Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Break Down the Door

The force of the blow snapped Damian’s head to the side.

He grit his teeth, but since the one who’d struck him was Bianca Kane’s husband, he restrained himself and didn’t fight back.

The few bodyguards present, including the butler, were all trusted subordinates who had been by Bianca Kane’s side for years. The other servants had been dismissed beforehand, so no one would dare speak of what happened in this house.

Sophie Shaw was now the target of everyone’s animosity. Surrounded by the Kane family’s bodyguards, fighting back would be like throwing an egg against a stone—she stood no chance.

However, she hadn’t at all expected Joseph Shaw to rush in and slap Damian across the face.

It was the first time he had ever stood up for her since marrying into the Kane family.

"Joseph, what are you doing?" Bianca Kane demanded, her face grim.

Joseph Shaw straightened his spine and said to Bianca Kane, "If Sophie really did do something unforgivable to Vianne, you wouldn’t have to lift a finger. I’d discipline her myself. But she says it wasn’t her. At least give her a chance to clear up this misunderstanding."

"What is there to explain? She did it. Conor Sullivan said so himself. How could that be a lie?"

Bianca Kane was seething with rage. Pointing at Sophie on the floor, she spat out through clenched teeth, "She resents Vianne. She used what happened between Vianne and Conor Sullivan to threaten Damian in exchange for control of Heart of the Ocean. Do you really think she got the company back through legitimate means?"

"Getting Heart of the Ocean wasn’t enough for her; she had to go after Vianne. Even if she’s your daughter, I will not let her off easy."

Hearing Bianca Kane’s words, Sophie froze for a moment as her mind raced.

Something suddenly clicked, and her gaze shifted subconsciously to Damian.

’I clearly blackmailed him with proof of his cheating to get Heart of the Ocean back. How did Bianca turn this into something about Vianne and Conor Sullivan?’

"So you’re the one behind this."

She glared at Damian, the pieces falling into place. She understood everything now.

"You’re the one who sent Vianne to Conor Sullivan’s bed, then pinned it all on me. Am I wrong, Damian?"

The man’s expression remained unchanged. "I don’t know any Conor Sullivan. I’ve never met him."

"Stop pretending. I know it was you."

"Sophie, you’ve been exposed. Don’t try to pin the blame on me; it’s useless. I love Vianne, and I would never do anything to hurt her. I know you hate me for leaving you, but love is selfish. There are no rules, no taking turns. I can’t control my feelings for Vianne."

As Damian spoke, he turned to Vianne with a look of utter devotion.

That look was so affectionate, he could have been staring at a dog.

He walked over to Vianne, bent down to lift her into his arms, and held her protectively. "Vianne, do you believe me?"

Vianne nodded through her tears, clinging to his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Like a delicate bird seeking shelter, she said, "I believe you, Damian. I believe you."

Watching the two of them put on their little soap opera, Sophie let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

"Dumbass."

Vianne’s eyes flashed as she glared at Sophie. "Who are you calling a dumbass?"

"You. An absolute moron."

Sophie was about to lose her mind. She’d just told Vianne that Damian had framed her, and Vianne still chose to believe him over her?

"It’s true I didn’t use the most honorable means to get Heart of the Ocean back. I used evidence of Damian cheating with Yara Valentine. The two of them were fooling around in the company break room, and I still have the full, unedited video. I made a backup."

"Vianne, let me guess. Did Damian tell you the trending story about his affair with Yara Valentine was just an AI-generated fake? What a coincidence. No expert on earth could find a single trace of AI in the video I have."

Provoked by Vianne’s foolishness, Sophie actually began to calm down. Now that she knew who was pulling the strings, she at least had a better handle on the situation.

"Don’t listen to her nonsense!"

Bianca Kane pointed at her, her finger trembling with rage. "Lock her in the attic! No one is to let her out without my command."

Hearing the order, the bodyguards surrounding Sophie immediately moved in and seized her.

They twisted her arms behind her back and bound them with a rope. Two men then began to forcibly drag and pull her toward the staircase.

As she was shoved onto the stairs, she glanced back at Joseph Shaw.

He just stood there, saying nothing, doing nothing.

’Heh.’

’What more could I expect from him?’

"Get moving. What are you looking at?"

A bodyguard gave her a hard shove, and she nearly stumbled to her knees on the stairs.

She glared at the bodyguard who had pushed her, summoned all her strength, and slammed her shoulder into him with all her might.

The bodyguard clearly hadn’t expected the woman who’d just been so compliant to dare fight back. Thrown off balance, he staggered backward, his foot found only air, and his burly frame went tumbling down the stairs.

The commotion drew everyone’s attention.

While the other bodyguard holding her was distracted by his partner’s fall, she slammed into him the same way. He reacted faster, managing to grab the banister with one hand to keep from falling down the stairs like his colleague.

She was a step above the bodyguard, giving her the advantage. Just as he steadied himself, she rammed him again, then drove her knee up sharply between his legs.

"AGHH—"

A bloodcurdling scream erupted.

The bodyguard clutched his crotch with both hands, doubling over and grimacing in agony.

"Useless trash."

Bianca Kane saw one bodyguard unconscious at the bottom of the stairs and the other kneeling on the steps after being hit in a sensitive spot. She immediately ordered the others forward.

"Get up there and grab her! And give her a good beating first!"

Sophie spun around to run upstairs, but she had barely taken a step when the kneeling bodyguard lunged out and grabbed her ankle.

He yanked her down, sending her sprawling onto the stairs. With her hands bound, she struggled desperately to get up, but the other bodyguards swarmed her, pinning her down completely.

Just as a bodyguard grabbed her arm to haul her to her feet, a tremendous crash echoed from outside.

CRASH!

The compound gate was smashed open by a black sedan.

The sedan charged into the Kane family’s courtyard, leading a procession of several other vehicles. Among them was an eye-catching, imported red supercar—the only one of its kind in all of Kingsport.

Alaric Blackwood slammed on the brakes, bringing the supercar to a screeching halt.

He threw open the car door and commanded his bodyguards, "Break that door down."

The well-trained bodyguards immediately sprinted up the steps to the reinforced front door and began kicking it with full force.

After dropping Sophie Shaw off at Heart of the Ocean, he had gone back to his company. He had barely set foot in his office, his seat not even warm yet, when he received a text from an unknown number.

The sender claimed to be Sophie’s father. He said Sophie had been forcibly taken to the Kane residence and begged him to come save her.

Unable to reach Sophie on her phone, he’d immediately told Preston Chase to notify security and had rushed over with his men.

The reinforced door shuddered violently under the assault of the tall, burly bodyguards, the loud THUD-THUD-THUD of the impacts frightening everyone inside.

"Who’s out there?"

Bianca Kane was just about to order a bodyguard to see who could be so audacious when the reinforced door burst open with a final BANG. The entire door panel crashed to the floor, the sound making everyone’s heart skip a beat.