The Stray Cat I Fed Warned Me About My Two Faced Best Friend Chapter 01

The Stray Cat I Fed Warned Me About My Two Faced Best Friend Chapter 01

I was feeding the stray cats outside Parker’s Seafood Boil, my parents’ restaurant, when several lines of text suddenly appeared above their heads.

[Human, we cats don’t eat for free. At eight tonight, your best friend, Vanessa Reed, will come looking for you. She’ll say she’s craving your family’s extra-hot seafood boil.]

[She’s pregnant, and there’s something seriously wrong with the baby. She’ll take abortion pills before dinner, miscarry afterward, and claim you made her food dangerously spicy on purpose because you were jealous she was having a boy.]

[Your parents will be forced to close the restaurant and pay a massive settlement. You’ll lose your nursing job, and your engagement will fall apart. Human, we don’t want to watch you have another breakdown and get hit by a car like you did in your last life, so consider this a warning.]

I rubbed my eyes, convinced exhaustion had finally made me hallucinate.

Then my phone rang.

Vanessa’s sugary voice drifted through the speaker.

“Natalie, I’ve been craving your family’s extra-hot seafood boil all day. Have dinner with me tonight?”

A chill ran down my spine. I looked back at the stray cat, and another line appeared above its head.

[Human, Vanessa is terrified her husband will find out something is wrong with the pregnancy, so she’s looking for a convenient scapegoat.]

[Her husband may look respectable, but he’s buried in online gambling debt and beats her. He eventually kills your parents and ends up in prison.]

[Vanessa planned all of it from the beginning. Cut her out of your life while you still can.]

I tightened my grip on the phone until my fingertips turned white, then decided to test her.

“Vanessa, haven’t you two been trying for a baby? What if you’re already pregnant and the extra-hot boil makes you sick?”

***

The other end of the line went silent for two seconds.

Then Vanessa laughed.

“Natalie, what are you talking about? My period just ended. There’s no way I’m pregnant.”

She paused, and when she spoke again, a wounded note had crept into her voice.

“Are you trying to get rid of me now that you’re getting married? I’m your best friend, but you can’t even have one meal with me?”

Before I could answer, Mom heard Vanessa’s voice and leaned out through the restaurant door.

“Is that Vanessa? Tell her to come over for dinner. It’s on me! You girls practically grew up together. Natalie’s just been busy lately, so don’t take it personally.”

Dad laughed from behind her.

“Exactly. She still wants you as a bridesmaid. We’ll make sure you get a nice bridesmaid gift too!”

Watching my parents speak about Vanessa with such open affection left a painful knot in my chest.

Vanessa’s parents had been away for temp work most of her childhood, so she had eaten at our house constantly.

Mom and Dad had treated her like another daughter. Any time I got new clothes, toys, or school supplies, they made sure she had something too.

I had always assumed she was grateful.

Only after reading the warnings above the cats’ heads did I understand that, in my last life, she hadn’t appreciated any of it. She had grown to hate me for having everything she wanted.

I had done well in school, built a stable career, and had parents who loved me. I was also engaged to Grant Whitmore, a man from a wealthy family who had always treated me well.

Vanessa, meanwhile, had married an abusive gambling addict.

So she had used a pregnancy she already knew wasn’t viable as the centerpiece of a scheme that destroyed my life and gave her a way out of her marriage.

A muffled retch suddenly came through the phone.

My training as a nurse kicked in immediately.

“Vanessa, are you okay?”

Her voice sounded strained when she answered.

“I’m fine. Something I ate earlier didn’t agree with me. I already threw it up.”

So that was the lie she had chosen.

I had been a nurse for three years. I knew exactly what morning sickness sounded like, and that sounded exactly like an early-pregnancy reaction.

The cats were right. She was pregnant.

I didn’t confront her.

A group of stray cats had somehow warned me about a disaster before it happened. Maybe the universe really was repaying my parents for all the years they had spent leaving food and water outside the restaurant.

I wasn’t about to waste that second chance.

Now that I knew what Vanessa was planning, I would play along and make sure everyone saw exactly who she was.