Free Web NovelChapter 28: Chapter 28: There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
The sound nearly deafened Sophie Shaw.
She tilted her head slightly, her body instinctively recoiling from the source of the noise. She leaned toward the car door and clapped her hands over her ears.
Her palms brushed against her scalding earlobes, and she belatedly realized she was practically burning up.
Anne calmed down a bit, looking at her with a star-struck expression as she pulled Sophie’s arms down from her ears. "Sophie, I think Alaric Blackwood is super handsome. You two already have your marriage certificate, so why not try getting to know him?"
"I’d rather not."
Sophie Shaw touched her face. It was about as hot as her earlobes.
Burning hot.
"But you two already... kissed."
Sophie hummed in affirmation. "That was my first kiss."
"What?"
Anne was shocked. "You and Damian Morgan... you mean you never did?"
"He never wanted to touch me. He called it respect, but in reality, he just wasn’t interested in me at all. He also said..."
"Said what?"
"That I was passionless, like a block of wood."
"Don’t listen to his nonsense. That shameless Social Climber’s opinion doesn’t count. Our Sophie is beautiful with a great figure, gentle-tempered and virtuous, and incredibly talented in design. How could you possibly be what he says?"
Anne praised her best friend to the heavens. The praise seemed to get her excited all over again. "But Sophie, even though you’re my bestie, and I know you and Alaric Blackwood have a contract marriage... what can I do? I can’t help but ship you two."
Sophie Shaw was speechless.
"You might not feel it yourself, but when you and Alaric Blackwood stand together, you look really good together."
Sophie’s face was hot. "We do?"
Damian Morgan had really done a number on her self-confidence.
In her eyes, aside from all the tabloid gossip about his love life, Alaric Blackwood was actually quite an outstanding man, and he was treating her very well.
"Your first kiss is gone just like that. Aren’t you upset?"
Sophie Shaw shook her head.
Surprisingly.
She didn’t feel upset at all. On the contrary... she mostly just felt shy.
They already had the certificate, and she’d received the betrothal gift and red envelopes from the Blackwood Family—a full twenty million. That was no small sum. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Besides, the wedding was next week. After they were married, two apartments and five percent of the Blackwood Group’s shares would be transferred to her name. The terms of the contract were also crystal clear: they were to play their respective roles and get what they each needed.
She got money and the status of Mrs. Blackwood. If she couldn’t even accept a single kiss, wouldn’t that make her a hypocrite?
Twenty million wasn’t that easy to come by.
For a reckless playboy like Alaric Blackwood, agreeing not to have a physical relationship was probably the biggest concession he could make.
After a long while, her emotions calmed, and the heat in her face dissipated quite a bit.
Anne didn’t take her back to the Kane Family home right away. Instead, she found a nearby restaurant for them to have dinner together.
"I have to pack tonight. I’m flying out to the film set first thing tomorrow morning." Anne sighed. "I really wish I could take a long vacation."
But the thought of the mortgage on her large apartment instantly energized her. "No rest for me! I have to make money! I have to make a ton of money!"
Anne’s parents had passed away in an accident a few years ago, leaving her and her younger brother, who was in high school. There was only a one-year age difference between them, but she had suddenly become a parent.
To put her brother through college, she didn’t even attend college herself. She went to learn makeup artistry and started working on film sets at twenty.
"Your brother graduated, right?" Sophie Shaw asked.
"He just graduated this year."
"Has he found a job?"
"Not yet. It’s not that easy for physical education majors to find a job."
Anne hoped her brother could become a PE teacher for a stable career, securing his livelihood for life. But unfortunately, all the resumes he sent out vanished without a trace.
"Didn’t you say he wanted to be a teacher?"
Anne sighed. "Without connections in the education world, he hasn’t been able to land a job."
These days, it was hard to secure a job without connections.
"What’s your brother up to lately?"
"He’s a part-time coach at a boxing gym. You know he likes boxing, and he’s got some skills. He’s more than qualified to be a coach."
At this, Anne slapped her forehead. "Oh, right! How could I have forgotten something so important?"
"What is it?"
"Several of Nina Halloway’s personal bodyguards quit this month. She’s in need of bodyguards right now. With my brother’s build and skills, he’d be a perfect fit."
As she spoke, Anne pulled out her phone and sent a message to her brother, Ethan Austin. "Nina Halloway’s personal bodyguard. The pay and benefits are great. Before he finds a proper job, he can totally do this for a while. It would also lighten my burden a bit."
The 280-square-meter luxury flat in the city center had a monthly mortgage payment of twenty thousand. The pressure on her was immense.
Sophie Shaw nodded, thinking her plan was very reasonable.
After she sent the message, Ethan Austin sent back a fiery voice message. Anne tapped it open, and her brother’s disdainful voice rang out: "You want me to be a bodyguard for that spoiled superstar? Are you crazy or am I? With my temper, I can’t wait on some pampered princess. No way!"
Anne sent another message, but Ethan Austin didn’t reply.
She put down her phone and complained, "That stupid brother of mine is all brawn and no brains. He’s not even thinking about how many times higher the salary for being Nina Halloway’s bodyguard is compared to his part-time job at the boxing gym."
"That little brat. I worked myself to the bone to support him, and he can’t even find a decent job. I’m going to kill him when I get back."
Sophie Shaw’s eyes widened. "For real?"
Anne shot her a sidelong glance. "Of course not. I can’t beat him in a fight anyway."
"..."
After dinner, Sophie Shaw was dropped off at the Kane Family’s home.
She retreated to her room, brushed her teeth and washed up early, then soaked in a comfortable hot bath. Just as she lay down in bed, a message came on WeChat.
It was from Alaric Blackwood: [I drank too much. Can you come pick me up?]
Sophie Shaw clutched her phone, hesitating.
Before she could make up her mind, another message came from Alaric Blackwood. [We each get what we need, remember? I have a need right now. I need you to pick me up.]
’Is it that hard to call for a driver?’ Sophie thought. ’Why does he have to call me!’
But she’d taken his money, and that came with obligations.
Two days ago, she’d received a bank notification: the ten million betrothal gift had been deposited into her account.
Combined with the ten million from the red envelopes, she hadn’t even had the twenty million long enough for it to warm in her hands...
’I’ll go.’
’What other choice is there?’
She replied to the message: [Location.]
Alaric Blackwood sent her the location of a club, along with the specific floor and private room number.
Sophie Shaw got up, got dressed, and left her long hair down, letting it fall casually over her shoulders. She grabbed her bag, hailed a car on her phone, and rushed to the club.
Following the information Alaric Blackwood had sent, she took the elevator upstairs, found the corresponding room number, and pushed the door open.
Her eyes fell upon a group of young men and women being very rowdy. A couple was wrapped around each other in a corner of the room, making out passionately.
On the crystal coffee table sat a large, half-eaten cake. She didn’t know whose birthday it was, but a single glance told her that pretty much all the rich heirs and heiresses of the Kingsport Circle, men and women alike, were gathered here.
Her gaze swept over them, quickly locking onto Alaric Blackwood.
Unlike the other noisy and drunken scions, the man was sitting quietly by himself on the sofa.
