Departed With A Belly {1}

Either You Walk, or I Will Carry You

Andrew's earlier words contained too much information, making Victoria feel inexplicably uneasy upon hearing it. Did Mr. Campbell discover something from my eating habits?

When he saw her bewildered expression and her fidgeting hands, he chuckled. "You had a change in taste all of a sudden, so I made some adjustments according to your preferences.
Is there a problem, Mrs. Cadogan?"

A change in taste... It may raise suspicion if anyone hears this. At this thought, she pressed her lips together and looked-at Andrew with a serious expression as she whispered, "Are you sure my tastebuds have changed, Mr. Campbell? I just had a few extra pastries in the morning, that's all."

Hearing that, he became puzzled and rubbed the back of his head. Well, she has a point. She only ate a few extra pastries, so why do I think her
tastebuds have changed? The moment he realized this, he felt a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Cadogan. I must've been overthinking things."

"It's okay, Mr. Campbell. It shows that you're attentive. I've been eating too much greasy food recently, and I want to change my tastebuds. Besides, now that Grandma has returned to recuperate and will undergo surgery later on, let's make lighter meals." She raised an eyebrow.

With each sentence, he found her words to be quite reasonable. "No problem, Mrs. Cadogan. I will try to make the food lighter from now on.
Indeed, you're a thoughtful one." Victoria responded with only a smile and remained silent, hiding her real intentions.

"By the way, would you like some snacks after lunch? I've specially made some fruit pudding for you."Fruit pudding... I don't think l've tried them before... However, before she could think about it, she babbled, "Sure." By the time her brain caught up, she saw Andrew smiling and nodding before walking away.

Speechless, she looked down at her small belly and secretly thought, You- little glutton! I'm not the one who wants to eat that! She blamed the baby inside her belly, feeling no guilt whatsoever.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated, and she lowered her head to take a look. Alaric sent a text that read, 'Out.'

Seeing that, she didn't know what to say. I know you're out, but I was asking where you had taken Grandma. After being rendered speechless for some time, she had no choice but to send another message.

'Where?'This time, he replied relatively quickly. 'Will be back later.'Again, he didn't answer her question directly. It seems that he doesn't
want to tell me where he is. Perhaps he's with Claudia. Come to think of it, it makes sense that he wouldn't want me to know if he is with her.
At this thought, a hint of mockery flashed across her eyes.

'I don't care where you are, but you took Grandma with you. You know her condition, so be sure to bring her home earlier. She needs her rest. After sending the message, Victoria put her phone away and focused on her meal.

In truth, she didn't need to worry so much. Alaric was filial, and Griselda was his biological grandmother-naturally, he wouldn't do anything
harmful to her. Even if there was a need to worry, it wasn't her place to do so.

After she finished her meal, she went upstairs with nothing to do, and Alaric didn't reply to her texts anymore. During breakfast the next day, Victoria proposed the idea of inviting Claudia over since she had promised Claudia to do so.

Alaric was drinking his coffee expressionlessly when he heard her words, and his gaze involuntarily fell on her face as he furrowed his brows. Didn't Victoria claim that my relationship with Claudia seemed ambiguous yesterday? Why is she inviting Claudia over now? Quickly, a thought appeared in his mind.

She's probably being stubborn and trying to provoke me. We argued and gave each other the cold shoulder over this issue yesterday, so she probably wants to retaliate using the same matter. With this in mind, he calmly asked, "Why do you want to invite her here?"

Victoria didn't expect him to oppose the idea, so she was somewhat surprised. After all, this would benefit him since he would end up with Claudia after their divorce. By then, Claudia would have developed a good relationship with Griselda, and he would face less scolding.

"She gets along well with Grandma and knows how to make her happy, so I thought it would be nice to give her a call and invite her over."Hearing that, he pressed his lips together and said icily, "How can you just invite her like that? Do you think she doesn't have a job?"

This morning, Griselda woke up and sensed that something seemed off between the two. However, it was normal for young couples to argue, which was a sign of a good relationshin. which was a sign of a good relationship. Therefore, she didn't pay much attention to it.

Now, hearing them discuss this, she smiled and chimed in, "He's right, Victoria. She probably has work to do, and she already spent the whole
day with me yesterday. It might not be appropriate to ask her to come again today." With that, she reached out and patted Victoria's hand.

"It's okay, Victoria."

Victoria had already promised Claudia yesterday and followed through, but Alaric was the one opposing the idea. Well, I'm not the one breaking
the promise, then. With this in mind, she scanned Alaric before nodding at Griselda.

"Okay, then. Let's not bother her. I just think she likes Grandma, and I thought she wouldn't refuse if we invited her over."

At her words, Griselda smiled and didn't say anything further. After that, everyone continued their breakfast, but Alaric's expression was
still grim.

Ever since Victoria suggested calling Claudia over, the atmosphere around him had been icy. This blood-curdling atmosphere persisted until the end of breakfast when Griselda suggested that Hector take her for a walk.

Hector agreed and was about to approach when Victoria interrupted, saying, "Let me do it." The moment she placed her hand on the wheelchair,
Alaric grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Mr. Bowen, take Grandma for a walk, but be back within 15 minutes." When Hector saw their clasped wrists, he immediately nodded. "Yes, sir."
With that, he sensibly pushed Griselda's wheelchair and left.

With Griselda's presence just now, Victoria endured the pain of Alaric's grip on her wrist without reacting. It was only when Hector pushed Griselda out that she forcefully freed herself from his grasp. "What's up with you again?" At this moment, his gaze coldly swept across the hall, where the maids together before whispering, "Let's talk upstairs."

However, she ignored him and said calmly, "I think we've already made ourselves clear yesterday. What else is there to say?"With a calm expression, he stared at her with his dark eyes. "Either you walk, or I will carry you."Hearing that, she was taken aback.

"You have three seconds to think about it."

"Wait, you-"

"One."

She looked at him, not knowing what to say.
Why has he become so childish?

"Two."

"Alaric are you-"The next second, he took a step forward and carried her in his arms.
_________________________________
Published on: January 19, 2025
Time: 12:58 am
Word count: 1224 words