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The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog
The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog
Autor: Joe Yo

Chapter 1

Autor: Joe Yo
I stared at the dog tag engraved with Julian Payne's name in my palm. The humiliation was so overwhelming that it felt hard to breathe.

"Here, doggy." Someone in the private room suddenly started whistling and calling a dog.

I looked up instinctively.

The room immediately exploded with laughter.

"She actually looked!"

"Celine really is a dog! She responds as soon as you call her."

One of them even held out his hand toward me and said, "Come here, Celine. Shake."

The smile on Julian's face disappeared. He slammed his glass down on the table and swept a cold look across the table.

"That's enough. Just because I make jokes about her, it doesn't mean you get to."

The room instantly fell silent.

Julian took my hand and softened his voice. "They've had too much to drink. Ignore them."

Mindy Sutton, however, chortled.

"Everyone's just joking around. Why are you taking it so seriously, Celine? Being compared to a dog isn't even an insult. Dogs are loyal. You can kick them away, but the second you call them back, they'll come running with their tails wagging."

Julian frowned.

"Alright. I'll keep quiet," she quickly said. Then, she stuck out her tongue, not looking sorry at all.

I pulled my hand away. All I could think about was getting out of there.

Someone called after me as I left, but I didn't stop.

I was 20 when I met Julian. Mom had just died, and he was the one who stayed by my side through every formality. For three months, while I woke from nightmares over and over again, he never left me alone.

Mindy was Julian's childhood friend. They had grown up together.

Mindy's father had died saving Julian's father's life. Because of that debt, no matter how Mindy acted, Julian had always treated her like a younger sister who needed indulging.

Our first three weddings never happened because of Mindy. The first time, she hid the rings. The second time, she took off with the wedding dress. The third time, at the ceremony, she cried and said it was the anniversary of her father's death, and that we shouldn't get married that day.

Every time, Julian would scold her for causing trouble. And every time, I was the one who had to deal with a postponed wedding.

Not long after I left the restaurant, my phone rang. Mindy's frantic voice came through.

"Celine, come back, quick! Julian's stomach is cramping, and he just coughed up blood. Where is his medication?"

Before I could even process whether it was true, I found myself already turning around. After all these years, worrying about him had become an instinct.

By the time I ran back to the restaurant and pushed open the private room door, my fingers were still shaking.

"Julian!"

Everyone inside was sitting exactly where they had been before, smiling at me. Julian, leaning back against the couch, nodded with satisfaction.

After a brief silence, the room erupted into laughter.

"Mindy wins!"

"11 minutes. She's even faster than an ambulance."

"Julian was right. No matter how far a dog runs, one call and it'll come right back."

I stood frozen by the door. It wasn't until I noticed the pile of cash on the table that I understood. The phone call had been fake. It was just a bet designed to prove Julian's point.

Mindy laughed, pulled a thick stack of bills from the pile, and tucked it into a waiter's pocket.

"Here. Get a few extra treats for tonight's best-behaved dog. And open two more bottles for her owner."

The room roared with laughter.

When Julian finally saw how pale I had become, his expression darkened. He stood, walked over, and gently wiped the sweat from my forehead before guiding me back toward my seat.

"Since you're back, stay. Sit with us for a while. When it's over, we'll go home together."

In the past, whenever he treated me with that kind of tenderness, I would've softened immediately. But this time, I suddenly felt that it no longer mattered whether I stayed or left.

For someone who had already decided to leave, staying a little longer wouldn't change the ending.

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  • The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog   Chapter 9

    Three days later, I returned to the cemetery. It was quiet.The dog tags and stickers had been cleared away, and the trampled flower bed had been restored. All the expensive flowers and wreaths from the Paynes were gone, leaving only the two white hydrangeas I'd once planted beside the grave.The man who had spoken up for me was there as well. His wife, eight months pregnant, held a bouquet of fresh lilies."Things got so out of hand that day, and we still haven't had the chance to properly apologize to Mrs. Whitmore," she said.She began to bow, but I hurried forward to steady her. "You aren't the ones who should be apologizing."The man had recovered the delivery van he'd been forced to sell. Julian had publicly set the record straight about what happened and dropped all efforts to hold him responsible. Still, the couple had refused the house offered to them as compensation.The reburial crew began clearing out the grave. When they moved the stone slab aside, I knelt on the gro

