Victoria felt a little at a loss seeing Alaric's gaze like this.
And wasn't he with Claudia when I went out for lunch?
Why isn't she in the office now?
Just as she was lost in her thoughts, Noel asked her something, which promptly pulled her back to reality before answering.
After the work report was finished, Noel was ready to leave.
In response, Alaric nodded indifferently.
As soon as he walked away, Alaric's gaze fell entirely on Victoria, She had been standing behind Noel earlier, which had shielded her somewhat, but now, there was no avoiding his gaze at all.
Noel, who was about to walk toward the door, turned around to look at her.
"Victoria, should I come to pick you up again tomorrow at noon?"
Hearing this, she was stunned instantly. At the same time, Alaric also realized something was going on and arched an eyebrow.
"Do you mind if I talk to Miss Selwyn for a moment, Mr. Cadogan?"
At that moment, she knitted her brows.
What is he up to?
However, before she could react, Alaric had already parted his lips and
said in a cold voice, "It's better not to.
It's working hours after all."
"Oh?" Noel seemed a little surprised by the response, but he did not argue. "In that case, l'll look for her after work."
He left directly after saying that. In an instant, the office fell silent, so silent that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
Once Noel was gone, Alaric's gaze became even sharper as it landed on Victoria's face. It seemingly carried a hint of displeasure. "You went out with him at noon?"
She nodded since there was no point in denying it, for she and Noel were
completely innocent.
Seeing her nod, Alaric furrowed his brows. "What did you guys do?"
"We had lunch and discussed yesterday's work."
At the mention of lunch, his frown deepened, but the moment he heard
her say 'discussed work, his furrowed brows slightly relaxed.
Right, they both work for my company now, so it's normal for them to talk
about work.
However, he still felt some displeasure.
After pressing his lips together, he said, "If someone saw you talking about work during lunch, they might
think I'm bullying you."
Instinctively, she responded, "You think you haven't?"
As soon as she said that, both of them were stunned at the same time.
The urge to bite off her tongue came into her mind again at that moment,indicating her frustration.
It was probably because she grew up alongside him, so she would say anything on her mind and would not hide her true self when she was with him.
It might also be because he had seen her ugliest, worst, and most childish side when she was young.
As she was thinking, he suddenly stood up and approached her.
Although he was tall and thin, he exuded a strong sense of oppression, presumably
due to his aura as a long-term dominant figure.
Instinctively, she took a few steps backward, Seeing that, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the cold
wall.
With one arm blocking her way, he wrapped his other hand around her to trap her.
"What are you doing?" She was confused, and her breathing became uneven.
Although she wanted to escape, the back of her neck was held by his big palm.
Then, his hot breath approached and landed on her face.
"Tell me. What did I do to you?" His voice was hoarse and deep. When he spoke slowly, his voice was extremely seductive.
At the same time, his hand lightly pinched the back of her neck over and over again.
She felt as though his fingertips were on fire.
With confusion flashing in her beautiful eyes, she thought, What is he doing?
She thought their relationship should have reached its freezing point after
his absence of text and return home last night.
Or at least, it should be awkward and not so presumptuous.
He's acting as if he didn't receive that
text at all.
Or is he pretending that nothing happened?
"Why are you not saying anything?"
Alaric pinched her chin, obviously
feeling her distraction.
While narrowing his eyes, he asked, "What's wrong?"
As Victoria looked at this familiar, handsome face in front of her, her pink
lips parted and closed, hesitating to speak.
She wanted to say something, to ask something, but only when the words came to the tip of her throat did she realize how powerless she was...
Not even a word could come out of her mouth.
What if he suddenly darkens his face and asks me, 'I just wanted to leave you some dignity, so I pretended not to know.
Why are you so senseless, Victoria??
What am I going to do if he says that? It's better if things stay this way, maintaining our dignity.
I can handle it myself.
"Nothing." She shook her head. When he heard her answer, his gaze turned serious.
She's acting like that again.
Recently, he felt that she was acting strangely and was suddenly distancing herself from him, not willing to tell him anything.
At that thought, the temptation that arose a few moments ago dissipated instantly.
He let go of his hand on her chin and took a few steps backward away from her.
While enduring the dryness in her throat, she said, "I should get back to work."
When she turned around, she heard him say, "Wait."
"Yes?"
"You haven't applied for any annual leave this year, right?"
Hearing that, she was startled for a moment before nodding. "Yes."
"You should start taking your annual leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes. You've been feeling sick lately. Use up your annual leave to rest for a while. You can take the time to boost your mood as well."
He was saying this because he realized she was in a bad mood these days, plus the high fever, so he decided to let her rest early.
However, it was a different story in
Victoria's ears since she essentially
would not take any annual leave at this time of the year.
He knew that as well, but now, he was asking her to apply for leave early.
Is he warning me to get rid of the baby during my annual leave?
Since they were childhood friends, she knew him very well. He would not say or do anything pointless.
Although she knew that it was just a possibility, she still felt weak in her arms and legs, as though she was frozen inside an ice cave.
Only after a long time did she retrieve her voice from her throat and squeeze out a reply.
"Okay. I got it. I'll apply it tomorrow."
When Summer heard what happened, anger rose in her like a tide, and she nearly smashed the tableware of the restaurant.
"The f*ck? Is he a human? Has he forgotten about your relationship with him from the past? This is outrageous!"
Victoria knew Summer would yell in rage, so she reserved a room beforehand.
Since there were only two of them in the room, Summer would not be heard no matter how loud she cursed.
Compared to Summer's anger, Victoria appeared to be much calmer.
Although she looked calm on the outside, she had never taken a bite of the food on the table.
She only kept drinking the tea, whose color was becoming unknown after several times refilling the water.
Faced with a furious Summer, Victoria even calmed her down. "Chill out. We'll need to pay if you smash anything."
"Oh, right." Summer quickly put down the cup in her hand.
As she thought of it again, she walked in front of Victoria and shook her shoulders.
"How can you be so calm after what happened? Look how he's treating You!"
Victoria was a little dizzy from being shaken, so she put down the cup in
her hand.
"What should I do, then?Cry? Make a scene? Or threaten him that I'll kill myself? Do you want him, Claudia and everyone else to see my family as a joke?" After a pause, she shook her head.
"Besides, my relationship with him is just a deal in the first place. When we part ways, we should also do it with dignity.
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Published on: October 16, 2023
Word count: 1401 words