Chapter 759: She Doesn't Love Me (part one)

"Duke, please say yes! You see, they are all hoping that you can come with us. You don't often take part in such a gathering after all. Since you're already here, I think it's okay to meet their demands this time, right?" Rachel said in a soft tone. She was persuading Duke on behalf of all the colleagues. But in her mind, she wished she could attach herself to Duke twenty-four hours every day.

Duke raised his head, with his gaze sweeping rapidly on the crowd. His refusal was on the tip of his tongue but he hesitated when he saw the yearning eyes from all his subordinates. For a moment, Duke felt a little embarrassed. Of course, as a CEO, he could ignore their kind invitation. Because he was dining with them here. Such dinner gathering was rare for him before, and in his mind, it already inspired their team spirit. However, also as a successful leader, he had to consider the feelings of employees. So, such a proposal really placed him in a dilemma.

"All right! I'll go with you all. But I can only stay for a while." Sometimes a compromise was not a sign of weakness. It could also mean a wiser and more sophisticated decision. What you obtained was usually more than what you lost. This saying best described the current Duke's situation.

"Hurray!" The crowd burst into cheers upon hearing what Duke said and became more casual with their CEO. Their feeling of constrained was gone. Rachel also felt happy with Duke's decision. As far as Rachel was concerned, she still could influence Duke's decision and thought that he might still have some affections to her. She exhaled mildly with a glamorous smile on her face. Joy Karaoke was S City's top KTV. It was also one of the favorite places of many upper-class people. They just wanted to go to a normal level KTV at first. However, their CEO's persistence led them to stand before that supreme KTV. Duke was not showing off. He just felt uncertain about the safety problem with normal KTVs.

"Thank you very much for your hard work recently. I am always very proud of having professional colleagues with me. You have contributed a lot to the success of our company. It will be a happy night for us. Enjoy yourself. Have fun as much as you can. I will pay all the bill. You deserve it." Duke said as he proposed a toast to them. He seldom came to the KTV. He normally went to the Sexy World with Edward and other guys. It was only when they wanted to relax that they came here to roar a bit. He wasn't good at singing. Rain was the karaoke master in their group who never let the microphone go once he got the chance to sing.

"Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Leng." The box was full of cheers after Duke's opening speech. Such a treatment was so precious that all the people in the room felt excited. They were even much happier at this point than when they got bonuses.

Duke smiled, with his mouth twitching slightly. He suddenly envied them and their simple happiness. These were the joys of ordinary people's life, something he wasn't privileged with as he was from a higher place.

"Mr. Leng! Don't just sit there. Come and join us. Why not sing a song?" One man asked bravely. People were usually like that after having some alcohol. They would act like crazy and forget their fears. Duke's employees started to cheer for him to sing a song. It was not difficult to imagine how they would regret their actions the next day. However, they were all heroes, asking their cold CEO to sing a song that night.

"No. No. I am not good at singing. You sing and I listen. It is already a fun for me to see so many great singers in our company. Go ahead. Don't pay much attention to me. Have fun!" Duke waved his hand and said No. It would be fine for him to sing before his close friends. But to sing in front of his subordinates? Definitely No. It would be too embarrassing and he had an image to maintain before them.

Duke, would you mind singing a song with me?" Rachel was undoubtedly good at finding opportunities to show how close she was to Duke even before Duke could notice. Everyone there would think that they had an intimate relationship after the evening, "Sorry, Rachel, but I don't want to sing. I would be fine just sitting here. You can play with them. Enjoy." Duke shifted to the side, deliberately moving away from Rachel. He could still remember what Rachel said that afternoon. They could not be lovers ever but they could still be friends. He would not accept today's invitation if not because of those words. However, how she behaved made him confused. It seemed that Rachel wanted to pursue his love again. It was impossible. He would never give Rachel any chance. The past could only be ... a past.

"Aren't we still friends? It would be fine for friends to sing a song, right? Aren't you going to give me a chance? Just a song." Rachel murmured to Duke, in a soft and pleading way. She felt embarrassed at his refusal. She used what she said before in hope of Duke changing his mind.

"Mr. Leng. Why not just sing a love song with Rachel? I will help you find one and play." Cheering was a common party scene. It didn't matter whether Duke agreed or not, the man selected a song for them. A famous love song by two pop stars started filling the room. It was "That year, this day". It seemed that the man who suggested just picked the song randomly. The lyrics of the song was about the lost love between a young couple who were happy before but then started having misunderstandings that led them to break up. The couple met again after many years in that song and remembered their good times together. They regretted that they broke up but then, they could never turn back time anymore. What a coincidence! That was just similar to Duke and Rachel's first love!

"That year, you can't bring it to today. It doesn't matter who was right and who was wrong in that year." Duke couldn't help but frown once the microphone was already crammed in his hand. He wanted to refuse again but hesitated when the song began. The melody and lyrics had brought him back to the deepest part of the past memory. He clearly knew about the affection he had once for Rachel. That was a young impulse. However, as many years passed, he had slowly let that love fade out of his life together with those memories.

Duke was still in the middle of his thoughts when the crowd noticed their CEO was holding the microphone. They cheered for Duke to sing. It was hard for him to disregard the happiness of the crowd. Soon enough and he started singing against his will. "This day can't back to that year." The sentence was same as what Duke felt. Rachel was still Rachel, and he was still who he was. But the affection was different. Rachel was no longer his love.

Duke's voice was low and deep. Unlike his cold looks, his song was full of tenderness. He was indulged in the music. "Perhaps the limit of a love for a man is to believe forever." That was the part where his thoughts and the song's lyrics opposed. How long was forever? He never dreamed of forever. He just wanted to cherish every day with Belinda.

Rachel affectionately gazed at Duke. Duke was an excellent and handsome man. His eyes were shining brightly. He was gentle and considerate. The more she found out Duke's brilliance, the less willing she felt to let him go. This wonderful man should belong to her. Why let other woman rob him? She could not accept that.

The whole room was quiet except for the duet. Everyone's attention was fixed on them. Some even brought out their mobile phones to capture the wonderful moment.

The crowd burst into a warm applause after the song. Duke was suddenly shy. He wasn't the type of CEO to blush in public but this was his first time to sing in front of people. He felt uneasy throughout the whole song. It was fortunate that Rachel was good at singing and made up for his shortcomings.

The party atmosphere heightened after a while. The alcohol was always an indispensable and the crowd started to toast to each other. Almost everyone had a toast to Duke. It was difficult to say no and he had much more wine than he had expected. People in the room got more and more excited as they were stimulated by the drink. Some people were playing tricks. Some were dancing to the music. Some were singing or rather shouting. What a crazy world. It was rare to see these white-collar elites in frenzy with their top collar button loosely opened. It was very noisy.

Duke pressed his temples as he felt dizzy. He had drunk too much wine in the restaurant and that KTV. He raised his hand to see the time and noticed that it was time for him to go home. He quietly walked out of the room. However, to his surprise, Rachel followed him.

"Where are you going, Duke?" Rachel did not drink much wine as all her attention was on Duke every minute. She immediately noticed that Duke was about to go and she followed him outside.

"It is very late. I must go home. You can continue to play with them. Have fun. I"ll go first." He went straight to the reception and asked them to put the whole fee for tonight to his account.

You had too much drink tonight. Why not let me send you back? Rachel held his arm to support his shakey body. That was the first time she held him again after many years. She could not help but remember the time when they first met. She never knew that Duke was the heir of the Leng Group. Duke used to live in a small apartment when they were in love. She really wanted to take that nights chance to know where the real Leng house was located and how it looked like.