Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 406

Chapter 406 

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The moment she hung up the phone, Victoria’s mood became completely different. 

Just an hour. In an hour, I’ll no longer be alone and helpless. I’ll have Summer as well as 

the “devil” she talked about by my side by then. But… the person she was inwardly 

expecting never came. Is Summer unable to reach him, or is he unwilling to come 

looking for me after knowing what happened, thinking it is too much trouble? 

As her mind dwelled on this, she began feeling hurt deep down. However, she soon 

pulled herself together and returned the phone to the girl before her. She thanked the 

girl, “Thank you for lending your phone to us.” 

In reality, the girl had worried that she might’ve been tricked when she lent her phone. 

Not expecting to actually get her phone back afterward, she pursed her lips while 

taking it. Then, looking at Nicole and Nathan next to the woman, she asked in a 

whisper, “Are you three going to hang out here?” 

Seeing that the girl was alone, Victoria wanted to nod at first, but then she recalled that 

they couldn’t stay for long. She had no choice but to say instead, “The kids‘ father is 

coming to pick us up, so we can’t stay here for long. We may leave at any time. Since 

you lent me your phone, let me give you money to play games, okay?” 

The girl shook her head. “No, you don’t have to. That’s the least I can do.” 

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Chapter 406 I’m Not Protecting You Well Enough 

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Victoria patted her on the head. In the end, she held out to the girl one of the banknotes 

she had gotten from Ethan. “Here, take this. Think of it as a thank–you present.” 

The girl took it with some hesitation. 

Victoria asked, “By the way, are you out alone? You have to be careful at this time of 

night. Also, if you come across some strangers asking to borrow your phone like this, 

just say no if you’re scared. Not everyone is like us. You understand?” Fearing that the 

girl might get tricked next time, she reminded her about the dangers of lending her 

phone to strangers. 

To her surprise, after listening to her words, the girl pursed her lips for a moment. She 

said, “But you three wouldn’t be able to go home if I didn’t lend my phone to you, right?” 

Victoria was deeply touched by her reply. “Thank you so much, good girl. You should go 

home now. Be careful.” 

The girl looked at them somewhat reluctantly, though. 

Knowing that they couldn’t stay here any longer, Victoria stood up and took the two 

little ones by the hand. She said to the girl, “We have to go.” 

“Where are you going? Do you live around here? Are we going to meet again in the 

Chapter 406 I’m Not Protecting You Well Enough 

future?” 

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Victoria paused for a moment. Just when she wanted to speak, she heard Nicole reply, 

“Sis, I’ll call you once we get home safely.” 

The girl’s eyes lit up at her words. “Really? You’ll come to see me again?” 

“Mm–hmm.” Nicole nodded heavily. 

The girl seemed to have a hard time believing it, so she could only look at Victoria with 

inquiring eyes. After Victoria nodded, she finally cracked a smile of satisfaction. “Alright. 

then, I’m going home for today. But please remember to call me.” 

“Goodbye.” 

Victoria took the kids to a more crowded place while still hiding in the crowd. An hour, 

huh… I’ve got to hang on until they arrive. Not daring to stay alone in one place, she 

moved around randomly, observing her surroundings while glancing at the wall clock 

from time to time. Before she knew it, 40 minutes had passed. Seems like I’ve chosen 

the right place. They probably went looking for me in some other places, so they didn’t 

expect for the time being that I’d bring my kids straight to an amusement park. Perhaps 

I can wait here until Summer and Erik find me right away. She prayed in her heart. 

Chapter 406 I’m Not Protecting You Well Enough 

Suddenly, Nicole stumbled while walking next to her. 

At the sight of this, Victoria immediately crouched down. “What’s wrong?” 

Nicole shook her head. “I’m fine, Mommy.” 

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However, Victoria quickly noticed that something was wrong with her and asked with a 

serious face, “Did you sprain your ankle? Let me take a look for you.” 

“Mommy, I’m fine, really-” 

Just then, a commotion broke out at the entrance. 

Squatting, Victoria looked up toward the sound. At a glance, she saw the few people 

she had spotted earlier at the hotel coming toward the amusement park. They looked 

ferocious as if wanting to come in for a fight. Frightened by their appearance, a number 

of kids ran away from them, screaming. 

Her countenance changed at the sight of them. I can’t believe they’re actually here after 

just over 40 minutes! Now, it was no longer feasible for her and the kids to stay here 

safely until Summer and Erik came to pick them up. 

She looked around, only to find that the park had only one exit. Biting her lower lip, she 

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stood up and picked Nicole up at once. After getting Nathan to follow her from behind, 

she went to hide in another boisterous crowd. 

“Look for her now!” 

She heard those men yell loudly at the crowd, saying they were here to look for a child 

who had run away from home. They even picked up the tab for everyone’s expenses, in 

addition to offering a cash payment to whoever was willing to cooperate and get out. 

At first, everyone thought they were strange and refused to pay any mind to them. 

Gradually, however, many children went over to receive money from them. Realizing 

that they could really receive money from these guys, more and more people stopped 

playing games and ran over to get the money, crowding the entrance to the hilt. 

Victoria had wanted to slip out along with the crowd, but after getting near the 

entrance, she noticed a lot of men guarding it. With her two children, she was really 

noticeable, thus making it totally impossible to sneak away. 

Watching the crowd disperse, Nathan anxiously tugged at her collar. “Mommy, what 

should we do now?” 

Victoria looked around and found a washroom in the park. She said under her breath, 

“We’ll get exposed if we keep staying here. Let’s hide in the washroom for now.” 

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The three of them went to hide in the washroom. Normally, Nathan wouldn’t enter the 

ladies‘ room with Victoria, but given the exceptional circumstances this time, she 

brought him in right away. Luckily, everyone had gone out to receive money at this time, 

so nobody was staying in the washroom at all. 

The washroom was empty. After pondering for a moment, Victoria immediately 

hardened her heart and locked the main door. Then, she led the two children to hide in 

one of the clean stalls. 

After putting down the toilet lid, she got Nicole to sit on it and took off her shoes for 

her. Only then did she notice that Nicole’s ankle was all red and swollen, which looked. 

frightening. If Nicole had only been hurt just now, her ankle wouldn’t have become so 

swollen. Such a swelling could only mean that she must have been enduring it for a 

long time. 

In an instant, Victoria’s eyes filmed over. She reached out and clasped Nicole in her 

arms. She knew her own daughter better than anyone else. This little girl was always 

the most spoiled. Whenever she got hurt even in the slightest, she would pester her 

mother to blow the pain away for her, or she would throw tantrums like a baby. In short, 

she was just spoiled to a fault. But now, despite her foot hurting like this, she never 

made a sound along the way. Not only that, she had helped Victoria a lot. She probably 

had stumbled just now because it really hurt too much. 

Chapter 406 I’m Not Protecting You Well Enough 

Victoria closed her eyes, which quickly moistened with tears. “Sorry, Nicole. I’m not 

protecting you well enough.” 

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Chapter 407 Make It Up to You