Departed With A Belly {1}

How Dare You Threaten Me?

Before Samantha finished speaking, she suddenly saw a familiar silhouette emerging from behind the ward.

"Mom." The little girl's childish voice made Samantha's face change.

When Victoria looked in the direction of that voice, she saw a young lady whom she thought was likely Samantha's daughter-Sandy Rogers.

At that moment, Sandy was holding what seemed like a medical report with a pale look on her face, which indicated that she might not be in good health. Before Sandy could react, Samantha, who was still trying to piss Victoria off, immediately turned around and took her daughter away.

Although Samantha's hasty footsteps gave her away, Victoria decided not
to pry into Samantha's privacy as she was not a busybody. Nevertheless,
Samantha returned a few minutes later alone, and Victoria believed she
must have left her daughter somewhere she thought to be safe.

She then walked up to Victoria with airs and graces, showing an arrogant look on her beautiful face that she had tried so hard to maintain as she aged.

"Miss Selwyn, I believe you're a clever person, so you should know what you can and cannot say."

Having expected Samantha's return, Victoria smiled and played with the
hair around her neck.

"Miss Keith, I'm a clever person only when I live comfortably.

If someone pisses me off, my mental condition may put me under a lot of pressure.

I might even have an outburst, going around shouting what I should not.

If that happens, there is no telling if I'll be in my right mind," Victoria replied calmly, knowing Samantha was also in the hospital for the very same reason as she was.

At Victoria's words, Samantha was unhappy. "How dare you threaten me,
Victoria?!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dare to. Consider it a deal instead." glared at Victoria.

"Is that so?" Victoria remained unconcerned. "If my memory serves me
right, your daughter isn't in university yet, is she? Are you sure now?"

Samantha was completely taken aback as though Victoria was pointing a gun at her forehead. While staring at Victoria, Samantha wished she could just rip the woman apart to unleash her anger.

After all, she thought she could finally turn the Cadogan Family upside down with the news, having been jealous of Mary's happy life a long time ago.

However, things immediately took an unexpected turn when her daughter, Sandy, suddenly showed up and ruined her plans.

Sensing the bitter look on Samantha's face, Victoria grew even more frustrated as she was starting to feel worn out with everything that was going on lately.

Thus, she refused to engage in a conflict with Samantha and directly made herself clear.

"Go ahead and tell the whole world my
secret if you're so unhappy, Miss Keith.
After all, I know I won't be alone since your daughter will be with me."

"You!"

Nevertheless, Victoria closed her eyes and responded calmly, "I need to get going, Miss Keith. Do what you must."

Unconcerned about Samantha's feelings, Victoria no longer cared whether she was mad or frustrated.

When Samantha stomped off angrily a few seconds later, Victoria was relieved upon hearing her footsteps. In reality, what Victoria said to Samantha was just to intimidate her so that she would stop threatening her.

Even if Samantha exposed Victoria's secret, there was nothing much she could do either since she wouldn't harm Sandy with her words.

After all, she understood that many young ladies around Sandy's age were gullible when it came to romance and relationships.

Due to their immaturity and unfirm principles, they often ended up as victims of their
failed relationships without a clear vision of their future.

Furthermore, Victoria also knew that a young lady like Sandy couldn't do
much in her power due to her age, empathizing with her for her decision
of resorting to such extreme measures to get out of trouble.

Because of
that, no matter how desperate she might be, Victoria wouldn't do Sandy
any harm; after all, she knew Sandy had already suffered enough.

Two minutes later, Summer returned. "I bought you some sandwiches and milk, along with some candies. There weren't many choices at the cafeteria, so l'm sorry that you have to bear with these."
Summer unwrapped the food and passed it to Victoria.

"Come on, help yourself. Don't go starving." Victoria looked Summer in the eves and smiled. "Thanks." Summer seems to be even more worried about me than my mother would.

"Nonsense!" Summer glared at Victoria.
"We're friends. There is no need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't even have made it into university."

Victoria smiled without saying a word.
Summer and Victoria knew each other when they were in high school.

They were close friends who happened to enroll in the same university by chance, much to their delight. Nevertheless, things took a turn for the worse when Summer's father gambled and got himself into a lot of heavy debt.

Because of that, loan sharks constantly disturbed Summer's family and kept asking for their money back, which forced Summer to quit school and work to pay back her father's debt.

When Victoria learned about that, she
paid off the debt on Summer's behalf and took her back to school.

across her mind. After that, she gazed at Victoria and said, "I wish you'd know how grateful I am to you. If it weren't for you, I would probably be living a miserable life somewhere else; I might even be dead because of those loan sharks. Because of that, you're not only my bestie but also
someone to whom I owe a debt. I will never forget what you did for me."

Meanwhile, Victoria listened to Summer's recount of their story happily until she heard the words, I will never forget what you did for me'.

At that moment, she was reminded of Alaric, wondering if he would never forget
about Claudia just like how Summer would never forget about her.

Absorbed in the thought of that, she gazed at Summer and asked, "Would you marry me if I was a man?"

Without reading too much into that question, Summer blurted, "What are
you talking about, Boo? Of course, I would. I'd woo you if you were a man, but since you're a woman, we can only be besties."

I see. Victoria looked down, her eyes darkening in a pessimistic manner.

That was what Alaric thought. Perhaps it's normal for everyone to have feelings for someone who has helped them before, not to mention the fact that it was someone who saved his life.

"What's wrong?" Summer sensed something wrong with Victoria and
became nervous. However, it was only after she finished her question that
something flashed across her mind.

"I'm sorry, Boo. I didn't mean it." As
Victoria's best friend, Summer was aware of the relationship between Alaric and Claudia, having laughed at Victoria about that all the time.

"Damn it! Being indebted to someone and being in love are two different things. How could I mix them up? This is unacceptable!" Summer meant what she said, regretting her impulsive response of answering Victoria's question without thinking it through.

However, she continued to explain herself, saying, "Please don't read too much into it, Boo. I only said that because I think you're a good person, which is why I'd marry you if you were a man, but..."

"Yeah, I get you." Victoria nodded, feeling rather depressed. "He probably thinks Claudia is a good person too."

Fine, I shouldn't have said that.

Summer was speechless upon hearing
Victoria's words, thinking her explanation had done nothing but seemingly made things worse.
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Published on: October 16, 2023
Word count: 1291 words