Chapter 506 Strange Things
One Week Later.
Victoria had returned to the research institute. Billy, seeing her back, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Victoria, you've been gone for ages! If you hadn't come back soon, I would've gone completely bald from stress."
Victoria deliberately glanced at his hair. "You still have plenty left, don't you?"
Billy fell silent.
Knowing she had recently gotten married, he asked nervously, "Victoria, you're not planning to go on a honeymoon, are you?"
He dreaded the thought of her leaving again after just returning, dumping all the work on him.
Victoria considered this question seriously. "You know, I hadn't even thought about that until now."
Billy immediately grabbed her arm. "Please forget I mentioned it! Pretend I never said a word!"
He was panicking. Why had he brought up this topic?
Billy pleaded, "Now that you're back, please stay and take charge. I'll handle all the grunt work. Don't abandon me again, please?"
His pouting, pitiful expression looked rather incongruous with his appearance.
She pushed his face away with two fingers, looking disgusted. "Hands off!" she commanded.
Billy released her instantly and stepped back. After all, in a physical confrontation, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against her.
Victoria settled into her office chair, and Billy immediately approached again. "So you're staying, right Victoria?"
Instead of answering, she asked directly, "Brief me on the institute's recent developments."
Hearing she wanted to discuss business, Billy promptly sat down across from her. "Right away!"
"Everything's running smoothly with all experiments. No major issues. But something strange has happened recently."
Victoria leaned back in her chair, raising an eyebrow. "What strange thing?"
"The lab guys brought in this odd little girl from the hospital. They want to study the toxins in her system."
"Toxins?" Victoria frowned.
"Yes. I looked into it—she's suffering from chronic poisoning with various industrial toxins in her system, though all in minute quantities. The strange part is she's not even six years old, and her family isn't poor. No one knows how this happened."
Not even six?
Victoria's frown deepened. "I see. I'll check on this myself later. Anything else?"
Billy replied, "Yes."
"Go on."
He leaned across the desk, pouting pleadingly. "Victoria, could I please have a few days off?"
Victoria remained silent.
He hadn't rested or relaxed in ages. The institute was constantly swamped with problems, leaving him no time for breaks.
Originally, Leonard had assigned him here just to handle minor tasks, but things hadn't worked out that way.
Victoria couldn't bear to watch his attempt at looking cute. She tilted her head and rubbed her eyes. "Three days off."
"A week?"
"One day!"
Billy quickly said, "No! Three days is perfect, Victoria."
He hurried away before she could change her mind.
After he left, Victoria headed to the laboratory, where she remained for several hours, completely disconnected from the outside world.
When she finally emerged six hours later, she walked back to her office while stretching and rotating her neck. She wasn't accustomed to spending such long periods in the lab anymore.
Mainly because since their wedding, Alexander had been making passionate love to her every night, leaving her body less tolerant of long laboratory sessions.
Back in her office, she checked her phone. It was already past five in the afternoon.
She noticed numerous unread Facebook messages.
She immediately called Alexander, who answered instantly.
"Darling, I just left the lab. You mentioned you wouldn't be home for dinner tonight—where are you going?" Victoria said.
She had only glanced briefly at Alexander's messages without listening to his voice notes.
Hearing her voice immediately improved his mood after a frustrating day.
For over six hours, he'd been unable to reach her.
If he hadn't known she was at the research institute, he would have turned Rihegde upside down looking for her.
"Did you skip lunch?" His deep, magnetic voice came through the phone.
Victoria was caught off guard by his question.
"What? No, I had a sandwich and a large glass of water."
In truth, she hadn't eaten. When absorbed in her experiments, she never felt hungry.
Someone had ordered food for her, but she hadn't found time to eat it.
But now—she was starving.
Her stomach growled audibly.
Alexander paused for a second on the other end, knowing she wasn't being truthful.
He sighed softly. "Come outside. I'm waiting at the entrance."
Hearing he was already at the door, she grabbed her bag and left immediately.
