Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 175

Chapter 175
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Victoria handed the invitation letter back to Bane upon finishing her words.
However, Bane didn’t put it away immediately. Instead, he tightened his grip on the
invitation letter while gazing at Victoria. “The best present one can give Grandpa is
probably a granddaughter-in-law.”
Victoria froze for a moment; she had a feeling that Bane was hinting at something.
She was about to respond to him when he continued speaking, “It’s a shame I
couldn’t fulfill his wishes. The best I can do for now is to get him one of the antiques
that he might like” After saying that, he finally kept the invitation letter away. He let
out a chuckle when he saw how stiff Victoria seemed. “What is it?” he asked.
“It’s nothing.” She snapped out of her daze before letting out an awkward laugh.
“Is that so? Could it be that you thought I was trying to give you a hint earlier?” the
man asked.
She eyed him speechlessly before responding, “Well, not really… Why would I think
so?”
“It’s fine if that’s what you thought. Grandpa is quite fond of your two kids, and I’m
sure you know how I feel about you,” Bane commented.
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Victoria pressed her lips together without saying much after that. Two years ago, he
had seized the perfect opportunity to confess his feelings toward her, but she had
rejected his advances then. She tried her best to avoid him after that incident, and it
took a while for Bane to finally get in contact with her again.
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“If you’re avoiding me because of my feelings for you, I want to let you know that you
don’t have to do that, Victoria. I’m responsible for my own feelings. I’m sure you can
tell I haven’t forced you to do anything for me in the past three years. I might not
even have brought this topic up today if we hadn’t had this conversation. So, are you
sure you want to continue avoiding me because of this? Would you rather lose me
as a friend?” His tone was sincere and warm.
If I continue to avoid him, I’d feel bad about it, Victoria thought. Bane had been nice
to her throughout the two years after his initial confession, and he hadn’t dated any
other women since then. He would reject anyone that came close to him.
Thus, Victoria was the only woman in his life, along with her two children. Even.
though he never brought up the topic of his feelings and never once forced Victoria.
to date him, she still found herself in a tough spot. She couldn’t reject him since he
didn’t voice his feelings, and sometimes, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was the
cause that hindered him from finding someone better.
“Alright. You shouldn’t worry about these things. You’re about to start a company, so
Chapter 175 She Can’t Accept It
you should focus on that.” Bane’s voice brought her back to reality, and she nodded
lightly upon hearing his words. “You’re right. I’m probably going to be very busy if I
start my own business,” she muttered.
After breakfast, Victoria packed some leftovers into a lunch box and left a sticky
note on it. Then, she headed off to the office with Bane. It was rare for both of them.
to show up in the office together, and their gorgeous looks made the people around
turn their eyes on them as they walked into the office.
“I can’t believe Mr. Morison is coming in with Miss Selwyn. How rare!” someone
commented.
“What’s so rare about this? Mr. Morison is in love with Miss Selwyn. Everyone in the
company knows about this.”
“But the whole company also knows Miss Selwyn isn’t interested in Mr. Morison.
Otherwise, they would’ve gotten together by now,” someone else stated.
“Why do you guys think Miss Selwyn keeps rejecting Mr. Morison? He’s a handsome
and capable man. He’s gentle and sweet, too! Just the sight of him makes me
excited. Furthermore, he’s so nice to Miss Selwyn. Can any woman resist our boss’
alluring charms?”
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“Well, I heard that Miss Selwyn only rejected Mr. Morison because of her history.
Apparently, she reckons that she isn’t up to Mr. Morison’s standards because of
what she encountered in the past, and that’s why she refuses to date him.”
“What? What happened?” Everyone was intrigued by this topic of conversation.
Gossip was to be found in any corner of the world as long as it was a space
occupied by people.
“Miss Selwyn had a divorce, and she’s a single mother with two kids now.” The
people who hadn’t heard about this were shocked at first. They had expected
Victoria to have some dramatic ex-lover, but they hadn’t expected her to be a
divorcee, much less a mother of two children.
“I heard that the Morison Family is pretty strict about these things. I’m sure Old Mr.
Morison wouldn’t allow a woman like Miss Selwyn into the family since she’s a
mother of two kids,” someone uttered.
“It may be possible for a divorcee with two kids to marry a regular man, but I would
agree that she’s no match for someone like Mr. Morison. There’s no way that Old Mr.
Morison would agree to such a marriage! That explains why they aren’t dating-
she’s simply not a good fit for him!” Another person sneered.
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“Where did you hear about that? Didn’t Mr. Morison’s father also have a second wife?
HOW COULD YOU say that the Morson Family is strict about these things another
staf member rebuked
THETITLE. WT. Monson has a brocher who’s only about seven years old. Isn’t that
the chic of his farmer’s second wife? I heard that Mr. Morison’s stepmother is pretty
mean too.” The workers had been gossiping about Victoria and Bane at first, but
they eventually steered in the direction of Bane’s private life since they were more
merested in him. The workers only stopped when they heard the team leader
bearing his throat. They scurried back to their respective seats after that.
“If you guys could apply the same amount of effort you put in gossiping to your
work, I’m sure you guys wouldn’t have been stuck with your current positions for so
long. You guys are just so lazy sometimes!” The team leader shook his head before
waking off.
Victoria had no idea that the other staff members were gossiping about her. Even if
she knew about it, she wouldn’t be too bothered as she didn’t care what others said.
about her. That was because she knew everyone was free to have their own
opinions and that the only person whom she had control over was herself. After
parting ways with Bane, she headed to her own office. While on her way there, she
recalled something and took a detour to Ethan’s office.
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Chapter 175 She Can’t Accept It
Knock! Knock! Ethan had been preparing the schedule for the day. He looked up
when he heard the knock, and his eyes lit up when he saw Victoria standing by the
doorway. “What brings you here, Miss Selwyn?” He got to his feet with a smile on his
face. “Is anything the matter?”
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Victoria shot him a side-eye. “Am I not allowed to drop by for no reason?”
“Of course not! You’re free to do that,” Ethan replied. He was the assistant who had
been present at the airport all those years ago. He had witnessed the special
treatment that Bane gave to Victoria, and he had been continuously learning about
their relationship in the past five years. Ethan was surprised that Bane had not
managed to win Victoria over even after five years, and he even looked down on
Bane’s flirting skills sometimes.
However, that didn’t stop Ethan from treating Victoria like his boss’ wife.
“I wanted to ask if Bane has any plans of developing the business within the
country,” Victoria uttered.
At her question, he froze for a moment before returning to his senses. Is that why
Mr. Morison told me to prepare all the market research reports? “Yes, he does. Mr.
Morison told me to do some research on that. What is it, Miss Selwyn? Are
interested in this?” he asked.
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“Do you have the market research report with you? Can I take a look at it?” she
asked. I don’t care how I might look here. I need to find out if that market research
report does exist or if Bane had just come up with something to trick me. I simply
can’t accept all of his support for me.