  • The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog   Chapter 8

    The day after Puffy was discharged from the animal hospital, I got a call from the cemetery.The staff member on the line told me that people had recently been gathering at Mom's grave to take photos, disturbing other families paying their respects.I thought they had the wrong person—until they sent me a video.In the clip, silver dog tags hung all over Mom's headstone. Dog food, chew sticks, and a plastic bowl of water were set out on the ground below.A few young people stood in front of the grave, whistling and laughing as they shouted at the camera, "Celine Whitmore, your owner's here to pick you up! If you can hear us, hurry up and go home!"The first person to post a video was someone who'd played that personality game at the drinking party. Once it went viral, more and more people came to the cemetery to copy it.Someone had stuck dog ears onto Mom's photo, and someone else had put a sticker right in the center of the headstone that read, "A dog will always recognize its

  • The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog   Chapter 7

    Even though the missing-person notice had been taken down, the secretly recorded videos hadn't completely disappeared.In one of them, Puffy was lying on my lap. Apparently, it was only when Mindy saw it that she remembered she still had a cat.The next day, I got a call from the local police. Mindy had reported me, claiming that I'd taken a pet registered in her name without permission.The police didn't treat the dispute over a pet as a criminal case, so they didn't show up at my door. They simply suggested Mindy and I work it out between ourselves.Mindy, however, refused to negotiate and insisted I send Puffy back. She even had her lawyer send over the adoption certificate and microchip registration, and her name really was on both.Back when I saved Puffy, I'd already made arrangements with the animal rescue shelter to adopt him.Then Mindy suddenly said she liked him, so Julian talked me into letting her have him, even accompanying her to get all the paperwork done.But no

  • The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog   Chapter 6

    On my third day in the new city, I received a call from the police.Julian had filed a missing-person report, claiming I was still recovering from serious injuries and might have gone missing.The officer confirmed my name and date of birth, then asked if I was under any duress.I replied, "No. I left of my own free will.""Would you like us to pass your address along to the person who filed the report?""That won't be necessary."The officer didn't press further, only telling me that they would let Julian know I was safe.After hanging up, I resumed my leg rehab exercises.The fall at the cemetery had left me with a hairline fracture in my right leg, and the doctor said I'd need at least three months of rest.I'd only been doing physical therapy for ten minutes when the therapist held out a phone. "Ms. Whitmore, is this you?"On the screen was a missing-person notice. Julian had hired an agency specializing in finding missing people to issue it, offering a ten-million-dollar

  • The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog   Chapter 5

    As the plane soared into the clouds, I took one last look at the city below.Julian and I had been together for seven years. More times than I could count, I'd pictured myself leaving this city in a wedding dress.But I never imagined that on the day I actually left, I'd be wearing only a baggy coat, with gauze covering my temple and my leg so badly injured that I could barely walk.My cat, Puffy, was curled up in the carrier, gently rubbing against my fingers through the mesh.I stroked him. "From now on, it's just the two of us."Three hours later, the plane landed in a small, unfamiliar city in the south.None of Julian's friends were here, and no one knew who I was supposed to belong to.As an airport attendant wheeled me to the exit, I connected my spare phone to the internet and found over a dozen emails from the wedding planner.Julian was refusing to announce that the wedding had been canceled. Hundreds of guests had already arrived, and he was still standing in the ban

  • The Priceless Cat and the Obedient Dog   Chapter 4

    I woke to the sound of Mindy's voice."The 21st time—Julian, it's okay if you won't answer me. I'll wait for you downstairs. The 27th time—as long as you come back, I'll do anything you want."In an exaggerated tone, she recited the messages I'd once sent Julian while begging him to take me back.The hospital room door was wide open. Nurses, caregivers, and passing patients could all hear about how he blocked me, how I'd stood in the rain waiting for him, and how I'd pleaded with him not to call off our weddings.When Mindy noticed my eyes opening, she grinned and blew a dog whistle.Julian sat on the couch nearby, dark circles under his tired eyes."Why did you give that to her?" My voice came out hoarse.He stood and poured me a glass of water. His voice remained calm as he spoke. "The doctor said familiar sounds and memories could help wake you up. Dogs wake up when they smell their owner. I figured that people aren't that different."Mindy laughed. "Celine, don't be mad. At

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