Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 220

Chapter 220 

It had been a while since Victoria gave Bernard her details, but he still hadn’t replied. 

He didn’t even bill her anything. She checked the time and wondered if he was 

playing around. After all, she did hear some noise in the background earlier. She had 

done all she could. All the information she could get her hands on, she had found 

them. Further searching would yield nothing, so she closed her laptop and went to 

bathe. 

Hence, she didn’t notice Bernard’s call. When she came back out, she noticed that 

he had sent her all the info she needed. She didn’t even open the file yet, but one 

look at the content list, and she thought, No wonder Mr. Saunders recommends 

him. He is efficient. She didn’t look through it but said thank you to Bernard, then 

she told him to send her the bill. 

Even though she was prepared for the results, Victoria was still shocked to see how 

much wealth she had. She had estates in Gandra, Jasea, and a lot of other cities, 

and not just any estates. Some estates were managed by someone else, so she was 

the one who gained the profit. The properties she visited earlier were only finished a 

few years ago. 

Since they couldn’t contact her, the managers couldn’t rent those estates out. 

Finally, Victoria noticed she also had some Cadogan Group’s shares. Once she was 

done reading, Victoria had no idea what to feel. She bit her lip, her chest heaving. He 

gave me so much without me knowing. What is the meaning of this? Does his 

beloved know? Did she agree to this? She couldn’t keep reading anymore. Victoria 

closed her laptop and called Bernard. “Sorry, Mr. Sandler, but can I confirm the 

veracity of this file? I’m not doubting your professionalism, of course. It’s just…” 

“It’s just that you can’t believe how much wealth you have, right?” 

Smart. That’s exactly what I was trying to say. 

“I had the exact same reaction the first time I was handling the case, and I too 

suspected it to be false, but unfortunately, it’s real. My mentor and I listed the whole 

thing out.” 

“Your mentor?” Victoria had a bad feeling about this. 

“Yes. He’s Mr. Cadogan’s personal lawyer.” 

Ugh, I should’ve known. Mr. Saunders is already capable enough. His junior worked 

abroad for so long, so that means he must be a capable one too. His mentor must 

be even more prominent than he is. Of course he’s Alaric’s lawyer. She didn’t think 

things through, and now she was already entangled in this matter. “You didn’t tell 

your mentor about this, did you? I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but I’m no longer his 

wife, so…” 

“Ah, I apologize, but he already knows,” said Bernard. “He has the master file, so I 

asked him to give me a copy. And he asked me a few questions, so I answered as 

honestly as I could.” 

Sigh. I can’t blame him for this. He’s the student. Of course he talks to his mentor. 

“Sorry, Miss Selwyn. I didn’t think this would affect you, but my mentor isn’t one to 

gossip, so don’t worry.” 

Victoria calmed down a little. “Thank you.” 

“Do you need someone to handle these assets for you?” 

“No.” Victoria shook her head. “Can we meet tomorrow, Mr. Sandler?” 

“Tomorrow afternoon, yes.” 

“Very well.” 

They met at a restaurant at the agreed time the next day. Even though Bernard had 

seen Victoria’s picture when he handled the inheritance transfer, he still was 

stunned by her beauty when he saw her. 

Even when Victoria was already saying hi to him, it took him a while to snap out of it. 

“Hello, Miss Selwyn.” 

“Hello, Mr. Sandler.” 

.. 

They made small talk, and then food was served. Bernard was famished, but he 

couldn’t gorge on his food, not when a beauty like Victoria was right in front of him, 

so he chose to carefully flip through his file instead. When Victoria told him what 

she was planning, Bernard froze. “A–Are you serious? You’re relinquishing 

everything?” 

On the other hand, Victoria was calm. “Yes. I don’t take what’s not mine. Give it back 

to him.” 

Did I travel into another dimension? She doesn’t want all this money? No one can 

resist money. “But these assets are yours. You’re not committing any crime taking 

them. You’ll live your whole life without worry. Are you sure you don’t want them?” 

“I can live my life without worries even without these things.” That man had helped 

her before. If she took something from him again, she would never be able to repay 

her debt. 