As soon as she exited the research institute, she spotted Alexander's distinctive car parked by the security booth.
Kimberly stood beside the car door and opened the rear door as Victoria approached.
Before getting in, Victoria suddenly remembered she had driven herself that morning.
She turned to Kimberly. "Could you drive my car back for me, please?"
Kimberly replied, "Of course, Mrs. Howard."
Once inside the car, she immediately nestled against Alexander.
She rested against his chest, looking up at him with a slight pout. "Darling, I'm starving. My stomach feels like it's at war with itself. Where are we having dinner?"
Alexander gazed down at her beautiful, delicate face with a mixture of exasperation and affection, unable to bring himself to lecture her.
That morning before she left, he had reminded her to eat on time, but his words had clearly fallen on deaf ears.
He knew she had this bad habit.
His elegant fingers gently held her chin, giving it a small shake. "Now you realize you're hungry?" he asked, slightly irritated.
She nodded, sincerely apologetic. "I was wrong to get so caught up in work that I forgot to eat. I promise I'll remember to eat on time next time."
"I can't trust your promises anymore."
"What would make you trust me?"
"Starting tomorrow, I'll come pick you up at noon for lunch, just like before. I'll join you for lunch every day."
She wanted to say it wasn't necessary, that she wasn't a child anymore.
But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
Instead, she asked, "What if I lose track of time in the lab? The rules say we can't bring phones inside."
Alexander responded, "Don't worry. I'm resourceful enough to find solutions."
Victoria remained silent. Fair enough—he was in charge, after all.
"Where are we going now?"
"Back to Howard Villa. Mother tried to reach you today and ended up calling me instead. She says Cynthia's family has returned, and she wants us to join them for dinner."
"Darling, what kind of person is Cynthia's husband?" she asked curiously.
She had never met him, nor had she heard Saskia mention him at Howard Villa.
Even when Cynthia had visited with Alaric, she hadn't mentioned this mysterious husband.
Alexander replied, "I don't know either. I've never met him."
Victoria was shocked. "What? You haven't met him either?"
"No. In fact, no one in the family has ever met him."
"What about photographs?"
"None of those either."
At Howard Villa, Alaric, as before, rushed straight into Victoria's arms when he saw her.
"Victoria!" His childish voice rang out, his pronunciation clearer than before.
"Hello, sweetheart. Have you grown taller?" Victoria held him with one arm while pinching his chubby cheek with her free hand.
Alaric nodded. "Yes, Mommy says I have."
Cynthia, standing nearby, looked at Victoria apologetically. "Victoria, I'm so sorry. I promised to attend your wedding with Alexander, but I couldn't make it back in time."
Victoria looked at her reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Cynthia. We understand. Besides, it's not a big deal—we're family, after all. We can see each other anytime."
Cynthia retrieved a gift box from nearby. "This is my wedding gift to you both. Please accept it."
Victoria accepted. "Thank you from both Alexander and me."
The living room contained only women—not a single man was present.
Even Alexander had been called to the study immediately upon arrival.
She was quite curious to meet Cynthia's mysterious husband, wondering what kind of man could possibly handle someone like Cynthia.
The Howard family had excellent genes, and Cynthia was particularly beautiful. She appeared elegant and kind on the surface, but Victoria knew she possessed a powerful presence that she simply chose not to display around family.
Often, such women were the most formidable and uncontrollable.
Similarly, such an exceptional and strong-willed woman would have high standards, which made Victoria all the more curious about Alaric's father.
Nearly an hour passed before sounds came from the second floor.
Alexander descended first, making a beeline for Victoria.
"What were you discussing in the study?" she asked quietly.
Had she not eaten some fruit provided by the staff to tide her over, she would have been famished by now.
Just then, an elegant, gentlemanly voice sounded behind Alexander, "Alexander, aren't you going to introduce your wife to me?"
Alexander was blocking her view, so she couldn't initially see who was speaking.
But when he turned, her vision cleared instantly.
Victoria stared at the man, completely shocked.
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