Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12 

Summer initially thought Victoria’s reaction was oddly calm, but after 

hearing the name ‘Claudia‘, Vienna froze silent. 

“I–I thought she’d never come back,” she said after taking a long time to 

come to her senses. 

For a moment, neither said anything. 

Before the Selwyns had gone bankrupt, Summer, being Victoria’s best 

friend, hung out with Victoria for a long time in the elite circle. Hence, she 

naturally knew that people loved talking about how Claudia saved Alaric. 

Plus, the two were a good–looking pair, and things could’ve ended up well 

too, but as Victoria’s best friend, Summer’s heart still ached for Victoria. 

Too bad too many crushes go unrequited and even die off silently in the 

end. Summer bit her lip and felt indignant for her friend. 

“Actually, so what if she comes back at this time? I wouldn’t back out if I 

were you. She and Alaric were never together in the first place. Besides, 

you two are already married, and you’re now even pregnant. I swear the 

sky will fall before Alaric tells you to drop the baby!” 

“Then you probably don’t know him well enough,” said Victoria, who had 

been silent all this while. After saying that, she looked up, causing 

Summer’s eyes to widen with incredulity. “What do you mean? He didn’t… 

Did he really?!” 

“He will,” Victoria affirmed. 

“That means you haven’t told him about it, have you?” Summer countered. 

“How are you so certain he will?” 

At that, Victoria pursed her lips and answered, “I’ve already sounded him 

out. 

“You…” Summer instantly became disappointed in her friend. “What is that 

going to achieve? As if theory and practice are the same! You should tell 

him now. Say you’re pregnant. See how he reacts to it.” 

Victoria fell silent in response, so Summer added, “Are you scared? Please, 

I swear on my life that Alaric will never tell you to drop it if he knows you’re 

pregnant. Wanna bet on it?” 

“That’s not necessary.” Victoria shook her head after a moment of silence. 

Then, she grabbed her bag and stood up. “Come on. I’ll get the bill.” 

Before Summer could even react to what was happening, Victoria had 

already gone to the cashier. 

Livid, Summer could only grab her bag and follow her friend out. 

After exiting the cafe, Summer walked beside Veronica. Seeing that the 

latter still had no intention of speaking up, Summer couldn’t help but grab 

“Victoria!” 

her arm. “Victoria!” 

Victoria stopped in her tracks and fixed her gaze on her best friend. 

“Get a hold of yourself and trust me this once, will you? This isn’t a small 

issue. I wouldn’t be standing here and persuading you if you could drop 

your years of love for him. But you love him, don’t you? Our happiness. 

should lay in our own hands!” 

“I…” Her words made Victoria hesitant and seeing so, Summer urged, 

“Alright, let me ask you a few questions then.” 

“What is it?” 

“People will eventually notice pregnancy with time, won’t they?” 

Victoria nodded. 

“Then, are you worried people will notice?” 

Victoria pondered and nodded again. 

“There you go. Since you’re afraid people will notice, and you don’t intend 

to tell Alaric either, you’ll surely find a chance to drop the baby later.” 

No, that’s not it. I just haven’t thought this through… 

“Since you’ve already prepared for the worst, what’s there left for you to be 

afraid of? Won’t the worst–case scenario remain the same even if you tell 

him?” 

“But…” Victoria’s lips trembled as her lashes fluttered. “We might still be 

friends if I keep this a secret, but if I tell him…” 

Summer fell silent at that. Alright, I underestimated her love for Alaric. 

It wasn’t until moments later that Summer sighed under her breath. “Vic, I 

know you love him, but has it ever crossed your mind that there’s no point 

in being friends if you can’t be with him? Besides, don’t you want to sound 

it out? Don’t you want to know if he feels the same about you? Either way, I 

refuse to believe he doesn’t have the slightest feelings for you seeing that 

he treats you so well.” 

Yeah, he does treat me well, but… it’s all but a trade… 

If it wasn’t that Griselda liked her and that the elder also happened to be 

sick, the two of them wouldn’t have gotten married at all. To him, she was 

just a simple childhood friend. 

Summer knew there was nothing she could do to persuade Victoria 

anymore, seeing she was still hesitant. “Anyhow, I’ve already said all I had 

to say. You think about the rest. It’s ultimately your decision, after all. 

There’s nothing more I can say.” 

Before getting into the car, Summer still couldn’t stop herself from running 

back to her friend and said, “Victoria, our happiness lies in our own hands, 

As lost as Victoria was still feeling right then, she smiled from the bottom 

of her heart and pinched Summer’s cheek. “All right, I got it. I’ll think long 

and hard about it.” 

“Good. Go home, then. Call me if you need anything, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

As soon as Victoria returned to Cadogan Residence, Hector instantly 

approached her worryingly. “Where have you been, Mrs. Cadogan? Why 

have you gone out when you’re not feeling well? What if something 

happens to you?” 

The butler’s worry touched Victoria. She thereafter reassured him, “I’m 

fine.” 

“That’s good to hear.” Hector sized her up and finally heaved a sigh of relief 

after he was certain she was fine. “You should go back to rest, Mrs. 

Cadogan.” 

“Alright.” 

With that, Victoria went upstairs and returned to her room. 

Silence filled the air after she closed the door with a thump. At that 

moment, Summer’s words rang in her ears now that she was all alone. 

Our happiness lies in our own hands. 

Actually, she believed in that saying; one should speak out and fight for 

their love. In fact, she did exactly that in the past. Hence, it was why she