It'll Come Naturally

Chapter 144 My Lawful Wife

"It's all your fault." Belinda rolled her eyes. His smile was so annoying. Wasn't he the whole reason that she ached all over?

"Come on. Take my hand." Duke didn't argue with her. It was all his fault. With a doting smile on his face, he gently helped Belinda up.

Belinda didn't push him away, for she couldn't make it to the bathroom on her own. Now that he offered to help, she'd better accept it.

Belinda took a long hot bath to soothe her aching joints and muscles. She felt better after freshening up, but her legs were still weak.

"Come eat something." Noticing that she emerged from the bathroom, Duke put away the documents in his hands and seated her at the table.

"What time is it?" Duke had closed all the curtains in the room, he didn't want the sun to interrupt her rest. Belinda couldn't find a clock -- she had no idea how long she had slept.

"It's one in the afternoon. What's the matter?" Duke looked at her and kept filling the bowl with soup leisurely. He had put on his usual poker face.

"What? One in the afternoon? OMG! What should I do now!" Belinda jumped to her feet in panic. She was to attend the board meeting that morning. Her father would definitely give her an earful.

"Sit down. What's the fuss all about?" Duke frowned and grabbed her arm to make her sit down again. The meeting was probably over now.

"I had a very important meeting this morning." Belinda glared at him. It was all because of him that she didn't go home last night and missed the meeting. She was totally doomed.

"I know." Duke replied casually. He set the bowl down in front of Belinda.

"You know? You know nothing! How can I go home after this?" As one of the board members, her father would be there. Belinda couldn't even imagine his anger after she missed the meeting.

"I'll go home with you tonight. Now finish your lunch." Belinda was terrified by the thought of how her father was about to punish her. But Duke's words dropped another bomb on her.

"Duke, are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?" Belinda suddenly felt her father's punishments seemed to be nothing compared to Duke's plan.

"I certainly do." Duke fixed his cold eyes on Belinda.

"You were just joking, right?" Belinda widened her eyes in disbelief. To be honest, she wanted to look into his eyes and hurl insults at him every time he stared at her like that. But she wouldn't dare.

"You know I never joke about such things." Duke's lips curled into a ghost of a wicked smile.

"Duke, just drop it. If my father finds out about you, you're screwed." In fact, Belinda herself would be screwed once her father found out about Duke. She believed her father would immediately marry her to the man.

"He already did." Duke took a small sip of his coffee and answered calmly as if it had nothing to do with him.

"What? When?" Belinda was desperate. It seemed that she would be forced to marry Duke no matter what.

"I answered his call for you this morning." Duke crossed his legs and leaned back. He gave her a lovestruck look.

"Why did you answer it?" Belinda retorted sharply, driven by fury.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Duke tilted his head and asked calmly. He knew she was angry, but he couldn't help teasing her.

"You could have woken me up! I was asleep, not passed out." Duke's uncaring attitude made Belinda madder than ever. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"Are you sure about that?" Duke raised his eyebrows and smiled devilishly at her.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Belinda cleared her throat and began digging into her soup with gusto. Well, she did pass out last night. But he was the one who wore her out. She had absolutely no intention to die in bed with him.

"You will. And I'll make sure of it." 'If you want to play games, then I'll play with you.' Duke thought.

"What the heck? It's nothing serious. We both take what we need and that's it. Right?" Belinda stole a discreet look at him, fearing that she might have said something that provoked him.

"Oh. Do you really think so? Then have a look at this!" Duke tossed a big envelope to her. Inside the envelope was the paper he had signed earlier. 'Nothing would happen between us?' Duke thought. 'We have decades ahead of us, and anything is possible.'

"What is it?" Belinda asked hesitantly. Hands shaking, she looked at the envelope.

"See for yourself." Duke raised his eyebrows and suggested her open the envelope.

Belinda murmured in her mind, 'Humph! Trying to be mysterious? I'm not afraid of you.' She shrugged and opened the envelope. Her eyes went wide and her hand flew to her mouth in terror as she saw what was inside.

"What the hell... What is it, Duke? Is it real?" What was going on? How could she be married? Was she dreaming? She couldn't recall signing anything.

"What do you think? It's all here in black and white. Belinda, you are now officially my wedded wife. Aren't you happy?" Duke knew her reaction would be quite interesting. It turned out he was right. He looked at her stunned face again and secretly curled his lips into a smile.