Chapter 216: You Seduced My Husband
On the way back to Maplewood Estate, a light snow began to fall silently from the sky.
This was the first snow of the winter.
Sophie Shaw rested her head against the car window, staring blankly at the snowflakes drifting outside.
Her face was reflected in the glass, her gaze distant. While waiting at a red light, Alaric Blackwood glanced over at her several times. He noticed that ever since they left the Chinese restaurant, she had been withdrawn and unhappy.
He reached out, took one of her hands, and held it in his. "What’s wrong? Are you unhappy?"
"No, I’m just thinking about something."
"What are you thinking about?"
"About... that photo album of yours."
Half of the pictures inside were of her from her school days, secretly taken by Alaric Blackwood.
’He had taken so many photos of me, and his excuse was that he was just testing his camera...’
The man’s lips pressed into a thin line. As the light changed, he withdrew his hand, stepped on the accelerator, and started driving again.
Sophie didn’t say another word for the rest of the drive. The moment the car came to a stop at Maplewood Estate, she immediately unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed the door open, and ran into the house against the wind and snow.
Watching her retreating figure, Alaric Blackwood got out of the car and followed her inside at a leisurely pace.
By the time he was changing his shoes in the foyer, Sophie had already reached the stairs, her footsteps pattering as she ran up.
She ran back to her room and headed straight for the bathroom. After washing up, she did a simple skincare routine, changed into her pajamas, and climbed into bed early.
’It’s Monday tomorrow. Got to sleep early and wake up early.’
As she was drifting off, a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. "Honey, you promised we’d reciprocate. Where’s my reward?"
"Good night."
"Going back on your word? Aren’t you afraid of being punished?"
"Don’t mess around, I have work tomorrow."
Alaric Blackwood rested his chin in the crook of her shoulder, his gaze deep as he looked at her sleepy face. He decided not to push it.
"So you’re saying I should put it on your tab?"
"Mhm, I’ll owe you."
"In that case, I’ll be collecting with interest next time."
"..."
And just like that, he held her in his arms all night as they slept.
The snow fell all night. The next morning, the world outside the window was a vast expanse of white.
After breakfast, Alaric Blackwood was worried about Sophie driving herself, so he personally drove her to the office.
"I’ll come pick you up tonight."
Sophie nodded, got out of the car, and watched the Cullinan drive away.
She took the elevator upstairs. Once in her office, she first made a call to HR to fire Shayla Zane.
Unexpectedly, when the news reached Shayla Zane, the woman was furious. Without a second thought, she stormed directly into Sophie’s office. Just as Hannah Sutton was bringing in a freshly brewed coffee, she saw Shayla angrily confronting Sophie. "On what grounds are you firing me?"
’Without even a proper reason, she just had the head of HR tell me to pack my things and leave.’
She had never been treated like this before.
"You tried to seduce my husband."
Shayla Zane choked, her eyes darting around in a panic.
Recalling what happened at the fashion show on Saturday, she collected herself, lifted her chin, and declared confidently, "Is that what you call seduction? I was just trying to make Alaric Blackwood take responsibility for his words. He’s my son’s father."
At this declaration, Hannah Sutton’s eyes went wide. She stood frozen at the office door, coffee tray in hand.
’Scandal!’
’A huge scandal!’
Sophie, however, remained perfectly calm. She glanced at Hannah holding the coffee, stood up, walked over, and took the cup from her. Then she turned to Shayla Zane and said, "I’ve met your son, Daniel. He’s mixed-race—part Black. I understand your desire to find a stand-in father for your son, but quite obviously, my husband is Asian. He can’t have a Black child. He is not Daniel’s father."
"PFFT—"
Hannah Sutton couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
Sophie shot her a look, telling her to get back to her own business. Seeing that the "huge scandal" was just a false alarm, Hannah casually made her exit, pulling the office door shut behind her.
Sophie carried the coffee back to her desk and sat down. She looked coolly at Shayla Zane, whose face was now flushed bright red, her eyes rimmed with red as well.
"Your cousin, Yuri, runs a top publicly-traded company in the jewelry industry. Why aren’t you working for him instead of coming to a small place like mine?"
"I don’t even have any trade secrets here for you to steal."
Sophie’s lips curved into a faint smile. "I’ve thought it over, and I can only assume it’s for personal, emotional reasons. A pity, though. My husband has no interest in you or your son."
"You could have just packed your things and left quietly. But no, you had to come here and make a scene, giving my employees some afternoon gossip. Thank you so much for making their jobs a little less dull."
Shayla Zane clenched her fists, seething and grinding her teeth after Sophie’s verbal assault.
"SLAM—"
She slammed her hand on the desk, glared at Sophie, and snarled, "Even if Alaric can’t be my child’s father, it’s true that he took great care of me when we were abroad! Not only did he look after me, he saved my life! We went through heartbreak on the same day, we shared that common experience. To him, I’m special. More special than you, his wife."
"Have some self-respect."
"You—"
"Pack your things and leave, or I’ll have security escort you out."
Enraged, Shayla Zane pounded the desk and screamed, "What are you so smug about? Alaric has had someone in his heart for a long time, and it’s not you! You’re nothing to him!"
Sophie ignored the woman’s hysterical fit, picked up her desk phone, and called for security.
A few minutes later, Shayla Zane was forcibly dragged out by security guards.
The office returned to silence.
Sophie finished the work on her desk and prepared for the morning meeting. Regarding her mother’s three jewelry sets, the team sat around the conference table to name the new products. In the end, they decided on Jiushi.
The ’shi’ represents diamond, while ’jiu’ evokes the idea of jade.
Her mother’s three jewelry designs had boldly incorporated mutton-fat white jade, achieving a perfect balance with the diamonds.
The head of the production department brought the three sample sets, handmade by artisans, to Sophie. Sophie picked up a jeweler’s loupe and carefully appraised the handcrafted samples.
She was very satisfied with the result of her appraisal.
"Any objections to the name Jiushi?"
Everyone present shook their heads.
"Then let’s begin the promotional and endorsement work for the Nine Stone Series."
The meeting ended. Sophie returned to her office, but her seat wasn’t even warm before Nina Halloway called.
"I just got a call from the director of the planning department at Heart of the Ocean. They said there’s a photo shoot for a new product endorsement this afternoon?"
"That’s right. For my mother’s posthumous designs."
Nina Halloway said readily, "OK, no problem."
Even with Jaden missing and her heart heavy, Nina didn’t want to neglect her work. However, Sophie could still tell from the phone call that her voice sounded a bit weak.
"Nina, are you okay?"
"What could be wrong with me?"
"As long as you’re okay. I’ll see you at the studio this afternoon."
"Okay."
After ending the call, Sophie casually sent Alaric Blackwood a WhatsApp message: [Lunch together?]
Alaric Blackwood replied in seconds: [Okay.]
At that moment, Alaric Blackwood was looking through the files that Preston Chase had brought back from his business trip to Silhaven. It was all evidence of Mason Kane accepting bribes and having extramarital affairs since his promotion to director.
"Mason Kane’s assistant just gave you all this dirt so easily?"
Preston Chase nodded. "The assistant was planning to gather enough evidence to write a whistleblower report to the higher-ups, but he wasn’t confident it would go anywhere and feared it would be suppressed. So, after making his own backups, he gave all the evidence to me, hoping we could submit it to the top brass."
"Then organize it and hand it over to the disciplinary inspection and supervision authorities. To be safe, submit a copy to the prosecutor’s office as well. While you’re at it, contact the media, arrange for a juicy tell-all about Mason Kane, and make him go viral."
"Yes, Mr. Blackwood."