Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

Beneath the dark night sky, in a thicket of overgrown grass.

Silas Blackwood lay on the ground, clutching his lower body and grimacing. The pain was so intense his mind went blank as he writhed and rolled on the ground.

His assailants were long gone. He hadn’t even gotten a clear look at their faces, only that there were two men.

Nearby, his phone was ringing. The caller ID showed it was his driver, but Silas Blackwood had no strength to answer it.

It was just too painful. It felt as if that part of him was broken; he didn’t even dare to touch it.

After the excruciating pain lingered for what felt like an eternity, it gave way to numbness. He couldn’t feel anything there anymore.

The veins on Silas Blackwood’s forehead bulged, and his skin was slick with sweat. He was completely helpless, his cries for help going unanswered.

After lying in the grass for nearly half an hour, Silas finally managed to crawl over and grab his phone.

There were several missed calls from his driver. Silas called the number back. ”Come... come find me.”

By the time the driver found him, Silas was on the verge of losing consciousness from the pain.

”Sir! Sir!”

Silas forced himself to stay conscious. ”Take me to the hospital. To the hospital!”

...

On the cruise ship, Ivy Sherwood and Quentin Blackwood had gone to their suite on the top deck to rest for a bit.

Next up was some sort of cocktail party, but Ivy wasn’t particularly interested.

Meanwhile, the two items Quentin had won at the auction were delivered to the suite.

Besides the calligraphy painting, there was also a large, uncut, natural blue diamond.

Ivy had never seen a raw blue diamond that large before, so she couldn’t help but stare for a moment.

Quentin signed for the items, and the delivery staff left.

He left the items where they were, showing no intention of inspecting them.

”Aren’t you going to open them and take a look?” Ivy knew what Quentin had bought, but since he’d spent so much money, he should at least check them.

Only then did Quentin open them. He wasn’t actually interested in these things; bidding on them tonight was a favor to Jason Summers.

The main reason was that Ivy had lingered on these items during the exhibition. He had to buy something anyway, and since nothing had caught his eye, he figured he might as well buy what she liked.

”What do you think of this painting?”

Ivy had donated the last one he gave her to a museum, so giving her another was no issue.

Ivy said, ”It’s highly collectible.”

Although it wasn’t quite as valuable as the previous one Quentin gave her, it was still an original.

”Then you can keep it for now. Hold onto it for me.” Quentin rolled up the painting and casually tossed it into Ivy’s arms.

”Something this valuable... you should keep it yourself. I’m afraid I might damage it.”

Ivy didn’t dare accept it. Holding it felt like holding a hot potato.

”I have no use for this gemstone either. I only bought it out of obligation. It’s yours.”

”I don’t—”

Before Ivy could finish, Quentin cut her off, as if guessing what she was about to say. ”If you don’t want it, throw it away.”

Ivy: ”...”

”You never intended to keep these for yourself when you bid on them, did you?” Ivy cut right to the heart of it. It was clear he had bought them for her.

Ivy didn’t like this feeling of being a kept woman.

She wanted to stand by his side as an equal, not be a plaything for his amusement.

”I don’t lack for these things,” Quentin said nonchalantly.

”But I don’t have any use for them either. I don’t know why you want to give them to me, but I really don’t need them.” Ivy finally found the chance to speak to Quentin seriously about this.

She had told him before that these things were too valuable for her to accept.

Quentin frowned. ’Why does she seem so unhappy about receiving these gifts?’

’Didn’t Julian Grant say that all women love receiving gifts?’

’Especially the more expensive, priceless, and one-of-a-kind they are—that’s what they’re supposed to like most.’

’Both the painting and the diamond are unique. Ivy was looking at them so intently from the audience, yet now that she has the chance to own them, she doesn’t want them?’

Ivy said, ”Silas Blackwood has many women on the side. He loves to shower them with gifts, and when they part ways, he gives them a large sum of money. Those women usually don’t pester him again; in fact, they’re quite happy. It’s the same with Charlie Rhodes. As long as Melanie Linton pleases him, she can get whatever she wants.”

”I don’t know if you see me as the same as those women, but I’m not like them. I don’t need anything, and you don’t need to think about compensating me for anything.”

She bit her lip gently. It was hard to tell if its rosy hue was from her lipstick or from her own teeth.

Ivy lowered her gaze, her expression incredibly serious as she spoke words that were utterly cruel.

Her relationship with Quentin had always been vague and muddled. Ivy felt it was time to make things clear.

She knew she could never be the one and only person in Quentin’s heart, but she didn’t want their relationship to become like Melanie Linton and Charlie Rhodes’s.

”Quentin, if one day you have a change of heart, or you feel our relationship should be over, you can end it at any time. I won’t cling to you. So, you don’t have to give me things.”

Quentin felt like he had just punched a wad of cotton. It didn’t hurt, but an awful feeling welled up inside him.

An indescribable frustration throbbed at his temples.

’What is she trying to say? That while she’s with me, she’s always thinking about it ending?’

And this wasn’t the first time she’d said something like this.

She had said she wouldn’t get pregnant, that she wouldn’t cause him any trouble.

She had said he could end things at any time, that she wouldn’t cling to him.

’Is she really that detached? After all this time, does she still not have any feelings for me at all?’

’In her eyes, am I just a tool?’

He gave a cold laugh. ”What do you think our relationship is right now?”

Ivy didn’t know either. She had asked herself the same question, and after much thought, only one phrase seemed to fit.

’Bed partners with mutual benefits.’

But if she said that out loud, she was afraid Quentin might actually hit her.

Besides, now really wasn’t the time to say something that would kill the mood.

”Then what do you think our relationship is?” Ivy lifted her lashes to meet Quentin’s deep gaze.

His breathing was heavy, the ink-black of his irises swirling with an unreadable, profound meaning.

Quentin had always considered himself emotionally detached. He had never felt any affection for anyone. To him, the world was divided into three types of people: strangers, business partners, and enemies.

He had no relatives, no family, and certainly no fondness for anyone, which allowed him to handle everything with cold, clear-headed rationality.

But after meeting Ivy, his rationality seemed to have turned into irrationality. He went from feeling nothing for her to, through their gradual interactions, discovering that the sparks in her personality were drawing him in.

Those sparks weren’t just her looks, but her stubbornness and determination, which were so different from anyone else’s.

Even knowing she was *that person’s* daughter couldn’t stop him from interacting with her again and again, his heart softening each time.

He had made their relationship clear in front of Silas Blackwood, and this time, he’d brought her to the banquet as his date. He thought these actions would prove something.

So, perhaps Ivy was even more clear-headed than he was. From start to finish, she knew exactly what she wanted. She didn’t even want to use him; she was so decisive, ready to pull away at a moment’s notice.

A storm churned in the depths of his eyes, making his gaze darker and thicker than ink. ”Since you feel we should be over, then... let’s just end it.”