Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Mr. Blackwood, No Pouting

"Does it really hurt, or are you faking it?"

"It really hurts."

"Do you want some painkillers?"

"A kiss from my wife will make the pain go away."

Sophie Shaw realized he wasn’t actually in pain—he was just being playful.

Dr. Cole had cleaned, medicated, and bandaged his wound, and he hadn’t made a single sound the entire time.

His pain tolerance was clearly exceptional.

"Mr. Blackwood, no wheedling."

"..."

The man quieted down.

Sophie placed her hand on his forehead. "Your temperature seems to have gone down."

She could feel he had been sweating quite a bit. He had been sleeping on top of her for so long that a large patch of her clothes was soaked through.

"Alaric Blackwood, are you hungry?"

"Not hungry."

"You haven’t eaten all day, have you?"

"Yeah."

"That’s not good. You need to eat something."

She pulled back the covers and helped Alaric Blackwood into the bathroom so they could both freshen up.

His fever had just broken, and with his injuries, she couldn’t give him a proper bath. The best she could do was give him a quick wipe-down with a hot towel.

After they both changed into fresh, dry clothes, she led him downstairs by the hand.

She pulled out her phone to check the time. It was already past nine.

Not wanting to bother the cook, she led Alaric Blackwood to the dining room, pulled out a chair for him, and then went into the kitchen. She took some ingredients from the refrigerator and started making noodles.

She was making a very light Yangchun noodle soup when a figure in a robe wandered into the dining room.

It was Mandy Halloway.

The woman, holding a mug, walked straight to the water dispenser and filled it up.

"Hunger wake you up?"

Alaric Blackwood remained silent.

Mandy Halloway filled her mug but didn’t immediately head back to her room. Instead, she sat in the chair next to Alaric, glanced toward the busy figure in the kitchen, and nudged his arm with her elbow. "Son," she whispered, "you and Sophie should stay here a few more days."

"We’re going back to Maplewood Estate tomorrow."

"Don’t! Your injuries haven’t healed. Why go back?"

"To have some time alone with my wife."

Mandy Halloway rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of water. Thinking of how Nina Halloway was trending online again, she asked, "Is your sister’s contract with her agency about to expire?"

"Yeah."

"What are her plans?"

"She wants to take a break for a while."

"That’s good. She finally knows she needs to rest."

The mention of Nina Halloway reminded Alaric Blackwood of Leon Grant. He couldn’t help but warn his mother, "Don’t let her see Leon Grant again."

"Why?"

"Leon Grant is a suspect in her kidnapping."

Mandy Halloway was stunned. "A suspect?"

"He’s a very strong suspect."

"But the police said he has an alibi."

"My sister also said there were several masked men. He didn’t need to do the kidnapping himself."

Mandy Halloway sighed. "And here I was, happy someone finally came to propose..."

"It’s not like my sister can’t find a husband."

"I know that. I’m just afraid she’s still hung up on Jaden. I was hoping she could start a new relationship and move on from the pain."

"That’s completely unnecessary."

Mandy Halloway raised an eyebrow. "How has your sister been lately? She was trending online in the middle of the night, a crying mess at the hospital emergency room. I called her, but her personal bodyguard answered. He said he accidentally ate the wrong medicine and had to get his stomach pumped. So tell me, if the bodyguard was the one getting his stomach pumped, why was she crying so hard?"

"I don’t really know."

He had been running a high fever when Nina Halloway was trending online.

"And those unscrupulous media outlets, claiming a close relative of hers was critically ill. It made your dad so mad he immediately had his lawyers send a warning letter."

Alaric Blackwood propped his chin on his hand, looking listless. As he listened to Mandy Halloway’s chatter, his eyelids started to feel heavy.

He only perked up when Sophie came over with the freshly cooked Yangchun noodles.

"Come sit here, my love."

He pulled out the chair on his other side.

Sophie set down the noodles and sat next to him. Before she could even pick up her chopsticks, the man’s arm came up to rest on her shoulder, and he began to affectionately rub it.

The noodles had just come out of the pot and were scalding hot.

