Chapter 1

My hand stopped. I looked down at the stray cat in my arms, the one I had picked up only yesterday.

Its eyes were narrowed contentedly, its tail swaying back and forth. It looked utterly harmless.

Had that voice just come from it?

But how could a cat talk?

My thoughts tangled into a knot, and my fingers tightened without my noticing.

“Meow!”

A sharp yowl rang out.

The cat whipped its head around. Its round eyes went wide as it glared at me with startling ferocity.

That was when I noticed the rice-grain-sized mole beneath its left eye, close to the lid.

My husband, Li Jiahao—the man who was supposedly going abroad for a month-long business trip—had one in exactly the same place.

My heart skipped a beat. Then I calmed down.

This was no hallucination.

I really could hear its thoughts.

And judging by its behavior, it had no idea I could.

Interesting.

“What are you doing? You’re hurting him!”

My best friend, Chen Jingyi, suddenly snatched the cat from my arms.

She frowned at me, visibly annoyed, her voice full of reproach.

“He’s so little. Can’t you be gentler?”

Her hand slid from the scruff of the cat’s neck all the way to the base of its tail, where her fingers began tracing suggestive little circles.

A purr rumbled in the cat’s throat.

*What a little temptress. Seducing me right in front of my wife—damn, she’s horny.*

*I want to take her right here. Too bad this damned woman is still around.*

My gaze moved from Chen Jingyi to the cat and back again.

I understood.

The two bastards were in this together.

Expressionless, I reached out and took the cat back from Chen Jingyi.

She stared at me in shock and tried to stop me.

I ignored her, turned, placed him inside the pet carrier, and locked the door with a click.

I had bought the carrier after finding the cat yesterday.

I had planned to take it to a veterinary clinic in a few days for the full package: examination, vaccines, deworming, and neutering.

Now was as good a time as any. I would simply move the appointment up.

My swift series of actions left Chen Jingyi dumbfounded. “Wancheng, what—what are you doing?”

I brushed the cat hair off my hands and spoke calmly.

“This cat seems to be in heat. He’s been restless all day.”

I glanced at the cat frantically raking its claws across the metal bars and let the corner of my mouth rise.

“I’ll take him to be neutered. Solve the problem once and for all.”

For one second, the air itself seemed to freeze.

The cat: ???

Chen Jingyi: ???

Smiling, I picked up the carrier and headed for the door under the stunned gazes of woman and cat alike.