Chapter 53
Nancy stared at Victoria with contempt and gibed, “It is benevolent of you to invite her to your party, but why are you letting her stay by your side? Aren’t you afraid that this murderer will spike your champange with poison when you’re not paying attention?”
Her words were nasty, but none of the people there felt that Nancy had gone too far. If Victoria crippled their daughters’ leg, they would have treated her the same way too. Denise, however, merely looked down with embarra*sment. She cleared her throat as she tried to defend her daughter, but no words came out from her mouth.
Hearing that, Evelyn laughed and responded nonchalantly, “It just so happens that I’m having a flu these few days, but I’m not taking any medication as they taste horrible. Since Victoria is a thoughtful child, she might add some flu medicine into my drinks.”
With that, she tilted her head and looked at Victoria. “You have to take note that flu medication cannot be taken with champagne. If something happens to me, you might be accused of attempted murder.”
“If you dislike taking medicine, I can make some lemonade for you as I remember that you have a sweet tooth,” Victoria answered tactfully.
“That’s so sweet of you to remember my preferences.” The crow’s feet around the corner of Evelyn’s eyes showed as she smiled.
Nancy was exasperated as both of them echoed each other.
Denise, who was standing at the side, felt so embarra*sed that she lifted her gaze and looked over at Victoria before saying, “Tori, apologize to Mrs. Spritz this instant. You shouldn’t be disrespectful toward her.”
“Mrs. Coleman, I don’t understand what you mean. Was I being disrespectful toward her?” Victoria asked impa*sively.
Denise turned wide-eyed, for she wasn’t expecting Victoria to address her as ‘Mrs. Coleman’.
“No, you weren’t. She’s catching up on age, and she probably misheard you because of her hearing loss.” Evelyn tried to comfort Victoria as she held her hand and patted it.
Even so, Victoria looked down and didn’t say a word as she felt suffocated; even breathing became extremely difficult. Seeing that her birth mother favored a stranger over her while an unrelated elder taking her side broke her heart.
Meanwhile, Nancy’s expression was grim when she saw Evelyn taking Victoria’s side. The atmosphere instantly became awkward as everyone fell silent, which was a stark contrast to the noisy crowd around them.
“If Nancy is so upset about this, I’m afraid that she would be displeased with me if I have you by my side.” Evelyn finally spoke.
Hearing that, Nancy responded calmly, “I apologize for putting you in a tight spot, but I really don’t want to see her as she almost killed my daughter. I seek your understanding on that.”
The bewildered Denise finally managed to calm herself down before looking at Victoria as tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t understand why Victoria acted in such a way and was slightly mad at her. Victoria looked down and avoided making eye contact with her mother.
“Since we have been friends for so many years, you don’t have to apologize to me.” Evelyn smirked and turned around as she waved at Christian. “Christian, come over here!”
Noticing his mother, he lifted his brow and spoke to the people around him before walking over. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“It’s inappropriate to have Victoria with me as Mrs. Spritz dislikes her. You should bring her along with you.” Evelyn told him regretfully.
Upon hearing that, Victoria’s heart sank. As she was about to reject it, Christian responded, “Let’s go.”
“I shall take my leave,” said Victoria before she followed behind Christian nervously.
Nancy was frustrated as she looked at their backs, but she could only keep quiet about it.
“I have no idea why my mother is so fond of you.” He turned around and looked at her before shifting his gaze to the front. Along the way, he was greeted by others guests in which he reciprocated with a nod or a greeting.
Those people were surprised to see Victoria with him, but they didn’t dare to ask him about it. It wasn’t uncommon for her to be around him two years ago, but ever since the car crash, he stopped seeing Victoria and rumors spread that they were on bad terms.
Victoria didn’t know what to answer him. After some contemplation, she whispered to him, “I shall not trouble you anymore. I’ll go look for my friends.”
In actual fact, she didn’t have many friends as she was no longer on good terms with her old friends. She came up with that excuse as she was worried that he would be unhappy about it.
“Look for your friends? Or are you thinking of looking for Lucas?” Christian stopped walking and turned over to look at her. His gaze was cold and with a hint of contempt.
Noticing that, she stopped walking and was lost for words. She could tell that he was unhappy, but she didn’t know what she had done wrong; she also knew that he would be mad if she tried explaining it to him.
Without waiting for her to reply, he turned around and continued walking. Victoria remained on the spot as she didn’t know whether she should follow him or not. It was so hard to read him that she could never figure out what he was thinking.
“Just follow behind me and drink on my behalf,” he uttered while he walked without turning back.
Hearing that, she nodded and stared at her stomach bitterly as she followed behind him. She expected that she would have to visit the hospital again tonight after all the drinking. She wasn’t sure whether she would get stomach cancer if she continued on like this. Even if she really died because of it, she was unsure whether Christian would make things hard for her brother or the others…
Throughout the party, a lot of guests approached Christian as they chatted and clinked wine gla*ses with him. However, not many of them made him drink, so Victoria would stand at the side with a gla*s of champagne in her hand.
If the situation didn’t ask for it, she wouldn’t drink as she was trying to take good care of her health. However, if someone asked Christian to drink, she would finish the champagne in the gla*s.
She didn’t notice that someone was looking at her, but Christian did. He caught sight of Lucas standing among the guests and looking over at them from time to time. Christian then took a sip of champagne, but it didn’t taste very good. After a long day, Victoria hadn’t had much to drink, but at dusk, she started to feel a fiery sensation in her stomach.
“Mr. Thatcher, may I go to the washroom?” Her face was pale as a sheet, and her forehead was covered in sweat.
Hearing that, he glanced over at her and furrowed his brows before nodding. After thanking him, she clutched her stomach and stumbled toward the washroom.
“Please excuse me.” As he looked at her back, his expression became grim. He then followed behind her after excusing himself.
Just as he was about to reach the washroom, Lucas was seen in a haste as he entered the washroom before him with a gla*s of water. Noticing that, Christian’s footsteps faltered. He then walked toward the washroom and waited outside as he puffed on a cigarette.
Meanwhile, Victoria started throwing up upon entering the washroom. Since she hadn’t eaten much, after throwing up most of the food she had eaten, she started throwing up bile. Since she had a bad stomach, she stopped drinking, which in turn reduced her alcohol tolerance.
Thus, even though she hadn’t drank much, she felt nauseous and her stomach ached uncomfortably. Suddenly, she heard footsteps from behind her, but she wasn’t bothered by it as she a*sumed that no one would care about a murderer like her.
