Chapter 165 A Day of Depression
When Wesley rolled in to drop off the docs, he noticed Victoria seemed kinda out of it and was a bit thrown off.
It was rare to see her looking so spaced out.
He asked, all concerned, "Ms. Kennedy, you feeling okay?"
Victoria snapped back to reality and shrugged it off, "Nah, just didn't sleep well last night."
Wesley repeated her words in his head.
Then it hit him—Victoria was married to Alexander, the big shot from Rihegde.
'Married life,' he mused.
With a knowing smirk, he put down the papers and said, "Here's the new collab plan. I checked it out, all good."
Victoria didn't catch his look.
Trusting Wesley, she didn't even bother to read the docs and just signed where needed.
After she signed the first page, Wesley chimed in, "Ms. Kennedy, there's another spot for your signature."
Victoria, still kinda indifferent, flipped through, signed her name quickly, and handed it back.
Wesley discreetly let out a sigh of relief and then said, "Ms. Kennedy, happy birthday."
Victoria was a bit taken aback and thanked him.
After Wesley left, Victoria was even more puzzled.
Just earlier in the car, Alexander had turned her down twice.
He even said he was busy tonight.
Now even Wesley knew it was her birthday and wished her a happy one.
Logically, Alexander couldn't possibly not know, right?
But he showed no signs of celebrating it. Could he really not know?
She even doubted whether all the care and attention he showed before was just an act.
But that didn't make sense either. The CEO of Vertex Holdings Group and the head of the Howard family wouldn't be that bored, right?
After a series of doubts in her mind, she could only sigh.
She thought, 'Whatever. I don't care much about these ceremonies anyway.' She even needed her friends to remind her of her birthday every year, otherwise, she would forget about it herself.
He could always have dinner with her anytime, one day wouldn't make a difference.
Then she dove back into work.
At noon, Lila came to have lunch with her as usual.
During lunch, Victoria said, "Lila, why don't you have dinner with me tonight?"
Lila looked up and quickly agreed. "Sure, I'll pick the place."
She had been stressing about how to ask her out to complete Alexander's task, but Victoria asked first. Perfect!
Victoria squinted slightly, a strange look flashing in her eyes. Why did she feel that Lila agreed so quickly?
"Why don't you ask why Alexander isn't having dinner with me?" Victoria asked.
Lila panicked inside. She had forgotten how sharp Victoria was in her rush to complete the task.
Her brain quickly processed, and she decided to speak seriously, "Didn't you say he was busy? I guess he didn't join you because he's swamped. Besides, you don't like celebrating birthdays with all the fuss. Alexander loves you so much and knows you well, he must get that. So, I guess he didn't plan a party out of respect for you. If he had, he would've invited me, your bestie. Even if he didn't invite me, he would've invited his close friends. Owen even asked me out for dinner tonight, but you're more important, so I turned him down. Tonight, it's just you and me."
Listening to Lila's sudden long-winded speech, Victoria's mouth twitched, and she raised her hand to signal her to stop.
"Alright, I get it," Victoria said.
She was most afraid of Lila's rapid-fire talking.
In the afternoon, Victoria was mostly on the phone or replying to messages.
She couldn't settle down to work at all.
Just as she had a moment of peace and put down her phone, it rang again.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Without looking at the caller ID, she answered, and Sarah's voice came through. "Baby, happy birthday! I sent you a gift, and it should arrive today."
Her cold tone instantly softened. "Okay, I'll open it when I get home from work."
Sarah said, "I know you don't like celebrating birthdays together, otherwise I would have flown over last night to see you."
After a brief chat, Sarah was called away by her assistant, and they ended the call.
All the calls and messages Victoria received were birthday wishes and notifications about gifts.
But she was quite upset that there was nothing from Alexander.
She really didn't care about these things, but maybe she had gotten used to Alexander's pampering recently.
Meanwhile, at Serenity Grove Manor, since noon, there had been a constant stream of deliveries arriving.
Serenity Grove Manor had tight security, enough to intimidate the delivery man on his first visit. He could almost think the president resided there.
The delivery man called the reserved number to be let in. And he had no idea that after the first time, there'd be a second, a third and so on. Over time, he got to know the place well.
He made several trips in one day.
The delivery man smiled professionally at Sawyer, "Sir, do rich people like you also shop online?"
Sawyer politely replied, "These are from Mrs. Howard's friends."
"Mrs. Howard sure has a lot of friends. No wonder all the packages are from different countries, over forty different people." The delivery man chatted while unloading the packages. He always thought rich people were arrogant, but today he found Sawyer to be kind and talkative.
At six in the evening, Lila took her to Meadowview Estates.
"Isn't this a private estate?" Victoria raised an eyebrow in confusion.
If she remembered correctly, this place was even harder to book than Starlight Diner.
It wasn't just about money and status.
"How did you book it?" Victoria pressed.
Facing Victoria's sudden question, Lila was prepared.
She linked arms with Victoria and said without a hint of guilt, "Thanks to Grant. He's good friends with the owner of this private estate. I begged him."
Victoria was silent for a moment. She didn't ask further at her reply.
As they passed by a rock garden and pond, Victoria saw the familiar figures of Landon and Quentin ahead, but before she could react, they were gone.
She frowned slightly. What were they doing here?
"What's wrong?" Lila asked when she saw her suddenly stop.
Victoria shook her head. "Maybe I was mistaken."
Lila breathed a sigh of relief. That scared her.
At that moment, Landon and Quentin, hiding around a corner, didn't dare to make a sound.
They had just come out to get something and saw Victoria's familiar face from afar. Without a word, they turned and left.
"Mrs. Howard didn't see us, right?" Quentin asked nervously. If he ruined Alexander's plan, he would be in trouble.
Landon, being Alexander's younger brother, wouldn't be punished too harshly, but Quentin wasn't so lucky.
He silently prayed, "God bless."
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