He rested his head on Sophie’s shoulder, took one of her hands, and laced their fingers together.

Sophie wasn’t bothered by any of it, letting him be as close as he wanted.

Mandy Halloway felt like a giant, glaring third wheel. She got up to leave but couldn’t resist a parting shot. "Alaric, if you’re going to eat, then eat. Why are you being so clingy?"

Before Alaric Blackwood could speak, Sophie smiled. "It’s fine. He has skin hunger, doesn’t he? He told me about it. I don’t mind."

Mandy Halloway was dumbfounded. Her gaze darted back and forth between Sophie’s and Alaric’s faces.

"What kind of hunger?"

"Skin hunger. It means you feel lonely and crave affectionate touch and hugs. It’s a psychological condition. Mom, didn’t you know he suffers from this?"

Mandy Halloway’s mouth twitched. She looked at her wonderful son. "Alaric, when did you..."

"Ahem!" Alaric Blackwood coughed, warning his mother to stop talking.

If she said another word, the tall tale he’d spun would be exposed right then and there.

She was his mother, after all. The moment he coughed, Mandy Halloway understood and swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

"Fine."

"Keep on being ’hungry,’ then."

"I won’t disturb you two."

With that, the mother gracefully departed with her mug.

The dining room fell silent. Under the soft lights, there were only the two of them and two bowls of steaming Yangchun noodles.

Sophie wasn’t an idiot. Mandy Halloway’s reaction made her realize the "skin hunger" was likely a lie Alaric Blackwood had made up to trick her.

She shrugged her shoulder, dislodging Alaric’s head, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating.

Sensing that Sophie had figured out his lie, he cleared his throat twice. "I really do have skin hunger."

"I didn’t say anything."

"..."

Alaric Blackwood ate his noodles in silence.

After they finished, they went back to their room upstairs, where he fell back into a deep, long sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, the sky was bright.

Sophie was nowhere to be seen in the room. His fever was completely gone. With Sophie by his side, he had slept soundly, and it seemed even his wounds didn’t hurt as much.

He washed up, went downstairs, and after finishing breakfast, made a call to Preston Chase.

Before long, Preston Chase arrived.

"Assistant Chase, I need you to take a business trip. My apologies for the trouble."

Preston Chase nodded. "Mr. Blackwood, just give me my instructions."

"I need you to go to Silhaven. Keep the trip confidential."

...

「Heart of the Ocean.」

Sophie had just finished the morning meeting and returned to her office when a visitor arrived.

It was Joseph Shaw.

After some thought, she told Hannah Sutton to let him in.

The swelling on Joseph Shaw’s face from Alaric Blackwood’s punch had gone down. It being a workday, he was dressed sharply in a suit and appeared to be in high spirits. He entered with a smile. "Sophie, thank you for agreeing to see me."

She asked Hannah Sutton to bring in a cup of coffee, then sat behind her desk with a cold expression and began to deal with some urgent documents that needed her signature.

After Assistant Sutton delivered the coffee and left, Joseph Shaw finally spoke again. "Sophie, what happened before was my fault."

"Why are you really here?"

"It’s nothing important. I just wanted to come and see you."

"I’m very busy."

"You’re busy. I won’t disturb you."

Joseph Shaw took a sip of his coffee, showing no intention of leaving.

Sophie finished with her documents, pressed the button on her desk phone, and instructed Hannah Sutton, "Notify the design department that we’ll have a new product meeting in half an hour."

After hanging up, she took the finalized new product designs from a drawer, placed them in a folder, and began preparing for the meeting.

Joseph Shaw watched her, and for a fleeting moment, he saw a trace of Mina Ford in her.

"Sophie, your brother’s birthday is coming up. He hopes you’ll come home to celebrate with him."

Sophie glanced at the calendar on her desk and recalled Alaric Blackwood mentioning that Mrs. Ford’s birthday banquet was approaching.

As it happened, her grandmother and Joel Kane shared the same birthday.

She rejected Joseph Shaw outright. "What a coincidence. My grandmother’s birthday is coming up too, and I’ve already promised to spend it with her."