Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: He Doesn’t Like Me, and Maybe He Doesn’t Like You Either

As it turned out, Sophie Shaw really couldn’t take it.

Alaric Blackwood’s teasing left her weak all over. A tingling sensation shot down her spine, and she went limp in his arms, unable to stop a few soft moans from escaping.

The mortifying sounds came from her own throat, and her heart pounded violently. Overcome with shame, she instinctively broke free from his grasp and fled upstairs, ducking back into her room.

She shut the door, locked it, and bolted into the bathroom.

Tossing her clothes carelessly onto the floor, she stepped under the showerhead. She didn’t even adjust the temperature, simply letting the water cascade down over her head.

Downstairs, Alaric Blackwood sat alone on the sofa. He picked up a cigar from the coffee table and took a hard drag.

He leaned his head back, exhaling the smoke. Sinking into the sofa, it took him a long while to quell the heat stirring within him.

After being so thoroughly ’tormented’ by him, Sophie Shaw surprisingly had no energy left to dwell on Joseph Shaw’s words. Having cooled the fire in her veins, she changed into pajamas and climbed into bed early.

Her mind raced for a while before she finally drifted into a deep sleep.

The next day, she woke up very early. Hearing Alaric Blackwood’s footsteps passing in the hallway, she jolted upright in bed.

After freshening up, she was too embarrassed to go downstairs. She hid in her room, occasionally peeking from the balcony. Her frayed nerves only began to settle after she saw Alaric Blackwood drive away.

Once dressed, she went downstairs to find Lawson clearing the dining table. Lawson’s face lit up with a smile when she saw her. She immediately ladled out a bowl of congee for her and brought over some soup dumplings, crispy shrimp rice rolls, and a small plate of fried noodles.

"No carrots. Not a single one," Lawson said with a smile.

Sophie nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Lawson."

"Please eat while it’s hot, Ma’am."

"I will."

She was happily enjoying her Hong-Kong-style breakfast when her phone suddenly buzzed with a new message from Anne: [I got the time off. I can make it back the day before the wedding.]

She picked up her phone and replied: [Great. I’ll treat you to a feast when you get back.]

Anne: [all_hail_the_queen.jpg]

Sophie glanced at the meme from Anne and chuckled. She had just put down her phone when it rang.

It was a call from Vianne Kane. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

She swiped to answer. The second she put the phone to her ear, a shrill voice nearly deafened her. "Sophie Shaw, what the hell have you and Damian Morgan been doing behind my back?"

Sophie held the phone away from her ear. Unwilling to listen to Vianne Kane’s shouting, she hung up immediately.

But Vianne called back again almost immediately. When Sophie didn’t pick up, Vianne began to bombard her phone with calls.

With her wedding just three days away, Sophie really didn’t want any conflict with the Kane family. So, with a sense of resignation, she answered Vianne Kane’s call.

This time, Vianne Kane wasn’t shouting, but Sophie could hear the fury she was trying to suppress in her voice. "You and Damian Morgan didn’t make a clean break, did you? Are you trying to seduce him?"

"No."

"I was gone for one day, and he spent the night somewhere else—on the same day as you. How do you explain that?"

"I have no idea where he spent the night. I was with my husband."

"With who?"

"Alaric Blackwood."

"Who do you think you’re fooling? You haven’t even married him yet. You think Alaric Blackwood would let you spend the night at his place?"

"I’m at his house right now. If you don’t believe me, come and see for yourself."

Sophie hung up again and sent her current location to Vianne Kane via a messaging app.

There was no reply, which probably meant Vianne was already on her way.

Sophie put down her phone and finished her breakfast. She had just stepped out of the dining room when a message from Vianne Kane came through: [I’m here.]

Sophie walked to the entryway and opened the front door. Sure enough, a yellow Lamborghini was parked just outside the gate.

She opened the gate to let Vianne Kane’s car through.

Vianne parked the car, got out fuming, and strode toward her.

"Sophie Shaw, if you dare lie to me..."

Her words died in her throat when she noticed another person in the house besides Sophie—a woman in her forties. Judging by her attire, she was likely a housekeeper. Vianne swallowed the nasty words that were on the tip of her tongue.

"If you don’t believe me, you can ask the housekeeper inside if she saw me here yesterday morning."

Vianne Kane didn’t take her word for it. She actually walked inside to confirm with Lawson.

After learning that Sophie had indeed been there yesterday morning, Vianne’s expression softened slightly.

She glanced around the large, immaculate house, looking stunned for a moment before sitting down on the sofa.

"I’m thirsty. Get me a glass of water."

Lawson was about to head to the kitchen, but Sophie stepped forward. "I’ll get it. Don’t worry about her, Lawson. You can get back to your work."

"Of course, Ma’am."

Lawson went back to the dining room to finish clearing the table, paying no more mind to the living room.

Sophie went to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the fridge, and returned to the living room, tossing it to Vianne Kane.

Vianne fumbled to catch it before shooting Sophie a glare. "If it wasn’t you," she said, displeased, "then who did Damian spend the night with?" freёweɓnovel.com

Sophie immediately thought of the company’s designer, Yara Valentine, but since she had no proof, she didn’t mention her.

"Damian Morgan was having a secret affair with you while we were dating. What makes you so sure he won’t cheat on you with someone else now that he’s with you?"

