Departed With A Belly {1}

I Will Grant You All Your Demands

Victoria's heart suddenly quieted clown after the text was successfully sent. She had done it. All there was left was to wait for his reply.

However, Alaric didn't answer right away.

Victoria checked the time and guessed that he should be working at the moment. He might be in a meeting, in a business engagement, or his phone might even be silent.

He'll see it once he's done with work.

The wait was unbearable, so she decided to take a nap.

With that, she changed into her pajamas and drew the curtains to silence the room before climbing into bed.
____________________________

Ping!

Meanwhile, inside an office of one of Cadogan Group's buildings, Claudia's lashes were trembling uncontrollably right then when she was still sitting calmly on the couch a couple of seconds ago.

Her eyes were fixed on the simple text message she was reading-'I'm pregnant.

The young woman had thought it was Alaric's work message or some kind of spam when the text first came in, but who'd have thought it was from Victoria?!

Reflexively, she looked toward the man working away at the desk, reeling in the possibility that he had gotten together with Victoria.

Alaric seemingly noticed her gaze as he looked up at her quizzically.

Startled, Claudia forced a smile and quickly lowered her head, leading Alaric to finally withdraw his gaze.

It was exceptionally quiet in the office, and because they were on a high floor, the surrounding noises on the ground were inaudible to them.

Meanwhile, grimness laced Claudia's drooped eyes as she deleted the text without confirming if Victoria was really the sender.

After the deed was done, the young woman breathed a sigh of relief but
fell into deep thought as her nails sank into her palms.

Selwyn..What is she trying to do with that text? Does she want to steal Alaric from me?!

At that, Claudia bit her lip.

She should consider herself lucky that she had asked Alaric for his phone right after entering his office. Sure, he frowned upon hearing it, but he still handed the phone to her very quickly.

If she hadn't asked for it, and if Alaric had seen the text, then the consequences would be unimaginable!

Minutes later, she returned Alaric his phone and said softly, "Here, Al. I'm
done with it. Thanks."

"Sure." He nodded subtly as he took it from her.

I thought you hated people touching your phone. Why are you willing to lend it to me?" Claudia couldn't help asking as she looked at his impassive face while recalling Victoria's text.

To that, Alaric took a gander at her and answered somewhat helplessly, "Because you're different from everyone else, of course."

That was all it took to sate Claudia, and she felt overjoyed like her heart had been drenched in honey.

Yeah, I'm different. If anything, I might have been overthinking. Besides, even if Victoria is pregnant, who's to say Alaric is the father? As if he would ever touch her!

While she was deep in thought, Alaric added, "You saved me once, Claudia. You can make any demands with me. I will grant it all."

"Thank you, Al." Claudia nodded while her smile shallowed at the mention of the topic.

As she drooped her eyelids, grimness enveloped her eyes once more while she flipped out deep within.