SWNOVELS Departure with a Belly Chapter 59
Chapter 59
It was rare for Claudia to throw a tantrum. She was typically gentle and
easygoing with others, and people often saw her as the ‘it girl‘ because of
how pretty and kind she was. Her friends were, therefore, stunned to see
her lose her temper, and they all stared at her puzzledly. The air around
them felt especially still, and Claudia only returned to her senses after she
realized how silent her surroundings were. She realized what she had just
done after she noticed how everyone was staring at her.
Claudia parted her red lips and hesitated for a while before she managed
to explain herself. “I’m sorry. I lost my temper as I was in a bad mood
earlier. My apologies.” Claudia had no choice but to keep apologizing to
maintain their good impression of her. Tears started to form in her eyes
before they trickled down her cheeks. Tears started to form in her eyes
before they trickled down her cheeks. Her friends had been shocked by
her sudden outburst of anger earlier, but they immediately felt sorry for
her when she started apologizing and crying.
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Chapter 59 She Wants to Be the Mistress
“What happened, Claudia? Don’t cry.”
“Tell us what happened. We’re all here to help.”
“Yeah, Claudia. Weren’t you on the phone with Alaric earlier?” All her friends
started comforting her and handing her tissues. It took them a while
before they finally managed to calm her down. Claudia was a gorgeous
young lady, and she looked especially delicate and vulnerable when she
cried. She ran her fair fingers across her eyes to dry her tears. “Yeah, we
spoke on the phone earlier. They’re not getting a divorce for now,” she
muttered dejectedly.
Griselda’s surgery was delayed after she fainted, which meant that Alaric
and Victoria’s divorce would have to be delayed as well. Even though
Claudia felt rather embarrassed, she knew that she couldn’t hide the truth
from others. “What? Are they not getting a divorce yet? Why not?” one of
Claudia’s friends asked.
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“Yeah. Didn’t they say that they would get the divorce after Old Mrs.
Cadogan’s surgery was done? Why are they changing their plans?”
“I know! That b*tch, Victoria, must have shamelessly clung onto Alaric. She
didn’t want to get the divorce, did she?” Claudia parted her lips to explain
herself after hearing her friends‘ words. Right then, another one of her
friends spoke up. “I always knew that Victoria was up to something. Do you
guys remember how she looked when we last went to look for her? Does
she really think that she gets to hold on to the title of being Mrs. Cadogan
just because she has been with Alaric for two years?”
“Don’t worry, Claudia. If she tries to snatch Alaric away from you, we’ll
make sure to teach her a lesson.”
“We have to give her a taste of her own medicine.”
Initially, Claudia figured that she would have no choice but to wait until
Griselda was done with her surgery. However, after hearing how her
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friends wanted to teach Victoria a lesson, Claudia was reminded of the
child in Victoria’s belly. If… If I can use my friends to get rid of the baby in
Victoria’s belly… How would that turn out? Alaric might find out about this if
things ever get exposed, but even in that case, Victoria will no longer be a
threat since she no longer has the kid. Furthermore, I won’t have to bear
any responsibility as long as I’m not the one who hurt Victoria. I’ll still be
Alaric’s savior.
Despite having these thoughts, Claudia still put on a good act. “You guys
shouldn’t talk about such things. I’m sure Victoria has her reasons,” she
uttered in a gentle tone.
“What reason could she have? How could one have a reason for clinging
onto someone else’s boyfriend for such a long time? I bet she just wants
to be the third wheel in your relationship. Perhaps she just doesn’t want to
return Alaric to you. She’s such a shameless b*tch,” one of Claudia’s
friends hissed.
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“Yeah. Why would she give up on her role as Mrs. Cadogan when she
receives so many benefits from it? You’re just too kind, Claudia. Why didn’t
you speak up when Al wanted to have a fake marriage with her?” another
friend asked.
