Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 384

Chapter 384 

Bane stood still and fixed his gaze on the woman. “There’s no need for that, Victoria. 

The waitress can stay for a meal.” 

“It’s fine. I don’t have an appetite now.” After finishing her words, Victoria walked over to 

the couch and lay down before shutting her eyes. She seemed like she didn’t want to 

talk any longer. 

The waitress had no idea what was going on, but she could tell that their conversation. 

didn’t turn out too well as the woman was ignoring the man. That’s odd… The man was 

really gentle when he was talking to her. Why aren’t things working out? 

Since the woman didn’t seem interested in her food anymore, the waitress got to her 

feet. “I won’t bother you guys anymore, then.” The waitress headed toward the door 

after that. 

“Hold on.” Bane stopped the waitress before he walked over to Victoria and gazed at 

her face. Her eyes were still shut tight. “I’m sorry. I was being overly cautious. I 

shouldn’t have been so suspicious of you, and I was wrong to have done that. Why 

don’t you get up and have something to eat?” 

However, regardless of what he said or how gentle he sounded, Victoria remained as 

12:39 

Chapter 384 Seeking Help 

still as a dead body. She completely ignored him. “Victoria?” Victoria continued to lie 

still in her spot. “Should I carry you over to the dining table?” 

2/7 

Victoria opened her eyes abruptly, only to find Bane’s gaze inches away from hers. She 

was shocked to find him so close to her, but she managed to calm herself down 

quickly. “Is that all you know how to do?” she hissed. 

He curled his lips into a smile. “I don’t have a lot of tactics, but I keep those that work,” 

he replied. Victoria looked away for a moment before she sat upright. “I’d like to have 

some time on my own. Since you don’t want anyone to come close to me, you can bring 

the waitress away now. I don’t want you to bother her in the future.” 

“I’m not going to bother her. I just want her to stay for a meal with you. You haven’t 

eaten in a long while,” Bane stated. 

“I’m not in the mood to eat.” This particular conversation kept going around in circles, 

but Victoria was too stubborn to give in. She didn’t even want to meet his gaze. 

Eventually, Bane had no choice but to head off with the waitress. The waitress could 

tell that Bane was rather glum after he left the room, so she tried to comfort him. “You 

shouldn’t be too sad, Sir. Your girlfriend isn’t asking for too much–she probably just 

wants someone to have a meal with her. If you really want to make her happy, perhaps 

you can consider getting her some flowers and chocolates,” the waitress suggested. 

Chapter 304 Seeking Help 

Bane forced a smile when he heard the waitress‘ suggestion. “Yeah. Thanks. I’ll think 

about it.” Bane’s emotions were all over the place after the conversation he had with 

Victoria earlier, so he wasn’t in the mood to speak to the waitress. The waitress could 

tell that he was rather gloomy, so she excused herself without saying much else. 

3/7 

Once both of them left, Victoria hurried into the washroom to make a call. If Bane asks 

the waitress about any of this, he’ll probably take some time to question her. This is the 

only time I get to call for help. As for what happens later… Well, I shouldn’t care too 

much about that now. 

Victoria hesitated for two seconds before she dialed Alaric’s phone. Beep… Beep… 

Victoria panicked after a while. Why isn’t he picking up the call? There’s a time 

difference, and it should be nighttime there since it’s daytime here. Did Alaric silence 

his phone? If he did, then he probably won’t hear my call. Victoria didn’t want to wait for 

too long, so she eventually thought of calling Summer. 

Summer picked up the call from the unknown number, and she was shocked when she 

heard the familiar voice of her best friend coming from the other end of the line. 

“Victoria? Did you change your phone number? Also, why are you calling from a 

different region? Aren’t you back in the country?” Summer was a true friend–she was 

quick to sense that something was wrong. 

“I want you to remember everything that I say, and I don’t want you to interrupt me as I 

12:39 

Thu, 6 t 

Chapter 384 Seeking Help 

An 

speak.” Victoria ignored Summer’s questions and spoke in a stern voice. Summer could 

immediately sense the severity of the situation as it was rare for Victoria to be so 

serious. “Okay,” Summer uttered with a solemn nod. At the same time, she tapped on 

her phone’s recording button just to ensure that she wouldn’t miss out on anything that 

Victoria said. She would also have a recording if she forgot anything. 

“My location shows that I’m in Mauldin now, and I’m located in a high–end hotel that’s a 

twenty–minute drive away from the international airport. There are two 24–hour 

convenience stores outside the hotel, and I’m on the 16th floor. I don’t think I’ll be here 

for long. There are about two to three men keeping watch outside the doors, and I 

might be transferred elsewhere tonight, but I’ll try to find ways to keep myself here for a 

while more. If I fail to do so and end up getting brought elsewhere, I’ll find a chance to 

contact you again in the future.” 

Summer froze after hearing Victoria. Did she get kidnapped? At that moment, 

Summer’s superior showed up in search of her. He turned around when he saw her on 

the phone, as he figured that he could talk to her later. “Hey, hey, hey,” Summer called 

out for the man to stay. Erik Ludson, whom Summer often referred to as ‘the devil‘, 

walked over when he saw the anxious look on Summer’s face. “What is it?” 

Summer turned on the loudspeaker of her phone before she spoke to Victoria. “Hey 

Victoria, I told the dev–I mean, I told Mr. Ludson to come over and listen to our call. 

Chapter 384 Seeking Help 

He’s smarter, so I’m sure he’ll be helpful.” Erik heard the words that had nearly slipped 

out of Summer’s mouth, and he figured that she was calling him the devil. If he were 

being honest, this wasn’t the first time he had heard Summer calling him the devil. 

Previously, he even heard Summer complaining to her best friend about how she was 

5/7 

single because he kept ordering her to do work. However, Erik hadn’t expected Summer 

to accidentally expose herself today. 

8 

Erik had been about to confront her about the nickname he was given when Victoria 

began to repeat herself on the other end of the line. Upon hearing Victoria’s words, Erik 

narrowed his eyes before speaking into the phone. “Are you able to send us your