The Cat Told Me

My best friend gave me an orange cat named Marmalade as a birthday gift. But one night, the cat suddenly shook its head and sighed at me. "You look pretty, so how can you be this clueless? Your best friend and your boyfriend have been betraying you, and you didn't even notice." I thought I was hearing things. I took my resignation letter out of the drawer, planning to quit my job and travel the world with my best friend. "While you're busy quitting, Vivian is already preparing to replace you and become the new general manager. Your boyfriend's move is cold, no doubt. What a shame. Word is, your company's about to land a billion‑dollar investment. The future's looking pretty damn bright." I heard the cat's thoughts again. I stopped writing immediately and tore my resignation letter into pieces. Chapter 1 My best friend, Vivian Sibley, sent me a message just as I tossed some crumbs into the trash. "Queenie, put next Monday as your last day!" She even sent me a photo of her resignation letter. A second later, my boyfriend, Nigel Gabbard, texted me too. "Did you finish your resignation letter?" I stared at my phone, still unable to accept that they had betrayed me. The three of us had grown up together. Vivian had always been by my side since we were kids, and I treated her like my own little sister. When she couldn't find a job, I got her into my company. I trained her with patience and even introduced my clients to her. She often thanked me in front of other people. Nigel had always said he wanted to marry me. He confessed to me when we were 18, and we had been together ever since. It had been almost seven years. "The birthday purse Nigel gave you was something Vivian didn't want. There's a mark inside it. He's liked Vivian since he was a kid." The moment I heard my orange cat, Marmalade, speaking in my mind, I rushed to the closet and checked the purse. Sure enough, scratched into the bottom lining were two letters. "VS." Those were Vivian Sibley's initials. In that instant, I finally woke up. The love and friendship I had treasured were both lies. "But that purse is worth a three-million-dollar prize." Marmalade's voice said again. I spun around and saw him jump onto the windowsill and lick his paw. Then he continued, "I heard the big white cat at the boutique talking about a serial number giveaway. The winning number belongs to that purse. But Nigel never left a phone number at the store, and the promotion ends in three days!" I quickly pulled up my chat history with Nigel, found the boutique's address, and decided to claim the prize after work tomorrow. Nigel had always wanted me to pay the 100,000-dollar down payment on a house while he covered the rest of the mortgage. But now I wouldn't need his help anymore. I could pay for the whole house myself. Just then, Nigel called me. "Queenie, are you asleep? Why didn't you reply to Vivian or me? Did you finish your resignation letter? Vivian said Palmora is amazing. I've already booked our flights for next week, so don't back out on me." Again, he was listening to Vivian. He had explained it to me before, "We're a couple, but Vivian is single. We should take better care of her and let her have her way." I believed them, so I never thought anything was wrong. "I finished it. I was taking a shower, so I didn't reply sooner," I answered casually. Nigel laughed. "That's great! We're finally going to make our childhood dream of traveling around the world come true. Get some sleep. Love you forever!" His voice was as gentle as always, like he was comforting a little kid. If I had heard those sweet late-night words before today, I would have felt warm inside. Now they only made me sick. Starting today, I would never waste another second on this rotten love or this fake friendship. Chapter 2 I left home 30 minutes earlier than usual the next morning. As soon as I parked my car, I saw two familiar figures. Nigel lowered his head and kissed Vivian on the forehead. Then he said with a smile, "Thanks for last night. You really went through a lot." "You always say things like that." Vivian giggled. I clenched my fists in anger. So, they had been spending every night together. "By the way, do you think it's wrong for us to trick Queenie into quitting her job?" Vivian asked. "People are selfish. Besides, Queenie is strong. She can just find another job. She cares too much about the people she loves, so she won't blame you." Nigel smiled and added, "After we get married, I'll even use her money to take care of you." A chill ran through me. The man who had always promised to love me forever was actually this cruel. Thank goodness Marmalade had warned me. It wasn't too late yet. I didn't rush over to confront them. Instead, I quietly recorded a video. Then I stayed in the parking lot for more than ten minutes before heading upstairs. "Queenie, let's go turn in our resignation letters." Vivian was already waiting outside my office. As soon as she saw me, she smiled and pulled me toward the CEO's office. I didn't argue. I decided to play along until the end. When we reached the CEO's