Chapter 12 Come Clean

• "I…" Her words made Victoria hesitant and seeing so, Summer urged, "Alright, let me ask you a few questions then."
• "What is it?"
• "People will eventually notice pregnancy with time, won't they?"
• Victoria nodded.
• "Then, are you worried people will notice?"
• Victoria pondered and nodded again.
• "There you go. Since you're afraid people will notice, and you don't intend to tell Alaric either, you'll surely find a chance to drop the baby later."
• No, that's not it. I just haven't thought this through…
• "Since you've already prepared for the worst, what's there left for you to be afraid of? Won't the worst-case scenario remain the same even if you tell him?"
• "But…" Victoria's lips trembled as her lashes fluttered. "We might still be friends if I keep this a secret, but if I tell him…"
• Summer fell silent at that. Alright, I underestimated her love for Alaric.
• It wasn't until moments later that Summer sighed under her breath. "Vic, I know you love him, but has it ever crossed your mind that there's no point in being friends if you can't be with him? Besides, don't you want to sound it out? Don't you want to know if he feels the same about you? Either way, I refuse to believe he doesn't have the slightest feelings for you seeing that he treats you so well."
• Yeah, he does treat me well, but… it's all but a trade…
• If it wasn't that Griselda liked her and that the elder also happened to be sick, the two of them wouldn't have gotten married at all. To him, she was just a simple childhood friend.
• Summer knew there was nothing she could do to persuade Victoria anymore, seeing she was still hesitant. "Anyhow, I've already said all I had to say. You think about the rest. It's ultimately your decision, after all. There's nothing more I can say."
• Before getting into the car, Summer still couldn't stop herself from running back to her friend and said, "Victoria, our happiness lies in our own hands, got it?"
• As lost as Victoria was still feeling right then, she smiled from the bottom of her heart and pinched Summer's cheek. "All right, I got it. I'll think long and hard about it."
• "Good. Go home, then. Call me if you need anything, okay?"
• "Okay."
• Victoria returned to Cadogan Residence, she went upstairs and returned to her room.
• Silence filled the air after she closed the door with a thump. At that moment, Summer's words rang in her ears now that she was all alone.
• Our happiness lies in our own hands.
• Actually, she believed in that saying; one should speak out and fight for their love. In fact, she did exactly that in the past. Hence, it was why she decided to confess her love. However, just as she was about to do so, she overheard Alaric saying his partner would forever be Claudia.
• Forever…
• She understood the concept of forever. She also knew Alaric was the kind who practiced what he preached. But…
• Victoria clenched her phone.
• Ever since hearing Summer's suggestion, her greed became a vine that had found something it could attach itself to, absorbing all the nutrients in the soil with all its might, growing rapidly.
• Truth was, she actually wanted to follow Summer's suggestion and sound him out.
• That said, she certainly wouldn't have the guts to tell Alaric the news right in front of him.
• Perhaps… I can try texting him. He'll definitely know once he sees my text.
• At that, Victoria's heart raced wildly like she had been triggered. Her hand that was clenching her phone also began trembling, so much so that she only managed to unlock her phone via password, having failed a few times using her fingerprint.
• Victoria opened up her chat history with Alaric.
• Perhaps she was feeling apprehensive because she decided to open their text message history instead of using WhatsApp, the portal that they normally communicated with.
• However, after she was in, she began feeling at a loss of what to do. How should she tell him about it?
• It wasn't after she stared at the phone for a long time that she finally decided to be a little more straightforward.
• As Summer said, she was already prepared for the worst, so what was there for her to be fearful of?
• At that, she texted, 'I'm pregnant.'
• After that, she closed her eyes and sent it.