Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

It was just past one in the morning when Ivy Sherwood’s phone rang.

The call was from Nina Scott. Ivy Sherwood quickly answered, ”Hello, Nina.”

’Why is Nina calling me so late? Is something urgent?’

”Ivy, were you asleep? My brother got into a car accident and is in the hospital. I’m here alone and I’m a little overwhelmed. Can you come and help me?”

Ivy Sherwood’s heart dropped. ”What did you say? Seth Scott was in a car accident?”

”Mhm.” Nina Scott’s voice was already choked with tears. ”They’re still working on him in the ER. I’m a little scared, Ivy.”

”Don’t worry, I’m on my way.”

Ivy Sherwood couldn’t worry about Quentin Blackwood right now. He was at home, fast asleep, and perfectly safe. Besides, the butler and so many others were there to look after him.

She didn’t know what caused Seth Scott’s accident, but at this moment, Ivy Sherwood felt an inexplicable sense of guilt. ’Could it be because of what I said this afternoon? Was he distracted while driving?’

If something had really happened to Seth Scott because of her, Ivy Sherwood knew it would feel like a stone weighing on her conscience.

Ivy Sherwood found the butler. ”I’m so sorry, but something urgent has come up and I need to leave. Please take good care of Quentin Blackwood. When he wakes up, make sure he drinks the congee and the hangover soup. Call me if anything happens.”

”Of course,” the butler agreed.

Even though Ivy Sherwood was still worried about Quentin Blackwood and had planned to stay and look after him, this was an emergency. From the sound of Nina’s voice, she was terrified.

Even if it wasn’t for Seth Scott, she had to go and check on Nina.

Ivy Sherwood drove to the hospital address Nina Scott had sent. ’Isn’t this the same hospital Silas Blackwood is in?’

But Ivy Sherwood didn’t dwell on it. She went straight upstairs and found Nina Scott. ”Nina, are you okay?”

Nina Scott shook her head. ”It’s nothing major, just some cuts and bruises. They’ve already patched him up and moved him to a room.”

”Ivy, you came without any makeup on?” Nina Scott said, looking at her face.

”I was scared to death when I got your call. How could I have had time to put on makeup? But as long as your brother’s okay, that’s all that matters.”

”Well, let me touch it up for you. I happen to have my foundation with me.”

Nina Scott pulled Ivy Sherwood down into a chair by the room’s entrance and began to touch up her makeup.

Being so close, she caught a whiff of Ivy Sherwood. ”Why do you reek of alcohol? Did you go drinking? And you didn’t even invite me!”

Ivy Sherwood said, ”No, I just dropped a drunk off at home.”

”Who? Don’t tell me it was President Blackwood.”

Ivy Sherwood nodded.

Nina Scott said in surprise, ”Oh. Then I hope me calling you over didn’t interrupt anything... important?”

Ivy Sherwood said, ”He was dead drunk. I just took him home. Besides, there are plenty of people at his house to look after him.”

”I was just in such a panic. The police were the ones who called me, so I had no idea what was going on. I was terrified. Then I had to deal with all the admissions paperwork and payments, which is why I called you.”

”Well, are you finished with all of that? I can go with you.”

Nina Scott said, ”Great. There are still a few more things to take care of.”

Ivy Sherwood went with Nina Scott to handle the rest of the procedures. By the time they were done, it was late into the night.

Nina Scott was about to go in to check on Seth Scott, but Ivy Sherwood remained at the doorway, showing no intention of following.

”Come on in, Ivy.”

Ivy Sherwood shook her head. ”I’ll stay out here.”

”Why not? My brother isn’t awake yet, it’s fine.”

Ivy Sherwood still didn’t go in. Seeing that something was wrong, Nina Scott came back out of the room. ”Did something happen between you and my brother? This afternoon, I heard him say the company had a need for some perfumes and that he wanted to work with you.”

Ivy Sherwood and Nina Scott sat down on the chairs in the hallway. ”Your brother did mention that,” Ivy said. ”We were actually supposed to have dinner this afternoon.”

After a moment’s thought, Ivy decided to tell Nina everything.

”You’re saying my brother told you he likes you... in front of Quentin Blackwood?”

’Oh my god, that doesn’t sound like my brother at all. When it comes to things like this, he’s a total coward.’

’Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept his feelings for you bottled up for so many years without ever saying a word.’

’It’s a shame. It looks like my brother was a step too late.’

’Even though I’d love for Ivy to be my sister-in-law, you can’t force matters of the heart. And compared to my brother, I’m on Ivy’s side. My best friend is more important!’

”I don’t know if he has some conflict with Quentin Blackwood and just said it on purpose.” Ivy didn’t want to guess; she couldn’t figure it out anyway.

”That’s definitely not it. My brother really does like you,” Nina Scott admitted freely on his behalf.

Ivy Sherwood looked at Nina in surprise. Nina nodded. ”I already knew.”

”To be honest, my brother is a pretty devoted guy. He’s liked you for a long time, but he wouldn’t say anything because he was afraid you wouldn’t even be able to be friends anymore. It’s the same whenever he wanted to ask you out to eat. Did you sense something? Is that why you’ve been deliberately avoiding him?”

Ivy didn’t like that kind of pressure. She hadn’t known Seth Scott liked her, but she had to admit she had been avoiding him.

Perhaps it was because of Quentin Blackwood. He was always telling her that Seth Scott was a bad guy and that she should stay away from him.

”You know what my family is like. Even though my brother likes you, that doesn’t mean anything. I wouldn’t want you to marry into our family and suffer. You know Yara Scott likes my brother, and besides, I can’t stand my own parents. If you really married him, you’d just be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I wouldn’t support it.”

’As her best friend, of course I want her to have the best life possible.’

’It was a home Nina herself didn’t even want to return to.’

Nina said, ”You don’t have to feel so pressured. I’ll talk to my brother. But our friendship isn’t going to change, no matter what.”

Ivy Sherwood nodded. ”Of course not!”

...

As dawn broke, Quentin Blackwood woke up.

His head was splitting. He propped himself up and got out of bed.

The room was empty. There was no one there.

’Was it all a dream? But he could have sworn Ivy Sherwood was by his bed, telling him to sleep peacefully and that she would stay by his side.’

’But he woke up to nothing. Liar!’

’Even seeing Ivy Sherwood at the club last night felt like a dream.’

’Could it really have just been a dream? A fleeting fantasy where the Ivy Sherwood of his dreams let him hold her, kiss her... she was so pliant.’

Quentin Blackwood forced his aching body to sit up. The butler, who had barely slept a wink, rushed over the moment he saw him. ”Sir, you’re awake.”

”There’s congee here, and hangover soup. The beautiful young lady made them herself.”

Quentin Blackwood’s eyes lit up. ’Could it be Ivy Sherwood?’

’It wasn’t a dream!’

”Where is she?” Quentin Blackwood’s voice was laced with urgency.

The butler replied, ”She left not long after bringing you home.”

The light in his eyes dimmed. ’She left right after dropping me off? Why was she in such a hurry to leave?’