Free Web NovelChapter 76: Chapter 76: Blood Splattered on His Cheek
Stuck in the dark room, Sophie Shaw couldn’t make out Alaric Blackwood’s words because of the poor signal.
His voice cut in and out, choppy and intermittent.
The call suddenly dropped. Sophie Shaw’s phone screen went dark, and her surroundings were plunged into pitch-black darkness once more.
With trembling hands and ragged breaths, she quickly turned on her phone’s flashlight.
A beam of light flared, illuminating the cramped space as if it were broad daylight. In the light, she could see several small black dots scurrying across the walls.
Cockroaches.
It wasn’t just cockroaches in this room; there were also rats scurrying about.
The junk piled up in the corners was their nesting place.
Hearing the RUSTLING from the piles of junk, Sophie Shaw’s scalp began to prickle. Goosebumps broke out all over her skin, and tears started to fall uncontrollably.
When she was a child, her punishments meant being locked up for the entire night.
Rats would gnaw on her toenails in the dark, and bugs would crawl into her hair. She would always scream in terror, but no matter how much she shouted, the locked door would never open.
Fortunately, this time she had her phone—a source of light to illuminate her surroundings.
When Alaric Blackwood had called, the sound of the ringtone had snapped her back to her senses a little.
She curled into a ball, hugging herself tightly as she tried to call Alaric Blackwood back.
But the signal was too weak. The call wouldn’t go through.
Just like when she was a child, all she could do was wait helplessly...
「On the first floor.」
Alaric Blackwood searched room by room, not even sparing the storage closets.
His frantic expression as he rushed between rooms left Joseph Shaw utterly confused.
"What are you looking for?"
Alaric Blackwood glanced at him coolly. "My wife." freēwēbnovel.com
"Sophie should be in her room upstairs."
"She’s not."
The first place Alaric Blackwood had checked was Sophie Shaw’s room on the second floor, and it was empty.
He figured Sophie Shaw had to be in a completely enclosed space; otherwise, the phone signal wouldn’t be so terrible.
When he couldn’t find her in any of the rooms, he returned to the first floor, intending to look for a basement or some similar area.
Watching Alaric search every room downstairs only to head back upstairs with his long strides, Joseph Shaw hurried after him.
As they passed Sophie Shaw’s room, Joseph Shaw stopped Alaric Blackwood. "I told you, Sophie is in her room."
"And I told you, she’s not."
Unconvinced, Joseph Shaw pushed the door open, only to find the room empty and cold. Sophie Shaw was truly gone.
"Sophie?"
Joseph Shaw called out, refusing to give up hope.
He headed for the bathroom, but Alaric Blackwood ignored him and continued his room-by-room search.
After confirming the bathroom was empty, a vague sense of foreboding washed over Joseph Shaw. His eyes drifted upward, involuntarily drawn to the ceiling.
Hesitantly, he took out his phone and dialed Sophie Shaw’s number.
It wouldn’t connect.
’Could she be in the attic?’
The moment the thought occurred to him, Joseph Shaw instinctively shook his head.
Sophie Shaw hadn’t been locked up since she turned eighteen. Besides, Mr. Kane, the one who used to inflict that punishment, was dead.
’She can’t be up there.’
He left the room and found that Alaric Blackwood had already searched all the bedrooms on the second floor.
"Is there anywhere here that’s completely enclosed with a bad signal?" Alaric Blackwood asked.
Joseph didn’t respond, but his mind immediately went to the secret room in the attic.
’That’s the only place with no signal, a completely sealed room.’
He spaced out for a few seconds. When he snapped out of it, he saw Alaric Blackwood standing before Vianne Kane’s bedroom door, his hand already raised to knock.
"Wait."
He stopped Alaric Blackwood and hurried forward. After a moment’s hesitation, he finally voiced his suspicion. "Sophie might be in the attic."
He wasn’t entirely sure, but he had a very strong feeling.
A short while ago, Sophie Shaw had appeared in Vianne Kane’s room and dragged her away without a word. Later, only Vianne came back; he hadn’t seen Sophie at all.
He’d assumed she was in her room, but Alaric Blackwood’s anxious expression made it clear he couldn’t reach Sophie.
The man’s anxiety wasn’t an act; he was genuinely frantic.
"Follow me."
He led Alaric Blackwood toward the end of the hallway.
They reached the end of the hall, where a hidden staircase with two flights of stairs led upward around a corner.
Without a second thought, Alaric Blackwood started up them, taking the steps at a run.
He reached the attic and pushed open the door, revealing an extremely cluttered room.
Everywhere was piled high with messy junk, except for the space in front of a secret door set into the south wall, which was fitted with a keypad lock. The windows were sealed shut, the air was stagnant, and a thick layer of dust covered the floor.
In front of the secret door, the floor was covered in chaotic footprints, with drag marks leading the way.
"The code!"
Alaric Blackwood whirled around to face Joseph Shaw, who had just caught up.
Joseph stepped forward and skillfully punched a few numbers into the keypad. The door opened with a BEEP.
Light instantly flooded into the dark room.
The image of Sophie Shaw, clutching her phone and trembling like a cornered animal, was seared into Alaric Blackwood’s eyes.
His heart clenched violently.
Joseph Shaw stared, stunned to see that Sophie Shaw was really in the secret room. But before he could take a step inside, a large hand shot out from behind him and shoved him aside.
He staggered to the left, stumbling for several steps and nearly falling over.
By the time he regained his balance, Alaric Blackwood had already stepped into the secret room and was carrying the trembling Sophie Shaw out in his arms.
His embrace was warm and strong, filling Sophie Shaw with a sense of security she had never experienced before.
She clung desperately to Alaric Blackwood’s neck, burying her face into his. Her stiff, trembling arms wrapped around him like vines, as if she were grasping a lifeline. She held on so tightly, not daring to relax one bit, terrified that if she let go, she would find herself back in that tiny, pitch-black room.
"Who locked you in here?"
Alaric Blackwood asked, his face grim.
The door required a code. She couldn’t have locked herself in. Someone must have done this to her deliberately.
He glanced down at the woman in his arms. "Talk to me." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Sophie Shaw remained silent, simply clinging to him and trembling uncontrollably.
Left with no other choice, he decided to carry her downstairs first.
The second-floor hallway was quiet. Vianne Kane’s bedroom door was shut tight. She couldn’t care less if Sophie Shaw had been rescued; her attention was entirely on Damian Morgan.
He lay on the large bed, his face deathly pale.
Their eyes met, and she finally asked the question burning in her mind. "Damian, did you cheat on me?"
Damian Morgan shook his head. "My feelings for you are absolute. Heaven and earth can attest to them."
"Then why did Sophie Shaw say you cheated on me with a designer named Yara Valentine? She said she even has a video, and that’s how she got back control of the Heart of the Ocean."
Damian Morgan’s expression remained unchanged. "You’d believe her over me?"
His counter-question threw Vianne Kane’s thoughts into turmoil.
She didn’t want to believe Sophie Shaw, not in the slightest, but she couldn’t suppress her doubts.
"Then what about my grandfather’s death? Did you have anything to do with it?"
Damian Morgan looked utterly heartbroken. "If you don’t trust me, then nothing I say will matter. Fine, I’ll leave."
He immediately threw off the covers, slipped on his slippers, and staggered to his feet, swaying as he walked toward the door.
Just as he pulled the door open, he clapped a hand over his mouth and began to cough violently.
PTHOO—
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Alaric Blackwood was walking past with Sophie Shaw in his arms, and the coppery-smelling blood sprayed right onto the side of his face.