door, Vivian suddenly slapped her forehead. "Oops, Queenie. I think I forgot my resignation letter. You go in first. I'll go back and get it." "Okay." I nodded and walked into the CEO's office. At the same time, I clearly heard Vivian let out a sigh of relief. She must have thought her plan had worked. Jacob Livingston warmly invited me to sit down. Then he asked, "I heard you're planning to leave the company. You're not here to hand in your resignation, are you?" It looked like Vivian had already spread the news that I was quitting. She was getting ready to take my place. "Of course not." I shook my head and handed him a folder. Inside wasn't a resignation letter. It was a marketing plan for a new product. Jacob nodded as he read through it. When he finished, he gave me a thumbs-up. "This is excellent. Go ahead with the plan. Also, the General Manager position for the Marketing Department has been open for a while. After discussing it, we've decided to promote you. The announcement will be made next Monday. If this campaign breaks company records, the last Executive Vice President position will almost certainly be yours. You'll also receive a share of the company's profits." I quickly stood up. "Thank you. I won't let you or the company down." When I walked out of the CEO's office, I was excited, but I also felt a little shaken. If I hadn't heard Marmalade's warning, I would have lost this amazing opportunity. By then, Vivian and Nigel would have pushed me aside and done everything they could to hold me back. When I returned to my office, Vivian came over with some files and casually asked, "Queenie, what did Mr. Livingston say?" "He didn't say much." I shook my head. "He didn't even try to convince you to stay?" Vivian pouted, but I could see the excitement in her eyes. I didn't expose her. When work was over that evening, Nigel had already been waiting for me in the parking lot. Vivian casually climbed into the front passenger seat. She stretched out her legs and proudly showed them off, not caring at all that her short skirt nearly revealed too much. In the past, I thought the three of us were just close friends who had grown up together, so I never gave it a second thought. But now, after paying closer attention, I caught Nigel secretly stealing several glances at Vivian's legs. "Queenie, Vivian told me there's a great new fondue restaurant that just opened. I sent you the address. Let's go check it out." Chapter 3 Nigel smiled and said. "You two go. I'm not going." I shook my head and refused right away. Nigel froze for a moment before asking, "No matter how important something is, you should put it off. Having dinner with Vivian is the most important thing." "Exactly! If you don't come, then you're not my best friend anymore!" Vivian started acting spoiled. If this had happened before, I probably would have given in. But now, her words only felt like she was trying to guilt-trip me. "Forget it. Something came up at home." I stopped paying attention to them. I turned around, got into my car, and drove straight to the boutique that sold the purse. "Hello, could you please check if the serial number on this purse is the winning one?" The employee took the purse and checked the number. Then she smiled. "That's right. Congratulations! You've won the 300,000-dollar prize. Please come with me." The entire process was finished in less than a minute. A bank notification appeared on my phone. After taxes were deducted, 270,000 dollars had been deposited into my account. However, Nigel and Vivian would soon find out about the money. The store planned to put up a sign outside next week to promote this lucky winner. So, I immediately contacted a real estate agent and bought the riverside apartment I had wanted for a long time. I paid for it in full. After handling everything, I took the property deed home to tell my parents what happened. They were shocked when they found out Nigel and Vivian had been together for a long time. But they still believed in me and supported whatever I wanted to do. Right after dinner with my parents, Nigel and Vivian added me to a private group chat with only the three of us. Vivian sent a voice message with a playful laugh. "Queenie, you didn't come eat fondue with me tonight. I’m going to punish you by making you pay!" Nigel immediately agreed. "It was only 400 dollars. Just send the money over." If this had happened before, I probably would have thought friends shouldn't care about small amounts of money. I would have paid without hesitation. But this time, I didn't reply. I simply went to take a shower and acted like I hadn't seen it. When I came back after my shower, I saw more than 100 unread messages in the group chat. Vivian asked. "Queenie, why aren't you saying anything?" Nigel followed up. "Ten minutes have passed. The restaurant is still waiting for us to pay." Vivian continued. "Queenie has changed. She doesn't even reply to messages anymore." The last message was from Nigel. "Queenie, you're being too cheap. Forget it. We'll pay for ourselves." Only then did I reply. "I just finished taking a shower." But