Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: She Is My Daughter, No Matter What

"Grandma?"

Joseph Shaw’s expression soured. He clearly scoffed at the title.

"Sophie, the restraining order the court issued back then isn’t a joke. The Fords are forbidden from seeing you in private. If they harass you again, I can call the police. They’ll face fines or, in serious cases, even detention."

Sophie Shaw tossed the folder in her hand onto the desk and looked up at Joseph Shaw. "I’m personally filing an appeal with the court to have the order lifted. You have no right to make decisions for me anymore."

"I’m doing this for your own good."

"For my good? They’re my family. What makes you think keeping us apart is for my own good?"

"Don’t idealize the Fords. If they hadn’t tried to stop your mother and me from being together, that tragedy never would have happened. When it comes down to it, they forced our hand."

"Then what about you leaving Mom to die?"

"I didn’t leave her to die."

"She had a chance to live. But you couldn’t swallow your pride. You refused to bow your head to the Fords. And yet, funny how that tough backbone of yours went completely soft the moment you married Bianca Kane."

Sophie Shaw leaned back in her chair, thinking of all the years she had spent with the Kane family, swallowing her grievances to keep the peace. She had always deferred to Joseph Shaw, knowing his position with the Kanes wasn’t easy. Even when she was punished, locked away in confinement, she endured it.

And what did she get in return?

Joseph Shaw and the Kanes only grew more vicious.

Ever since the incident with Vianne Kane and Conor Sullivan, Sophie had been framed. As her father, Joseph Shaw hadn’t shown her a shred of trust, and that’s when she had lost all hope in him.

"Is your memory that poor? I told you I’ve disowned you as my father."

Joseph Shaw’s heart sank. "Sophie, don’t throw a childish tantrum. I was just confused with anger at the time."

"Besides, if I hadn’t contacted Alaric Blackwood that day, Bianca would have locked you up."

"I saved you."

"Enough!" Sophie Shaw cut him off, her patience gone. "Before I turned eighteen, I was locked in confinement one hundred and forty-nine times. You never once lifted a finger to help me. You just watched me get locked in and then let me out the next day."

She had moved in with Joseph Shaw to the Kane family’s house at thirteen. In the five years until she turned eighteen, she had been locked up that many times...

"Did you know that attic was filled with junk, like a giant petri dish? Not only was it so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, but it was also crawling with cockroaches and rats?"

"Did you know cockroaches would crawl in my hair? That rats would gnaw on my toenails?"

"Why did I put up with all of it? Because of you and Joel. I treated you like family, but did you ever treat me like a person?"

Joseph Shaw’s heart ached with a mix of anger and pity. "How have I not treated you like a person?"

"Don’t think I’ll forgive you just because you called Alaric Blackwood that one time."

"Fine. So you won’t forgive me. But at least come home for Joel’s birthday. He’s so hoping you’ll be there..."

"We’ll see, once he decides to tell the truth."

"What truth?"

"How my mother’s necklace ended up at auction. He still hasn’t told the truth."

"Didn’t the police already explain it? A woman bought it from a street vendor, realized it was authentic, and contacted the auction house."

"Then how did a lost necklace end up in the hands of a street vendor?"

Joseph Shaw was at a loss for words. The truth was, he had never asked Joel Kane about the necklace.

"I have a meeting soon. You can leave."

Sophie Shaw had issued his dismissal.

Her gaze was icy, her voice just as cold. This unfeeling demeanor chilled Joseph Shaw to the bone.

He stood, walked out of the office, and took the elevator downstairs. He got into a luxury car and, instead of having the driver take him back to the office, he went straight to the hospital.

「In a private hospital room.」

Bianca Kane, her face still puffy and swollen, was propped up on the hospital bed, enjoying the fruit Lana Rhodes was feeding her.

"You should get back to the office. Too many eyes and ears around here."

Bianca Kane reached out, took the bowl of grapes from him, and said, "Go on, get out of here."

Lana Rhodes had wanted to steal a kiss before leaving, but her face was still swollen like a pig’s, and he honestly couldn’t find a place to land one.

Just then, the door to the room swung open, and Joseph Shaw walked in.

Lana Rhodes shot to his feet. "President Kane, please get some rest. I’ll be on my way."

He finished speaking with feigned seriousness, gave Joseph Shaw a shallow bow as he came in, and then left.

Watching the man leave, Joseph Shaw asked with some surprise, "What was he doing here?"

"Designer Rhodes was just passing by, so he brought some fruit and came up to visit."

Worried Joseph Shaw might get suspicious, Bianca Kane popped a grape into her mouth to change the subject. "You should be at the office. What are you doing here?"

"Now that you’re the executive president of the group, if I’m not at the office, you need to be there holding down the fort."

This was what Joseph Shaw loved to hear; it felt as though he was finally getting his wife’s approval.

He sat on the edge of the bed and gently took Bianca Kane’s hand. "I’ll head back soon. I just wanted to come and check on you."

"I’m fine. I’ll have my discharge processed before Joel’s birthday. Oh, by the way, has Joel said what he wants to do for his birthday this year?"

Joseph Shaw sighed. "He wants to spend it at home with the family, just like every other year. It’s a shame Sophie won’t be coming."

"You contacted her?"

"I went to Heart of the Ocean. She refused to come back for Joel’s birthday. This whole affair has really broken her heart."

Bianca Kane gave a thoughtful little smile. "Joseph, I don’t mean to overstep, but that ungrateful brat has already disowned you. Why waste your breath on her? You’d be better off focusing on Joel."

"She’s my daughter, after all."

"You see her as your daughter, but does she see you as her father?"

Bianca Kane sneered coldly. "Ever since she married into the Blackwood Family, she’s stopped giving a damn about us. That Alaric Blackwood brat not only had his bodyguards rough me up, but he even dared to hit you, his own father-in-law. It’s preposterous! Thank goodness my uncle stood up for us and made that punk suffer a little."

The memory of Alaric Blackwood punching him made Joseph Shaw’s expression darken, and a surge of displeasure welled up inside him.

Seeing his sour expression, Bianca Kane pressed on. "That Sophie girl is so shortsighted and petty. She’s well into her twenties but has no worldly sense. If she had half a brain, she would have used her marriage into the Blackwood Family to act as a bridge, bringing the Kane and Blackwood families closer. We wouldn’t be in this mess if she had."

"We’re her family. What were we really going to do to her? When she misbehaved, all I wanted to do was put her in confinement for a bit. She didn’t help with the Dragonstone Mall deal, so we got nothing out of it, but I didn’t hold it against her. Then with Vianne’s incident, she refuses to admit what she did. She has the nerve to do it but not to own up to it. She thinks that with Alaric Blackwood backing her, her wings have finally grown. She wants to get rid of us for good."

"If you ask me, that girl is getting more and more out of line, more and more detestable. You’re her father, but you can’t control her anymore. If it’s come to this, you might as well just pretend you never had a daughter."

Joseph Shaw shook his head vehemently, his gaze firm. "She is my daughter. No matter what."

"Joseph..."

"Say no more. Even though she’s married, she is still my daughter. Nothing can change that."