Enraptured

Chapter 37

As expected, I had already found myself separated from Belle, not even halfway through the night. I must've been only able to stay by her sight for a good hour before I was pulled away from Belle by a group of my company's board members, families that have been allied with Nikolaos Industries since my great-great-great grandfather's time. And it didn't help that my father was part of the group of old geezers who were trying to pull me away from my Belle.

With much coaxing on Belle's part and a promise to stay within my sight, she eventually managed to get me to detach myself from her.

I reluctantly left her side and followed the others to the reserved upper balcony of the hall overlooking the entire floor.

The old geezers had brought along their successors in hopes of showing off their sons. Some were bragging about how well their sons did in college, while others were talking about how their sons already took over a portion of their company but not without kissing up to my father, saying that their son's achievements were still nothing compared to mine. Like how I took over the entire company straight out of college or how I expanded Nikolaos Industries ten-fold within the first two years.

But I could honestly care less.

I was much more occupied with watching my lovely fiancée, whose beauty naturally drew everyone's attention despite her shy nature.

She also seemed to have been pulled aside by a group of lively ladies who looked to be around her age. I couldn't quite put my finger on who they were, but I think that they were partners of the old geezers' sons. Girlfriends and fiancées, I believe...

I shrugged off the thought, not caring too much about who they were, and redirected my focus back onto Belle. She looked breathtaking in her lavender-colored dress that flowed perfectly down to her feet. The way her bare shoulders shone under the lights, just begging to be kissed.

My eyes drifted down her figure, noting Theo's little figure just to her right. He was holding on to his mother by pinching a snippet of her dress between his fingers. Honestly just too adorable of a sight, how her little one being protective over his mother who was more than 3 times his age.

I glanced back at Belle when I noticed her shifting ever so slightly from side to side. It wasn't too noticeable unless one was staring at her as intently as I did.

Was she not feeling well?

Her back was turned toward me so that I couldn't see her facial expression, but I noticed that Belle seemed a bit taller than normal today. Were her heels bothering her? Maybe I should—

"Ah, Demetrius! There you are!"

I pushed myself off the balcony railings and turned around in search of the owner of the voice, only to find half of the previous group remaining.

The old geezers must've taken off with my father to show him the aged liquor that they were bragging about earlier and left their sons with me. They surrounded me in a semi-circle, each nursing some sort of drink in their hands.

The one who probably called out to me was holding a glass out to me. He had a big grin on his face, but I could tell it was nothing of the friendly sort. "We were just discussing the whole fiasco involving the Bellemontes, but I guess it wasn't interesting enough for you to join in. I shouldn't expect a busy man like your to fuss about such little things, though."

I knew that the old geezers were making a commotion about the Bellemonte case earlier, but I wasn't all too concerned about it. They were worried about the rivaling company's recent rapid increase in its growth rate, but Lukas had already helped me find information indicating that there was actually a dispute inside the company about this event.