Why didn’t I speak up? I wanted to speak up, but… Claudia lowered her
gaze without saying much. “Stop questioning Claudia. Don’t you guys
know how kind Claudia is? Claudia probably felt sorry for Victoria when
she saw how poor Victoria’s family was. Victoria is simply trying to seem
pitiful by exaggerating the state of poverty that her family is in. I’ve never
seen someone as shameless as her,” one friend uttered.
“Don’t worry, Claudia. We’ll make sure to do you justice this time.”
“Stop it, guys.,.” Claudia glanced at her friends with her teary eyes. “I know
you mean well, but Victoria has been taking care of Al’s grandmother in
the hospital. She’s a thoughtful girl,” Claudia said.
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“Is that so? Well, then, we can teach her a lesson after she’s done caring
for his grandmother. We have to stand up for you,” one of the friends said
after everyone heard Claudia’s explanation.
“I don’t want you guys to do anything silly. I’ll talk to her after this,” Claudia
said with a helpless look on her face. Then, she dried her tears before
giving her friends a forced smile. “Alright. Let’s finish up this dinner that I
prepared. I’m glad I bought more food. I’ll get someone to send more food
over if this isn’t enough,” she added.
“Claudia…”
“Let’s stop talking about that matter. We should all get drunk tonight so
that we can forget about all our sorrows.” Claudia opened a bottle of wine
before she walked over to the cupboard to get more glasses. A few of her
friends looked at Claudia before exchanging glances among themselves.
They came to a decision there and then.
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Both Victoria and Alaric took care of Griselda for the whole day. Victoria
didn’t have much of an appetite that day, so she leaned against the edge
of the bed with a sickly look on her face. She looked like she was the
patient in the room. Later on, Alaric helped her up to have some food. “You
need to eat something,” he said.
Victoria frowned. “I don’t have an appetite.”
“Do you think you’re some higher power who doesn’t need food to
survive?” Alaric muttered after a moment of silence. She didn’t have an
appetite throughout the day, so she hadn’t eaten anything at all. Alaric
noticed how Victoria had lost a lot of weight, but he wasn’t sure if it was
just his imagination. Victoria didn’t protest after that, so Alaric handed her
a bowl of porridge. “You should eat some, even if you just have a few
mouthfuls of it.”
Victoria knitted her brows together at the sight of the porridge. She
wanted to reject his offer at first, but she hesitated for a moment before
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taking the bowl from him. She picked the spoon up and forced a few
mouthfuls of food into her mouth. She genuinely didn’t feel hungry, nor did
she have any appetite. However, she couldn’t do as she pleased because
she now had a baby in her belly. This baby was about to be part of her
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family in the future. She knew that it was her duty as a mother to take care
of her baby.
Upon realizing that, Victoria found her appetite. She no longer struggled to
finish her food, and she took a second bowl of porridge after finishing the
first bowl. Alaric raised his eyebrow when he saw her having more food-
he was surprised by her sudden change in demeanor. However, he didn’t
comment much about it since the change was good for her. Both of them
finished their meals quietly. Alaric didn’t have much of an appetite himself
-he typically ate double the amount of what Victoria did, but he only
consumed the same amount of food as her that day.
Alaric cleaned up after they were done, while Victoria simply sat on the
couch and watched him. She was used to this–they had known each
Chapter 59 She Wants to Be the Mistress
other since they were children, and Victoria would often urge Alaric to
clean things up even when they weren’t dating. Alaric was usually
compliant with her requests, and after that, he would do it before Victoria
even told him to. Their interactions followed a regular pattern of Alaric
taking care of her and giving in to her needs.
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All along, Victoria had been enjoying receiving his care and didn’t think too
much of it. She even developed a stronger emotional attachment toward
him after seeing the way he treated her throughout their fake marriage.
However, at this point in time, Victoria observed their interactions without
thinking about their marriage, and she realized that their interactions were
pretty much the same with or without them being married.