Departed With A Belly {1}

I Must Have Owed You

After leaving the ward, Alaric held Victoria's hand before walking away. It took Victoria a great deal of effort to break free from his grasp.
"What are you doing, Alaric?"

With a deep gaze, he stared at her and replied, "We're going back first for today."

"Didn't you see Grandma's expression just now? She wants to leave the nursing home. She doesn't want to stay here." She furrowed her delicate
eyebrows.

After the incident earlier, she speculated that Griselda must be worried about causing trouble for her family if she was at home, so she could only stay in the nursing home. She wanted to go back, but she didn't dare.

Victoria was frustrated, having visited Griselda every weekend but failing to notice the older lady's underlying feelings. If I had known earlier, I would have brought her back home and taken care of her. Maybe she wouldn't have fainted before the surgery today.

"I know." Alaric's voice was deep. "But as you saw, she's currently refusing to listen and angry at me." Suddenly, he remembered something and
added, "Not at you."

Hearing that, Victoria froze. Right. When Grandma uttered those angry words earlier, they were all directed at Alaric, but she has always been kind and polite to me. At this thought, she felt even more heartbroken because, despite having a bad mood, Griselda had to restrain her feelings when facing her.

"So, we'll let her calm down for the night while we go back and pack things up. We'll come to pick her up tomorrow."

She thought for a moment and realized that he was right. However, she was also worried that a long delay might increase Griselda's stress from
staying alone in that environment. With that thought in mind, Victoria suggested, "Can't we bring her back tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Yes. It's actually still quite early now. We can go back and have the maids clean up the room. Then, we can tell Grandma to expect us to pick her up in two hours. What do you think? I think two hours should be enough for her to calm down."

At that, Alaric pondered for a moment and agreed with a nod. "Alright."

"Then, let's go and tell Grandma right now." As she said that, she excitedly turned around to inform Griselda about the plan. After Victoria and Alaric left, Griselda had been sitting alone by the window, lost in thought while gazing at the moonlight. Suddenly, she heard familiar footsteps.

Before she could react, Victoria had already stood in front of her and said joyfully, "Grandma, we'll go back first to have the maids clean up the room. We'll come to pick you up in two hours. Please wait for us here, okay?"

The moment she finished speaking, she turned around and left without paying attention to Griselda's reaction. Before leaving, she instructed the caregivers to take good care of Griselda and then left the nursing home with Alaric.

On the way back, she was filled with excitement. Since Griselda was coming home, she started thinking about how to decorate Griselda's room
and kept asking Alaric various questions along the way.

Meanwhile, he calmly responded to all her questions.

When they stopped at a red light, he glanced at her and saw her joyful profile, which made him think about their divorce. However, judging from her current look, it seemed like she had already put their divorce behind her.

"By the way, it might be inconvenient for Grandma to go up and down the stairs. How about we arrange for her to stay on the first floor?"

"Sure. You can call in advance to have someone clean up the room." He nodded.

"That's a good idea." After all, it'll take nearly an hour to get back home from here. At once, she made a phone call back home.

When Hector learned that Griselda was returning home, he immediately instructed the maids to tidy up the room.

Although it was already nighttime, it didn't stop them from cleaning. The Cadogans had plenty of brand-new bedding and covers, and the maids
didn't have much work to do during the day. So even if the bedding was new, it had been aired out that day or the day before and was still in
pristine condition.

Victoria hung up the phone after giving her instructions, but at the same time, Alaric's phone started ringing again. The melodious ringtone echoed in the enclosed car, sounding somewhat abrupt.

Initially, she had a smile on her lips, but when she heard the ringtone, she froze for a second, and the smile gradually faded from her face. Then, she leaned against the seat and turned her head to look out the window.

Apart from the ringing, there was no other sound inside the car. Alaric noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere as well and glanced at her
from the corner of his eye. Then, he said,"Answer the call for me, Ms.Snowball."

At his request, Victoria hesitated for a moment, then declined. "You answer it yourself."

"I'm driving."

"You can pull over and answer it."

Alaric chuckled at her words out of irritation. "Is it really that difficult for you to answer it for me?"

"No." Since things had come to this, she didn't care anymore and said directly, "But I don't feel like helping you."

Seeing her stubborn and domineering attitude, Alaric wasn't surprised.

There happened to be a temporary parking spot ahead, so he drove the car there: After stopping, he fixed his gaze on her for a moment and said,
"If there is a past life, I must have owed you a lot for you to treat me like that."

After that, he took out his phone to check the caller ID. "It's my mom." At these words,Victoria, who had been indifferent before, straightened up
a bit and subconsciously said, "How could it be..."

The phone had been ringing for too long, so the ringing had automatically stopped.

Just then, his gaze lingered on her fair and beautiful face as he asked in a deep voice, "Who did you think it was?"

"Well, you should call her back then." She turned her face away, avoiding the topic.

Without pursuing the matter further, he returned Kathryn's call. Within seconds after he dialed the number, the call was immediately picked up. Since he had put the call on speaker, the voice echoed inside the car.

"Al, your father and I just landed, and we're on our way to the nursing home. How is your grandma? Has she had the surgery?"

"Not yet, Alaric briefly explained what had happened, then furrowed his brow. "Don't you think it's too late for you guys to come now?"

"'m sorry, Al. Your father and I have been extremely busy recently. When we knew that the surgery was pushed forward, we postponed our work so we could come home.

We thought that with you and Victoria being with
her, there wouldn't be any problems. But I was wrong this time. I won't make the same mistake again."

Kathryn appeared strong and assertive to the outside world, but she was gentle toward her family. If someone didn't know her well, they would assume she had the same soft and gentle demeanor when faced with everyone.

The first time Victoria witnessed this stark contrast in the Cadogan Residence, she was quite surprised. The powerful and authoritative
woman in public had turned into a docile little lamb in front of her family.

Initially, she couldn't understand how a person could have two faces. However, when she witnessed Kathryn instantly calm down the irritable Emanuel, she understood right away.

Kathryn was a smart person who cared deeply about her family. Her relationship with Emanual was also excellent. In her understanding,
apologizing to her husband, children, and elders wasn't about winning or losing.

This was the mentality that Victoria admired.

Unfortunately, she couldn't do that in front of Alaric. After all, she and Alaric were not a real couple.
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Edited on: April 15th 2024
Time: 2:11 am
Word count: 1350 words