Chapter 776: Leave With Nothing (part two)

"No. You're thinking too much. Okay, then! I'll wait for you at the Crystal Cinema." Belinda hung up as soon as she spoke, afraid that he would suddenly back out on her. She knew that it was a luxury to have Duke watch a movie in the cinema with her. She wasn't going to miss what might be her only chance to do so.

Duke looked at his phone and shook his head before putting back it into his pocket. He clicked his car key and got into the Spyker C8, driving towards the location Belinda gave him.

The place Belinda had chosen was in the middle of the city, so it only took her several minutes to get there. Then she took the time to buy the tickets while waiting for Duke to arrive. After glancing through the romance and action movie titles, she decided to go for a thrilling horror movie. A romantic movie wasn't proper for them to watch together and she didn't like the cast of the action movie.

After getting the tickets, she checked the time. It was nice o'clock. Duke needed about 20 minutes to get here. She thought there was still plenty of time to kill before he arrived, so she bought some popcorn and snacks as the other couples did despite not being fond of the food. She only bought them because they seemed appropriate for the occasion. After all, everyone bought movie snacks at a cinema.

Standing in the busy cinema and looking at the couples coming and going, Belinda felt a lot younger all of a sudden and her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. Was this their first official date? She licked her lips and looked down at the tickets in her hands. Considering Duke's social status, she bought VIP private seats. Otherwise, she thought he might leave in the middle of the movie because of the noise. She knew how delicate people like Duke were.

But when she thought of the words Rachel had said to her, she pursed her lips in distaste. She would never give up something she wanted so easily. No one could make her do something unless she wanted to. Duke was the person she wanted to love with all her heart. How could she give him up so easily?

Belinda was an attractive woman with a good figure. It was difficult to avoid gaining attention from the crowd when she was standing all alone, but she didn't notice any of it. The image of her standing in her spot in deep thought was so conspicuous that Duke noticed her immediately. Previously striding his way to the cinema, Duke slowed down at the sight of her. The image reminded him of a scene from when he was young. The only difference was that the woman in front of him was Belinda. He shook his head with a slight smile, walking towards her.

"What are you thinking about? You're deep in thought." Duke gazed at her with doting eyes. Belinda jumped at his sudden voice and she looked up in panic. Her eyes flickered to Duke's, which were filled with tenderness. Her heart started pounding from the attention.

"You're here already! That was fast." Belinda drew her gaze away. She was so nervous that the tickets in her hands got crumpled by her fingers. She didn't expect to react like an excited young girl.

"I knew you were waiting for me, so I rushed to come here. Have you decided? What are we watching?" Duke took over the things she was carrying in her hands. Then he took her hand tightly and looked away, pretending to casually glance at the posters on the wall.

"I've already bought the tickets. Is a horror movie okay?" Belinda looked at him happily. Without Edward around, Duke was the center of everyone's attention. He drew the gaze of every woman in the area.

Are you sure it won't be too scary for you?" Duke asked. He expected her to choose a romance film. He never imagined that she would choose a horror movie instead. It was very surprising.

"No. I'm not you." Belinda's lips curled into a sneer. Horror movies weren't actually scary. They were just marketed that way to get more viewers.

"There's nothing frightening about horror movies." She chose the movie so she could relax after the vexing meeting with the presumptuous woman.

"All right. Don't throw yourself into my arms when you get scared. Let's go inside and watch the film." Duke glanced at the screening time of the film. It was already time to go inside.

"I definitely won't," Belinda said firmly. It didn't take long for her to take back her words. A horrible scene at the beginning of the movie immediately frightened her. She threw herself into Duke's arms without a second thought, completely forgetting her earlier vow.

The cool expression on Duke's face melted into a gaze full of tenderness when Belinda jumped into his arms. He anticipated that she would do this because his sister always did the same. One thing he couldn't understand was why women seemed to like watching horror movies so much even though the scenes would inevitably frighten them. He couldn't comprehend this strange concept.

"Didn't you say that you wouldn't get scared?" Duke asked, glancing calmly at her. He found her whole body practically pressed against his, making him look around immediately to check if anyone had noticed. Fortunately, the backs of the chairs were high and nobody could see them. He breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he wasn't comfortable with public displays of affection like Edward.

"I'm not afraid! I'm watching it right now!" Belinda exclaimed with confidence despite the firm grip she kept on his clothes. She couldn't hold his hand because he was using it to eat.

"Go ahead!" Duke shrugged, smiling at her indulgently. For him, there was nothing to be afraid of. He kept his cool throughout the entire movie and his pupils didn't dilate even once. All he did as he watched the film was to feed Belinda some popcorn. Despite buying such a big bag of snacks, she hadn't even touched them once. He was happy to serve her for the time being.

Duke, don't you find the scenes horrible at all?" As she spoke, Duke fed her mouth some popcorn again. When she realized that he had been doing it for her for a while, her cheeks flushed once again. She felt awkward all of a sudden, not knowing if she should keep eating it or spit it out. Her attention had been on the movie the entire time, so she didn't notice the simple things he did for her.

"Horrible? Those are just some scenes created by people. What's wrong?" Duke touched his own face when he found Belinda staring at him. He couldn't help feeling a little strange. Was there something on his face?

"Oh! It's nothing. Just watch the movie." Belinda laughed nervously, almost biting her own tongue. She cringed inwardly and berated herself. They were watching a horror movie. Why was she laughing like a fool? She must have looked stupid.

Duke chuckled and kept feeding her without calling her out on it. But now that Belinda was aware, she became self-conscious and almost bit his fingers several times. Duke frowned, a complicated emotion flashing in his eyes. Luckily, they were at the cinema. If they were at home instead, he couldn't sit quietly like a proper gentleman. He would have flung himself upon her already. 'Is this woman doing it on purpose or unintentionally? Doesn't she know how tempting her behavior is?' Duke thought in exasperation.

Frustrating thoughts ran through Duke's mind throughout the whole movie, so he decided to stop feeding her. As a result, Belinda took out all the snacks she bought when they finished watching the movie. It was quite the pity.

As the crowd exited the theater, Belinda was still immersed in the movie. Because she was in a daze, she was almost knocked down by the people around her. Fortunately, Duke took her in his arms in time. It was his duty as a husband to protect his woman from harm.