SWNOVELS Departure with a Belly Chapter 54
Chapter 54
If Victoria could refrain from remembering the old days, her days would
just go by in a daze.
However, it would only double the pain when the memories came back to
overwhelm her.
The affection he casually showed to her in the past turned into knives that
cut her skin open at the moment.
Leaning against the safe deposit box, she closed her eyes in despair.
If only he could return her feelings. Even if it was just a little, she wouldn’t
be as desperate as she was right now.
When she returned home with the marriage certificate, Alaric just got out
of the shower. He came out of the bathroom with a gloomy expression.
Just as he was about to pass by Victoria, he noticed the marriage
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certificate she was holding.
At the sight of her holding their marriage certificate, he stood still and
raised his head. The expression on his face only darkened more as his
gaze pierced through her body like icicles.
Her hands tightened around the certificate helplessly when she met his
gaze.
After a moment of silence, he sneered. “You seem eager.”
Victoria was taken aback by his comment. She parted her lips but the knot
in her throat held her back from saying anything. At last, she only held the
certificate tighter as her gaze fell to the ground.
What does he expect me to say? There’s neither anything I can tell him nor
a point in saying anything. After all, it’s his idea to have a divorce. The
person he truly likes is the one who saved his life back then. Besides, I’m
also paying back her favors. We’ll leave it at that. I have nothing to tell him.
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After having him all to myself for two years, I don’t have any regrets. The
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history we have together can make a good compensation for his absence
in the future.
At last, Alaric broke the silence. “The surgery is tomorrow, so we don’t have
to pretend anymore. I’ll spend the night in the study room.”
Then, he grabbed his pillow and left the room.
Victoria stayed still for a moment before eventually setting their marriage
certificate on the bedside table. After that, she took the clean clothes and
headed into the bathroom.
The next day, Victoria was woken up by her phone’s alarm. Feeling groggy,
she rolled to the side and turned off the alarm. After that, she sat up on
the bed while massaging her throbbing temples.
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She was unable to get a good sleep last night.
Her mind thought of Griselda one moment and the next moment it was
replaced by her divorce and another moment by her child.
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She had no idea about the time she fell asleep. She was reminded of the
same things for the rest of the time as they plagued her dreams.
Taking a moment on the bed to collect her thoughts, she slid down the
bed and headed over to the bathroom to wash her face.
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After getting into the bathroom, Victoria was frightened by the sight of her
reflection in the mirror.
She had visible dark circles under her eyes and her pale face only set
them off, Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and her hair was disheveled.
The combination made her a walking definition of an unhappy woman
who was living a disorderly life.
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Victoria studied her reflection in the mirror without a word.
She didn’t like her reflection in the mirror at all. She quickly washed her
face and combed her messy hair. Then, she applied a mask to her face
and decided to put on makeup after that.
Even though she didn’t mind her appearance, she didn’t want to worry
Griselda.
Around ten minutes later, she peeled off the mask and began to brush her
teeth and clean herself. At last, she put on light makeup and got dressed
in a casual outfit.
When everything was done, she stood in front of the mirror to make sure
she was presentable. Aside from her bloodshot eyes, she had indeed
reached her goal.
However, she didn’t possess any magic to make the redness vanish within
a second. Thus, she put on a pair of rimmed glasses after a moment of
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pondering. Let the others think it’s an accessory.
At that moment, her phone vibrated. Victoria reached for it and found a
new message from Alaric. ‘Get downstairs when you are ready. I’ll be
waiting in the garage.‘
His message was simple. She couldn’t feel any affection or concern from
- it.
She replied to his message with a simple response before getting up to
grab a coat and heading downstairs.
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When she was passing by the living room, the butler approached her. “Mrs.
Cadogan, you’re leaving early today. Did you have enough sleep last
night?”
Victoria cast a smile at him. “I have.”
