Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Be a Father to Her Son?

Heart of the Ocean.

The conference room.

Sophie Shaw held an hour-long meeting with the design department staff to discuss new products.

The design department had a new employee who had been interviewed and hired last week. Hannah Sutton had mentioned her to Sophie; she’d studied abroad, had an impressive resume, and her past design work was quite eye-catching.

The new designer’s name was Shayla Zane. She was twenty-five, had two years of work experience overseas, and had been back in the country for less than two weeks.

Sophie was surprised that a designer with such an excellent resume would choose Heart of the Ocean from among so many other jewelry companies. After the meeting, she specifically invited Shayla Zane to her office.

Shayla Zane sat on the sofa and stated her reason for joining Heart of the Ocean directly. "I heard you’re Lynn’s daughter and that you also majored in jewelry design."

Sophie was quite surprised. "You know me?"

"My cousin told me."

"And your cousin is?"

"Yuri."

Sophie was stunned again. Before she could recover from her surprise, Shayla had already dialed Yuri’s number, arranged to have lunch with him right in front of her, and invited her along.

Before she even had a chance to refuse, Shayla hung up the phone.

The woman had curly, chestnut-colored hair and a stunningly beautiful face, with large eyes and a high-bridged nose.

At that moment, the woman was smiling at her. "I saw the necklace Lynn designed in my cousin’s collection room. I wonder if President Shaw is as talented a designer as Lynn."

Sophie gave an awkward smile. "I haven’t released any design works under my own name yet."

While in college, she had taken on some design jobs from jewelry companies to save money, creating pieces for them. However, the commercial rights to all those works were bought out, so she no longer owned the copyright.

"Why are you running this small company instead of being a designer?"

In Shayla’s eyes, the company was too small and had little prospect for growth. For an obscure little company like this to try and make a name for itself and secure a place among so many well-known jewelry brands was no easy feat.

Sophie didn’t give a specific reason. Instead, she changed the subject, chatted briefly with Shayla, and then sent her back to her workstation.

She contacted the head of the production department and handed over the three completed jewelry design sets to them, officially starting production.

She requested that these three sets of jewelry not be machine-processed but completed entirely by hand by craftsmen.

...

「Lunch break.」

A knock came at the office door.

Shayla pushed the door open and peeked her head in, a wide grin on her face. "President Shaw, my cousin is already downstairs. Let’s go."

"I still have some things to take care of..."

"Oh, come on! It’s time for a break and lunch. Don’t worry about work."

Shayla ran into the office, went straight to Sophie, and started pulling her toward the door.

Sophie found it hard to refuse her enthusiastic persistence, so she grabbed her coat from the rack and let Shayla familiarly link arms with her as they left the office.

Taking the elevator down, she saw Yuri’s car parked right at the main entrance.

It was a black Bentley.

The man was in the driver’s seat with the window rolled down. Seeing her being led out by Shayla, a flicker of pleasure crossed his handsome features. He pushed open the passenger door. "Miss Shaw, please sit in the front."

"Well..."

"My cousin wants you to sit in the front, so sit in the front."

Shayla pushed her into the passenger seat, then opened the back door and got in by herself.

"I’m sorry. My cousin just returned to the country not long ago. She can be a bit willful, insisting on applying to your company," Yuri said, looking apologetic. Noticing Sophie hadn’t fastened her seatbelt, he reached over to help, but she raised a hand to stop him.

"I can get it myself."

She pulled the seatbelt across and buckled it. Just as the car started moving, she noticed a flashy red supercar driving toward the office building.

From its flashy license plate to the model of the car, Sophie recognized it instantly as Alaric Blackwood’s.

’He should be at home resting. What is he doing here?’

As far as she knew, Alaric Blackwood wasn’t working today.

She instinctively fumbled in her pocket, only to realize she didn’t have her phone.

Shayla had dragged her out in such a hurry that she’d left not only her bag but also her phone, which was charging in the office.

"Could you please take me back?"

She looked at Yuri, who was focused on driving.

The man glanced at her. "Did you forget something?"

"Yes, I don’t have my bag or my phone."

"I’m not asking you to pay, so it doesn’t matter if you have them or not."

Yuri’s tone was light, but his words carried an assertive edge that brooked no refusal.

"Our last meeting wasn’t very pleasant. I’ve been wanting to treat you to a meal, Miss Shaw, to improve the impression I made."

The man continued speaking, but Sophie’s gaze was fixed on the rearview mirror, watching the red supercar stop in front of the building and the tall figure that emerged from it.

It was indeed Alaric Blackwood.

After getting out of the car, the man walked to the passenger side and pulled out a lunch box.

’So he came to bring me lunch.’

The corners of her lips curled up, and a warmth spread through her heart. But seeing Yuri’s car picking up speed and the figure in the rearview mirror growing more distant, she grew inexplicably anxious. "Mr. Yates, please, take me back."

Yuri chuckled softly. "Are you that unwilling to have a meal with me, Miss Shaw?"

"It’s not that. My husband is here."

Yuri: "..."

"Let’s have lunch another day. My treat next time."

Before Yuri could respond, Shayla piped up excitedly from the back seat, "Why don’t we just ask your husband to join us?"

"That’s not very convenient. Let’s just do it next time."

Sophie tried her best to remain polite.

Yuri could see her resolve was firm, so he abruptly turned the steering wheel, made a U-turn, and drove back.

"Thank you."

Sophie unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of the car, and gave Yuri an apologetic smile. "I really will treat you next time."

As she spoke, she glanced at Shayla in the back seat and added, "And your cousin, too."

Shayla paid no mind to her words, her bright dark eyes staring intently through the car window at the flashy red supercar in the temporary parking spot.

After Sophie got out and hurried back into the office building, Shayla crossed her arms, jutted her chin toward the red sports car, and asked, "Cousin, is that Alaric’s car?"

Yuri glanced at it indifferently. "Yes."

"Did he really marry that woman?"

Shayla’s smiling demeanor from when she was with Sophie vanished. She pursed her lips and clicked her tongue. "Tsk, tsk. If I had known Alaric was coming back to the country, I would have come back with him."

She was only a few months late in returning, and some other woman had already beaten her to the punch.

"What about the child? Who’s watching him?"

Yuri changed the subject and asked.

"My mom’s watching him."

"Just come to Diamond Belle Jewelers. I’ve already arranged a position for you. There’s no need to waste your time at this small company."

Shayla’s gaze was still fixed on Alaric Blackwood’s car as she sighed. "It’s not like I actually want to build a career at a small company. I just came to check out the competition."

Yuri glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "What are you planning to do? Become a homewrecker for love?"

"Alaric promised me he would be a father to my son."

"But he’s already married."

"Then he can be the godfather."

"..."

For a moment, Yuri was at a loss for words.