“So please proceed with my request, Mr. Sandler. I will pay you once it is done. If you 

want an advance payment, I can do that too.” 

Bernard was shocked for a long, long time, but he still nodded in the end. “Very well. 

I’ll handle your request, Miss Selwyn.” 

“Thank you.” 

Once she was gone, Bernard told his mentor about the situation. 

Victoria settled some trivial matters and started to work on her new company. The 

website was up and running now. Victoria wrote a job advertisement, then she told 

the website designer to post it on the site. 

Advertisements cost a lot, and the company needed a lot of things to get started. It 

was only now Victoria realized how hard it was to run a company. The next few 

weeks were busy for her. Victoria worked long hours, and even then, they only 

managed to hire a few employees. Fortunately, one member of the management team had experience working in a big company, and they started talking about the 

company’s issue with Victoria. 

“We’re a new company, and our scale is small. After all the scams that have 

happened, no one wants to work for small companies anymore.” 

Victoria looked at him. “So why did you come?” 

The person froze. “Sorry?” 

“Why did you work for my company?” 

That person snickered. “Life had been a little fast–paced for me so I wanted to catch 

a break, and what’s more, I know you.” 

Victoria was surprised. “You know me?” 

The person nodded, smiling. “Of course. It’s been five years, and you’re a lot more beautiful than you were, but I recognized you right away. You came to our company 

for a negotiation back when you were working for Cadogan Group, and I was just a 

regular employee back then.” 

I see. “So, you climbed all the way to top management in five years?” 

“Yes.” 

“Not bad.” Victoria liked that, but that was not the point. First, they had to settle the 

company’s issues. 

The man she hired was one Henry Poole, and he said, “It’s a simple problem to 

settle.” 

Victoria looked at him. “You seem to have a solution.” 

“Angel investors,” said Henry. “If we can have a big company investing in us, we 

won’t have to worry about the operation or funds anymore.” 

Victoria had considered that, of course, but… “You want me to convince someone to 

invest in us? When we don’t even have ten employees?” 

Henry shrugged. “You can do it, can’t you?” 

Victoria said nothing. Henry didn’t care what she was thinking, and he started listing 

out the companies they could convince to invest in them. “First on the list is 

Cadogan Group and the Floyds.” 

The mention of Cadogan Group made Victoria silent. Noticing that, Henry smiled. 

“Boss, I know you have some… issues with Cadogan Group, but this is for the future 

of the company. You won’t let the past get in your way, will you?” 

Victoria took a deep breath to calm herself down, then she smiled. “Sorry, but I will.” 

Huh? Henry scratched his head sheepishly and coughed. “Very well. Then that leaves us with the Floyds. They’re growing strong lately, and that auction a few days ago was proof of it. The new heir showed off his wealth without a care in the world. Ah, but boss, Jordan can be quite the playboy, so don’t fall for his tricks when you 

negotiate, alright?” 

Jordan Floyd. He’s in my contacts, and he lent me a suit. Perhaps I can use this connection. Quickly, Victoria opened up her contacts and searched for Jordan. 

They didn’t even talk after they added each other’s numbers, pretending that they 

had never met. Since she was busy, Victoria had forgotten that he lent her the suit. 

She took a long time just to come up with an opening text, and she messaged him. 

‘Thank you for the suit, Mr. Floyd. I’ve cleaned it, so when can I give it back to you?’ 

Victoria didn’t think he would reply right away so she put her phone down, but then 

Jordan texted, ‘Oh, and here I thought you wouldn’t give it back. 

Sheepishly, Victoria texted, ‘Sorry. I’ve been a bit busy. It’s not until now that I have 

time.‘ She added, ‘So when can we meet?‘ 

Jordan answered a bit flirtatiously, ‘If it’s you, anytime.’ 

Victoria was silent for a while, then she texted, ‘I’d like to talk about work.‘ 

Jordan didn’t reply this time. Victoria held her phone tightly, the look on her face 

slowly becoming solemn. Was I too forward? But if I beat around the bush, he might