HIDDEN WIFE : CHAPTER 21 – 30
CHAPTER 26
Duncan scoffed loudly immediately I said that.
“I knew it, you just wanna go back and resume your cafe” he twisted his lips. “Why am I just realizing that my wife is even more careerist than me?”
I turned fully to face him, pouted my lips and held his face in my hands, then blinked innocently as I gave him my best puppy eyes.
“Can we go back already?”
“I.. I..” he paused. “I’m resting here and taking a break from all my work to spend more time with you, can’t we just stay for some time and make up for the six years we’ve missed?”
He’s taking a break to spend time with me? Wow, is this still Duncan?
“Please, my heartbeat” he pleaded.
“But.. my cafe, I’ll lose all my customers and I won’t make any money this month” I withdrew my hands from his and looked down. “I have a budget” I whispered.
There was a brief moment of silence, until he spoke up.
“Hand me my phone” he pointed at his phone behind me.
I reached for it and handed it to him.
“Thanks” he said as he collected it.
He typed on it for a few seconds, then my phone beeped and I reached for it. My mouth fell open when I saw ‘your account has been credited $15,000,000’ from Duncan Baldwin. I faced him with a surprised frown.
“Care explaining this?” I asked.
“I’ve compensated you for all the money you’ve missed this month because of me” he replied.
What? $15,000,000? He thinks my small cafe can make so much money in a year?
“I don’t need it” I told him.
He shrugged his shoulders and tossed his phone on the bedside table, then pulled me on him as he closed his eyes.
“I’ve sent and I don’t take back what I’ve given out”
“But I really don’t need it.. ”
“We are going back next tomorrow” he cut me off.
I stopped talking as I searched his eyes to know if he’s lying or not.
“We’re really going home tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yep” he nodded.
“Yay! That’s great news” I enthused and kssed his lips lightly. “Can we go shopping later?”
“Uh… ”
“Don’t say no, I wanna buy some gifts for Mrs Jackson and the other staffs back home”
“Hm” he hummed. “I have a surprise for you too, we’ll go there after shopping”
“A surprise?”
“Yeah”
I wonder what kind of surprise he has for me.
Then my mind went back to the money he’s just sent me, I wanted to tell him I don’t need the money but my phone started ringing. I checked the caller’s ID and realized it’s an unknown number, I sat up and received it.
“Hello?” I answered the call.
“Hello, Rachel, longest time” an unfamiliar female voice replied enthusiastically.
I frowned a little bit, who’s this? She sounded as if she know me very well.
“You must be wondering who I am, right?” she asked.
“Yeah” I answered.
She laughed.
“It’s Jacinta, Mike’s girl”
Jacinta? Oh, Mike’s fiancee! I smacked my head mentally for being d!mwitted.
“Hi, Jacinta”
“Hi, I was wondering if you’re in town now?”
“Any problem? Are you and Mike still having issues?” I asked the first thing that crossed my mind.
It’s been three weeks since I last saw or spoke with Mike, who knows if he’s found another fault in his fiancee; Men are so problematic, I have one with me here.
“No, no, no” I could imagine her shaking her head right now. “Mike and I are doing perfectly great, I just wanna ask you of a little favor”
“A favor?”
“Yeah”
I nodded, but quickly remembered she can’t see me.
“Alright, what’s it?”
She stayed silent for a moment, then cleared her throat and spoke.
“I wanna learn how to run a business, I don’t know if you can teach me?” she asked in an unsure tone.
My brows furrowed at her request, I blinked a few times and looked down at myself.
Duncan gave me a look that says ‘what’s wrong’ and I shook my head at him, silently telling him I’m fine.
“Hello, Rachel? Are you still with me?”
“Yeah, but…” I paused and gulped down a lump in my throat. “.. you want me to teach how to run a business?”
“Yeah”
“Are you being serious? Or you’re just pulling my legs?”
I mean, her parents are rich folks and she probably attended a prominent university, what am I, a high school dropout, supposed to teach her about running a business?
“No, no, I’m not pulling your legs, I’m being serious” she sighed. “Mike and I have come up with a business plan, but we both have little to none knowledge about running it”
“Oh”
“Yeah, I’ve seen how capable you are and I realize you’re perfect to be my teacher in this aspect”
I blushed at her compliment, which made Duncan frown as he eyed me suspiciously, he must be thinking I’m talking to a man now.
Then mouthed ‘i’m the only one who can make you blush’ at me, I rolled my eyeballs and shook my head. What an ignorant, jealous husband.
‘i’m talking with a woman’ I mouthed back at him.
“Hello, Rachel?”
“Uh…” I cleared my throat. “Here’s the thing, Jacinta” I paused. “I don’t have a degree in business administration and I’m only running my business the way any layman would run their business, and…”
“Wait a sec” she cut in. “Rachel, do you think I’m mocking you by asking you to teach me?” she asked.
“No, that’s not what I meant, I just…” I trailed off, I don’t have what to say.
“Do you know even the rich do cry in pain and ask for help too? When a less privileged man asks for help he’s being sincere, but when a privileged man asks for help he’s being insincere?” she asked.
Her question does makes perfect sense, she’s asking me for help meant she appreciate me.
“Fine, we’ll talk more when I get back” I told her.
