Next Man, Better Plan novel Chapter 141

For men from families like his, marriages were strategic alliances, arranged by their parents. Quennel knew perfectly well that he and Victoria were from different worlds; marrying her would make him a laughingstock in his social circle.

Logically, he shouldn't have even let her keep the child, but her health was fragile... If this was truly the only child she could ever carry, then letting her have her way didn't seem like such a big deal.

But that was as far as it went.

Chided, Victoria’s eyes welled up, and she instinctively placed a hand over her stomach.

This child was her shield.

Soon, Julie sent over five different property listings. Victoria chose the largest one in the city center and moved in.

Her reasoning was simple: in a city like Veridian where every square foot cost a fortune, bigger was always better. There was no way she could lose out by choosing the larger space.

Quennel went to the office to deal with work, and because of the whole debacle at Sapphire Group, Victoria had taken two weeks' leave.

The incident had turned Victoria into a company-wide spectacle, leading to her complete social ruin.

The company group chat was blowing up with gossip about her. Victoria snatched her phone, glanced at it, and threw it down in frustration.

Didn't these people have the decency to talk behind her back properly, away from the person they were gossiping about? Had they completely forgotten she was in the chat too?

But moments after tossing it aside, she couldn't resist picking it up again. The more she read, the more her stomach churned with anger.

A colleague had typed: “That guy had a limp and was missing two front teeth. How could Victoria even stand to kiss him?”

A male colleague replied with a crude joke, “Maybe he’s good in bed?”

Victoria’s eyes turned bloodshot as tears streamed down her face.

How could they derive so much pleasure from someone else's pain?

She pressed the voice message button and couldn't stop herself from retorting, “How else do you think the human race keeps going?”

When Victoria suddenly resurfaced, the rapidly scrolling chat went silent for a few seconds.

Everyone was slacking off during work hours, so caught up in the heated gossip that they'd completely forgotten Victoria was in the group.

Victoria knew she had been blacklisted by the entire industry.

She bit her lip hard, curling into a ball on the bed. Despite being in a brand-new apartment, she felt no joy at all.

Rely on Quennel? No, he was unreliable. A woman had to have her own career.

Quennel could offer her emotional comfort, but she refused to become some dependent, clinging vine who relied on a man for survival.

Otherwise, if Quennel ever cast her aside, she would be left with nothing.

And that was the most terrifying prospect of all.

She had fought so hard to escape her backwater hometown; she couldn't let herself be dragged back there.

Absolutely not, Victoria resolved.

Stephanie, she thought, I'll make you pay for what happened today.