Chapter 197: Alaric’s Breakdown
"I have no interest in you whatsoever."
Alaric Blackwood’s tone grew colder, his gaze chilling over. The faint smile that had been playing on his lips was gradually replaced by icy indifference.
Watching the man’s expression turn glacial, Lydia Wynn shook her head violently.
"No, that’s not it. You have a secret crush on me. You like me. You’re the one who helped me, who sponsored me."
"You love me."
"Alaric Blackwood, you love me!"
"My feelings can’t be wrong, they can’t be..."
The woman muttered incessantly, her hands desperately trying to tear off the man’s trousers.
But Alaric Blackwood pinned her hands, preventing her from succeeding. His voice was now devoid of any warmth. "Put your clothes back on."
"No! I won’t!"
"I’m going to have you today!"
Lydia Wynn lunged at him like a madwoman.
A pair of headlights suddenly flashed on them, the blinding light dazzling Lydia Wynn. In that moment of distraction, a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck.
Alaric Blackwood’s hand rose and fell, knocking her unconscious without a moment’s hesitation.
The woman slumped limply before him.
Noticing a black sedan had stopped behind them, he saw three well-trained bodyguards get out and walk straight toward him. Alaric Blackwood buckled his belt, picked up the red coat, and threw it over Lydia Wynn.
The rear car door was pulled open. A bodyguard bowed respectfully to him. "Mr. Blackwood."
"Take her home."
"Yes, sir."
Two of the bodyguards dragged Lydia Wynn out of the car and took her remaining clothes. The third bodyguard slipped into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Alaric Blackwood picked up his own overcoat from the back seat, took out his phone, and saved the recording.
When he returned to Maplewood Estate, he saw that Sophie Shaw had already washed up and was lying in bed. He went straight into the bathroom and, careful to avoid the wound on his back, gave himself a quick wash. He brushed his teeth and washed his face thoroughly, trying to get rid of the smell of alcohol on him.
After changing into his sleep robe, he walked over to Sophie Shaw and gathered her into his arms.
The woman, drowsy and nearly asleep, asked in a muffled voice, "Where did you go?"
"I had to take care of something."
Sophie Shaw caught the faint scent of alcohol. Her eyes shot open, her drowsiness dissipating. "You were drinking?"
"Just a few glasses."
"Alaric Blackwood, your injury hasn’t healed yet—Mmph..."
His lips captured hers, silencing the rest of her words.
’He’s being completely reckless!’
Fortunately, it was only a kiss and nothing more.
「The next morning.」
After seeing Sophie Shaw out as usual, Alaric Blackwood grabbed his car keys and headed for the Blackwood Group.
He went straight to Quentin Blackwood’s office and played him the recording from the car last night with Lydia Wynn.
"Can we fire her now?"
There was no need to keep an employee with ulterior motives.
However, after listening to the recording, Quentin Blackwood’s expression became unusually grave.
Alaric Blackwood vaguely sensed something was wrong. "Dad, back then... why did you sponsor Lydia Wynn? Was it just because she had excellent grades and was a pitiful orphan whose adoptive parents had both died?"
That was certainly a reason, but the Blackwood Group had sponsored so many underprivileged students. Lydia Wynn was the sole exception, brought into the Blackwood Group and even personally mentored by Quentin Blackwood for a time.
"You treat her very differently."
Quentin Blackwood didn’t deny that he treated Lydia Wynn specially. His thoughts were a mess; the recording made his skin crawl. Right now, he only cared about one thing.
He stared at Alaric Blackwood’s face and asked with grave seriousness, "Did you and Lydia Wynn... last night?"
"No."
Hearing this, Quentin Blackwood’s expression visibly relaxed.
This only made Alaric Blackwood more certain that he was hiding something.
"You seem terrified that Lydia Wynn and I might have an inappropriate relationship. Is she your little mistress?"
Quentin Blackwood’s brow furrowed so deeply you could trap a fly in the wrinkles. "No."
"Then why..."
"She’s your sister!"
BOOM—
It felt like an explosion went off inside Alaric Blackwood’s head.
The phone he was clutching fell to the floor with a CLATTER. He felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
"Same father, different mothers."
Quentin Blackwood said, "Don’t tell your mother. She wouldn’t be able to handle it."
"Dad, you..."
"I cheated. With my former secretary. Your mother suspected I was having an affair, but she never caught any real proof, nor did she know who it was with. Back when she was pregnant with your sister, she became paranoid and emotional. She insisted on divorcing me and even fled to Unisia while heavily pregnant. Your sister was born abroad; she doesn’t even share my last name. She took your mother’s. Later, I chased them to Unisia, begged your mother, and even knelt before her. It took everything I had to coax her back."
Quentin Blackwood felt deeply ashamed as he spoke of that disgraceful past.
"I swore I would never do anything to wrong your mother again. But two years later, when your mother was pregnant with you, I got drunk and slept with my secretary one more time..."
Alaric Blackwood stumbled back in disbelief. In his memory, his parents had an excellent relationship and had set a wonderful example for him.
He had grown up in a loving home and had never imagined that one of his parents would have an affair.
It felt as if his entire world had shattered in that instant...
"It was an accident that time. I drank too much."
Quentin Blackwood tried desperately to explain himself. "Your mother never knew. I privately gave the secretary a sum of money and had her resign. I wanted to cut ties with her completely. But I never expected her to get pregnant, and she even kept it from me and gave birth to the child. When you were two, she came to me. She said she was sick and entrusted the child to me. How could I dare let your mother know I had an illegitimate daughter? I had no choice but to send the child to an orphanage..."
"Alaric, don’t let your mother know about this. I’m begging you as your father."
"The moment she finds out, this family will fall apart!"
Quentin Blackwood pleaded.
He picked up the phone from the floor and held it out to Alaric Blackwood. "Help your father keep this secret. I’ll arrange things properly for Lydia Wynn. I won’t let her get near you again."
Seeing Alaric Blackwood’s bloodshot eyes glaring at him, refusing to take the phone, he took a step forward and placed it in his son’s overcoat pocket.
"Son..."
Before he could say more, Alaric Blackwood spun around, yanked the door open, and stormed out.
SLAM—
The door slammed shut with a deafening crash.
Alaric Blackwood ran all the way to the express elevator and fled Blackwood Tower.
He drove straight to Nina Halloway’s house and, without knocking, keyed in the passcode to let himself in.
At that moment, Nina Halloway was lounging on the sofa, a bowl of fruit in her lap, binge-watching a drama while she ate.
When she saw Alaric Blackwood walk in, looking completely distraught with red-rimmed eyes, she froze for a second before quickly setting down her bowl and getting up to approach her younger brother.
"What’s wrong?"
"Sis..."
"I’m here. What happened?"
The last time Nina Halloway had seen Alaric Blackwood this devastated was back when Sophie Shaw got a boyfriend in college...
"Dad... he..."
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Alaric Blackwood couldn’t bring himself to say them.
Nina Halloway had always been very close to Quentin Blackwood since she was a child. If she found out he had cheated and had an illegitimate daughter, she would be even more devastated than he was.
"What about Dad?"
Nina Halloway watched him nervously, her heart pounding with panic. The look on Alaric Blackwood’s face right now was like someone whose father had just died.
"What is it? Say something."