Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 176

Chapter 176 

Ethan handed the report to Victoria in the end. Victoria flipped through the pages to 

realize that it was the same copy that Bane had been talking about–it was also 

dated from a month ago. The market research report wasn’t just a general report, as 

it also included a lot of specifics. After Victoria went through the whole thing, she 

let out a huge sigh of relief. She was glad to learn that Bane genuinely had the 

intention of developing the business locally and that he wasn’t doing all of this just 

for her. 

“Thank you. You can have it back,” Victoria uttered as she handed the files back to 

Ethan. 

“Do 

you 

need more time to study it, Miss Selwyn?” Ethan asked. 

“It’s fine. I went through it already,” she replied. 

“Alright. Feel free to text me if you ever need it again and I’ll send it to you,” Ethan 

offered. 

After he walked Victoria out with a polite smile on his face, he returned to his own 

seat and wiped off the layer of sweat that had formed on his forehead. Then, he 

lowered his head to glance at the research report on the table as he recalled what 

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Chapter 176 Neglected Your Kids 

Bane had told him in the past. 

“It has to be done meticulously,” Bane had said when he first told Ethan to prepare 

the report. 

“Meticulously?” Ethan wasn’t sure what Bane meant by that. “How meticulous do 

you need me to be, Mr. Morison?” 

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“As meticulous as possible,” he replied. Ethan had left the research report around for 

a long while after it was done, and no one seemed to need the report for anything. It 

was only when Victoria dropped by that day that Ethan realized why Bane required 

the report to be meticulous. I bet all of this is done just for Miss Selwyn, Ethan 

thought. Mr. Morison’s even hiding the truth from her just to protect her. 

Ethan couldn’t help but sigh when he thought about the situation. Is he still the 

same madman that I once knew? He seems so different now. Well, he’s still a 

madman in his own ways–I guess he won’t change that part of him for anyone. 

Ethan shuddered at the thought of all the wild and insane things that Bane had 

done in the past. Sometimes I wonder… Is Miss Selwyn really lucky, or really unlucky, 

to have captivated the heart of a man like Bane? 

Chapter 176 Neglected Your Kids 

Ever since Victoria decided to start her own company, she completely immersed 

herself in work. In the past, she would still have the time to take an afternoon. 

nap, 

but she barely had any time to rest in recent days. She even had to sacrifice her 

sleep. There were simply too many things that she had to prepare–she only 

managed to complete her initial draft of her business plan after staying up for a few 

consecutive nights. 

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She finally managed to get some rest in the afternoon after she completed her first 

draft. Coincidentally, Summer paid her a visit on that day, and they decided to have a 

meal together. When Summer saw the look on Victoria’s face, she shook her head. 

with a sigh. “You shouldn’t overwork yourself even if your goal is to start a company! 

Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror in the past few days?” Summer cried. 

“Why would I look in the mirror?” Victoria sipped on her coffee without seeming too 

concerned. “Do you think I have the free time to do that?” she sighed. 

“Well, you might be hard at work, but don’t you think you should also pay some 

attention to your health and your image?” Summer scanned her friend from head to 

toe. “Do you know what you look like right now?” she asked. Victoria stared blankly 

at Summer, and Summer was also quiet for a moment as she couldn’t find the right 

words to describe her friend. 

In the end, Summer simply pulled a pocket mirror out of her bag before handing it to 

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Chapter 176 Neglected Your Kids 

Victoria. “I’m not going to say it. You can take a look at yourself–perhaps you’d 

understand,” Summer muttered. Victoria was exhausted from her days of hard work, 

and all she wanted was a peaceful lunch. She hadn’t expected Summer to comment 

on her looks and to even hand her a mirror. “Stop messing around, Summer-” 

Victoria stopped abruptly when she actually saw her reflection in the mirror. 

An 

“I know, right?” Summer let out a laugh when she saw the stunned look on Victoria’s 

face. “Do you know what you look like right now?” 

Victoria instinctively placed a hand on her cheek after a few seconds of just staring 

at herself. “My image is ruined,” she muttered. Her reflection in the mirror was of a 

woman with huge, swollen eye bags. She had been too busy to put on any makeup 

and she looked especially pale as she hadn’t been getting enough sleep. On top of 

all that, she had also lost a few pounds, which made her look like a drug addict. If 

my reflection is a shock to myself, I can only imagine how shocking it must be for 

others, she thought. 

“Please don’t tell me this is how you’ve been showing up in the office for the past 

few days,” Summer muttered. 

“Uh–huh.” Victoria nodded solemnly. 

“Pfft.” Summer nearly choked on her food. “Did you really go to work like that?” 

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Chapter 176 Neglected Your Kids 

Summer couldn’t help but click her tongue when she saw the helpless look on 

Victoria’s face. “Well, I guess that’s one of the perks of being naturally good–looking. 

You’re still pretty even when you don’t care about your looks,” Summer uttered. 

Summer didn’t actually think that Victoria looked bad–she simply looked less 

presentable than her usual self. Furthermore, with Victoria’s naturally gorgeous 

looks and sharp features, the added layers of eyebags and the lack of color in her 

cheeks only made her look like a pretty vampire. Summer couldn’t help but sigh at 

this thought. She’s still a beauty even when she’s at her worst. Meanwhile, if 

someone like me were to be in that state… I’d probably be a mess, Summer thought. 

“Anyway, you shouldn’t overwork yourself. You don’t expect yourself to start a whole 

business within the span of a few days, do you? You should allow yourself more 

time. There’s no harm in delaying the opening a little, right?” Summer commented. 

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“I know,” Victoria replied with a nod. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of myself.” Victoria’s 

attention was quickly drawn back to her company after Summer first mentioned it. 

She quickly asked Summer for some pointers, completely forgetting that she looked 

like a mess. Summer knew that there was no point in lecturing Victoria when