Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99 

“Nothing.” Victoria smiled at the man and shrugged her shoulders. “All I did 

was just look at the matter from your perspective. So, I can now 

understand why you’d blame me. It’s all because of the love and empathy 

you have for her.” 

Alaric only kept his eyes fixed on Victoria as she was speaking. “So?” He 

clenched his jaw, his eyes turning sinister. 

“I mean, I understand she comes before everything else in your heart.” 

Victoria paused for a second and added, “So, I think I’d do the same thing 

as you did if I were in your place.” Victoria hadn’t been through a dire 

situation in which she was rescued. Thus, she had not experienced despair 

and hopelessness. Instead, all she could do was put herself in Alaric’s 

shoes by imagining herself in his place, although she could not feel the 

emotions he felt. After all, she understood it was easy for Alaric to fall for 

someone who saved him in a life–and–death situation. 

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Alaric glared at Victoria unhappily. “What would you do? You were 

convinced that I would pin the blame on you, weren’t you?” 

Victoria kept her head down, her eyes getting shaky for some reason. 

“That doesn’t matter anymore.” Because what matters is that I just saw 

through everything yesterday. I should have seen this coming sooner. If I 

still had feelings left for this man, I would feel nothing anymore after 

yesterday. Victoria felt surprisingly calm when she went places and 

strolled around the whole day. Deep down, the only thing she wanted to 

do was to leave Alaric when his grandmother was done with her surgery. 

“Really?” Alaric pursed his lips and glimpsed the new clothes Victoria just 

bought as the agitated gleam in his eyes slowly faded. “Fine then, forget 

about it if it really doesn’t matter.” What else can I do besides forgetting it 

and moving on? 

Victoria continued to stand there for a few moments, but when she looked 

up once again, Alaric was nowhere to be seen. She then blinked and 

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brought the basket of filthy clothes with her while walking out. 

Since that day, Alaric and Victoria found themselves getting along with 

each other in a way they had never before. While Alaric behaved 

indifferently without mentioning a single word about what happened the 

other day, Victoria went back to the way she got along with Alaric before 

Claudia returned from abroad. When Alaric woke up from bed early in the 

morning, she would help him put on his necktie; when they were eating, 

she would thoughtfully place the dish on his plate; when it was time for a 

bath, she would fill the bathtub for him. As Victoria did everything a dutiful 

wife should, they seemed like the perfect example of a lovely couple to 

everyone else, including the butler, who thought they were reconciled. 

Nevertheless, only Alaric knew Victoria was just pretending. After all, she 

had been pretending so well that she looked just like an actress who was 

playing her role. If it hadn’t been for the disappointment that filled her 

eyes, Alaric would have thought she had reconciled with him as everyone 

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else did. Earlier that day, Alaric put on a jacket in an emotionless manner 

and wore a necktie, but before he could fasten it, he heard Victoria’s voice. 

“Alaric, the color of your necktie doesn’t match your shirt.” 

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Alaric stopped upon hearing the lady’s voice and turned around to look at 

her. While there was no one else around, Alaric looked at Victoria with a 

stony gaze as if she was a stranger. However, Victoria didn’t seem to be 

concerned by that at all as she walked up to him and picked another 

necktie from the box. “This one seems to match your shirt more.” 

When Alaric took the necktie with a glacial look on his face, Victoria 

grabbed the end of the necktie and volunteered to help him put it on. “Let 

me do it.” 

Alaric fixed his gaze on Victoria and smiled sarcastically. “Fine.” It was then 

that Victoria walked up to him and tiptoed while helping him with his tie. 

As the two of them got closer to each other, Alaric was able to notice the 

Chapter 99 Keep a Distance 

facial hair on Victoria’s fair skin and her full lips, even with just a quick 

glimpse. At the same time, the faint aroma that was wafting from the lady 

somehow reminded Alaric of their memories. Knowing Victoria never used 

perfume, he knew the smell came from her body and hair shampoo. 

Soon, Alaric felt a strong urge to pull Victoria into his arms as the scent 

continued to waft toward him. After all, he always did that to Victoria, but 

just when he was about to raise his arm, Victoria, retracted hers and 

looked at him. “Done.” The nonchalance in her eyes became a blade that 

plunged through Alaric’s heart. In that instant, all the love and sentiment 

he had for Victoria disappeared without a trace. 

“It must have been tough for you to put on a show all this while.” Alaric 

curled his lips and indifferently smiled. 

“Not at all. It’s what I should do.” Victoria reacted with a casual smile. 

While Victoria’s unconcerned reaction seemed like a punch landed on a 

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sponge, Alaric took his eyes off the lady, whereupon he walked off and 

made his way out the door with an emotionless look. 

“Hold on,” Victoria called out to Alaric, who only stopped in his tracks 

without looking back because he wanted to hear what she was going to 

say. Upon pondering for a few seconds, Victoria organized her thoughts. 

and probingly asked, “About Grandma’s condition, has the doctor 

contacted and told you anything about it?” 

At first, Alaric thought Victoria was showing concern for his grandmother, 

but when he heard the few words toward the end of her sentence, he 

slowly began to understand the meaning behind her question. Thus, he 

curled his lips upward and sarcastically asked, “Are you in a hurry or 

something?” 

In spite of Alaric’s aggressive tone, Victoria didn’t seem to be angry at all. 

Instead, she only responded coldly and said, “Well, I’m not in a hurry. I’m 

just worried about Grandma’s health if her treatment takes too long.” 

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Alaric turned around and gazed at Victoria, questioning her with an 

indifferent tone, “Are you actually worried about her health? Or are you 

scared that it’s going to go against your favor, Victoria? Do you really want 

to stay away from me so badly?” While Victoria was speechless, Alaric 

continued to provoke her. “It was Noel last time, so who is it going to be 

this time? Bane?” 

What?! Victoria couldn’t believe Alaric would bring Bane up. After all, as 

Noel was the man whom her father desperately tried to make her date, 

she could understand why Alaric would suspect Noel. However, she failed 

to see why Alaric would drag Bane into their discussion. Was it because of 

the hug that night in the bar? But Bane explained everything to him there 

and then, didn’t he? How egoistic! Fine, this is none of my business 

anymore because I’m leaving him soon anyway. There is no need for me 

to dwell on these matters again. 

At the thought of that, Victoria smiled and said, “There is no one, but if you 

insist on thinking that way, I’ll be left with no choice.” 

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Alaric was rendered speechless, which indicated that Victoria had just 

used the correct way of tackling the man’s meritality. Not knowing what 

else he could say, he did nothing except glare unhappily at Victoria. In the 

meantime, Victoria just stood there and met his gaze as she didn’t seem 

to care what he said. 

A few moments later, Alaric coldly said, “I don’t care what you have in 

mind, Victoria, but you’re still my wife, as it appears. So, it is in your best 

interest that you keep a distance from other men to avoid any unpleasant 

scandals.” 

“Unpleasant scandals? Aren’t the scandals in the office all about you? 

Here is a gentle reminder–if you don’t want those scandals to reach your 

grandmother’s ear, you should probably also keep a distance from other 

women.”