Free Web NovelChapter 232: Chapter 235: You Want to Imprison Me?
A blinding white light beat against her thin eyelids. Faintly, a few bird calls chirped by her ear.
Charlotte Shaw pulled herself from a chaotic dream and struggled to open her eyes.
An unfamiliar room, an unfamiliar view from the window, an unfamiliar scent. Charlotte Shaw froze for a moment, then threw off the covers and shot up.
CLICK—
The doorknob turned and released, and the door was gently pushed open.
Willow Quincy walked in at a leisurely pace.
"You’re awake?" He stood with his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow at Charlotte Shaw.
Charlotte Shaw stared at him blankly. The moment their eyes met, the entire sequence of events came flooding back to her with perfect clarity.
The tire punctured by a nail, the stray cat that suddenly appeared in the alley, the dark shadow that loomed over her, the acrid smell of chemicals...
It all connected.
"Willow Quincy, you kidnapped me?" Charlotte Shaw’s brows knitted tightly, her lowered eyes churning with overwhelming rage.
Willow Quincy tilted his head, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
"Sonia, how can you call this a kidnapping?" He walked to the bedside and sat down, his gentle gaze fixed on Charlotte Shaw. "Kidnapping is for money, but I’m not after money. So, I haven’t kidnapped you."
"..." Charlotte Shaw stared daggers at him, saying nothing.
He raised a hand and stroked Charlotte Shaw’s cheek, his touch gentle and affectionate, his eyes tinged with a hint of sentimentality.
"Sonia, I’ve been avoiding you for over ten years. Now, I can finally face you without hiding."
"...Don’t call me that!" Charlotte Shaw slapped Willow Quincy’s hand away, her face a mask of revulsion.
Willow Quincy seemed to have expected this reaction. He was neither surprised nor angry; in fact, the smile on his lips only deepened.
"Sonia, haven’t you always wanted to know why I was always so harsh with you? I can explain it to you now."
"I don’t want to hear it."
Charlotte Shaw turned and got out of bed, not even bothering with slippers as she bolted out of the room.
She seemed to be in a villa. After running out of the room and through a living room, she came upon a spiral staircase.
She ran down the stairs, and when she reached the ground floor, she saw the main entrance.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she sprinted straight for the door.
But, as expected, just as she reached the entrance, her path was blocked by a group of bodyguards in black.
The bodyguards stood in two neat rows, silently and resolutely blocking her way like a small mountain. There was no way for Charlotte Shaw to get out.
She glared at them resentfully, her fierce expression her only reaction.
’I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape.’ When she had first run out of the room, Willow Quincy hadn’t panicked at all. He didn’t chase her or call for anyone to grab her. She knew then that she probably couldn’t get away.
But she couldn’t accept being locked up here by Willow Quincy, so she had to at least try.
CLACK... CLACK... CLACK...
The sound of unhurried footsteps approached from behind. Charlotte Shaw turned, her expression impassive as she looked coldly at Willow Quincy.
"Willow Quincy, are you trying to imprison me?"
Willow Quincy’s eyes crinkled as he smiled, a smile so gentle and innocent. "Sonia, I like you so much. How could I bear to imprison you?"
"Hah," Charlotte Shaw sneered. "You can’t bear to imprison me? Then what is this? What are these bodyguards doing?"
Willow Quincy: "They’re helping me. Helping me create an opportunity for you to fall in love with me."
Charlotte Shaw: "...In your dreams!"
Willow Quincy walked up to her, his gaze fixed on her intently. "I am, in fact, dreaming. This dream has been tangled in my mind for over ten years. I’ve tried to shatter it, to destroy it, countless times, but I’ve always failed."
"I can’t escape it. I can only accept it—accept the fact that I love you."
...
Willow Quincy’s love was so disgusting it made Charlotte Shaw want to vomit every time she heard it. Unwilling to waste another word on this scumbag, she simply raised her hand and swung it fiercely at his face.
"..."
But the expected sound of a slap never came. Charlotte Shaw’s hand was caught mid-air, grabbed tightly by Willow Quincy.
"Sonia’s temper is still as fiery as ever." Willow Quincy was still smiling, even as his fingers ambiguously caressed the bones of her wrist.
A tingling, itching sensation exploded on her wrist. Charlotte Shaw shuddered, so disgusted her scalp went numb.
"Fuck you! Get the hell off me!" she cursed in disgust, desperately trying to wrench her wrist free.
"Let go... Let me go!!"
"Hmph..." Willow Quincy let out a light laugh. Not only did he not let go, but he suddenly tightened his grip and pulled Charlotte Shaw into his arms.
Then, in one smooth motion, he bent down, hooked his arm under her thighs, and hoisted her up, effortlessly slinging her over his shoulder.
"...AHHH!!!"
Before Charlotte Shaw could even react, she found herself slung over Willow Quincy’s shoulder.
"What are you doing?!!" After a split second of shock, she began to struggle violently on his shoulder.
Willow Quincy easily subdued her with just one hand, turned, and walked steadily back into the villa. "Sonia, be a good girl."
"Like hell I will!" Charlotte Shaw spat at him maliciously, kicking and punching with all her might.
"Willow Quincy, put me down!! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!"
"Are you insane?"
"Does the Quincy Family know you’re doing this to me? If Fiona Dalton knew you were in love with your own former sister, she’d probably die of anger!"
"I—I’m a mega-influencer with millions of followers! If anyone finds out you’ve imprisoned me, you’ll bring down the entire Quincy Family!!"
Charlotte Shaw cursed and threatened, but Willow Quincy showed no reaction at all.
He carried her steadily on his shoulder, returning her to the upstairs room.
"Sonia, you just finished your postpartum confinement. You shouldn’t get too emotional." He placed Charlotte Shaw carefully on the bed, then knelt beside it, cupping her cold feet in his hands with a pained expression.
"Get lost!!!" Charlotte Shaw kicked out. Willow Quincy could have dodged but didn’t, taking the full force of her blow.
After kicking him, she curled up, staring at him as if he were a psychopath.
"Feeling better now?" he sighed softly, a helpless look on his face.
Charlotte Shaw clenched her fists in fury. "Willow Quincy, let me go!!"
Willow Quincy: "I will let you go, but not now."
"Sonia, I bought a house in Nordheim. Once the renovations are done, I’ll take you there. Didn’t you once say you wanted to live somewhere you could see the aurora borealis? Let me take you there, okay?"
"Not okay!" Charlotte Shaw screamed at the top of her lungs, every fiber of her being radiating rejection. "Where you buy a house has nothing to do with me! I won’t go with you! I want to go back to Felix Preston!!"
"..."
The moment she said the name "Felix Preston," the smile on Willow Quincy’s face instantly froze.
He pushed himself up from the floor, using the bed for support. He looked down at Charlotte Shaw and suddenly said:
"Sonia, I’ve known for a very long time that you aren’t my real sister."
