Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Jealous?

"I’ll call a hired driver for you, then."

As Alaric Blackwood spoke, he flung her hand away and took two steps back, putting distance between them. He showed no intention of even helping her.

She could only limp inside on her own.

After sitting down on the living room sofa and waiting for Alaric Blackwood to arrange for the driver, she said tearfully, "Alaric, do you have an ice pack? I want to ice my ankle."

Alaric Blackwood didn’t say a word, but he quickly returned with an ice pack and tossed it to her.

She took off her high heels, rested her right foot on the sofa, and pressed the ice pack against her already swollen ankle.

"Leave when the driver gets here."

The man’s tone was icy, his gaze just as cold.

Vianne Kane nodded obediently.

Alaric Blackwood turned and walked into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

While he was busy, his friend from the police force called.

Alaric Blackwood’s hands were full, so he put the call on speaker.

"We only managed to recover some of the data from Mr. Kane’s phone. A full one-hundred-percent data recovery is going to be difficult."

Alaric Blackwood hummed thoughtfully before asking, "Did you find anything unusual on the phone?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

’Looks like the deleted video couldn’t be recovered.’

"Why are you so invested in Mr. Kane’s case?"

He gave a faint laugh. "Am I?"

"You called specifically to ask about the case. If that’s not being invested, what is?"

Vianne Kane, standing just a few steps away, happened to overhear their conversation.

She was standing behind Alaric Blackwood, having intended to get a glass of water, when she heard him take the call.

Even though Alaric Blackwood’s back was to her, her gaze toward him deepened.

’Alaric Blackwood really is concerned about my grandfather’s death,’ she realized. ’He’s asking the police about the case, which means he doesn’t believe Grandpa died of a heart attack. Maybe... he really does like me.’

’Marrying Sophie Shaw was probably an order from his elders he couldn’t defy. Plus, my engagement to Damian Morgan has already been announced everywhere...’

Gazing at the man’s tall, imposing back and his skilled hands preparing the ingredients, Vianne Kane suddenly regretted not listening to her grandfather back then.

’Alaric Blackwood might have a messy history with women, but compared to Damian Morgan, at least his family background is good enough. We’re a match in terms of social standing.’

Just as she was lost in her chaotic thoughts, a pair of headlights swept past the window.

Hearing the faint sound of a car, she guessed Sophie Shaw had returned. She quietly moved her legs, crept up behind Alaric Blackwood, steeled herself, and threw her arms around him.

Alaric Blackwood preferred a minimalist style, and the kitchen was semi-open-plan with few partitions. Thus, the moment Sophie Shaw walked in, she saw Vianne Kane hugging Alaric Blackwood.

Sophie Shaw froze, staring in astonishment at Vianne Kane, who was standing behind Alaric Blackwood and hugging him tightly. She was shocked. ’How could she be here?’

’Did Alaric Blackwood invite her?’

’Is he going to cook for her himself to comfort her?’

No matter how she looked at it, the scene before her seemed to be one of Alaric Blackwood about to personally cook a meal to comfort Vianne Kane.

Sophie Shaw backed away, her mind going blank. Her body had already retreated out the door.

She turned and hurried down the steps, nearly colliding with a young man.

"Excuse me..." The hired driver had just started to confirm the car owner’s information for the order when Sophie Shaw rushed past him, got into a car, and sped away.

Seeing the door was ajar, the hired driver knocked on it and called out, "Hired driver!"

By this point, Alaric Blackwood had already shoved Vianne Kane away. His eyes held a heavy warning. For the sake of the important partnership with the Kane Family, he suppressed his anger and said to Vianne Kane, "The driver is here. You can go."

"Alaric, it’s dinnertime. Aren’t you going to ask me to stay for dinner?"

Alaric Blackwood’s face was cold. "This isn’t for you."

Vianne Kane froze.

’Not for her?’

’Could it be for Sophie Shaw?’

’Ha!’

’How ridiculous.’

’What gives that woman the right?’

Vianne Kane’s expression twisted into a sneer, her attitude becoming haughty. "Alaric, have you been playing around with so many women that you now want to try a piece of wood for novelty’s sake?"

"Sophie Shaw is so dull and completely unromantic. You’re actually going to the trouble of making dinner specially for her?"

As she spoke, she glanced at the gauze wrapped around Alaric Blackwood’s left index finger. "You even hurt your hand. Do you think Sophie Shaw will appreciate it? She’s the most heartless person there is. Our Kane Family raised her for so many years, yet when my grandfather died, she only showed her face in the morning and then left for good. She even threatened not to attend the funeral! She’s a complete ingrate. A woman like that..."

Alaric Blackwood had no patience to hear any more. He cut her off with a harsh command. "Get out."

She glanced at the hired driver, who stood frozen and dumbfounded in the entryway, and felt a flush of humiliation. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

"I was just trying to be nice and tell you that Sophie Shaw is an ingrate. When she plays you for a fool in the future, don’t blame me for not warning you."

She stomped indignantly toward the entryway.

The hired driver saw she was limping and was about to speak, but she shot him a glare, and he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

Alaric Blackwood shot the driver a look, indicating that the person who needed the ride was, in fact, the limping woman.

The driver quickly hurried after her.

Vianne Kane got into the driver’s seat of her sports car and roared at him, "Get lost! I don’t need a hired driver."

The hired driver jumped, startled. He stood frozen in the yard, watching the woman drive away.

Noticing the villa’s door was still half-open, he ran back inside and asked politely, "Sir, that lady said she doesn’t need a driver. She already drove off. Could you please settle my service fee?"

Alaric Blackwood grabbed his phone from the kitchen island, walked over to the driver, and scanned the code to pay the service fee.

"Fighting with your girlfriend?"

The hired driver added nosily, mainly because he thought the woman who just left looked familiar.

"Is your girlfriend a celebrity?" freewēbnoveℓ.com

Alaric Blackwood impatiently shoved the driver toward the door. Pushed rather roughly, the driver got on his foldable bicycle and muttered under his breath, "Making two of them storm off in one go... These rich playboys sure know how to play the field."

Alaric Blackwood looked at him suspiciously. "What did you say?"

The driver’s heart leaped into his throat. He quickly said, "Nothing! You must have misheard, sir."

He tried to ride away on his bike, but Alaric Blackwood pressed a button on the control panel by the entryway, closing the courtyard gate.

The hired driver stopped awkwardly in front of the gate and turned to give him a strained smile. "Sir, you really did mishear me. I didn’t say a thing."

Alaric Blackwood strode down the steps and stopped in front of the driver. "You just said I made ’two of them’ storm off. What did you mean by that?"

"I really didn’t mean anything by it."

"Answer my question."

The driver was terrified of provoking a rich playboy like this; a mere hired driver like him couldn’t afford to get on their bad side. Pressed repeatedly by Alaric Blackwood, he had no choice but to tell the truth. "When I first got here, a woman in a red dress ran out of the house and almost bumped into me."

"A red dress?"

"Yeah, a red dress. She was pretty tall and good-looking..."

Alaric Blackwood immediately realized that the woman in the red dress who had run out was Sophie Shaw.

’Did she see Vianne Kane hugging me?’

’Why else would she turn and run without saying a single word?’

’Was she jealous?’

He pulled out his phone and dialed Sophie Shaw’s number directly. The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

"Sir, can you let me go now?" the hired driver asked, forcing a smile. "I have other jobs to get to."

Alaric Blackwood didn’t let him go just yet. He asked another question, "Did that woman leave by car or on foot?"

"By car."