Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Speak Properly, Don’t Get Handsy

Sophie decisively deleted the video, even emptying the recycling bin.

Once it was gone, she shut down the computer.

"My only intention was to get back the management rights for Heart of the Ocean. This whole thing ends here."

After she spoke, she got up and walked out.

Alaric Blackwood grabbed her, pulled a phone out of his coat pocket, and placed it in her hand.

"Your phone."

Sophie glanced at the phone, a bit surprised to see a crack on the screen.

Before she could ask, Alaric Blackwood said, "The screen protector is shattered. You just need to replace it."

"Oh," Sophie said. She looked at Alaric Blackwood thoughtfully. "You’re not going to blame me for deleting all the evidence, are you?"

’Without the video of Damian Morgan cheating, Alaric Blackwood wouldn’t be able to save his precious sweetheart.’

’Given how utterly love-brained Vianne Kane is, with the old man dead, it wouldn’t be long before she and Damian Morgan walked right into the tomb of matrimony.’

The man raised an eyebrow. "You collected the evidence. You have the right to do whatever you want with it."

"So you can be reasonable?"

Alaric Blackwood nodded. "If you don’t want to go to the Kanes’, I’ll arrange for someone to go and pay our condolences."

"Then arrange for someone."

Sophie had no intention of going. After what happened today, she wasn’t even planning on attending the old man’s funeral.

"I’m going back to my room."

She walked out of the study and went back to her bedroom. She took off the black suit, which was covered in dust, and got in the shower.

Alaric Blackwood saw her again an hour later, just before noon.

She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching wide-leg pants, with a red overcoat, and was coming down the stairs carrying a black handbag.

"I’m going to the office. I won’t be home for lunch."

Sophie walked to the entryway with a cold expression, changed into her high heels, grabbed her bag, and left. She drove her Cayenne toward Heart of the Ocean.

On the way, her phone rang. It was a call from Joseph Shaw.

She didn’t answer. A moment later, he sent her a text message.

When she arrived at the company and parked her car, she picked up her phone and opened the message from Joseph Shaw.

[Sophie, you weren’t answering your phone, so I had to contact Alaric Blackwood. He said he took you home. Your grandfather has passed away. As his granddaughter, it’s only right that you stay with the Kane family. The funeral is in a few days.]

Her finger tapped the screen as she replied with a few cold words: [I’m busy. I won’t be attending the funeral.]

The message had barely been sent when Joseph Shaw’s call came through again.

She didn’t answer, but he kept calling relentlessly.

Resigned, she finally answered.

"What is wrong with you? An elder in the family has passed away, and you won’t even attend the funeral?"

"Don’t you have any idea why?"

"Sophie, don’t be so childish. You’re not just representing yourself. You’re my daughter and the daughter-in-law of the Blackwood Family. You need to observe the most basic social courtesies, even if you have to fake it!"

Sophie’s blood boiled. Through clenched teeth, she said, word by word, "I’ll say it again. I am not attending the funeral."

With that, before Joseph Shaw could say another word, she hung up indignantly.

Joseph Shaw was still at the hospital’s emergency room. He had accompanied Vianne Kane to bring Damian Morgan there.

According to the doctor’s diagnosis, Damian Morgan was not in any serious danger; his sudden fainting and vomiting of blood were likely caused by emotional distress.

The doctor recommended he stay for observation, but when Damian Morgan woke up, he repeatedly refused and insisted on going home.

So, Joseph and Vianne Kane supported Damian Morgan on either side, left the emergency room, helped him into the car, and rushed back to the Kane residence.

After settling Damian Morgan in, Vianne Kane stayed in his room. The more she thought, the more something felt off.

As evening approached, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She grabbed her car keys and rushed out.

She got into her sports car, put on her Bluetooth headset, and dialed Alaric Blackwood’s number.

As soon as the call connected, she asked Alaric Blackwood where he was. Confirming he was at Maplewood Estate, she immediately hung up and floored it.

Knowing she was coming, Alaric Blackwood opened the main gate in advance.

Vianne Kane drove straight into the courtyard, parked, and rushed up the steps to ring the doorbell.

Alaric Blackwood opened the door to find Vianne Kane standing there, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Sophie said you sent my grandfather a video. Is that true?"

He nodded.

"Where’s the video?"

"Deleted."

"Was there really a video at all?"

Alaric Blackwood gave a thoughtful smile. Recalling the sight of Sophie locked in that dark room, he didn’t answer Vianne Kane’s question, instead asking one of his own. "Were you the one who locked my wife in the attic?"

Vianne Kane’s mouth twitched. "It wasn’t me. It was probably Mr. Shaw. He built that dark room in the attic for Sophie. Sophie has a bad temper and has always liked to talk back to her elders. Mr. Shaw’s way of punishing her was to lock her in there to reflect on her actions."

"You think I’d believe that load of crap?"

"Only Mr. Shaw knows the password to the hidden door."

Alaric Blackwood was momentarily speechless as the image of Joseph Shaw leading him to the attic and skillfully keying in the password on the hidden door flashed through his mind.

"I have no reason to hold a grudge against Sophie. If you had to say there was any bad blood between us, it’s that Damian abandoned her to be with me. If anyone should be hating anyone, it’s her hating me. I have no reason to hate her."

Vianne Kane’s explanation sounded perfectly reasonable. She tried to enter the house, but Alaric Blackwood blocked her way, his arm resting on the doorframe.

She was torn between anger and laughter. "Alaric, aren’t you going to invite me in for a bit?" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"There’s no need."

"I want to know if Damian really cheated on me."

"The video is deleted. If I were to just say he cheated, would you believe me?"

"Of course I’d believe anything you say, Alaric."

Vianne Kane took a step forward, raising a delicate hand to gently stroke Alaric Blackwood’s chest. "Alaric, why would you send that kind of video to my grandfather?"

"Was it because you didn’t want to see me get deceived by a bad man? Were you worried about me?"

Alaric Blackwood sneered, grabbing her wandering hand and flinging it away.

"Watch what you say. And keep your hands to yourself."

Vianne Kane wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, her expression turning serious. "Alaric, don’t tell me you’re in love with me. You feel sorry for me, and you don’t want me to marry someone else, do you?"

"You have a wild imagination. Are we that close?"

"Then the only other way to interpret your actions is that you’re helping Sophie get revenge on me. She can’t forget Damian, so she’s trying everything to break us up, and you’re her accomplice."

Alaric Blackwood was losing his patience. "Think whatever you want."

He gripped the door and started to close it, but Vianne Kane was faster, quickly sticking her foot into the gap.

"AAGH—"

The bloodcurdling shriek was enough to make Alaric Blackwood’s eardrums ache.

Seeing her foot was caught, he yanked the door open.

Vianne Kane, her face streaked with tears, fell straight toward him, clearly aiming for his arms.

He sidestepped, avoiding her embrace, but didn’t let her fall to the ground.

He put out a hand, grabbing her arm to steady her.

"Alaric, my foot hurts so much."

Vianne Kane looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears.

"Who told you to stick your foot in the door? Serves you right."

"..."

Vianne Kane choked on the man’s heartless words, her expression shifting. She was deeply displeased.

She bit back her annoyance. As Alaric Blackwood held her arm, she took the opportunity to wrap herself around it, her voice thick with tears. "Alaric, help me inside so I can rest for a moment. I hurt my right foot, and it’s so painful. I won’t be able to drive for a while... I can’t go back."