Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

Ivy Sherwood looked at Thea Sherwood. ”You’re too quiet. I don’t think everyone heard you. Why don’t you speak up?”

Thea Sherwood bit her lip. This feeling of having someone hold something over her was awful.

”I said, Ivy Sherwood has never stolen anything from me.”

”Excellent,” Ivy Sherwood said with a satisfied smile. ”Thank you for clearing things up. Otherwise, who knows how much longer I’d have to put up with those false accusations.”

”I recall a lot of rumors online saying I bullied you. Why don’t you tell everyone, right here and now, if anything like that ever happened?”

”Ivy Sherwood!” Thea Sherwood snarled, grinding out Ivy’s name. ”Don’t push it!”

”Pushing it? I don’t think so. As for who started these rumors and how they got out, I’m sure you know better than I do. If you’re unwilling to speak up, well, I happen to know a thing or two...”

Thea Sherwood panicked, afraid Ivy Sherwood would expose what happened between her and Charlie Rhodes. That secret could absolutely not be revealed to anyone else!

Thea Sherwood quickly blurted out, ”Ivy Sherwood has never bullied me, and we have no conflicts!”

”Thea, we’re both Sherwoods, after all. You know what kind of person I am better than anyone. Do you really think I’m capable of stealing?”

Thea Sherwood was practically seething with rage, but she could only play along with Ivy. ”Ivy is a good person. It’s impossible for her to steal.”

”Thea, you—!” Yara Scott was absolutely livid.

’It was one thing for Thea not to help, but now she’s actively undermining us.’

Thea Sherwood hadn’t expected to become Ivy’s pawn. ’Just great,’ she thought. ’In front of all these people, I actually called Ivy a good person.’

Angry but helpless, Thea said, ”I have to go. I have something else to attend to.”

After Thea left, Yara Scott piped up, ”What does anything she says even count for? It doesn’t prove you didn’t steal Cheryl’s things. Why don’t you let us search your car!”

”Your logic is a little off, isn’t it, Miss Scott? If someone takes something, they usually hide it in their room, don’t they? Who would leave it in their car? Yet you jump straight to searching the car. Could it be that you already know something is there?”

”Or did you and Miss Yates team up to plant something in my car beforehand? Don’t you think this ’thief crying thief’ routine is a bit pathetic?”

”Who are you calling a ’thief crying thief’? Ivy Sherwood, if you didn’t take it, why are you afraid to let us look? It’s your car. How could any of us have possibly gotten to it?”

Just then, however, Cheryl Yates grabbed Yara Scott’s hand. ”It’s only an item worth a little over twenty million. It’s not a big deal. The Yates Family can afford the loss. Since Miss Sherwood refuses to admit it, just let it go. Yara, let’s leave.”

Cheryl Yates’s words seemed to be letting Ivy off the hook, but in reality, they only served to further cement the idea that Ivy was the thief.

”See how generous Cheryl is? Unlike certain petty thieves who are terrified of anyone looking into it.”

”I’ve never been afraid of an investigation. You want to search the car? Fine. Let’s go.”

Ivy led them to her parking spot, keeping a close eye on the group. She noticed that as they approached, Yara Scott deliberately fell to the back of the group. A moment later, she moved back to the front.

”Hurry up and unlock it. I’ll do the searching!” Yara Scott volunteered eagerly.

”Wait.” Ivy Sherwood stopped her.

”Hold on. How about I search you first, Miss Scott? Let’s see what you’re holding in that hand of yours.” Ivy’s gaze shifted to Yara Scott’s tightly clenched fist.

’I know I didn’t take it. To frame me, they need to plant evidence. They don’t know where I live, so of course they’d claim it’s in my car.’

’They don’t have my key, so they can’t get into the car. But they’d also be afraid I might search them if they kept the necklace on themselves.’

’The best method would be to hide the item in a corner nearby, pick it up as they approached, and then toss it into my car during the ”search.”’

But unexpectedly, just as she was about to complete her plan, Ivy stopped her.

”I’m not holding anything!”

”If you’re not holding anything, why won’t you open your hand?”

Of course, Yara Scott didn’t dare open her hand. The item was right there in her palm.

She could only turn to Cheryl Yates for help. ”Cheryl, look at her! She’s the one who stole something, but she’s acting so high and mighty!”

However, Ivy simply reached out and pinched Yara’s hand hard. Yara yelped in pain, her grip slackened, and the object she was holding tumbled out.

It was none other than a diamond necklace.

”Oh? I never knew you had such a talent, Miss Scott. We haven’t even started searching, and you’ve already found the item?”

”Ivy Sherwood! You must have realized you were about to be caught, so you deliberately planted it on me!” Yara Scott tried one last desperate defense.

”I can place things in your hand from thin air? With skills like that, you might as well call me a goddess.”

”I haven’t been near my car in two days. If you don’t believe me, you can check the security footage. I’ve never even seen Miss Yates’s property, let alone taken it.”

’Idiot! That Yara Scott is a complete and utter idiot!’

Cheryl Yates’s nails dug into her palm. ’And she insisted she could frame Ivy, that she would ruin her completely. Instead, she’s made a complete fool of herself!’

Ivy lifted her gaze to Cheryl Yates. Though she wasn’t dressed in the same limited-edition designer brands as these socialites, Ivy’s presence was second to none.

”Miss Yates, you used my phone behind my back yesterday to ask Quentin Blackwood to go stargazing, didn’t you? I assume President Blackwood turned you down. If you can’t win his affection on your own, why take your frustration out on someone else?”

Ivy continued, ”It’s hard to believe such a cheap trick is the work of Lustre’s top socialite, a supposedly well-bred lady.”

The other girls Cheryl had brought along were now just enjoying the drama. ”Oh my god, Cheryl Yates actually asked Quentin Blackwood out and got rejected?”

”Isn’t she supposed to be Lustre’s top socialite? She’s always so arrogant, looking down her nose at everyone. I thought men were always the ones chasing her. Never thought I’d see the day.”

”At the Blackwood family banquet last time, didn’t she try to hit on him, and President Blackwood completely ignored her? I can’t believe the top socialite has stooped to this, having to use someone else’s phone to ask a man out.”

”You’re lying!” Cheryl’s composure finally cracked. ”What proof do you have? Maybe you were the one who asked Quentin Blackwood out and got rejected, and now you’re trying to pin it on me.”

”In that case, how about I call President Blackwood and ask for verification? We can see if Miss Yates showed up yesterday, and we can hear what President Blackwood actually said to Miss Sherwood.”

Yara Scott scoffed. ”What a joke. You think you can just call him whenever you want? Who do you think you are to Quentin Blackwood? Why would he answer your call?”

’We’ll see about that.’

With that, Ivy called Quentin Blackwood. The line connected before the second ring. Ivy put the call on speaker, and Quentin Blackwood’s voice came through, crystal clear.

”Ivy?”

Cheryl Yates shot Yara Scott a venomous glare. ’If she’d just kept her mouth shut, no one would have thought she was a mute!’

Still, Cheryl hadn’t actually expected Quentin Blackwood to answer, which was why she had allowed Ivy to make the call in the first place.

’Their relationship is far too good. When Ivy asks him out, he goes. When Ivy calls him, he answers.’

Cheryl was terrified Quentin would actually say something that would humiliate her even further.

She grabbed Yara. ”Ivy Sherwood, you win this time!”

Hearing Cheryl’s voice, Quentin’s tone turned cold. ”What are you helping Cheryl Yates with this time?”

He assumed Cheryl had roped Ivy into doing something for her again, and that Ivy was calling him now to ask for another favor on Cheryl’s behalf.