Chapter 9 The maid's face instantly turned pale in response to Alaric's query . " I've already disposed of the report , sir . " Suddenly , a frown etched on his face , and he snapped , " What did you say ?! " She was so frightened by his gloomy aura that she was on the brink of crying . In a panic, she explained , " I'm sorry , sir . I didn't throw it away on purpose , but the report was pretty torn up , so I threw it away without much thought- " The maid was not the type to delve into something the owner threw . Furthermore , Alaric would usually shred documents that contained highly confidential information . After all , she relied on her job to make ends meet , so she disposed of the report without giving it much thought that day . Over the past two days , she had been sending Victoria medicine , thinking it was for her illness . However , it turned out that the medication was intended to treat fever . Meanwhile , his brows furrowed at what the maid said . Then , he realized that something was amiss with his wife . Even if she had given the umbrella to someone else , she could have sought shelter and called the driver to pick her up or waited until the rain stopped before returning home . Why did she have to run home in the rain ? At that moment , Hector walked toward Alaric and asked with concern , " Sir , is Mrs. Cadogan alright ? " Before saying anything , Alaric handed him the car keys and his jacket . " I'm going upstairs for a while . " Then , Hector quickly took them without a word . Meanwhile , Victoria intended to rest after the maid had left , but she was interrupted by a phone call . It was a call from the secretary of Labauve Group's vice president , who wanted to discuss the recent project she had been working on . Due to her absence from the office the day before , nobody was available to fill in for her . After the call ended , she rubbed her brows . The office is busy , and after being gone for a day , I found that I had a lot of work to catch up on . I have no choice but to start working today . Then , she pulled out her laptop , but as soon as she logged into her email , she heard footsteps coming from the door . Victoria assumed it was the maid , so she ignored the sound and clicked on her email to start working . Suddenly, she heard a pause in the footsteps and felt a faint , cool breath beside her , so she turned to see who it was . With a single glance , her gaze locked on Alaric's obsidian eyes . She was startled at the sight of him . " What are you doing here ? " When he heard that , he pursed his lips lightly and replied , " This is my room . " His voice was unwelcoming and distant . Nonetheless , Victoria was taken aback by his tone and questioned subconsciously , " Did someone upset you ? Why do you sound so moody ? " " Upset ? " Alaric furrowed his brows . Why does her question sound so ridiculous ? Where could I have been early in the morning that caused me to become so upset ? After pausing for a moment , seemingly lost in thought , he deadpanned and blurted , " I was home last night . " At that moment , she gaped in shock at his response . Then , he stared at her . " Why are you surprised ? I was lying beside you last night . Weren't you aware of that ? " After hearing that , Victoria pursed her lips without a word . It turns out that the sensation I had last night of the mattress being pressed down was not my imagination . Remnants of sleep still clouded her mind when that happened , and when she woke up to feel the coolness on the other side of the bed , she thought Alaric hadn't come home all night . When she learned he was at home , she felt excitement rising in her chest . " I thought you wouldn't come home ." It was after her sentence that they both went silent . Even though Claudia had only been back for two days , their relationship had become awkward . Despite that , none of them was willing to address the elephant in the room . The two seemed to be avoiding the subject tacitly , but the reason for their silence was known only to them . After some time , Alaric suddenly questioned , " Why aren't you taking medicine ? " Why does he bring it up again ? Victoria returned her attention to the laptop screen as if nothing had happened . Then , she explained , " I didn't feel like taking it yesterday , and since I felt so much better today , I decided I no longer needed it . " Suddenly , her calm appearance made his lips twitch , and he inquired , " Really ? What about the report , then ? " At that moment , her hands stopped scrolling the mouse when he mentioned ' the report . ' Victoria almost thought she had misheard him , but the tingling of his breath beside her was proof that he had said those words out loud . On the other hand , Alaric noticed how her fingers paused abruptly when ' the report ' was mentioned . Due to that, he narrowed his eyes skeptically . She's trying to hide something from me . After a moment , she recollected herself and raised her head to meet his eyes . Her gaze was doubtful , and she asked calmly , " What report ? " He merely stared at her in response . She's giving a convincing performance ; she looks and sounds completely natural , from her expression and gazes to her tone . If I hadn't noticed her subtle actions earlier , I would have been duped by her facade . While staring intently into Victoria's eyes , Alaric questioned , " I am the one who initiates the inquiry . So , what report are you referring to ? " Hearing that , she was stunned for a moment . " Yes, you were asking me that , but I'm not sure what report you refer to . " The mere mention of ' the report ' throws me off guard , and my first thought is that he must have seen it . So , did he learn about my pregnancy ? Nevertheless , Victoria quickly calmed herself down . Since the Selwyns declared bankruptcy , she had grown from a pampered young lady to a well - respected secretary . Even the presidents of companies collaborating with Cadogan Group greeted her courteously when they saw her . They didn't do that simply because she was Alaric's wife but because they acknowledged her abilities . Two years of training and experience molded her into a completely different person . She was no longer the young lady who would panic and get flustered when things . were messed up . I've torn the report into pieces ; even if I hadn't , the rainwater would have washed away any traces of the words it contained . In addition , due to prolonged exposure to moisture , the report's contents would be illegible . After running a mental analysis , she completely calmed down . Meanwhile , his lips curled into a half - smile . Then , Alaric took a seat in front of Victoria , and the two exchanged glances . They were childhood sweethearts . After all these years , how could he have missed her dramatic transformation over the last two years ? When Alaric first approached Victoria about working for the company , he intended to foster her development and independence . Within two years , she had matured into the person he had envisioned her to be, and she even became his ideal right - hand woman . Moreover , she could speak calmly in front of hundreds of people , let alone in front of him . At that thought , he squinted his eyes and asked , " Are you sure you don't know ? Do you think I don't know you ? " However , she met his eyes fearlessly . " Is that so ? Do you really know me ? " The next second , Alaric wrapped his hand around the base of Victoria's neck and leaned in until their foreheads were so close that their breaths intertwined . A sentence was squeezed out of his lips . " I've known you for at least 20 years and shared a bed with you for two years . Who else knows you better than I do , Victoria Selwyn ? " She was immediately dumbfounded . Have we known each other for that long ? He says he knows me , but he has no idea I've fallen for him .