Departed With A Belly {1}

Thoughtful and Attentive

As long as it's within his means... Claudia nearly blurted out her request, but she managed to stop herself. I can't bring it up now. I need to keep my cool. Thus, she asked about Griselda instead.

"I haven't had a chance to visit her yet ever since I got back. I want to visit
her a few days from now. Is that okay?"
Alaric frowned and opposed the idea.

"Wait a little longer first. I'm worried that it might affect Grandma's condition."
Claudia's smile grew faint. Things were still the same. For some reason, Griselda didn't seem fond of her.

However, as she saved Alaric before, Griselda did treat her with courtesy, but that was all. Griselda was pleasant and polite to her solely because she was Alaric's savior.

Yet, Griselda treated Victoria as if the latter was her own granddaughter.
This was something that Claudia could not accept.

In the end, Claudia nodded obligingly.
"Alright. I'll do as you say."

It wouldn't be for much longer anyway.
She just needed to be patient. Victoria came back to the office after her break.

She had taken her annual leave in a rush, so even though she did her best to hand off her work before going on her break, the person who took over from her wasn't skillful enough to handle everything. When she got back, she realized a lot of things had been overlooked.

Thus, she was swamped with work as soon as she got back to the office.
A whole pile of work was waiting for her.
It was only at noon did Victoria finally have the time to take a break.

Throughout the morning, Yasmin came in a few times to bring some drinks for her. At first, Yasmin brought her coffee and Victoria had absentmindedly taken a sip, but the moment the bitterness hit her
tongue, she was reminded of
something and set the cup down again
without drinking anymore.

When Yasmin came in again, she saw that the coffee hadn't been drunk yet and had gotten cold.

"I'll get you a new cup of coffee, Miss Victoria," Yasmin said. Victoria looked up from her work and said, "From now on, bring me water instead of coffee, Yasmin."

"Huh?" Yasmin thought she had misheard Victoria. "Y-You're not drinking coffee anymore?"

"Yeah. I'm not drinking it anymore."

Yasmin was a chatterbox, and when she heard Victoria's reply, she naturally asked. "But why Miss Victoria? Water won't help you stay alert." Victoria didn't answer. She simply looked at Yasmin with a smile.

Yasmin realized belatedly that she was prying, so she scratched her head
awkwardly. "Sorry about that, Miss Victoria. I'll get you water from now on."

"Thanks."

Victoria buried herself in work again.
Now that she thought about it, she knew she couldn't be drinking coffee anymore, and tea wasn't an option either. Her workload was heavy and if she did have any caffeine, she might end up consuming quite a lot throughout the day.

Her best choice was to stick to water.
At last, when Victoria finally had time to take a break, she leaned back on
her chair and closed her eyes in exhaustion.

A few moments later, her phone started ringing.

Victoria glanced at the screen and saw that it was Alaric calling.

She answered the phone. "What is it? If it has to do with work, you can just use my office landline." There was a short pause on the other end of the line as if her words
stopped him in his tracks.

Then, the cool voice rang out. "It's not work. Have you eaten lunch yet? If you haven't, then come over." He spoke quickly and curtly.

Victoria didn't expect him to invite her over for lunch. She glanced at the

looming pile of work on her desk and was just about to decline when she

heard another voice coming through the phone.

"You should use a gentler tone, Al. I made lunch for you too, Victoria. We're waiting for you."

Victoria's gaze hardened, but her voice sounded the same. "That won't be necessary. You two can go ahead. I still have work to do, so don't wait for
me."

She ended the call immediately after. asked, "Are you going out for lunch, Yasmin?"

"Yes, Miss Victoria. Do you want to come along?"

"Sure. Let's go together."

Victoria got her phone and purse before following Yasmin to the office cafeteria.

Yasmin felt rather flattered as she walked beside Victoria. It was her first time having lunch with Victoria at the office cafeteria.

She was thrilled and kept striking up a conversation with Victoria. "Are you sure you'll like the food at the cafeteria, Miss Victoria? We can go out and eat too if you prefer."

"It's fine." Victoria smiled.

"The cafeteria's the closest so it's most convenient. We can head right back to work after eating."

"Oh.." Now that work was brought up. Yasmin felt guilty. "I'm sorry. It's all my
fault. If I'd been able to do a better job, work wouldn't have piled up so much."
Victoria eyed Yasmin and didn't try to comfort her.

She was bound to resign once the divorce happened, and the only person under her supervision was Yasmin, so when she left, Yasmin would be promoted to replace her.

In the past, Victoria had been quite lenient with Yasmin. She handled most
of the work herself and allowed Yasmin to slowly learn on the job. However, that was no longer possible now.

"If you feel bad about it, then you should put more effort into learning this after noon," Victoria replied shortly.

"I will. 'll do my best to ease your burden, Miss Victoria." The two of them lined up to get their food.

While waiting in line, the crowd around them began whispering among them selves when they saw Victoria. Once she sat down, they began making comments loudly without regard for her presence.

"My, my. The wife of the president is having lunch at the cafeteria with everyone else. Does she think she's being so humble for coming down from her pedestal?"

"Humble? Oh, please. Don't even call her the wife of the president. Have you ever seen the wife of the president working as a secretary? The future wife of the president is currently in Mr. Cadogan's office, okay?"

They didn't bother keeping it quiet. It was as if they assumed that Victoria had fallen from grace and were purposely demeaning her in front of her.

"You're talking about Miss Claudia Johnson from the Johnsons, right? I saw
her yesterday. She brought lunch for Mr. Cadogan yesterday and she came over today too. She's so thoughtful and attentive."

"I heard that she's the one that Mr.
Cadogan actually wants to marry. Not
only does she come from a good family, but she's also so beautiful, and most importantly, she saved Mr. Cadogan's life before."

"As for that other person? She has nothing. Not only has her family gone
bankrupt, but she even had to rely on Mr. Cadogan to get a job as a secretary here at Cadogan Group. She can't do anything for Mr. Cadogan."

Victoria quietly listened to the fervent discussion going on around her. She even agreed with the last thing she heard.
It was true that her family wasn't of any help to Alaric when it came to the business.

Clang!

Yasmin, who was sitting opposite Victoria, couldn't take it anymore. She
slammed her cutlery down and declared, "They've gone too far! I'm going to confront them!"

She stood up in a huff. However, Victoria commanded coolly, "You're not allowed to go."

"Miss Victoria!" Victoria's tone was indifferent but firm all the same. "Sit down."
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Edited on: January 6th 2024
Time: 4:47 pm
Word count: 1303 words