Flash Marriage: A Wife For A Stranger

In the bathroom, Victoria leant over the toilet, almost vomiting her guts out.

Zoe ran in, looked at her state, and almost confirmed her speculation right then and there. Her heart ached.

She went out and took a glass of water in with a napkin.

Stroking her back, she soothed, “How are you doing? Are you okay?”

Victoria waved it off, shaking her head.

It took her a long while to find her voice. “I’m fine. I’m all right.”

Zoe passed her the water. She took a sip, rinsed her mouth, and wiped her mouth off with the napkin before finally saying, “I’m sorry for ruining the evening.”

Zoe shook her head hurriedly. “What do you mean? You’re already like this, so forget the evening, okay?”

After a while, she got a little mad. “Why didn’t you tell me when something this important has happened? What’s going on?”

Victoria looked at her and knew she’d already guessed it. She bit her lip.

After a while, she said, “You’ve probably noticed I’m pregnant.”

Zoe nodded. “With a reaction like that, anyone with a heart could have noticed.”

Victoria forced a smile. The smile was full of endless loneliness.

“This is the reason why I argued with my dad.”

Zoe frowned. “What do you mean by that? Why’d you argue with your dad? Who’s the child’s father? Why isn’t he taking a stand?”

“The child’s father…”

Victoria murmured, then smiled sorrowfully.

“Never mind, forget it. Can you keep this a secret, Zo?”

Zoe frowned, clearly unhappy with how she was dodging the question about the father.

Still, she knew that Victoria was a grown-up. If she’d decided not to tell anyone, as her friend, she could only respect her choice.

Sighing, she nodded, “Rest easy, I won’t tell anybody about this. But what do you plan to do with the kid? Your belly can’t lie, and you have to go on camera every day!”

Victoria was in a bit of a daze, helplessness in her eyes.

After a while, she shook her head. “I don’t know, either. But there’s only two months before we’re

done with the shooting. I’ll try to hide it from everyone. As for what would happen later… we’ll see!”

Zoe’s frown deepened.

But she didn’t say anything else as she helped her out.

The two returned to their seats, their moods having changed greatly.

Zoe sighed. “To be honest, I was asked by Nathan to persuade you to take part in that project he brought up with you before. Doesn’t seem possible now.”

Victoria nodded. “He discussed it with me. The script’s good and I liked it, but it’s clear that I’m in no condition to participate.”

Zoe nodded back, her fingers playing listlessly with a spoon on the table as she sank into thought.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

The two had evidently lost their appetite. After a while, Zoe asked, “So where do you live now? Nina’s just a seventeen, eighteen-year-old kid. She doesn’t understand a lot of things. Can she take care of you alone?”

Victoria looked out the window. The lights had come on. Outside the window was a wide road. Traffic came and went from the road, making a scene of a bustling city night. But she felt nothing but cold.

Now, it seemed only the sister in front of her could give her a little bit of warmth.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. To force me back, my dad froze all the cards under my name. He’s taken back all my houses everywhere including the ones on the east coast. I’m living in the hotel arranged for the crew right now.”

She paused, then smiled another pale smile. “But it’s fine, we’ll see where things go! I won’t die, at least.”

Zoe took her hand, muttering, “None of that nonsense! You still have me!”

She thought for a while and took a bank card and a keyring out of her purse, pressing it into Victoria’s hands.

“Take that card. The password is my birthday. It’s not a lot of money, but enough for you to spend for now. As for what comes after, we’ll take it slow. The key is to the apartment I used to live in. It’s not big, so you’ll have to get used to it for a while. I’ll stop by from time to time to visit.”

She pursed her lips and continued, “I don’t approve of you giving the cold shoulder to Mr. Kaur. Blood is thicker than water, no matter what. That won’t change. Besides, he’s always been good to you. But I believe you’ve got your own troubles in this situation. If you don’t want to say it, I won’t ask. That’s all the support I can give you. I only want the best for you.”

Victoria looked at her, eyes reddening. She couldn’t hold the tears back. The droplets rolled down her cheeks.

She bit her lip forcefully and lowered her head. After a long while, she said, voice trembling, “Thank you, Zoe.”

Zoe forced a smile herself, her eyes stinging. An eternity later, she wiped the tears off and chuckled, “All right, quit acting like the world’s going to end. That’s not the Victoria I know. If you want to keep the child, go ahead and keep it. You child has got me as a godmother! There won’t be any trouble. As for the kid’s father, if he doesn’t want to show up, let him rot!”

Victoria knew she was trying to comfort her. Even though her heart still ached, she loosened up a bit all the same.

Accepting the goodwill, she chuckled herself. The atmosphere lightened by quite a bit.

Finishing the meal, Zoe didn’t allow Victoria to keep strolling around with how her body was. She took her back to the cast right away.

After dropping Victoria off, Zoe drove home and phoned Nathan on the way.

She didn’t mention the pregnancy, just that Victoria wasn’t in the best position to take the job.

Over the phone, Nathan had been prepared, but hearing the answer, he still couldn’t hide his disappointment.

Zoe understood. Television was a subjective business.

If the creator had decided for a person to play a role, they often consciously or subconsciously used that person as a template during the creative process.

If they found out that person couldn’t participate afterwards, of course they’d be disappointed.

She comforted, “I can’t do anything about it at this point. You could have your friend try more actresses. Though you may not easily find someone like Victoria, but if you look hard enough, I’m sure you can find a suitable candidate to replace her.”

Nathan laughed bitterly. “I won’t lie, I’ve got a part in the production. We had our eyes on Victoria Kaur for the role even from before. We just didn’t know enough about her to pop the question. After working with her in ‘The Youth’, we reaffirmed how much we wanted her for the role. How could we shoot properly if we scrambled to find a new actress now?”