And this child would be the only memento he'd ever leave her!
Victoria didn't say it out loud. She simply smiled mildly, her delicate features sparkling with gentle, peaceable light.
"I've thought it over. I'll give birth to him properly and raise him to adulthood. No matter what hardships come in the future, I won't regret my decision today. Besides, no matter how difficult it gets, I still have you, right? It's not so easy to be a godmother. Are you going to support us mother and child?"
Natalia fumed.
She couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes.
"Yes, yes, fine. I'll support you two. But how would you explain this to the old man? I heard you left home because you two argued. He probably won't permit you to give birth to this child."
Victoria was silent for a while.
Then she murmured, "I can't budge on this. If he won't forgive me, then he'll just have to treat it like he's never given birth to me as a daughter. After all... I haven't done anything to be proud of."
Natalia's heart ached as she heard that.
"Victoria."
Victoria forced a smile and lifted her head.
"I'm alright. No need to comfort me, really. I've thought it all through in this time. The most important thing for me right now is to raise this child properly. The environment inside the country is messy and chaotic. Even though I've decided on all this, I still don't want the public to know, so I'll be leaving the country all the same for these days. If you miss me, you can fly over to see me. When the dust settles, I'll be back."
Natalia couldn't voice her bitterness.
But since Victoria had made her decision, she had no other choice than to support her.
She got up, walked over to her, and held her hand.
"Don't forget you still have me no matter where you go, Victoria."
Smiling, Victoria nodded.
...
Three days later, Victoria left.
That day, Natalia went over to the airport to see her off, even giving her a list of people she'd been close to in Othua. If something really came up, she'd have someone to contact.
Jokingly, Victoria noted that, five years ago, she'd seen Natalia off, and now it was Natalia's turn to see her off. No matter how you looked at it, what went around came around.
Natalia could only smile helplessly, missing her already even though they could meet whenever they wanted in Othua.
It wouldn't be as convenient as it had been in Julio. She was also worried about the secret that Victoria wouldn't tell her.
But Natalia didn't say any of that out loud. She went back to the office after she'd seen Victoria off.
Archie had gone back to Eqitin for a couple of days, taking Ariana and Anne back with him.
Anne's health wasn't good, and she needed regular checkups. Archie was there for it every time.
Natalia had wanted to go as well, but with Kiera's case in Julio demanding her attention at any moment, she couldn't leave. They'd have to leave it for next time.
Knowing that she'd come back safely, Nathan and Hamlin were overjoyed.
They hadn't believed Jessica before, and this proved that they were right. Only, hearing about Natalia's mother, they had to sigh about the whole affair.
But sigh as they would, they still had work to do.
This night, Nathan booked a spot in the Parlour and held a gathering. Natalia was invited.
The people attending the gathering were all bigshot seniors in entertainment, and because it was a private affair, not too many people were attending, so it didn't count as official business.
Since Natalia was making her living in such circles, she'd have to interact with such people eventually.
Nathan had invited her to the gathering with some intention to pave the way for her, so of course she couldn't turn him down.
At eight in the night, social lubricants were in full flow in the Parlour.
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