Departed With A Belly {1}

A Small World

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 l'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 overreacting? Calm down. I was just joking. Are you actually..."
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Published on: October 16, 2023
Word count: 1463 words