Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria)

Chapter 18

Victoria felt a little at a loss seeing Alaric’s gaze like this. And wasn’t he with

Claudia when I went out for lunch? Why isn’t she in the office now?

Just as she was lost in her thoughts, Noel asked her something, which

promptly pulled her back to reality before answering.

After the work report was finished, Noel was ready to leave. In response,

Alaric nodded indifferently.

As soon as he walked away, Alaric’s gaze fell entirely on Victoria, She had

been standing behind Noel earlier, which had shielded her somewhat, but

now, there was no avoiding his gaze at all.

Noel, who was about to walk toward the door, turned around to look at her.

“Victoria, should I come to pick you up again tomorrow at noon?”

Hearing this, she was stunned instantly. At the same time, Alaric also

realized something was going on and arched an eyebrow.

“Do you mind if I talk to Miss Selwyn for a moment, Mr. Cadogan?”

At that moment, she knitted her brows. What is he up to?

However, before she could react, Alaric had already parted his lips and

said in a cold voice, “It’s better not to. It’s working hours after all.”

“Oh?” Noel seemed a little surprised by the response, but he did not argue.

“In that case, I’ll look for her after work.” He left directly after saying that.

In an instant, the office fell silent, so silent that even the sound of a pin

dropping could be heard.

Once Noel was gone, Alaric’s gaze became even sharper as it landed on

Victoria’s face. It seemingly carried a hint of displeasure. “You went out

with him at noon?”

She nodded since there was no point in denying it, for she and Noel were

completely innocent.

Seeing her nod, Alaric furrowed his brows. “What did you guys do?”

“We had lunch and discussed yesterday’s work.”

At the mention of lunch, his frown deepened, but the moment he heard

her say ‘discussed work, his furrowed brows slightly relaxed.

Right, they both work for my company now, so it’s normal for them to talk

about work.

However, he still felt some displeasure. After pressing his lips together, he

said, “If someone saw you talking about work during lunch, they might

think I’m bullying you.”

Instinctively, she responded, “You think you haven’t?”

As soon as she said that, both of them were stunned at the same time.

The urge to bite off her tongue came into her mind again at that moment,

indicating her frustration.

It was probably because she grew up alongside him, so she would say

anything on her mind and would not hide her true self when she was with

him. It might also be because he had seen her ugliest, worst, and most

childish side when she was young.

As she was thinking, he suddenly stood up and approached her. Although

he was tall and thin, he exuded a strong sense of oppression, presumably

due to his aura as a long–term dominant figure.

Instinctively, she took a few steps backward,

Seeing that, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the cold

wall. With one arm blocking her way, he wrapped his other hand around

her to trap her.

“What are you doing?” She was confused, and her breathing became

uneven. Although she wanted to escape, the back of her neck was held by

his big palm. Then, his hot breath approached and landed on her face.

“Tell me. What did I do to you?” His voice was hoarse and deep. When he

spoke slowly, his voice was extremely seductive.

At the same time, his hand lightly pinched the back of her neck over and

over again. She felt as though his fingertips were on fire.

With confusion flashing in her beautiful eyes, she thought, What is he

doing?

She thought their relationship should have reached its freezing point after

his absence of text and return home last night. Or at least, it should be

awkward and not so presumptuous. He’s acting as if he didn’t receive that

text at all. Or is he pretending that nothing happened?

“Why are you not saying anything?” Alaric pinched her chin, obviously

feeling her distraction. While narrowing his eyes, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

As Victoria looked at this familiar, handsome face in front of her, her pink

lips parted and closed, hesitating to speak. She wanted to say something,

to ask something, but only when the words came to the tip of her throat

did she realize how powerless she was… Not even a word could come out

of her mouth.

What if he suddenly darkens his face and asks me, ‘I just wanted to leave

you some dignity, so I pretended not to know. Why are you so senseless,

Victoria?‘? What am I going to do if he says that? It’s better if things stay

this way, maintaining our dignity. I can handle it myself.

Chapter 18 Part Ways with Dignity

“Nothing.” She shook her head.

When he heard her answer, his gaze turned serious. She’s acting like that

again.

Recently, he felt that she was acting strangely and was suddenly

distancing herself from him, not willing to tell him anything.

At that thought, the temptation that arose a few moments ago dissipated

instantly. He let go of his hand on her chin and took a few steps backward

away from her.

While enduring the dryness in her throat, she said, “I should get back to

work.”

When she turned around, she heard him say, “Wait.”

“Yes?”

Chapter 18 Part Ways with Dignity

“You haven’t applied for any annual leave this year, right?”

Hearing that, she was startled for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”

“You should start taking your annual leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. You’ve been feeling sick lately. Use up your annual leave to rest for a

while. You can take the time to boost your mood as well.”

He was saying this because he realized she was in a bad mood these

days, plus the high fever, so he decided to let her rest early.

However, it was a different story in Victoria’s ears since she essentially

would not take any annual leave at this time of the year. He knew that as

well, but now, he was asking her to apply for leave early. Is he warning me

to get rid of the baby during my annual leave?

Since they were childhood friends, she knew him very well. He would not

say or do anything pointless.

Although she knew that it was just a possibility, she still felt weak in her

arms and legs, as though she was frozen inside an ice cave.

Only after a long time did she retrieve her voice from her throat and

squeeze out a reply. “Okay. I got it. I’ll apply it tomorrow.”

When Summer heard what happened, anger rose in her like a tide, and

she nearly smashed the tableware of the restaurant. “The f*ck? Is he a

human? Has he forgotten about your relationship with him from the past?

This is outrageous!”

Victoria knew Summer would yell in rage, so she reserved a room

beforehand. Since there were only two of them in the room, Summer

would not be heard no matter how loud she cursed.

Compared to Summer’s anger, Victoria appeared to be much calmer.

Although she looked calm on the outside, she had never taken a bite of

the food on the table. She only kept drinking the tea, whose color was

becoming unknown after several times refilling the water.

Faced with a furious Summer, Victoria even calmed her down. “Chill out.

We’ll need to pay if you smash anything.”

“Oh, right.” Summer quickly put down the cup in her hand. As she thought

of it again, she walked in front of Victoria and shook her shoulders. “How

can you be so calm after what happened? Look how he’s treating you!”

Victoria was a little dizzy from being shaken, so she put down the cup in

her hand. “What should I do, then? Cry? Make a scene? Or threaten him

that I’ll kill myself? Do you want him, Claudia and everyone else to see my

family as a joke?” After a pause, she shook her head. “Besides, my

relationship with him is just a deal in the first place. When we part ways,

Chapter 18 Part Ways with Dignity

we should also do it with dignity