Chapter 16
Victoria completely panicked. Her fingers gripped her phone so tightly she almost crushed the screen.
Her face turned deathly pale, barely distinguishable from the white wall beside her.
Maybe Aiden just didn't want to deal with her right now. It didn't necessarily mean he was going to break the agreement.
She tried hard to calm herself down, consoling herself internally.
Since she couldn't reach Aiden by phone, why not try Bianca?
But how could she get Bianca's contact information?
It was only then that Victoria realized something.
Despite all their confrontations, they didn't even have each other's phone numbers.
She frowned, her gaze sweeping through the crowd, pausing at a particularly lively spot.
During their earlier conversation, someone had mentioned that Bianca knew Winnie, and they were quite close.
Why not ask Winnie?
Victoria stood in place for quite a while, her brow slightly furrowed.
She knew she was drawing attention to herself.
But she ignored the stares from people around her. After hesitating for a few seconds, she bit her lip and walked toward where Winnie was.
"Ms. Smith." Victoria's voice wasn't loud, but her tone was polite. "I need to talk to you about something. Do you have time right now?"
The people around were startled.
Winnie, however, remained relatively calm. "Do we need to talk privately? I'm free now."
She wasn't actually that old, only a few years older than Aiden at most.
But the steady presence she carried left a strong impression.
This polite but not overly familiar attitude actually made Victoria feel relieved.
She pressed her lips together, glanced around, and nodded slightly.
The two came to a corner of the hall. People kept passing by, casting discreet, curious glances at Victoria.
But she, the person in question, seemed oblivious to it all.
Winnie calmly asked, "So, what do you want to ask me? Is it about Aiden or about Bianca?"
Victoria hadn't expected her to be so perceptive. She hesitated before saying, "I just want Bianca's contact information. I need to reach Aiden, but I can't get in touch with him now."
There was nothing to hide about this.
She lowered her eyes, concealing the self-mockery in them. "If it's not convenient, just pretend I didn't ask."
It didn't matter if she couldn't reach him now.
At worst, she'd make more trips to the Smith Group's executive office and try to catch Aiden there more oftens.
There would be a way.
Winnie didn't know what she was thinking and nodded thoughtfully.
"This is Bianca's number. You can contact her yourself."
She looked down and typed out a string of digits. "However, I can't guarantee whether she'll answer."
Victoria nodded, pressing her lips together, and memorized the long string of numbers.
She had occasionally heard about Winnie before.
Apparently, because she grew up abroad, her way of dealing with people was quite different.
Now it seemed that was indeed the case.
Victoria glanced at Winnie's retreating figure in the distance, then lowered her head and walked out of the banquet hall. She stood by the roadside and dialed the number.
She didn't hold out much hope, staring blankly at the ground beneath her feet.
But the next second.
The call connected.
"May I ask who's calling?" It was Aiden's voice.
Victoria didn't have time to wonder why Aiden was answering instead of Bianca.
She spoke impulsively, her voice trembling. "Didn't we agree that I would take all the blame for the divorce, and you would cancel my debt? Now you've left—are you going back on your word?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Victoria regretted it.
She shouldn't have been so impulsive.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing—going back on my word." Aiden suddenly spoke up, sneering. "You didn't really think I'd be so kind as to let you off just because of a few words from you, did you?"
He emphasized each word, "Dream on!"
The unexpected words made Victoria's face turn instantly pale, her lips trembling.
Despite trying hard to stay calm, a tremor still crept into her voice.
Her eyes reddened as she demanded, "Aiden! What do you mean by this? I've already signed the divorce agreement and won't appear in front of you two anymore. What exactly do you want me to do before you'll let me go?"
Victoria asked herself honestly.
After getting together with Aiden, she had never done anything to harm him.
But in the end, what did she get?
Was it the mysterious massive debt?
Or was it Yara lying in the hospital, desperately needing surgery, with no suitable kidney donor found yet?
Or was it her dignity being trampled underfoot?
She smiled bitterly, her heart aching as if it would bleed.
All of this was her own doing—she couldn't blame anyone else!
But Aiden alone had no right to criticize her!
Victoria's heart ached. Her delicate lips had long been bitten through, she could taste her own blood in her tongue.
Yet Aiden remained nonchalant.
Aiden spoke mockingly, "Don't think too highly of yourself. I'm doing this to make you see your place clearly! You need to suffer a bit to understand who you can't afford to mess with!"
He sneered and hung up decisively.
The banquet had ended. People walked out in twos and threes, laughter occasionally ringing out.
Victoria stood there in a daze, blocking out all the stares and sounds around her.
After a moment, she suddenly felt her heart turn cold.
So Aiden had never intended to resolve her debt from the start.
Even the conditions he proposed later were just to make her willingly come see Delta, and to humiliate her again in the process.
Then what did her endurance of all that mockery, taking all the blame upon herself, amount to?
The man's cold voice seemed to still echo in her ears.
Victoria stood there stunned.
After a long while, she suddenly curved her lips, her heart filled with coldness.
She lowered her eyes, glancing at the recording she had saved earlier in the office on her phone, and blinked slowly.
Aiden.
Since you broke your word first, don't blame me for disregarding our past relationship.
Victoria pulled at the corner of her mouth, tapped the screen twice with her finger, and selected send.
After doing all this, she put away her phone, turned, and walked toward the taxi stand.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Jasper sat in his study, brows tightly furrowed, staring intently at the recording he had just received on his phone.
Following the recording were a few lines of text.
[ If Aiden doesn't resolve this matter within two days, I will post the recording online. Please consider this carefully.]
Victoria hadn't interacted much with the Smith family, but she could tell how much Jasper valued the Smith Group.
So finding Jasper was the right choice.
Sure enough.
Jasper flew into a rage and immediately called Aiden. "You rebellious son! Do you know how stupid what you've done is!"
Aiden had barely answered the phone when he was hit with a barrage of scolding and went completely stunned. "What did I do? What's this about..."
He frowned as Jasper's furious voice came through the phone.
Jasper said coldly, "In one hour, I want to see you at the company. You'll explain everything to me then! Spending all your time mixed up with women—what kind of behavior is that!"
Before Aiden could respond, the call was decisively hung up.
His heart skipped a beat.
What on earth had happened to make Jasper this angry?