Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

In the end, Ivy Sherwood was taken back to Norhaven by Quentin Blackwood. According to Quentin, it was because the bed at Norhaven was bigger.

Blushing furiously, Ivy was carried inside by Quentin. Thankfully, the staff at Norhaven had already gone to bed, so no one saw them.

The next morning, Ivy woke up, got ready, and went to the office.

Quentin had things to take care of as well, so the two of them were apart during the day.

In the afternoon, Elijah Hawthorne came to Ivy’s studio.

"Mr. Hawthorne, what brings you here?" Ivy hadn’t seen Elijah for several days and was surprised he was still in Lustre.

"Didn’t you say I could look for you anytime?"

Elijah looked utterly relaxed. He crossed his legs and tapped his fingers lightly on Ivy’s desk twice.

Ivy was at a loss for words. Elijah continued, "I wasn’t joking about the collaboration I mentioned. I’ve brought people from the relevant department at my company to discuss it with you."

Ivy hadn’t expected Elijah to be so serious. She quickly summoned her company’s person in charge of that area.

The idea was to let their teams talk, but Ivy and Elijah stayed for the meeting as well.

In truth, Ivy had no objections to the collaboration. Working with the Hawthorne Group would be beneficial for The Iris Brand.

The meeting ran for quite a while, lasting right up until the end of the workday.

"Dinner tonight?" Elijah invited.

"I don’t think I can," Ivy said. "My grandpa’s in town, and I’ll probably have to spend the evening with him."

’Grandpa really is a great excuse.’

But to her surprise, just as she stepped out of the conference room, she saw her grandfather and Miles Mercer standing there.

"Ivy!"

"Grandpa, what are you doing here?"

Miles Mercer explained, "Grandpa wanted to see where you work. He sent you a message, but you probably didn’t see it, so I brought him over."

Ivy indeed hadn’t checked her phone and hadn’t seen anything.

"Hello, sir," Elijah, standing beside her, greeted him as well.

The old master’s eyes lit up as he looked at Elijah. "And this is...?"

"He’s a business partner of mine," Ivy said.

Elijah smiled. "More than just a business partner, I hope? Wasn’t someone just saying we were friends last time?"

Ivy: "..."

Before she could even open her mouth, Old Master Mercer said, "Friends are good! I didn’t know our Ivy had such a friend. Why have you never told your grandpa about him?"

Elijah said, "And I never would have guessed that Ivy’s grandfather would be so young."

Elijah was a smooth talker, and his flattery clearly pleased Old Master Mercer. After a few pleasantries, the old man decided he liked this young man.

He seemed successful in his career, and he was articulate and charming.

Old Master Mercer even invited Elijah to have dinner with them. Elijah replied, "In that case, it would be rude to refuse."

Old Master Mercer immediately had Miles book a private room. Ivy put her head in her hands. ’What is happening?!’

"Grandpa, Mr. Hawthorne is a guest. Isn’t it a bit much to be so familiar with him right away?"

"I don’t think so. Who knows, maybe we’ll be family one day." He really liked this Elijah Hawthorne.

After Elijah introduced himself, the old master knew exactly who he was. The Hawthorne Enterprise was no small company, and Elijah Hawthorne was indeed an impressive young man.

"That’s absolutely impossible. I already told you I have a boyfriend."

"Elijah and I are just having a casual meal, right, Elijah?"

"That’s right." Elijah was on his best behavior in front of her grandfather.

Seeing she couldn’t stop them, Ivy had no choice but to confess to Quentin first. "I’m telling you now, this really wasn’t my idea. I have no idea why Grandpa likes Elijah so much."

Compared to the taciturn and stern Quentin Blackwood, Elijah Hawthorne was a fox—slick and never letting his true intentions show on his face.

Throughout the meal, her grandfather couldn’t stop singing Elijah’s praises.

But before dinner was over, there was a knock on the private room’s door. A waiter walked in carrying a large pile of things.

"A gentleman sent these over."

"A gentleman? Where is he?" Ivy suspected. ’Could it be Quentin?’

"He’s outside," the waiter said.

Ivy hurried out and, sure enough, saw Quentin waiting outside.

"What are you doing here?"

"Someone’s trying to steal home base. Of course I had to come and see." When he heard that Elijah had met her grandfather before he did, how could Quentin possibly sit still?

Even though he knew nothing would happen between Ivy and Elijah, if her grandfather took a liking to Elijah, then Elijah would definitely use it to gloat and rub it in his face.

He knew Elijah all too well.

Elijah was definitely doing this on purpose!

"I didn’t expect to have dinner with Elijah either. Are you mad?"

Quentin shook his head. Even if he was angry, it was only at himself.

If it weren’t for the things he’d done in the past, there wouldn’t be any room for Elijah. The Mercer family would surely be satisfied with him, too.

When it came to the Mercers, Quentin had no confidence he could make them like him.

If he had a daughter one day and some man treated her like that, Quentin knew he wouldn’t let that man off the hook either.

"Then why did you suddenly show up?"

"I was just passing by, so I came to take a look," Quentin said.

Ivy didn’t believe him for a second. At that moment, Old Master Mercer and Miles both came out.

The moment Old Master Mercer saw Quentin, he flew into a rage. He raised his cane and brought it down on Quentin. "You dare show your face here!"

"Grandpa!" Ivy cried out. Seeing the force behind her grandfather’s swing, she tried to intervene, but it was too late.

Her grandfather’s cane struck Quentin hard. If Quentin had wanted to dodge, he easily could have, but he made no move to, simply taking the blow head-on.

She even heard the THWACK of the cane hitting his body. That blow must have hurt a lot.

Quentin stopped Ivy from getting closer, standing his ground and letting her grandfather strike him.

"Get out of my sight!" The old master was furious just looking at Quentin.

His precious, darling granddaughter had been reduced to this state because of Quentin.

"Grandpa," Ivy soothed. "Please calm down. I know you’re very angry, but things between Quentin and me aren’t what you think. I’ll explain it all to you later, okay?"

"I’m sorry!" Quentin, however, bowed deeply, offering the old master a very solemn apology.

"What good is ’sorry’?!" Thinking about how Ivy had been when he first saw her again, Old Master Mercer recalled secretly wiping away tears. The child had been so pitiful, moping around every day like a walking corpse.

"I know words are cheap, and you probably won’t believe me, but I truly love Ivy. I want to be with Ivy for the rest of my life. I swear I will love her with my life and will never, ever hurt her in the slightest."

Quentin spoke with utmost seriousness. These were his true feelings.

But her grandfather didn’t believe him at all. "Who needs you to love her? There are plenty of people who would love our Ivy."

How could a man who had hurt Ivy possibly deserve to stand by her side? But Old Master Mercer knew that Ivy liked him.

’She’s been sneaking out late at night these past couple of days. It’s almost certainly because of this brat!’