Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Solitary Confinement

"There’s one way to confirm whether or not Damian is a suspect."

She gently squeezed Alaric’s hand, then quickly let go.

"If the video you sent to Mr. Kane is still on his phone, then he died of a heart attack. If the video isn’t there, then Damian is a major suspect."

Damian had already lost his shares in Heart of the Ocean. If he lost his status as the Kane family’s son-in-law as well, he’d be left with nothing.

The video of the affair was undoubtedly Damian’s strongest motive for causing the old man’s death.

Alaric understood what she meant. He immediately pulled out his phone and contacted a friend who was a detective.

The friend was a high school classmate of his who had even been invited to his and Sophie’s wedding.

After a few questions, he learned that everything at the scene had been taken to the police station as evidence. Mr. Kane’s phone had been formatted, and recovering the data would take some time.

With that, Alaric didn’t say anything else and hung up the phone.

"Was the video on the phone?" Sophie asked.

Alaric shook his head. "Damian probably deleted it."

That guy was thorough—he hadn’t just deleted the video, he’d formatted the whole phone.

"But the police can recover deleted videos, right?"

"They can, but that would confirm the crime of illegal recording on your part. You need to be ready for that."

Sophie’s heart sank, and she quickly pulled out her phone.

Alaric leaned in and saw her, with a serious expression, looking up the penalties for illegal recording.

He gave a resigned smile and ruffled her hair. "In your case, you’ll get a fine at most. You won’t go to jail, so don’t worry."

"But I’m reading that for serious cases, besides a fine, you could also face criminal detention for five to ten days."

"Then I guess you’ll just have to spend a few days in a cell."

"..."

’He really is a righteous hero when it comes to his childhood sweetheart.’

Her eyes dimmed slightly. She put her phone away, deciding to talk to Vianne alone first. After that, she would go to the police station with Alaric and come clean about the video of Damian’s affair.

"Wait for me."

She stood up, left the conservatory, and went inside the house.

Only the butler and Bianca were left in the living room.

"Where are the others?"

Bianca ignored her, still dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

It was the butler who answered her. "Mr. Morgan became very emotional and nearly fainted. The young miss and Mr. Shaw just helped him to his room upstairs."

Hearing this, Sophie immediately went upstairs, heading straight for Vianne’s bedroom.

The door was ajar. Inside the princess-style room, Damian lay on the large bed, looking dazed, his eyes still welling with tears.

Sophie was certain he was faking it. Without a word, she strode forward, grabbed Vianne’s arm, and dragged her out of the bedroom, pulling her forcefully all the way to her own room.

As soon as she shut the door, she said to Vianne, "Damian is cheating on you."

Vianne froze, then let out a cold laugh. "With who? You?"

"It’s not me. It’s a designer at the company named Yara Valentine. I have video proof—I recorded it myself. I also used that video to get back management rights for Heart of the Ocean."

Vianne was silent, far calmer than Sophie had expected.

"Alaric sent that video to your grandfather early yesterday morning. But when the police checked your grandfather’s phone, they found it had been formatted. The video is gone."

"What are you trying to say?"

Vianne looked at her, her expression frigid. "Are you saying Damian caused my grandfather’s death?"

"He’s a prime suspect. How else do you explain the missing video? Why was your grandfather’s phone formatted for no reason?"

Vianne’s mind raced as she quickly pieced together the deeper implications of Sophie’s words.

"But the autopsy showed that my grandfather did die from a heart attack. There were no signs of foul play."

"Perhaps Damian said or did something that agitated Mr. Kane, triggering the attack, and then he just stood by and let him die."

The words had barely left her mouth when—SLAP!

Sophie was hit with a vicious slap across the face.

She was stunned.

Vianne was incandescent with rage, her shoulders trembling violently. Before Sophie could even react, another hand swung toward her face.

SLAP—

Her left cheek stung with the force of another blow.

Sophie’s ears were ringing. She stared at Vianne in disbelief. "Are you insane?"

’She had tried to warn Vianne out of the goodness of her heart, and this was her reward? Two slaps to the face?’ ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"’You’re the one who’s insane! Just because you can’t have Damian, you frame him for cheating and accuse him of murdering my grandfather? You just can’t wait for us to break up, can you? You can’t wait to see me lose everything, can you?’"

Vianne’s eyes blazed with fury. She snarled through gritted teeth, "You hate me for stealing Damian from you, and now you want revenge. You want to tear us apart. Don’t think for a second I don’t know what you’re up to."

"Vianne, are you out of your mind?"

"’I’m perfectly sane. You’re the one who isn’t.’"

Vianne’s eyes were bloodshot as she gave Sophie a hard shove.

Sophie stumbled backward, her back slamming against the wall. A sharp pain shot through her shoulder blade.

"’You’re secretly gloating that my grandfather is dead, aren’t you? When we were kids, he was always the one who punished you when you did something wrong, locking you in that little dark room. You obviously hated him. Why would you be so kind as to feel sad about his death? You wouldn’t. You only came back to watch our family fall apart.’"

Vianne, lost in her paranoia, refused to listen. While Sophie was still reeling from the pain, Vianne grabbed her head with both hands and slammed it against the wall.

A wave of pain washed over her. Sophie’s vision swam, and she slid down the wall, collapsing onto the floor.

While Sophie’s senses were muddled, Vianne grabbed her arm and forcibly dragged her out of the room.

She was dragged all the way to the attic...

It was the dark room where Mr. Kane used to lock her up for punishment.

There were no windows inside. The moment the door closed, it became a completely sealed, pitch-black space—so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

Vianne shoved her into the dark room, quickly stepped back out, and shut the door. She punched in a code on a keypad, and the door locked with a definitive click.

Darkness instantly enveloped Sophie.

Memories of being locked up as a child flooded back. She curled into a ball on the floor, her body trembling uncontrollably, wracked by faint convulsions...

Alaric waited for a long time, but Sophie never came out.

He sent Sophie a text, but got no reply. He tried calling her. The phone rang for a long time before someone finally picked up.

"What took so long?"

Trembling, ragged breaths came through the receiver, the sound cutting in and out. He frowned, a sense of unease washing over him.

"Sophie?"

"Is that you?"

The only response was the same panicked breathing.

’It sounded like she was somewhere with a terrible signal.’ freēwebnovel.com

Just as he stood up and left the conservatory, about to step inside the house, Sophie’s faint voice trickled through the phone.

"Al... help... help..."

The signal was so weak he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

A terrible premonition gripped him. He strode into the Kane family’s house and scanned the living room. Bianca, Joseph Shaw, and the butler were all there, as were a few maids milling around.

But there was no sign of Damian or Vianne.

"Sophie, where are you?"

He asked frantically into the phone, but was completely unable to make out Sophie’s reply.