Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: I Hate You, I Hate You to Death

Sophie was stunned by Joseph Shaw’s words. "I didn’t do anything like that."

"At the charity gala last night, plenty of people saw you take Vianne to the restroom. No one saw her after that. She came back today covered in injuries, and you still dare to deny it...?"

"I didn’t do it!" Sophie screamed, cutting Joseph Shaw off. "Don’t pin some fabricated crime on me! If I say I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it!"

Her eyes were bloodshot, and she trembled with rage.

Her ferocity stunned Joseph for a few seconds before he shot back, "Then how do you explain what happened to her last night? You were the last person to see her. The man who assaulted Vianne said it himself—that you’re the one who put her in his bed."

"Who?"

"Who said that? What’s his name?"

"He’s framing me. I’m not letting this go."

Sophie roared at Joseph Shaw in a fury.

"Conor Sullivan."

Sophie froze at the name, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

’Great!’

’A man she’d never even met, someone she’d only heard of, was actually trying to pin this on her.’

She pulled her phone from her purse and, without a second thought, went to call the police, but Joseph Shaw immediately stopped her.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think I’m doing? I’m calling the police, of course. You can’t just accuse me like this. I’m going to find out who’s really behind this."

When she shook him off and tried to dial again, Joseph Shaw snatched the phone from her hand. He grabbed her wrist and began dragging her away.

"Let go! Where are you taking me?"

"Taking you back to apologize to Vianne and beg for her forgiveness."

"Are you crazy?"

Sophie struggled. "I already told you, I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me!"

"Joseph Shaw!"

"If you don’t let me go right now, then from this day on, you are no longer my father."

She began to scream like a madwoman. The sound made Joseph Shaw freeze, and he stopped in his tracks.

He turned to look at the almost hysterical Sophie. "What did you just say?"

"Joseph Shaw, I hate you!"

"I absolutely hate you!"

Joseph Shaw was utterly stunned.

’He’d married into the Kane family, becoming a live-in son-in-law just to pay for Sophie’s education. And in the end, his own daughter hated him?’

"You don’t believe me! You bastard! I disown you! I disown you!"

Sophie lost all reason. Years of suppressed emotions erupted in that single moment.

She screamed, swinging her purse wildly and repeatedly smashing it against Joseph Shaw.

Joseph Shaw raised an arm to shield his face. The metal charm on her purse gashed the back of his hand. He wanted to calm her down, but then he saw blood begin to stream from her nose. As she swung her purse again and again, she started to sway unsteadily before collapsing to the ground.

"Sophie!"

He cried out in alarm, catching Sophie before she hit the ground and gently lowering her down. He quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the blood streaming from her nose.

"I disown you."

"I hate you..."

Sophie was still murmuring those two phrases in anguish as she lost consciousness.

Joseph Shaw’s eyes welled up, and tears streamed down his face. He held her tightly in his arms, pulling out his phone to call for an ambulance.

When the ambulance arrived, paramedics lifted Sophie onto a stretcher and rushed her to the hospital.

He got in his car and followed them. Along the way, Bianca Kane called repeatedly, but he was in no mood to answer. He just focused on following the ambulance to the hospital.

Sophie was soon moved to a room. The doctor said she had fainted from extreme emotional distress and recommended she stay for a day of observation. If everything was fine, she could be discharged.

Joseph Shaw finished the admission paperwork and was keeping watch by Sophie’s bedside when Bianca Kane called again. This time, he answered.

"Where is she?" Bianca Kane’s voice was laced with annoyance.

"Sophie fainted. She’s in the hospital."

"Fainted? After what she did to Vianne, she has the nerve to put on an act like this?"

"It didn’t seem like Sophie was faking it."

The memory of Sophie trembling with rage, completely unhinged, still made his heart pound with fear.

He had never seen Sophie so utterly broken.

"Which hospital?"

The moment Joseph Shaw gave her the hospital’s location, Bianca Kane hung up.

Barely ten minutes later, several men in black suits burst into the room.

They were the Kane family’s bodyguards. Without a word of explanation, one of them strode forward, ripped the blanket off Sophie, and hauled her unconscious form over his shoulder.

Joseph Shaw tried to intervene but was forcefully held back by two other bodyguards.

The bodyguard carrying Sophie issued a warning. "Chairman Kane ordered us to bring her back to the Kane estate. We’ll have to trouble you, President Shaw, to handle the discharge paperwork."

"You..."

"Watch him. Make sure he completes the discharge paperwork." With that order, the lead bodyguard carried Sophie out of the room.

Joseph Shaw was forced to complete Sophie’s discharge paperwork under the watchful eyes of the two bodyguards.

On the way back to the Kane estate, he wasn’t even allowed to drive. One of the bodyguards took the wheel.

「Meanwhile, at the Kane estate.」

Bianca Kane had already summoned Damian Morgan. She was confirming with him that Sophie had indeed threatened him, using Vianne Kane’s tainted past to secure control over the Heart of the Ocean.

Bianca Kane gritted her teeth in fury. "I really underestimated that little bitch."

"Have they brought her yet?"

Vianne Kane’s weak voice drifted down from the top of the stairs.

The moment they saw her, Bianca Kane and Damian immediately rose to meet her.

Damian, careful to avoid the injuries on her back, slipped one arm around her waist and the other under her knees, gently sweeping her up into his arms.

"You should be resting. Why did you come out of your room?"

Vianne’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. She gritted her teeth viciously. "I want to watch Sophie pay the price with my own two eyes."

Damian kissed her on the forehead and carried her down the stairs.

Just as they reached the living room, the doorbell rang.

The butler hurried to open the door. Several bodyguards strode in, the one in the lead carrying Sophie slung over his shoulder.

THUD—

She was thrown to the floor. The hard impact shocked her into a state of partial consciousness.

Finding herself back in the Kane home, surrounded by bodyguards with the entire Kane family looking on, she let out a cold laugh. "Well, well. Quite the welcoming party."

Seeing the cold smirk playing on Sophie’s lips, Vianne was overcome with rage and began to struggle in Damian’s arms.

"Damian, put me down."

Damian reluctantly set her down. Ignoring the pain, Vianne rushed at Sophie, lunging at her and wrapping her hands tightly around her neck.

"Why?"

"Why on earth did you do this to me?"

"We’ve lived together for ten years! How could you hate me this much? Enough to throw me into Conor Sullivan’s bed?"

Vianne was hysterical, her grip tightening as if she meant to kill.

"Sophie, you have the heart of a viper! You’re so vicious!"

"It wasn’t me!"

She grabbed Vianne’s throat in return. "I didn’t do it! Vianne, if you have half a brain, you’ll let go!"

"You’re still trying to deny it!"

"I said it wasn’t me..."

The two of them were choking each other, neither willing to give in.

Vianne was badly injured and extremely weak, and Sophie soon managed to overpower her, flipping her over and pinning her to the floor.

Seeing Vianne’s eyes roll back in her head as she was about to pass out, Damian rushed forward and kicked Sophie hard in the shoulder.

The moment Joseph Shaw walked in the door, he saw Sophie get kicked to the floor.

He froze for a second. Then, eyes bloodshot, he walked up to Damian, gritted his teeth, and swung his hand hard across Damian’s face.