end of the line, Julian replied quickly. "Alright, I understand. If you run into any trouble, you can tell me. I’m going to get up and wash up now."
"Okay." Vivian sent Julian a kissing emoji. Right after sending it, she felt it might have been a bit too explicit and hastily recalled the message.
"No, no, we can’t..." she thought to herself. After recalling it, she felt a twinge of regret, but mostly, she was calm. They hadn’t reached the stage of being a deeply affectionate married couple yet. Sending something like that was far too cheesy, especially since Julian was still a cold, serious CEO!
Just as she finished the thought, her phone suddenly buzzed with a WhatsApp notification.
Vivian subconsciously looked down and saw that Julian had copied the exact same kissing emoji she had just sent and sent it back to her.
Vivian instantly froze like a statue! The phone slipped and smacked her right in the face. She let out a sharp hiss of pain before snapping back to reality, tears nearly brimming in her eyes.
It was too embarrassing! Julian had actually seen it! She thought an unapproachable highborn flower like him would never use emojis! Turns out, that wasn’t the case at all! He had even copied hers! Was the essence of humanity truly just being a parrot?
Vivian screamed internally for a while. Only when the pain on her face gradually subsided did she recover slightly and glance at her phone again. Julian hadn’t sent any more messages. It seemed he really had gone to wash up this time. That was a relief.
Feeling a bit helpless, Vivian sighed. Beside her, Eleanor rolled over, resting her head near Vivian’s shoulder. Her voice was still thick with sleep. "Vivian, what time is it? You’re awake so early?"
"Mm... It’s six-thirty. I’m used to waking up early. Eleanor, if you’re still tired, why don’t you sleep a little longer? I’ll go out to wash up so I don’t disturb you here."
"I’ll pass." Eleanor struggled slightly before opening her eyes. Yawning, she said, "You’re already so diligent. As your bestie, I obviously can’t fall too far behind. I might as well get up too. I have an appointment with someone today to go rescue cats."
Hearing the words "rescue cats," Vivian’s heart skipped a beat.
Even though Eleanor was sleepy, her senses were still sharp. Noticing the change in Vivian’s expression, she asked, "Vivian, what’s wrong?"
"Eleanor, something happened." Unwilling to hide anything from her friend, Vivian quickly recounted everything that had occurred and the information she had received since waking up. "We probably shouldn’t go back to the pet hospital for now. Some people are getting highly emotional and acting irrationally. I’m worried they might go to the clinic and do something drastic. Putting aside the risk of them hurting people, they could easily harm the kittens staying inside. The food, water, and litter there should last for two days without any issues, so..."
Eleanor understood what Vivian meant. She nodded, her expression growing complicated. "You’re right, Vivian. I know. Let me call the two veterinarians first and explain the situation."
"Okay," Vivian agreed, and Eleanor made the call.
Seeing this, Vivian went to wash up first. When she returned, she heard Eleanor speaking into the phone. "Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll settle your wages. I’m sorry for the trouble."
Settle wages? Surprised, Vivian asked, "Eleanor, what happened?"
"You’re back, Vivian." Eleanor set her phone aside. "When I called to let them know they didn’t need to come to work today, one of the veterinarians resigned. You know him too. When that raincoat guy’s wife came to our hospital with her dog to cause trouble last time, he took a knife for me."
Vivian remembered that doctor. He was clean-cut and handsome, in his thirties, with a wife and child at home. Logically, given the need to support a family of three, he shouldn’t have resigned so easily.
"Why did he quit?"
"He..." Eleanor gave a bitter smile. "His wife demanded it. He actually loves charity work and really wanted to stay at our hospital. It’s just that his wife feels it’s too dangerous here. First, someone showed up seeking revenge, and now the hospital is embroiled in another scandal. She’s worried about her husband. He had no choice. With his wife crying and begging him, he could only agree. He apologized to me, and I accepted his resignation. After all, we really did cause trouble for him; otherwise, his wife wouldn’t have said those things."
Vivian’s mood instantly became complicated. Neither she nor Eleanor could blame the doctor for this. He had his own family, and his wife had her own valid concerns.
"It’s best to part on good terms," Vivian thought to herself. Aloud, she simply said, "But you mentioned before that the pet hospital is going to be expanded anyway. We can just hire new veterinarians when the time comes."
The compensation Eleanor offered her doctors was excellent, no less than what department specialists at top-tier hospitals made. Naturally, professional veterinarians would be more than willing to come work for them.
"Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too." Eleanor’s tone lightened. "Alright, Vivian. What’s done is done; let’s just let it go! After a good night’s rest, I’ve got all my energy back! Since I’m not going to the hospital today, I don’t really have anything to do. Are you heading to your office today, Vivian? How about I go hang out at your place? Your company has been up and running for so long, and I still haven’t visited!"
Vivian thought it was a good idea. Although there were many projects at the company recently, she had already finished all the necessary coordination and planning. She just needed to keep busy for a bit this morning, and then she could accompany Eleanor shopping in the afternoon.
"Alright then," Vivian agreed. She urged Eleanor to go wash up while she headed downstairs first.
After breakfast, Vivian and Eleanor arrived at the office shortly after seven. The company was completely quiet; they were the first ones there.
"Wow, it’s so pretty! As expected of the office building where the Faulkner Group is located. You can see the outside scenery through this entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The night view must be amazing, right?" Eleanor walked over to the windows. Looking at the money tree by the glass and then at the towering skyscrapers outside in the early morning light, she couldn’t help but marvel.
The Faulkner Group was situated in the most prosperous district of Aethelburg. There was a shopping mall downstairs, and further up were Vivian’s company and Julian’s own corporate headquarters. The entire building belonged to the Faulkner Group—it was an absurd display of wealth!
Vivian’s floor was on the lower levels, so the view was just average. The night view from Julian’s office on the thirtieth-something floor was what could truly be called breathtaking.
"It’s not bad." Vivian shook her head and chuckled. "Alright. Didn’t you mention before that you liked that jewelry brand? It just so happens they hired me to do some design work and gave me a set as a gift. Come on, I’ll show you."
Hearing the word "jewelry," Eleanor’s eyes lit up with interest. She followed Vivian straight into her office. For the entire morning, Vivian focused on her work while Eleanor binge-watched a TV show nearby. When she got bored, she dozed off for a bit, waking up just in time for noon.
"I’m so hungry!" Seeing that Vivian had finished her tasks, Eleanor started complaining. They had eaten breakfast early, and more than five hours had passed since then, so they were definitely starving.
Watching Eleanor act so energetic she was practically rolling around on the sofa, Vivian smiled and said, "Okay, okay, it’s almost twelve. Let’s go. Should we grab food at the diner downstairs?"
Just as she spoke, Finn knocked on Vivian’s door. "Boss, President Faulkner is here."