Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria)

Chapter 20

Upon her arrival at the hospital, Summer looked around her with a strange

look and asked softly, “Why don’t we go to a bigger hospital? There is no

guarantee that nothing would go wrong in a smaller hospital like this one.”

“That wouldn’t be convenient,” Victoria replied in a neutral tone. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

As she did not expect herself to get pregnant, she went to a hospital, in

which there were people whom Griselda knew working, for a check–up.

Now that she wanted to have her condition looked into, there was no way

she would go back to that hospital if she wanted to keep it a secret. After

all, there could be a risk that someone there would tell Griselda about her

pregnancy, which was why she decided to visit a smaller hospital for that.

After Summer took care of the registration and payment, Victoria was

required to go through several check–ups. Then, the two ladies sat in the

chairs and waited for Victoria’s turn to see the doctor. At the same time,

Summer could not take her eyes off Victoria as she kept peeking at her

more than ten times in just a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, Victoria

quickly became puzzled and annoyed with her friend’s reaction. “What?

Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just wondering when you’ve become this cold,” Summer spoke with

her eyes turning red.

When Victoria heard that, she could not help but question herself. Have l?

Have I become cold?

“You’re… the mother of this child,” Summer said with a barely audible voice,

but Victoria was somewhat touched by her friend’s words as she

subconsciously rubbed her belly.

She is right. I’m the mother of my child. Victoria was caught in her

thoughts with a heavy heart, but unfortunately, the grim reality did not

seem to leave her much of a choice.

When Summer saw the hesitance on her face, she quickly seized the

chance and said, “I’m sure you don’t want this to happen, right, Victoria?

Let’s think of some other way.”

“Some other way?” Victoria was stunned, asking herself if there was

another way for her to get out of the hook because it seemed to her that

she was already at her wits‘ end.

“That’s right.” Summer seized Victoria’s shoulders. “Let’s think of another

way. I’m sure we’ll figure something out because I know the last thing you,

of all people, ever want is to lose your child, yet you’re forced to… Plus, we

only discovered your condition not long ago, so let’s just think this through

without rushing into a bad decision. You don’t want to do something you’ll

regret later for the rest of your life.”

Victoria nodded in response just when she heard someone calling her

name. Since it was still early in the morning, there were not a lot of people

at the hospital. Thus, she stood up and walked toward the ward. “Alright.

I’m going to see what the doctor says.”

Thinking they could still decide what to do after the check–up, Summer

calmly replied, “Sure, go ahead.”

While the interior was filled with a chilly aura, the hospital was mainly a

place where people went for abortions. Therefore, when the doctor

received Victoria’s pregnancy report, he took off his glasses and glared at

her. “Are you sure you want to proceed with the abortion?”

After hearing the doctor, Victoria, already overwhelmed by complicated

emotions, paused in a trance. In the meantime, the doctor was no

stranger to seeing such an expression as it was not surprising at all. Soon,

he went on to brief her regarding the process of abortion and told her

about the payment. “Well, you can carry on with the payment once you

made up your mind. Next.”

“Thank you.” She stood up and walked out the door.

Summer, who had been waiting for Victoria outside, walked up to her as

soon as she saw her. “What did the doctor say?”

When Victoria recalled the doctor’s words, she went weak in her knees and

collapsed onto the ground, but Summer was quick enough to get a hold of

her. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…” Victoria nodded.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you eat this morning?” Summer took Victoria to the

bench and sat her down, asking in a worried manner.

Needless to say, Victoria was not in the mood to eat at all. In actuality, she

had been suffering from a bad appetite recently, indicating reasons

related to her health problems and pregnancy, but Summer believed it

could also be due to that man.

“Your face looks pale. Are you not feeling well?”

“Maybe I’m low on sugar,” Victoria replied.

“I’ll get you a little something to eat. Wait for me. I’ll be back soon.” Summer

closed her eyes and left.

As soon as she did, Victoria leaned on the bench and closed her eyes in

exhaustion, but at the same time, she started to hear conflicting two

voices in her head.

“What do you think you’re doing? I thought you made up your mind to go

ahead with it. Furthermore, you’re already here at the hospital, so what’re

you waiting for? You’ll forever be in pain so long as this matter remains

unsolved. Don’t forget, he already made it clear that he’d divorce you.”

“So what? You’re a grown adult, Victoria. Can’t you afford to raise a child?”

*Raising a child is not just about money. Think about the mental and

emotional stress that a mother has to go through.”

“If you’re worried your child will suffer without a father, you can always

marry again. After all, you’re still so young and can find another man who’ll

treat you right.”

Overwhelmed by her low blood sugar and the voices in her head, Victoria

had a terrible headache until a surprised voice was heard. “Victoria? Is

that you, Victoria?”

While the voice did not sound real to her, she thought she was hearing

things at first, However, as the voice became clearer, she opened her eyes

and looked in the direction of the voice, whereupon she saw a woman in

her forties looking at her with a strange expression.

After taking a few seconds to make out who she was, Victoria sat straight

with her face changing, as if the pain in her body was all gone.

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe it’s you.” That woman enthusiastically greeted

Victoria once she managed to identify her. “I saw you from a distance

earlier, but I thought it was someone else. What brings you here?”

On the other hand, Victoria could not force a smile because she did not

expect to see a familiar face in a small hospital. I came here because I

wanted to avoid running into acquaintances, yet I still bumped into a

familiar face. Why?!

As if it was not surprising enough, what made her stunned even more was

that the woman she just ran into was the same woman who always hung

around with Alaric’s mother–Samantha Keith.

Unable to escape from that dilemma, Victoria was forced to act calm and

face the woman. “Hi, Miss Keith. I came here with a friend who had an

appointment.” She knew Summer would not be back so soon and believed

Samantha and Alaric’s mother did not know her friend, so she bet they

would not run their mouths.

“I see.” Samantha shifted her eyes to Victoria’s belly when something

crossed her mind, seemingly finding her somewhat fishy.

Aware of Samantha’s mean and sarcastic nature, Victoria knew how

terrible this lady was at keeping secrets. Thus, she found herself unlucky to

have run into her in the hospital, pursing her lips with a darkened look.

As she expected, Samantha’s big mouth began to indulge itself, her eyes

staring at her belly. “So, where is your friend? Why are you alone? Is there

something you’re hiding? Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Mary always praised her

daughter–in–law when we hung out, but I bet she has no idea her

daughter–in–law is right here hiding something shady from me.”

Although Victoria was bound by her honor to respect someone older than

her like Samantha, she could not accept her disrespectful and sarcastic

remark, reacting with a darkened expression. “What proof do you have to

say that, Miss Keith? You need to watch your tongue. What do you mean

by hiding something shady from you? If you keep smearing my name like

that, I’m going to take legal action against you for defamation.”

“Oh, come on.” Samantha acted as if she was frightened. “Why are you

overreacting? Calm down. I was just joking. Are you actually…”

*