Vianne’s hand froze as she was twisting the bottle cap. She looked up and glared at Sophie. "Damian isn’t that promiscuous."

"He fools around while he has a girlfriend. If that’s not promiscuous, what is?"

"He never even liked you."

"Right. He didn’t like me. And maybe he doesn’t like you, either."

Vianne, who was tilting her head back to take a drink, nearly choked on the water at her words.

Water sprayed from her nostrils as she broke into a violent coughing fit. Her face turned beet red, and tears of physical reflex streamed from her eyes.

Sophie stepped forward to pat Vianne’s back, but Vianne slapped her hand away. "Don’t you dare pretend to be nice."

"What did Damian tell you about him staying out all night?"

Vianne caught her breath, patting her chest. "He said he was busy with work, so he just crashed for the night in the company lounge."

"The company has security cameras. Did you check them?"

"I did."

"And was he there?"

"He was."

Yesterday, Vianne had specifically gone to Heart of the Ocean during lunch, while Damian was out, to review the security footage from the night he’d stayed away.

He was there, but two segments of the footage were just strange static, as if they had been deliberately corrupted afterward. In total, over five minutes of footage was missing, from two specific times: eight o’clock that night and seven o’clock the next morning.

Vianne suspected a woman had entered and left Heart of the Ocean—arriving at 8:00 PM and leaving at 7:00 AM the next day—and had spent the night with Damian in the lounge.

Her grandfather had been the one to tell her about Damian staying out. When she confronted Damian about it, he had just placated her and told her not to overthink things.

But the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She’d even started to suspect that the person having a secret tryst with Damian at the company might be Sophie Shaw.

"It really wasn’t you?"

Sophie smiled thoughtfully. "If you refuse to believe me, then nothing I say to prove my innocence will matter."

"It’s not that I don’t believe you. But you and Damian were together for three years. There’s no way you have zero feelings for him. What if you can’t accept it and you’re trying to seduce him behind my back..."

"What is there about him worth seducing?"

Sophie cut off Vianne’s malicious speculation. "Is he rich? Does he have status? Is he so handsome it makes both gods and men jealous? When the whole world knows your wedding has been announced, you think I’d go against all morals to be his lover? Tell me, what would I be after? The title of ’the other woman’?"

Her string of rhetorical questions left Vianne speechless.

"Just because you like being a man’s mistress while he has a girlfriend doesn’t mean I share the same hobby."

The sarcastic remark struck a nerve, and the color drained from Vianne’s face.

She slammed the water bottle on the ground, shot to her feet, and glared venomously at Sophie. "Don’t let me catch you showing your true colors."

"I’m an open book. I don’t have a tail for you to grab."

Sophie felt no fear at all. On the contrary, the information Vianne had provided made her absolutely certain that Damian had cheated again.

He hadn’t dared to get a hotel room, most likely for fear of being traced, so he’d opted for the company lounge instead. The fact that he’d tampered with the security footage afterward proved he had something to hide.

Sophie had a strong intuition that the woman Damian was involved with was, in all likelihood, the company’s designer, Yara Valentine.

"We’ll see about that."

Vianne grabbed her purse and stormed out in her high heels.

She slammed the door behind her with a deafening BANG.

Sophie frowned. She bent down to pick up the bottle Vianne had thrown to the floor. As she was about to grab a tissue from the table to clean up the spilled water, a robot vacuum activated. It slowly glided over to her, cleaned the floor, and then silently returned to its dock.

With smart home devices keeping the house spotless, Sophie had nothing to do and was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.

After clearing the dining table and tidying up the kitchen, Lawson left for the day.

Sophie decided not to return to the Kane family’s house today. She curled up lazily on the sofa and started a video call with Anne.

It rang for a moment before Anne picked up.

"Are you busy?"

Anne had just bought breakfast near a film studio. "Not busy. Nina Halloway is already on set filming. I snuck out to grab some food. I’m on my way back now, see?"

As she spoke, Anne held up the breakfast she was carrying and waved it in front of the camera.

"What’d you get?"

"Steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and some millet congee. What about you? Have you eaten?"

"I have."

Anne stared at Sophie on the screen, her pace slowing as her eyes narrowed. "Where are you? That doesn’t look like your room."

"I’m at Alaric Blackwood’s house."

"What are you doing at his place so early in the morning?"

"I stayed the night here."

Anne stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. "So... did you two... you know...?"

"We didn’t."

"Why not?!"

"..."

"Alaric Blackwood is so handsome and has such an amazing body. I was secretly checking him out when he went with you to look at dresses and during the rehearsal. He’s seriously hot. And he has a great ass! With looks like that, how can you not be into him?"

Sophie bit her lip. "I wouldn’t dare have any ideas about him. It’s a contract marriage."

That’s what she said, but her mind couldn’t help but flash back to the night before, to the image of being held in Alaric Blackwood’s arms, teased by him until she was beet red.

It had been so mortifying that she had deliberately avoided Alaric Blackwood this morning, waiting until he’d left before daring to come downstairs.

"Girl, I’m not trying to criticize you, but a guy with Alaric Blackwood’s looks? You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone comparable even in the entire entertainment industry. You two are already legally married. Why not put in a little effort and make him yours for real?"

Sophie covered her face, unable to stop herself from laughing. "Anne, I called you to talk about something serious."