Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 343

Chapter 343
Alaric kept throwing ideas about how to design the house at Terrance along the way.
Terrance didn’t really analyze Alaric’s words. The moment Alaric shared his first idea,
Terrance fulfilled his responsibility by turning on the voice recorder and opening his
notebook. He recorded Alaric’s orders and noted them down at the same time.
“That’s all for now. I’ll update you if there are any other ideas. We can leave the rest to
the designer.”
“All right, Mr. Cadogan.”
Alaric hung up the phone before Terrance could finish.
A few moments later, it finally dawned on Terrance. Wait a minute. Did Mr. Cadogan say
something about designing a house? A house with that kind of setup? For real?
The car stopped at the same time Alaric ended the call.
“We have arrived, Mr. Cadogan.”
He hummed a response before putting his phone into his pocket and exiting the car.
At that moment, all he could think about was the possible designs for the house. Are
we missing something? I’ll have to add them later. I better write down everything once
I’m home.
Alaric let his imagination run free when he talked to Terrance in the car earlier.
Moreover, it was his first time being a father. Thus, he allowed his limited knowledge to
guide him, but he wasn’t a father before. Therefore, he didn’t know much about being a
father.
I have to do some research and note them down.
At first, Alaric was thinking about entrusting the design to somebody else. But he
suddenly felt he should take over the design instead of depending on others.
He hadn’t gone far when the thoughts flooded his mind.
Therefore, he wasn’t aware that someone was trailing behind him when he got out of
the car.
Since he was lost in his thoughts, he walked fast without paying attention to his
surroundings. The person could no longer follow, so they called out to him. “Al.”
The person caught up with him when he paused at the name. She panted heavily as
she spun around to face him.
Alaric’s expression turned cold at the sight of the person. “What are you doing here?”
He’s not as nice to me as usual. Probably have figured out that I deleted his message.
She knew she was screwed before leaving the sick room.
Once the outsiders were gone, all Alaric needed to do was talk to Victoria.
She was hoping that Alaric didn’t ask. Judging from his expression, it’s just my wishful
thinking. He must’ve talked to Victoria.
A plan was formed in her mind when she was on her way to meet Alaric.
I can manage even if he knows the truth.
Thus, she immediately burst into tears when she locked eyes with him. “Al, I have
something to tell you.”
Even though Claudia saved Alaric’s life in the past, he couldn’t accept the fact that she
deleted the message dedicated to him and that she reached out to Victoria in secret
and asked Victoria to abort the children.
“What is it?”
“You found out what happened with the message, didn’t you?” Even though it was a
long shot, Claudia couldn’t help but try asking.
As expected, Alaric’s gaze remained cold after she asked him the question.
The lack of response instantly cleared her doubts. She threw the speech, which she
formulated before she came, on Alaric without any delay.
“I’m sorry, Al. It’s indeed my fault. I shouldn’t have hidden the truth from you, but I did it
for a reason! You were faking a marriage, but she dared sleep with you and got
pregnant with your children. How could I let that happen? You know I adore you. I was
blinded by rage and took the wrong approach. It’s all because I love you!”
Then, Claudia sniffed. She calmed down a little before taking a few steps toward him.
“And most importantly, all I did was delete the message. I didn’t hurt her. She still gave
birth to the children in the end safely. I’ll treat the children as my own if you like, and I
don’t need more children. What do you say?”
He watched her coldly. “I don’t need an outsider’s help to raise my children.”
“Al…”
Alaric clenched his fists on his sides as he fixed his dark menacing eyes on her. “If it
weren’t because you save my life… If it weren’t…” He gritted his teeth at the thought,
unable to finish the sentence.
Claudia could sense a hint of anger in his murmur and the intimidating aura he
emanated. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t get away with it that easily if she weren’t
his lifesaver.
She knew from experience that he would get rid of the person and their family if
someone ever got on his bad side.
If Claudia had a sense of propriety, she’d stopped now, considering his contorted
expression.
Even though she made mistakes, Alaric would still see her as his savior. All she needed
to do was behave from now on and try not to be a nuisance.
Therefore, not even he or his family would dare hurt her. What was more, the Cadogan
Family would aid her family in the business field. The Johnson Family could enjoy the
benefits provided by the Cadogan Family as long as there was peace between them.
However, Claudia was one step away from becoming the wife of the company
president.
And now you’re telling me Alaric chooses somebody over me?
betrayed her belief.
The title of ‘Mrs. Cadogan’ belongs to nobody but me!
Alaric suppressed the swirling emotions within him before speaking up. “I don’t want to
see you again.”
After that, he walked into the house, leaving her outside alone.
Claudia stood in the chilly air for a long time until she felt dampness on her face as the
breeze dried her tears. Her longing for Alaric and resentment for Victoria grew and
ingrained in her.
She returned to the hotel with a stiff body and messy hair.
Scarlette happened to initiate a video call with Claudia. At first, Claudia refused to pick
up the phone due to her bad mood. However, after finding out it was from her mother,
she felt a pang of sadness. She answered the call without fixing her appearance. As
soon as the call was connected, she burst into tears. “Mom!”
Scarlette was enjoying a beauty treatment at the moment. She had applied a mask on
her face when she called Claudia with a smile, but she wasn’t expecting to see her
daughter crying. She immediately tore the mask off her face and expressed her
concerns. “What happened, Claudia? Is something wrong?”
Scarlette finally saw the full picture after Claudia spilled everything.
“What should I do, Mom?”
She fixed her daughter with a stern look. “You’re too softhearted. You should’ve gotten
rid of her in the first place, but you didn’t. And that’s what you’ve got.”
Claudia spoke through her s***bs. “What if I talk to Victoria again? I can force her to fulfill
her promise of leaving the country.”
“What’s the point of it?” Scarlette scolded. “Both of you agreed on five years. Now she
had carried out the promise. What do you want to talk to her about? You had five years,
but you let them go to waste.”
The words hurt Claudia. “The things are beyond my control. Who would’ve known he’d
wait for her after all these years?”
“There’s no other option! You must find a way to give birth to his child.”