Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: The Desperate Truth

The car drove steadily through the city traffic.

Sophie Shaw watched the street scenes retreating outside the car window, trying her best to shake off the unpleasantness from earlier.

Remembering the surprise Alaric Blackwood had mentioned, she turned to the man focused on driving. "What’s this surprise you were talking about?"

"You’ll find out soon enough."

Alaric Blackwood gave a mysterious smile and sped up a little.

Before long, the car stopped outside a chain hot pot restaurant.

Sophie Shaw got out of the car and followed Alaric Blackwood inside. freewebnøvel.com

The man took her hand, naturally looped her arm through his, and led her up to the second floor and into a private room.

Two people were already seated inside. One was Evan Ford, whom she had met the night of the barbecue. The other was an elderly woman with graying hair and a plump, stately figure. Her features were kind and gentle.

The moment the elderly woman saw her, she immediately stood up.

She walked over, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. When she reached Sophie, she took her hands without a word.

Confused, Sophie didn’t pull away, but out of politeness, she simply glanced instinctively toward Alaric Blackwood for an explanation.

Alaric closed the door to the private room. He glanced at the emotional Mrs. Ford, then said to Sophie, "She’s your maternal grandmother."

Sophie Shaw froze.

’Grandmother?’

’I have a grandmother?’

She had never known she had any living relatives besides Joseph Shaw and Joel Kane.

Just as she was reeling from shock and emotion, Evan Ford spoke up. "Sophie, I’m your cousin."

He’d wanted to tell her when they met at the barbecue restaurant, but he’d held back, considering she hadn’t met their grandmother yet and explaining their relationship would be complicated.

Sophie wept with joy. "I have a grandmother... and a cousin?"

"And that’s not all. You also have an uncle and aunt, but they’re vacationing abroad and won’t be back for a while."

Evan Ford added calmly, then rose and walked over to Sophie.

"We’re your family."

Seeing his grandmother and cousin sobbing, Evan Ford picked up a box of tissues from the table and offered it to them.

Mrs. Ford was in no state to take a tissue. She released Sophie’s hands and cupped her granddaughter’s small face with her own wrinkled ones. "Let Grandma get a good look at you."

She had seen Sophie as a child, but after Mina died, she had never been allowed to see her again.

Joseph Shaw had used every trick in the book to keep the Fords away from Sophie, eventually even going to court to get a restraining order.

Sophie could feel the old woman’s hands trembling, and fresh tears streamed down her face. "You’ve been in Kingsport all this time?"

"Yes. We’ve always been here."

"Why didn’t I know about you...?"

"Joseph Shaw wouldn’t let us see you."

Sophie didn’t understand. "Why?"

"He hates us."

The old woman wiped away her tears and led Sophie to a chair.

The hot pot had been ordered in advance—a split-pot broth with an array of meats and vegetables. They were left undisturbed in the private room.

The broth was BUBBLING away, filling the room with a rich aroma.

Alaric Blackwood was quietly mixing dipping sauces, glancing over at Sophie from time to time. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Her eyes were red from crying, her gaze fixed on Mrs. Ford without wavering for a second.

"Sophie, you were too young back then. You don’t know the whole story. If I tell you the truth, it might completely shatter the image you have of Joseph Shaw in your heart."

"Tell me the truth."

’What image? He doesn’t have one in my heart anymore.’

’That was shattered long ago.’

"When Mina and Joseph started dating, I was against it. In terms of family background and in every other respect, Joseph just wasn’t suitable. It wasn’t that I looked down on him; he simply wasn’t worthy of my daughter."

As Mrs. Ford recalled the past, tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks. Her voice choked with sobs, and the hand holding Sophie’s trembled. "But Mina... it was as if she were possessed. She had to have him and no one else. She eloped with Joseph multiple times. I would have people bring her back, but she’d just run away again at the first opportunity. She hated your grandfather and me back then, even threatening to disown us. She and Joseph once held knives to their own throats, threatening to kill themselves if we didn’t give in. But your grandfather is stubborn, and he still refused to approve the marriage. After a terrible fight with him, she went and secretly registered her marriage to Joseph out of spite."

Evan Ford offered her the tissues again. This time, Mrs. Ford took one and wiped her tears.

She composed herself and continued, "I tried to persuade your grandfather to just give them his blessing if there was no other way. But both father and daughter were as stubborn as mules. Neither was willing to be the first to back down.

Later, Mina helped Joseph start a company. They borrowed the seed money from Alaric’s mother, who helped them out a lot. I also provided Mina with some financial support through her, though Mina never knew it was from me.

Not long after the company was founded, Mina became pregnant. Even while heavily pregnant, she was constantly busy, even accompanying Joseph to business dinners. After you were born, her health collapsed. It was never the same. Alaric’s mother told me she never properly recovered after childbirth, which left her with chronic health problems.

My heart ached for her. I wanted to talk to her, to persuade her to reconcile with your grandfather. Blood is thicker than water, after all. A father and daughter shouldn’t hold a grudge like that. But she refused to speak with me. I arranged to meet her, but Joseph came in her place. He was so arrogant, accusing us of looking down on him. He boasted that he hadn’t disappointed Mina, that his business was booming, and that it was only a matter of time before his company became a powerhouse. He was all about proving himself, saying he’d show us old folks that fortunes can turn and that we shouldn’t have looked down on him when he was young and poor."

Sophie listened quietly, not daring to interrupt.

"I don’t know what Joseph told Mina after that day, but from then on, all contact was severed completely. When Mina fell ill, your grandfather and I had no idea. Even Alaric’s mother didn’t get a call from Joseph until after the hospital had issued several critical condition notices.

Your mother had leukemia. If they had caught it earlier, a bone marrow transplant might have saved her. But the disease was left to progress for too long. It was too late."

Tears blurred the old woman’s vision. "I asked Joseph why he didn’t notify us to come to the hospital for compatibility testing. He said he didn’t need our help, that the hospital would find a matching donor. His stubborn pride... it cost Mina her life."

Sophie stared in disbelief. "That... That’s impossible."

’Even if Joseph has become this unreasonable now, my parents were so in love back then. It was a matter of life and death. How could he have hidden it from the Fords?’

"I don’t believe it."

Mrs. Ford gripped Sophie’s hand tighter. "Sophie, Grandma would never lie to you. Everything I’ve said is the truth."

"My father wouldn’t do that. He loved my mother so much."

She still remembered how he was a desolate, broken man after her mother died.

A man like that wouldn’t just stand by and watch his wife’s health deteriorate day by day, doing nothing.

"Alaric’s mother can confirm it."

Mrs. Ford looked at her, her eyes brimming with tears, and swore a terrible oath. "If I have told you a single lie, then may I die without a proper burial."