Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9 

The maid’s face instantly turned pale in response to Alaric’s query. “I’ve 

already disposed of the report, sir.” 

Suddenly, a frown etched on his face, and he snapped, “What did you 

say?!” 

She was so frightened by his gloomy aura that she was on the brink of 

crying. In a panic, she explained, “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t throw it away on 

purpose, but the report was pretty torn up, so I threw it away without 

much thought-” 

 

The maid was not the type to delve into something the owner threw. 

Furthermore, Alaric would usually shred documents that contained highly 

confidential information. After all, she relied on her job to make ends meet, 

so she disposed of the report without giving it much thought that day. 

Over the past two days, she had been sending Victoria medicine, thinking 

 

it was for her illness. However, it turned out that the medication was 

intended to treat fever. 

 

Meanwhile, his brows furrowed at what the maid said. Then, he realized 

that something was amiss with his wife. Even if she had given the 

umbrella to someone else, she could have sought shelter and called the 

driver to pick her up or waited until the rain stopped before returning 

home. Why did she have to run home in the rain? 

At that moment, Hector walked toward Alaric and asked with concern, “Sir, 

is Mrs. Cadogan alright?” 

Before saying anything, Alaric handed him the car keys and his jacket. “I’m 

going upstairs for a while.” 

Then, Hector quickly took them without a word. 

 

Meanwhile, Victoria intended to rest after the maid had left, but she was 

interrupted by a phone call. 

It was a call from the secretary of Labauve Group’s vice president, who 

wanted to discuss the recent project she had been working on. Due to her 

absence from the office the day before, nobody was available to fill in for 

her. 

After the call ended, she rubbed her brows. The office is busy, and after 

being gone for a day, I found that I had a lot of work to catch up on. I have 

no choice but to start working today. Then, she pulled out her laptop, but 

as soon as she logged into her email, she heard footsteps coming from 

the door. 

Victoria assumed it was the maid, so she ignored the sound and clicked 

on her email to start working. Suddenly, she heard a pause in the 

footsteps and felt a faint, cool breath beside her, so she turned to see who 

it was. 

 

With a single glance, her gaze locked on Alaric’s obsidian eyes. 

She was startled at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?” 

 

When he heard that, he pursed his lips lightly and replied, “This is my 

room.” His voice was unwelcoming and distant. 

Nonetheless, Victoria was taken aback by his tone and questioned 

subconsciously, “Did someone upset you? Why do you sound so moody?” 

“Upset?” Alaric furrowed his brows. Why does her question sound so 

ridiculous? Where could I have been early in the morning that caused me 

to become so upset? After pausing for a moment, seemingly lost in 

thought, he deadpanned and blurted, “I was home last night.” 

At that moment, she gaped in shock at his response. 

 

Then, he stared at her. “Why are you surprised? I was lying beside you last 

night. Weren’t you aware of that?” 

 

After hearing that, Victoria pursed her lips without a word. It turns out that 

the sensation I had last night of the mattress being pressed down was not 

my imagination. Remnants of sleep still clouded her mind when that 

happened, and when she woke up to feel the coolness on the other side of 

the bed, she thought Alaric hadn’t come home all night. 

When she learned he was at home, she felt excitement rising in her chest. 

“I thought you wouldn’t come home.” 

It was after her sentence that they both went silent. 

Even though Claudia had only been back for two days, their relationship 

had become awkward. Despite that, none of them was willing to address 

the elephant in the room. The two seemed to be avoiding the subject 

tacitly, but the reason for their silence was known only to them. 

After some time, Alaric suddenly questioned, “Why aren’t you taking 

medicine?” 

 

Why does he bring it up again? Victoria returned her attention to the 

laptop screen as if nothing had happened. Then, she explained, “I didn’t 

feel like taking it yesterday, and since I felt so much better today, I decided 

I no longer needed it.” 

Suddenly, her calm appearance made his lips twitch, and he inquired, 

“Really? What about the report, then?” 

At that moment, her hands stopped scrolling the mouse when he 

mentioned ‘the report.‘ Victoria almost thought she had misheard him, but 

the tingling of his breath beside her was proof that he had said those 

words out loud. 

On the other hand, Alaric noticed how her fingers paused abruptly when 

‘the report‘ was mentioned. Due to that, he narrowed his eyes skeptically. 

She’s trying to hide something from me. 

After a moment, she recollected herself and raised her head to meet his 

 

eyes. Her gaze was doubtful, and she asked calmly, “What report?” 

He merely stared at her in response. She’s giving a convincing 

performance; she looks and sounds completely natural, from her 

expression and gazes to her tone. If I hadn’t noticed her subtle actions 

earlier, I would have been duped by her facade. 

While staring intently into Victoria’s eyes, Alaric questioned, “I am the one 

who initiates the inquiry. So, what report are you referring to?” 

Hearing that, she was stunned for a moment. “Yes, you were asking me 

that, but I’m not sure what report you refer to.” 

 

The mere mention of ‘the report‘ throws me off guard, and my first thought 

is that he must have seen it. So, did he learn about my pregnancy? 

Nevertheless, Victoria quickly calmed herself down. 

Since the Selwyns declared bankruptcy, she had grown from a pampered 

 

young lady to a well–respected secretary. Even the presidents of 

companies collaborating with Cadogan Group greeted her courteously 

when they saw her. They didn’t do that simply because she was Alaric’s 

wife but because they acknowledged her abilities. Two years of training 

and experience molded her into a completely different person. She was 

no longer the young lady who would panic and get flustered when things. 

were messed up. 

I’ve torn the report into pieces; even if I hadn’t, the rainwater would have 

washed away any traces of the words it contained. In addition, due to 

prolonged exposure to moisture, the report’s contents would be illegible. 

After running a mental analysis, she completely calmed down. 

Meanwhile, his lips curled into a half–smile. Then, Alaric took a seat in front 

of Victoria, and the two exchanged glances. 

 

They were childhood sweethearts. After all these years, how could he have 

missed her dramatic transformation over the last two years? 

 

When Alaric first approached Victoria about working for the company, he 

intended to foster her development and independence. Within two years, 

she had matured into the person he had envisioned her to be, and she 

even became his ideal right–hand woman. Moreover, she could speak 

calmly in front of hundreds of people, let alone in front of him. 

At that thought, he squinted his eyes and asked, “Are you sure you don’t 

know? Do you think I don’t know you?” 

However, she met his eyes fearlessly. “Is that so? Do you really know me?” 

 

The next second, Alaric wrapped his hand around the base of Victoria’s 

neck and leaned in until their foreheads were so close that their breaths 

intertwined. A sentence was squeezed out of his lips. “I’ve known you for at 

least 20 years and shared a bed with you for two years. Who else knows 

you better than I do, Victoria Selwyn?” 

She was immediately dumbfounded. Have we known each other for that 

 

long? He says he knows me, but he has no idea I’ve fallen for him.