“Great, thank you”
“Oh, don’t mention it”
“Alright, bye bye”
“Bye” I replied and hang up.
Duncan cleared his throat which made me glared at him.
“You’re such a jealous fr.eak”
“You can’t blame, my wife is too hot and I don’t trust other guys around her, because I can hardly resist her” he replied.
He sure knows the right words to say to make me blush very hard. I jumped off the bed and headed towards the closet.
“Go freshen up, Duncan, we’re gonna be leaving for the mall soon” I told him.
“Yes, ma’am” he replied but didn’t move an inch.
He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes as he balanced himself on the bed. I sighed and ignored him for that moment, making up my mind that I’ll come back to him when I’m done changing.
“Why did we buy so much groceries, again?” I asked Duncan as Lucas took a turn.
“We’ll be needing them at the place I’m taking you” he replied.
We’re done shopping, we didn’t spend too much time at the mall because even though Duncan was in disguise his die-hard fans still recognized him, and they wouldn’t stop flocking after him and asking for his autograph.
HIDDEN WIFE : CHAPTER 21 – 30
Few Minutes Later
Lucas slowed down as we near a big gate, he stopped in front of the gate and honked, then waited a few seconds for the gate to open.
I read the words boldly written on the gate.
RACHEL’S LOVE AND CARE HOME.
What is this place? Why is my name there?
I wanted to ask Duncan about it, but then again not everything is about me, this place might have nothing to do with me and having my name there might be coincidental.
The gate open and Lucas drove in, he stopped in front of a mansion. Duncan alighted and helped me alight too, then Lucas drove off to park the car.
A man and woman who seemed to be in their late forties approached us, no, the man might be in his early fifties and the woman in her late forties, and it seemed like they’re husband and wife, because I can see the man’s affection for the woman when he held her hand and helped her down a step.
Who are they? And why did Duncan bring me to see them? Or are they his relations?
“Oh, Duncan!” the woman called enthusiastically as they neared us.
“Mama!” he called her in an equally enthusiastic tone, with a very wide and bright smile.
I blinked in confusion as they hugged each other. Am I missing something here? Didn’t he told me his mom died in a car accident? Why is this woman his mama now?
He pulled away from the hug and faced the man, whom he also pulled into a hug.
“Poppa” he called him.
Hello, Mr Baldwin, you’re confusing your wife here -I screamed mentally.
The woman moved closer to me and was staring at my face closely, as if she’s confirming something then she nodded.
“She’s even more beautiful than in reality” she said.
“Uh.. thank you, ma’am” I thanked her.
She reached for my hand and held it delicately.
“Now I know why he wouldn’t stop bragging about you, you’re such a beauty goddess”
“Hehehe” I chuckled awkwardly.
As if Duncan noticed my awkwardness, he came back to my side and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“Poppa, mama, meet my wife, Rachel Baldwin” he looked down at me and planted a kss on my head. “My heartbeat, meet Mr and Mrs Hank, but the kids call them mama and poppa, they’re the orphanage’s caretaker” he introduced.
“Orphanage?” I asked, sounding very surprised.
“Yeah” Duncan answered.
I looked around in admiration, this place looks nothing like an orphanage, I mean our orphanage back then had dorms, but this looks like a home. I mean this is exactly my dream, this is my budget to build a home for orphan kids and they’d be happy and free to do whatever they want.
God bless the soul that realize my dream for me.
“Wow, whoever built this must have spent a lot of money here” I said as I continued looking around in admiration.
I realized there are five more mansions here, I don’t know how many acres of land is this, but it’s big enough to contain six mansions and there’s still enough space left.
“Yeah, I though Duncan was joking when he gave us the contract of building it” Mama said.
My eyes almost bulged out as I stared at Duncan in great shock.
“Surprise!!” he said and smiled.
“What?! This is the surprise you have for me?!” I asked.
He nodded.
“I know you’ve been saving up to build an orphanage, so, I built this for you”
“Wait, how did.. ” I trailed off as I already have my answer.
Fatima must have told him about my plan, what other secrets of mine has she told him?
My stomach churned in excitement, my joy knew no bounds and I don’t even know how to react. I simply pulled him into a very tight hug, hide my face in his chest and cried in joy.
He’s been quietly doing so much for me and helping me realize my dreams all these years, he has never stopped loving me.
As if to prove Duncan’s words, some kids raced towards us and started jumping on Duncan. I quickly stepped away from him because I might sustain injuries from how they were jumping on him in excitement; it’s as if they want him to carry all of them at once.
“Duncan! Duncan! Duncan!” they chanted as they jumped on him.
My lips curved in a smile as I watched them, my eyelids twitched as tears brimmed my eyes and I saw myself in these kids.
Memories of our days back at our orphanage flooded my mind, I remember how we’d run around, fight and up end talking the next five minutes. I couldn’t help but miss those days and every kid in our orphanage, I wonder how they’re doing right now.
“Alright kids, I brought a lot of presents for everyone, who wants to check out their presents?” Duncan asked.
“Meeeee!” they all chorused happily.
“Then come on!” he carried a two little girls and raced inside, with the other kids racing after him.
“The kids love him so much” Mama said with a satisfied smile. “They’ve been missing him” she added.
“Let’s go inside too” poppa said, mama and I nodded then headed inside.
HIDDEN WIFE : CHAPTER 21 – 30
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