Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria)

Chapter 61

After leaving the ward, Alaric held Victoria’s hand before walking away. It

took Victoria a great deal of effort to break free from his grasp.

“What are you doing, Alaric?”

With a deep gaze, he stared at her and replied, “We’re going back first for

today.”

“Didn’t you see Grandma’s expression just now? She wants to leave the

nursing home. She doesn’t want to stay here.” She furrowed her delicate

eyebrows.

After the incident earlier, she speculated that Griselda must be worried

about causing trouble for her family if she was at home, so she could only

stay in the nursing home. She wanted to go back, but she didn’t dare.

Victoria was frustrated, having visited Griselda every weekend but failing

Chapter 61 I Must Have Owed You

to notice the older lady’s underlying feelings. If I had known earlier, I would

have brought her back home and taken care of her. Maybe she wouldn’t

have fainted before the surgery today.

“I know.” Alaric’s voice was deep. “But as you saw, she’s currently refusing

to listen and angry at me.” Suddenly, he remembered something and

added, “Not at you.”

Hearing that, Victoria froze. Right. When Grandma uttered those angry

words earlier, they were all directed at Alaric, but she has always been

kind and polite to me. At this thought, she felt even more heartbroken

because, despite having a bad mood, Griselda had to restrain her feelings

when facing her.

“So, we’ll let her calm down for the night while we go back and pack things

1. up. We’ll come to pick her up tomorrow.”

She thought for a moment and realized that he was right. However, she

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was also worried that a long delay might increase Griselda’s stress from

staying alone in that environment.

With that thought in mind, Victoria suggested, “Can’t we bring her back

tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“Yes. It’s actually still quite early now. We can go back and have the maids

clean up the room. Then, we can tell Grandma to expect us to pick her up

in two hours. What do you think? I think two hours should be enough for

her to calm down.”

At that, Alaric pondered for a moment and agreed with a nod. “Alright.”

“Then, let’s go and tell Grandma right now.” As she said that, she excitedly

turned around to inform Griselda about the plan.

After Victoria and Alaric left, Griselda had been sitting alone by the

Mon, 19

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window, lost in thought while gazing at the moonlight. Suddenly, she heard

familiar footsteps. Before she could react, Victoria had already stood in

front of her and said joyfully, “Grandma, we’ll go back first to have the

maids clean up the room. We’ll come to pick you up in two hours. Please

wait for us here, okay?”

The moment she finished speaking, she turned around and left without

paying attention to Griselda’s reaction. Before leaving, she instructed the

caregivers to take good care of Griselda and then left the nursing home

with Alaric.

On the way back, she was filled with excitement. Since Griselda was

coming home, she started thinking about how to decorate Griselda’s room

and kept asking Alaric various questions along the way.

Meanwhile, he calmly responded to all her questions. When they stopped

at a red light, he glanced at her and saw her joyful profile, which made

him think about their divorce. However, judging from her current look, it

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seemed like she had already put their divorce behind her.

“By the way, it might be inconvenient for Grandma to go up and down the

stairs. How about we arrange for her to stay on the first floor?”

“Sure. You can call in advance to have someone clean up the room.” He

nodded.

“That’s a good idea.” After all, it’ll take nearly an hour to get back home

from here. At once, she made a phone call back home.

When Hector learned that Griselda was returning home, he immediately

instructed the maids to tidy up the room.

Although it was already nighttime, it didn’t stop them from cleaning. The

Cadogans had plenty of brand–new bedding and covers, and the maids

didn’t have much work to do during the day. So even if the bedding was

new, it had been aired out that day or the day before and was still in

pristine condition.

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Victoria hung up the phone after giving her instructions, but at the same

time, Alaric’s phone started ringing again. The melodious ringtone echoed

in the enclosed car, sounding somewhat abrupt.

Initially, she had a smile on her lips, but when she heard the ringtone, she

froze for a second, and the smile gradually faded from her face. Then, she

leaned against the seat and turned her head to look out the window.

Apart from the ringing, there was no other sound inside the car. Alaric

noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere as well and glanced at her

from the corner of his eye. Then, he said, “Answer the call for me, Ms.

Snowball.”

At his request, Victoria hesitated for a moment, then declined. “You

answer it yourself.”

“I’m driving.”

“You can pull over and answer it.”

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Alaric chuckled at her words out of irritation. “Is it really that difficult for you

to answer it for me?”

“No.” Since things had come to this, she didn’t care anymore and said

directly, “But I don’t feel like helping you.” Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Seeing her stubborn and domineering attitude, Alaric wasn’t surprised.

There happened to be a temporary parking spot ahead, so he drove the

car there: After stopping, he fixed his gaze on her for a moment and said,

“If there is a past life, I must have owed you a lot for you to treat me like

that.”

After that, he took out his phone to check the caller ID. “It’s my mom.”

At these words, Victoria, who had been indifferent before, straightened up

a bit and subconsciously said, “How could it be…”

The phone had been ringing for too long, so the ringing had automatically

stopped.

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Just then, his gaze lingered on her fair and beautiful face as he asked in a

deep voice, “Who did you think it was?”

“Well, you should call her back then.” She turned her face away, avoiding

the topic.

Without pursuing the matter further, he returned Kathryn’s call.

Within seconds after he dialed the number, the call was immediately

picked up. Since he had put the call on speaker, the voice echoed inside

the car.

“Al, your father and I just landed, and we’re on our way to the nursing

home. How is your grandma? Has she had the surgery?”

“Not yet, Alaric briefly explained what had happened, then furrowed his

brow. “Don’t you think it’s too late for you guys to come now?”

“I’m sorry, Al. Your father and I have been extremely busy recently. When

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we knew that the surgery was pushed forward, we postponed our work so

we could come home. We thought that with you and Victoria being with

her, there wouldn’t be any problems. But I was wrong this time. I won’t

make the same mistake again.”

Kathryn appeared strong and assertive to the outside world, but she was

gentle toward her family. If someone didn’t know her well, they would

assume she had the same soft and gentle demeanor when faced with

everyone.

The first time Victoria witnessed this stark contrast in the Cadogan

Residence, she was quite surprised. The powerful and authoritative

woman in public had turned into a docile little lamb in front of her family.

Initially, she couldn’t understand how a person could have two faces.

However, when she witnessed Kathryn instantly calm down the irritable

Emanuel, she understood right away.

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Kathryn was a smart person who cared deeply about her family. Her

relationship with Emanual was also excellent. In her understanding,

apologizing to her husband, children, and elders wasn’t about winning or

losing. This was the mentality that Victoria admired.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that in front of Alaric. After all, she and Alaric

were not a real couple.