no one answered me. Actually, something similar had happened before. Back then, I ended up sending 100 dollars to both Vivian and Nigel before they finally stopped being upset. Thinking back now, I felt like I had been so foolish. But this time, I didn't have the energy to comfort them. After feeding Marmalade, I immediately opened my laptop and started working. I improved the marketing plan and prepared my presentation for Monday's meeting. Marmalade jumped onto my desk and looked at my screen. Then his thoughts appeared again. "The company cat told me the chairman actually loves cute pets. But he wants to keep his serious image, so he's too embarrassed to show it. He's been hoping someone would create a pet-themed marketing campaign." I suddenly got an idea. If that was true, then I should give him exactly what he wanted and add pet-related elements into my marketing plan. I worked through the entire night. When morning came, I was finally about to take a break when Nigel called. "Queenie, you went too far yesterday. You didn't even pay the bill. We were really hurt. Vivian even cried because of it. I heard she saw a necklace at the mall that she really liked. Buy it for her as an apology." I almost laughed from anger. He really planned to use my money to support Vivian. Chapter 4 Nigel continued, "Everything I'm doing is to protect our relationship. Spending a little money isn't a big deal. As long as you pay for it, Vivian will be happy, and I won't be mad at you anymore." If I hadn't known the truth about them, I might have felt hurt because I was afraid of losing our relationship. But now, I knew everything. After calming myself down, I replied, "I stayed up late working yesterday. I don't have the energy to go to the mall today. You can go take a look yourself." "Okay!" Nigel thought I really agreed to pay, so he happily ended the call. At the same time, Vivian sent me a message. "Queenie, you're the best! I'm not mad at you anymore. I love you! Muacks!" I didn't reply. I just tossed my phone aside and went straight back to sleep. When I woke up that evening, I saw several more messages. Vivian said. "I found an even prettier necklace. It's 19,000 dollars. Buy it for me!" Nigel added. "Queenie, since you haven't replied, I'll take it as a yes. Vivian will put it on a payment plan first. You can come later and pay it off early." Vivian reminded me. "Queenie, if you pay it off within a month, there won't be any interest! Don't forget!" She immediately showed it off on social media, just like she always did. She never mentioned who bought it for her. The comments were full of people being jealous. Some asked if she had made a lot of money. Others asked how much she earned. She replied. "Nothing special!" Nigel commented. "Vivian is amazing." People who didn't know the truth might have thought Vivian was really successful. But the truth was, she had always been spending my money. The necklace I wore myself cost less than 200 dollars, but Vivian had casually spent 19,000 dollars on one necklace. It was unbelievably wasteful. She and Nigel spent money like this because it wasn't coming from their own pockets. But I didn't expose her right away. I just pretended I hadn't seen anything. After all, I wasn't going to pay for it. I wanted to see how Vivian, who ran out of money every month, would deal with the bill when it was due. On Monday, Vivian came to work wearing the 19,000-dollar necklace. She deliberately walked over to me and asked loudly, "Queenie, does my necklace look good?" "It looks beautiful." I smiled. The other coworkers heard her and gathered around Vivian. Then they asked, "How much is this necklace?" "19,000 dollars." Vivian answered while holding onto my arm. She was warning me not to expose her and to save her pride. In the past, I cared about our friendship, so I would have stayed quiet. But now, I didn't need to expose her either. After all, I wasn't the one paying for it. "Oh my God, 19,000 dollars? Vivian, I didn't know you were this rich." "I wish I could be as successful as you." "Queenie, Vivian is way more impressive than you." "That's right. Even though you were the one who helped her get into this company, she can already afford a 19,000-dollar necklace while you have nothing like that." Everyone started whispering. While praising Vivian, they also looked down on me. Vivian didn't defend me. Instead, she looked proud and satisfied. I only smiled. "Ahem! Everyone, please be quiet! I have an announcement about the new Marketing Department General Manager." Jacob arrived at that exact moment. Vivian's smile grew even brighter. She looked excited and full of expectation, thinking the promotion was finally hers. The other employees also turned to look at Vivian. They all believed she was about to get promoted. After all, the news that I was quitting had already spread throughout the company. And with my help, Vivian's performance ranked second in the entire department. But then Jacob looked directly at me and announced, "Starting today, Queenie will become the new General Manager of the Marketing Department."