Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

"I can have someone follow her abroad."

Alaric Blackwood listened, his brow furrowing. "How naive."

She was capable of kidnapping and had been on anti-manic medication. It was clear Lydia Wynn’s mental state was unstable.

He didn’t think sending her abroad was the best solution. On the contrary, it would be like unleashing a tiger. Besides, Lydia Wynn had two close friends from the orphanage. Even though he couldn’t prove that Lydia was in contact with Ava Sterling and Aiden Lloyd, he had a bad feeling. If they sent Lydia away, the woman would definitely keep making trouble.

"She has mental health issues. It would be better to send her directly to a psychiatric hospital for treatment."

The moment he made the suggestion, Quentin Blackwood shot it down. "A psychiatric hospital? Is that any place for a human being?"

"Then let’s call the police. Let her serve time in prison for kidnapping."

Alaric Blackwood pulled out his phone, but before he could dial 911, Quentin Blackwood snatched it from him.

"Don’t do anything rash."

Quentin Blackwood, his expression grave, clutched the phone. "Handing her over to the police will only provoke her further."

"What, feeling sorry for your illegitimate daughter?"

"She’s your sister."

"I don’t acknowledge her."

"Whether you acknowledge her or not, she’s still your sister. If she goes to prison, the moment she gets a chance, she’ll contact the media. Once the relationship is exposed, have you thought about the impact the public outcry would have on the company and our family?"

To Quentin Blackwood, this was just a family dispute. Besides, Mandy Halloway wasn’t injured, just drugged unconscious.

He didn’t want to make a big scene.

"You’re being completely irrational."

Furious, Alaric Blackwood snatched his phone back. "Do whatever you want," he spat, then stormed out.

The door slammed behind him, the sound echoing through the room.

Quentin Blackwood’s brow was furrowed as he let out a long sigh.

He pulled a chair over to the sofa and sat down. After finding Mandy Halloway’s phone on Lydia Wynn, he waited for her to regain consciousness.

When she came to, she found herself bound by ropes. Alaric Blackwood was gone. Instead, Quentin Blackwood and a group of bodyguards surrounded her. She went mad with rage—the prize had been snatched from her grasp at the last second.

She began to howl like a madwoman. "Let me go!"

"Let me go right now! Where’s Alaric Blackwood? Get him in here! How dare he cross me? Does he want Mandy Halloway to die?"

SLAP—

Quentin Blackwood slapped her hard across the face, hoping to calm her down. But it had the opposite effect. She became even more hysterical, screaming and thrashing about.

SLAP! SLAP!

He slapped her twice more. Blood trickled from Lydia Wynn’s nose, and her ears were ringing.

Her eyes flew open as she stared at Quentin Blackwood, her teeth clenched. "Go on, kill me! If you have the guts, just kill me!"

Her screaming gave Quentin Blackwood a headache. He slapped her one more time, decisively, and she finally fell silent.

After being slapped repeatedly, blood trickled from the corner of Lydia Wynn’s mouth. She collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing in despair.

The moment she started crying, Quentin Blackwood’s heart softened, and his tone followed suit. "Are you calm now?"

"Dad..."

That one word—"Dad"—made Quentin Blackwood’s heart ache. He was about to untie Lydia Wynn, but his reason quickly regained control.

He sat back down in his chair and said to Lydia Wynn, "Mandy is fine. My men have already taken her to the hospital. What you did was premeditated kidnapping. You have two choices: either go to prison or go abroad. You decide."

"Abroad. I’ll go abroad."

’That wasn’t even a choice. Only a fool would choose prison.’

She had orchestrated the kidnapping because she was counting on the fact that she was Quentin Blackwood’s daughter. She knew he felt guilty about their blood relationship.

Even though her plan failed and she didn’t get to sleep with Alaric Blackwood as she’d wished, she had learned something from this incident: she saw just how lenient Quentin Blackwood was with her.