Judging from the coat that she was wearing and her passing by the
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dining table without stopping, the butler couldn’t help but ask, “Do you
need breakfast?”
As expected, she shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m heading out.”
This time, the butler kept silent.
Truth be told, he already noticed that something was going on between
Alaric and Victoria. When he woke up in the early morning, he also found
that Alaric slept in the study room last night. Noticing the lights in the
study room were up, he approached to check on the room and found
Alaric inside.
Alaric had circles under his eyes and his expression wasn’t the best either.
He turned in the butler’s direction and asked in a hoarse voice, “What?”
The butler was immediately shocked by his boss‘ look and didn’t dare
answer.
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After that, Alaric skipped breakfast and headed straight to the garage with
a cold look on his face.
Watching Victoria walking out of the house, the butler sighed to himself,
helpless about being unable to rectify the situation.
She wore her coat on her way to the garage.
It was freezing outside in the early morning, and the garage was colder.
Thus, Victoria was surprised to see Alaric wearing only a dress shirt in such
cold weather. There was a cigarette between his fingers as he leaned
against the car.
As she approached, she could see the stark contrast between them.
He looked pale after spending a night of lack of sleep. Compared to
Victoria, who wore makeup, his emaciated face made a huge difference
from hers.
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He raised his head in her direction when he heard the echoing footsteps.
His eyes dimmed at the sight of her vibrant face and he broke the silence
after a moment. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
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The moment he spoke, she found that his voice was unexpectedly hoarse.
She was taken aback for a moment before finally nodding. “I slept rather
soundly last night. What about you?”
Putting his cigarette out, Alaric fixed his dark eyes on her before
answering, “Same.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.” The longer she studied his face, the more clues
she found, which were his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles under his
eyes.
He looks pathetic, she thought. Luckily, I have the foresight to put on
makeup and wear the glasses.
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Silence settled between them soon after she answered.
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Alaric stood right there, not bothering to speak or get in the car. All he did
was watch her without a word, a dark expression on his face.
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His gaze was piercing, and Victoria found it uncomfortable from the way
he was watching her. At last, she forced herself to speak, “Are we going or
not?”
He dodged her question by shooting another back. “What’s the rush?”
“I’m not rushing,” Victoria retorted. “I’m simply worried that you’re rushing.”
He cast her an unfathomable glance and sneered. “Why would I be
rushing?”
She deflected the question by feigning ignorance. “How would I know?”
Alaric choked on her retort and barely managed to bring himself to say
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something unrelated to their topic.
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“Did you bring all the necessary documents? I don’t want to learn that you
forgot to bring anything when we arrive at the state government later.”
Victoria couldn’t help but counter, “I did. I got them ready last night. How
could I forget to bring such important documents?”
After that, she turned to him. “You even saw it last night, didn’t you?”
Alaric was speechless. “Snowball, have you ever wondered for once why
you are so spoiled?”
Victoria cast a glance at him. “It’s all thanks to my dad.”
Does he expect me to say it’s him? He’s so full of himself!
At that point, Victoria already lost her patience in waiting for Alaric to take
the initiative. Opening the door, she got into the car before poking out her
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head and urging, “Let’s go. I think the state government is already open.
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The sooner we get things done, the earlier we can visit the nursing home.”
She fastened the seatbelt as she said that.
After a few silent beats, Alaric finally got into the driver’s seat.
As it was early in the morning, the traffic was smooth. Their car arrived at
the entrance of the state government without any delay.
Today was just another ordinary day so when the pair arrived, there
weren’t many people around other than a few couples.
Most of them were there to apply for marriage. The couples were huddled
together and whispering sweet and affectionate words to each other.
Victoria and Alaric were the exact opposite of the couples around them.
The pair were both good–looking and had tall stature, which made them
grab attention all the way. Other than that, Alaric walked inside the
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building with a dark expression. Thus, the onlookers only needed one look
to tell the pair was here to apply for dissolving their marriage.