Departure with a Belly ( Victoria Selwyn & Alaric Cadogan’s )

Chapter 369 

The memories buried in the recesses of her mind slowly surfaced, riling up a storm in 

her head. That day, Alaric fell into the river. Since he almost drowned when he was a 

child, Alaric always had a phobia of water, and he never learned how to swim. She 

wasn’t in the same class as him, so she was with her classmates during that outing. 

Her deskmate said they wanted to fish for some shrimps, so they went to the river, but 

then her classmate said they had to get something, so she told Victoria to go ahead 

and wait for them. Victoria went ahead while her deskmate went back to take 

something. 

Even though it was already spring, the riverside was still a chilly place. The winds made 

Victoria shiver, and she had half the mind to turn back and tell her deskmate to ditch 

the plan due to the weather. If they went ahead with their plan, they might come down 

with a cold. Just when she was wondering what she should do, she heard cries for 

help. 

Victoria looked in the direction of the cry and saw Claudia shouting for help. “Help! 

Someone’s fallen into the river!” 

Claudia? Why is she here? Victoria looked around, but there was no one to be found. 

So, who’s the victim? Victoria quickly took off her shoes and ran ahead, looking around. 

Chapter 369 Impersonation 

When she realized the victim was Alaric, she almost died of shock. What? How did he 

fall into the river? I thought he had a phobia of water. 

2/5 

The thought was fleeting. Victoria took off her coat, leaving only a thin shirt on. She 

then whizzed past the screaming Claudia and jumped into the river. Every cell in her 

body screamed out in pain from the cold. She felt her limbs freeze the moment they hit 

the water, but she pressed on anyway. There was someone to be saved. Still, the 

currents were powerful, and it took everything she had just to swim up to Alaric. 

Alaric had fainted from gulping too much water, which made things easier for her. If he 

was still conscious, he might grab onto her too tightly, making it hard to save him. 

Victoria held him and swam back to the shore with much difficulty. She felt her body 

slowly getting stiffer. When she finally reached the riverbank with Alaric, Claudia came 

and hauled him up. 

Claudia quickly tended to Alaric and ignored Victoria. Victoria was about to tell Claudia 

to help her out, but her strength left her and a current washed her away. Claudia didn’t 

even look at her. The current washed Victoria far, far away, her body getting colder. She 

was losing consciousness fast, and just when she was about to give up and close her 

eyes forever, something hit her, and she gained some fighting spirit back. 

I can’t die after saving him. The river’s cold and fast. I need to get to the shore. At least I 

have to get back to land before I rest. She mustered the last of her strength and 

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climbed onto shore, and not a moment too soon. The last of her strength fizzled out, 

and she lay on the ground, breathing and shivering violently. Then she closed her eyes, 

and everything went black. 

Memories flooded her head, playing out like a movie. Everything she couldn’t remember 

became so clear When the memories were done playing. Victoria was breathing 

heavily, and she clutched her chest, gulping for air What? So, I was the one who saved 

Alaric? Then what about Claudia? They said she was the one who saved him. If that’s 

the case, then why do I have these memories? Am I imagining things? Or did Claudia 

take credit for what I did? If I’m imagining things, there’s no way these memories would 

feel so real. 

Her breathing was getting ragged About fifteen minutes later, she got up and quickly 

took out her phone. She wanted to call Alaric right away, but the moment the call went 

through, she regretted her decision and quickly hung up, then she held her forehead in 

frustration. What am I doing? What am I supposed to tell him? Oh, I was the one who 

saved you, not Claudia? Like hell he’s gonna believe that. It’s been years since then. 

There’s no way he’s going to believe me at all. If anyone else told me that Claudia wasn’t 

the one who saved him, I wouldn’t believe them either, let alone Alaric. Unless I can find 

proof, that is, how can I even find proof? 

The reason Alaric believed Claudia saved him was because he was unconscious, so he 

had no idea who saved him. Victoria was washed away, and Claudia was the only one 

by his side, so everyone thought she saved him. If Victoria were to tell 

everyone she 

was the one who saved Alaric instead of Claudia, everyone would probably call her a 

liar. 

Her phone suddenly rang. When she noticed who the caller was, her face fell Alaric 

Must be because of that call. She had nothing to say, but eventually, she picked up the 

phone anyway 

“You called me, didn’t you?” Alaric sounded like he was in a hurry. “Why did you hang 

up?” 

Victoria wanted to say something, but she hesitated for a moment. I called the wrong 

number.” 

“You called the wrong number?” Alaric didn’t believe it at all. 

“Yeah. If nothing else, I’m hanging up.” Victoria hung up before Alaric could say 

anything. 

Alaric looked at his phone, a frown furrowing his brows. She called the wrong number? 

There’s no way she would make a mistake like that, and even if she called the wrong 

number, there’s no way she would hang up right away. Then when I called her again, 

she didn’t seem to want to talk to me. She was also panting a little… 

Alaric tucked his phone away and picked up his coat and car key, then he quickly left. 

He ran into his parents on the way down. Noticing that he was leaving, they asked, “It’s 

late. Where are you going?” 

* 

“I have something to do. You two go to sleep.” He left right after that.