’Where there’s life, there’s hope.’

She decided to go abroad for now and plan her next move from there.

"Did you say anything to Mandy?"

Quentin Blackwood didn’t untie her. He interrogated her instead.

"I told her everything she needed to know."

She didn’t hide anything. "Your wife has the right to know you cheated and have an illegitimate daughter. Otherwise, she’d just be kept in the dark forever. How pitiful!"

"You—"

Quentin Blackwood was so enraged his blood pressure skyrocketed. He nearly fainted on the spot.

Seeing this, Lydia Wynn’s eyes welled with tears as she put on a pitiful expression. "Dad, you said you’d send me abroad. You’re not going to go back on your word, are you?"

Quentin Blackwood remained silent, so she continued, "If you hand me over to the police, and the charge isn’t too serious, I’ll be out in five years at most. I can’t guarantee what I’ll do when that time comes. You’re my biological father. You wouldn’t push me to a dead end, would you?"

"Don’t threaten me. I said I’d send you abroad, and I won’t go back on my word."

Hearing this, Lydia Wynn breathed a sigh of relief. She knew it. Even after kidnapping Mandy Halloway, the plan to send her abroad wouldn’t change.

"And make sure you give me enough living expenses. If you dare short-change me, I’ll start selling my body abroad to disgrace you, and then I’ll expose my entire story to the media."

Faced with Lydia Wynn’s threats and viciousness, Quentin Blackwood’s face went pale with anger.

"Don’t untie her. Keep a close watch on her."

He left two bodyguards to watch Lydia Wynn and then rose to leave.

He drove to the hospital where Mandy Halloway had been taken and found her in the emergency room.

Mandy Halloway was beginning to regain consciousness, but the effects of the drug hadn’t fully worn off. She lay on the hospital bed, looking dazed.

He sat by her bedside and took her hand, his mind racing. ’How am I going to explain the illegitimate daughter to Mandy?’ After mulling it over, he decided to tell the truth.

The moment she saw him, tears welled in Mandy Halloway’s eyes.

As soon as the drug wore off and her strength returned, she immediately snatched her hand away from Quentin Blackwood.

"Mandy, please, let me explain."

The woman lay on the bed, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. She remained silent, letting him speak.

"I didn’t mean to deceive you. After I brought you back from Unisia, I truly wanted to build a good life with you. But when you were pregnant with Alaric, I was on a business trip... I drank too much at a work dinner, and my secretary took advantage of the situation... It wasn’t what I wanted..."

"An explanation is just a cover-up."

Mandy Halloway couldn’t stop herself from interrupting. "A man who cheats is like an abuser—it’s either never, or it’s countless times. You say you were drunk, that you didn’t want it, but it still happened. Your secretary even got pregnant with your child. That proves you weren’t completely unresponsive to her, and you weren’t as drunk as you claim."

"Mandy..."

"A man who’s truly blackout drunk can’t perform, can’t get it up. Do you understand?"

Mandy Halloway wasn’t a fool. She could see right through Quentin Blackwood’s twisted logic.

"Today, your illegitimate daughter dared to hold a knife to my throat and kidnap me. Tomorrow, she’ll dare to actually stab me. I can’t live like this anymore. Quentin Blackwood, I want a divorce."

She threw off the covers and got out of bed. Ignoring Quentin Blackwood’s attempts to hold her back, she shook him off and started to walk away.

Quentin Blackwood hurried after her. "Mandy, calm down. We’ve been married for so long, why talk about divorce?"

"I don’t want to be with a disgusting man like you who can’t even keep it in his pants."

She quickened her pace, walking out of the hospital, only to realize she had no money and no phone. She couldn’t even hail a car.

Quentin Blackwood seized the opportunity to grab her, forcibly dragging her into his car.

"Where are my purse and phone?"

"I’ll give them to you in a minute."

"Give them to me now. I don’t want to be in your car. It’s disgusting."