"I am glad to see you understand us, Duke. I am not accusing you. I have always been glad about your match with Belinda. Now that you have explained everything to me, I won't ask any more questions. However, I want to remind you that you, as a man, should be more decisive in breaking things off with that woman. Otherwise, she will get more involved in your life and keep on stirring up trouble," said Sherry, her voice emphasizing the seriousness of the matter. As someone who had gone through a similar situation, she knew how a relationship could suffer when a third person got involved.
"I know. I will fix this as soon as possible. I promise," Duke frowned. It seemed to him the time had arrived to fire Rachel. He should have laid her off at the beginning itself, however, Belinda had asked him not to fire her.
"Okay, go talk to the guests. I am sure you will handle this." Sherry smiled at Duke kindly, patting him on the shoulder. She was content with her son-in-law and didn't want to upset him any further.
For the very first time, Belinda had seen her mother talk to someone in such a serious tone. She could tell Sherry was awfully scared something bad could entail out of this. Belinda approached her and gave her a hug. She whispered in her ears,
Mother, don't worry. We will be happy together." Yes, they would definitely be happily married. Rachel was just trying to sow dissension between them. But she was not powerful enough to sabotage their married life. Belinda saw the incident as a test to their relationship. Soon after Rachel had been kicked out, everyone present forgot about the intrusion and carried on with the festivities They made easy conversations with others, laughed and joked around. The wedding ceremony finally came to an end with a general feeling of cheer. Nobody was bothered that someone as inconsequential as Rachel Qin had tried to disrupt the ceremony. After all, the event marked the coming together of two very fortunate souls.
Only a few hours after the ceremony was over, the couple boarded a plane to head to the mysterious country of Egypt, where they planned to spend their honeymoon. Belinda had always longed to go there, but never had a chance to do so. So, when Duke asked her where she felt like having their honeymoon. she picked Egypt as their destination without any second-guessing.
Egypt was a wonderful country. It was home to one of the most ancient civilizations that had existed. The well-known river Nile belonged in Egypt. Duke and his lovely wife were left stunned at the rich culture when they landed.
They checked in to a luxury hotel that was in style of ancient Egypt. The overall color of the hotel was golden yellow - the symbolic color of Egyptian culture. Murals adorned the walls and exhibited how lavish the hotel was. They stood in the hall appreciating the decorative art, surrounded with pillars decorated with bas-relief sculptures of ancient Egypt.
Belinda was in awe of Egyptian art and looked forward to learning more about it. Everything here was novel and excited her. Her exhaustion from the long flight had been replaced by an enthusiasm to know more.
"Why do you look so excited?" Duke gazed at her with an affectionate smile. He wanted to make his darling wife so happy every day.
"Oh! I have wanted to visit Egypt since I was a little girl. It has been my dream to see their culture with my own eyes! Cleopatra, the pyramids, the shrines and so on. There are so many fascinating stories that happened along the river Nile which gave birth to this rich civilization." Belinda was absolutely delighted to come to such a fascinating country, along with the man she loved so much.
"Let's get some rest first to deal with the jet lag. Then we can go out and enjoy the Egyptian culture, see how mind-blowing it is." Duke caught her by the shoulder as she walked around the suite, putting his arms around her. Belinda was acting like a little hillbilly who marveled at new and fancy items. It was so unlike her usual identity of a CEO. Duke thought it was adorable.
"I don't think we have jet lag. This place is just 6 hours behind our country." Belinda couldn't wait to walk around the streets. She had only imagined about coming here before, but suddenly, her dream had come true.
"I know you are excited to look around. But let us wait until it's daybreak. It is dark outside. Don't you see?" Duke shook his head. It had taken them around 12 hours to get here and Egypt was 6 hours behind their country. So it was midnight now.
"Oh, right. I was too thrilled to notice that." She smiled sheepishly. It was embarrassing that Duke saw how silly she could be.
I am going to prepare the water so you can enjoy a warn bath. Then we can go to sleep. After you get some rest, we can walk around this place for as long as you wish." Duke shook his head in amusement and walked into the bathroom. He had booked a presidential suite. Duke hoped the bath was sanitary enough for them to use.
Belinda frowned and stuck out her tongue at Duke's back. She took out their belongings from the luggage and arranged them in the wardrobe. Duke had not shared the itinerary of the tour with her, but Belinda wasn't worried as long as she was with Duke. She knew she could completely rely on him.
She stood by the window that overlooked the whole city. The sky was speckled with stars. For now, the hotel was the only attraction she had been to and she was already awed by Egypt. Belinda couldn't wait to see how beautiful it looked in the day.
This was the first time Duke found Belinda could be so sentient. He didn't want to interrupt her contemplation. He just stood there, watching her form as it bathed in the warm lights of the suite. It would be perfect if time could freeze in that moment and he could watch her like this forever till they grew old.
"Is my bath ready?" Belinda turned around all of a sudden and caught his fond gaze. She blushed, remembering that tonight was their wedding night. Only a few hours had passed since the wedding ceremony. She was thrilled and couldn't wait to experience her life with Duke. Her heart beat so fast that it felt like the ripples that quivered across the surface of Nile.
"Yes, the bath is ready. Go enjoy it." Duke smiled at her pleasantly. He smiled more often when he was with Belinda, but he did not notice that. Belinda took her night gown and walked toward the bathroom. She swiftly pecked Duke's lips as she passed him before rushing to get inside. Duke was stupefied at the kiss and it took him a while to come to himself. He touched his lips with his thumb lightly, smiling wolfishly. Duke glanced at the closed bathroom door with wicked eyes. It seemed to him their wedding night would be extraordinary.
Belinda was not modest and put on a tight, seductive lingerie after her bath. She was not like Daisy, a cool military officer, or even Leena, a lovely little girl. Belinda was both a passionate woman and a commanding boss. But she also encountered situations she couldn't control, just like right now.
Duke was used to seeing her in sexy lingerie. They had lived together for such a long time before. But his blood still thumped when Belinda walked out to the bedroom.
Why are you staring at me?" Belinda asked, lying on the bed. Duke moved to sit by her side and leaned forward to see what she was reading. His eyes were fixed on her red lips.
"I am browsing through the travel guide." Belinda turned around to look at him, but found him so close that her lips touched his. She was frozen for a minute and blushed, realizing what had happened. She wanted to get up immediately but was too late to do so, because Duke had already climbed on top of her. He looked at her startled expression and breathed out.
You don't need to read the travel guide. I'll take care of everything. But for now, should we move on to the next step of the wedding?" Duke caressed her face as he smirked. He looked wicked, but so intoxicating that she wanted to get closer to him.