Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 42

Chapter 42 

E 

After speaking, Victoria couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time with 

her. She packed up her things and quickly left the cafe. However, she 

didn’t notice that after she left, the man, who was referred to as Carlo, sat 

down in front of Claudia and began to inquire about Victoria. After leaving 

the cafe, Victoria did not go home. Instead, she stood on the side of the 

road, looking at the passing vehicles. The huge boulder in her heart finally 

fell to the ground. 

She couldn’t help but call her father, Tony, to share the news that she had 

returned the favor. However, the phone rang for a long time and the call 

went unanswered. Victoria glanced at the time and guessed that her 

father was probably busy with work, so she didn’t call again. 

For the rest of the day, Victoria continued to accompany Griselda at the 

nursing home. As she had talked to Claudia for a long time, she was 

delayed and arrived at the nursing home a little later. When she arrived, 

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the caregiver said, “Mrs. Cadogan, you’re more than half an hour late 

today. Old Mrs. Cadogan has been waiting for you for a long time.” 

Hearing this, Victoria felt a little guilty. “I had something to do on the way. I 

got delayed.” 

“Then go in quickly.” 

“Okay.” Victoria quickened her steps and soon arrived at the ward. 

All the caregivers had probably left at the same time, and there was only 

Griselda in the room. When Victoria was about to walk in, her footsteps 

suddenly paused. She saw that Griselda was holding a photo and staring 

at it in a daze. Although Victoria could only see her profile from a distance, 

she could sense the heavy sorrow coming from the old woman. 

“Grandma…” Victoria called out to her softly and walked in. 

Hearing the sound, Griselda snapped back to reality and looked toward 

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the source, her emotions disappearing from her face. “Victoria, you’re 

here.” 

A 

Victoria walked up to her, apologetically explaining, “Sorry, Grandma. I ran 

into some trouble on the way here. I just got here. Did you wait for me 

long? Next time, if I’m late again, I’ll make sure to call ahead.” 

“Silly Victoria, it was only a little while. How long could I possibly wait? 

Besides, there’s nothing to do at the nursing home, so it doesn’t matter if I 

wait a little longer or shorter.” 

“No, that won’t do.” Victoria shook her head, crouched down, and leaned 

her head on Griselda’s leg, softly saying, “I want to tell you so that at least 

while waiting for me, you know I’m on my way to find you.” 

“You little dear…” 

Griselda was soothed by Victoria’s gentle voice and reached out to tidy 

Victoria’s hair, asking, “Then why don’t you tell me what happened on your 

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way here?” 

Victoria paused for a moment, then smiled and said, “It’s just work stuff 

and it’s very boring. Grandma, there’s not much to talk about that. How 

about you tell me a story instead?” 

After speaking, Victoria touched the photo in Griselda’s hand and said, “For 

example, the story behind this photo.” 

Griselda hesitated for a moment before gently tapping Victoria’s fair 

forehead. “You little clever brat.” 

“Mm,” Victoria hummed, leaning her forehead toward Griselda. “I want to 

hear your story, Grandma.” 

“Alright, I’ll tell you.” 

By noon, Victoria received a message from Alaric asking her where she 

was. Victoria replied briefly, ‘At the nursing home.‘ 

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Shortly after the message was sent, Alaric replied, ‘I’ll come over for lunch.‘ 

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Victoria was surprised and asked, ‘Aren’t you busy at the company?‘ 

Alaric replied, ‘Yes, I’m still in a meeting. I’m taking some time off to come 

over.‘ 

Victoria didn’t say anything more and just said okay. She had nothing to 

say about him taking time out of work to come to the nursing home to see 

his own grandmother. 

The meeting finally ended. After experiencing several hours of Alaric’s 

sharp tongue, all the high–level executives in the conference room walked 

out with pale faces, looking at each other with grief. Then they shook their 

heads, sighed, and left in embarrassment. 

was about time. If he 

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went to the nursing home now, the timing should be about right. 

He walked out of the conference room expressionlessly. Suddenly, a 

beautiful woman in a white dress and fluttering long hair walked up to 

him. 

“Al.” The woman’s voice was soft and clear, causing the other high–level 

executives to look over at her. 

Alaric paused and saw that Claudia was holding a thermal food container 

while walking toward him. His eyes softened when he saw her, and he 

walked over. “What are you doing here?” 

Since the other executives were still around, Claudia looked a bit shy as 

she said softly, “You’ve been busy with work lately. I don’t think you’ve been 

eating properly. So, I personally made some food that you like.” 

The people around them couldn’t help but sigh with envy. Two spots of red 

crept up on Claudia’s fair face. She looked a bit embarrassed as she 

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lowered her head. The people around them couldn’t help but stop and 

watch the drama unfold. 

“Mr. Cadogan, you’re really lucky today.” 

“Yeah, we all envy Mr. Cadogan for having such good fortune.” 

They were trying to flatter Alaric, but little did they know that he didn’t like 

their jokes about him and Claudia. In fact, he gave them a stern look and 

glared at them with his sharp eyes. “Do you have nothing better to do? Or 

did your performance earlier not embarrass you enough? Do you want to