Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

News of Silas Blackwood taking wedding photos soon reached Quentin Blackwood’s ears.

Looking at the two people in the photo, Zane Linton had thought Quentin Blackwood would curse them out. To his surprise, Quentin only offered a three-word comment: ”A good match.”

However, Quentin Blackwood closed it after a single glance. The sight was an eyesore, after all, and he had no desire to torture his own eyes.

”President Blackwood, here’s your upcoming schedule. Tomorrow morning, you’ll meet with our partners to sign some agreements, followed by a lunch meeting. In the evening, you have an appointment with Mr. Archer, who’s been trying to get on your calendar for a while now.”

It wasn’t just tomorrow. The day after, the day after that, and even into next week, Quentin Blackwood’s schedule was packed solid.

”President Blackwood, you also have a trip back to Aethelgard next week for a fashion show. Your attendance was requested and confirmed some time ago.”

”Mm,” Quentin Blackwood acknowledged.

An endless stream of work had already become a habit for him.

There had been even busier times before, when Quentin Blackwood was constantly flying all over the world.

At the most extreme, he once flew to five different countries in a single day.

Now that everything at the company had stabilized, he no longer needed to travel all over the country for business. Instead, people came to him, which afforded him some free time.

He had been in Lustre for some time now, so it was indeed time to head back to headquarters and check in.

”The perfume I asked you to order from Ivy Sherwood, did you get it?”

”No, Miss Sherwood refused,” Zane Linton could only report truthfully.

Zane Linton had contacted Ivy Sherwood many times, but she simply refused, and he couldn’t understand why.

”Refused? Not enough money?”

Besides that, Quentin Blackwood couldn’t think of any other reason why Ivy Sherwood would refuse.

”I don’t think so. Miss Sherwood didn’t give a specific reason. I’ll continue to follow up.”

”Don’t bother. If she refuses, so be it. You’re dismissed.”

”Yes, President Blackwood.”

...

Nina Scott had been busy lately. The fashion show was a huge event—not every studio got a chance to participate, but she had been invited!

She loved seeing models walk the runway in her clothes; she loved seeing her designs showcased perfectly by others.

This time, it was a competition. Winning would attract collaboration offers from many companies. Nina Scott’s studio wasn’t unpopular, but she wanted to go international.

So, Nina Scott was taking this show very seriously. She was making the clothes herself and personally selecting the models.

Finding the right model wasn’t easy. The big-name models had long been booked by other well-known companies, and it was even harder for an ordinary model to wear the clothes with the right kind of flair.

Nina Scott was swamped, a fact Ivy Sherwood was well aware of. That’s why Ivy had been bringing her meals the past couple of days; otherwise, Nina would probably be too busy to even remember to eat.

Nina Scott was good to her, so of course, she would be good to Nina in return.

When Nina returned from her work, Ivy even wiped the sweat from her brow. ”Eat something first.”

Nina quickly shoveled in a couple of bites before asking, ”That Silas Blackwood and Anna Nash... they didn’t do anything to you afterward, did they?”

Ivy Sherwood laughed. ”You’re this busy, and you still have time to worry about me?”

”Of course! Your business is my business. I just can’t stand seeing those two act so arrogantly.”

”What can they do to me? Caleb Blackwood just forced Silas Blackwood to come apologize, but I ignored him.”

”Good, don’t give him the time of day. That man is no good,” Nina said, shoveling in another couple of bites.

”I know, I know. Slow down.”

”So what about what your dad said? That you two are getting married next month. What are you going to do?” Nina asked.

Ivy Sherwood shook her head. ”I don’t know. If I don’t go, are they going to tie me up and drag me there?”

”I’ll help you run away. Or you could just leave the country.”

Ivy said, ”We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. There’s always a way.”

’What worries me is that, knowing Caleb Blackwood’s methods, he’ll surely use something to threaten me. I’m afraid I won’t be able to escape.’

After finishing her meal, Nina went back to being busy.

Ivy sat there, thinking. ’What on earth can I do to make the Blackwood Family give up on this marriage?’

There was a mirror nearby, reflecting Ivy Sherwood’s image. Her face, deliberately made up to look plain and ordinary, would never be noticed in a crowd.

’What is it about me that caught Caleb Blackwood’s eye?’ Ivy truly couldn’t understand.

’Mom, what did you even see in Silas Blackwood back then? Why, of all people, did you arrange for me to marry him?’

...

Ivy Sherwood continued to come home late every day. Feeling a bit tired, she planned to sit on the sofa for a moment before washing up, but she ended up falling sound asleep. By the time she woke up, it was the next day.

After getting ready, she went to the office. The first thing Ivy did was open her inbox to check her email.

As soon as she opened it, she discovered that she had won the government bid.

Such great news first thing in the morning put Ivy in a wonderful mood.

She hadn’t expected to win the bid. Her studio had only been open for a short time and wasn’t the most established, but on the day of the presentation, Ivy had shown the most sincerity.

She had indeed done a lot of homework for it, thinking through every aspect comprehensively.

Although someone from Aethelgard had put in a word with the government, hinting that they should choose the other Sherwood, they weighed their options and decided to give Iris a chance.

The project wasn’t particularly large—it didn’t require a lot of fragrances and scents, the quality standards were high, and there wasn’t much money to be made—but Ivy was more than happy to take it on.

Thea Sherwood, on the other hand, was furious. She had assumed that even if she didn’t get the government project, there was no way it would go to Ivy Sherwood.

Who knew that this time, Ivy would be the one to luck out!

’But it doesn’t matter,’ she thought. ’It’s just one unprofitable project. If Ivy wants it, she can have it. I have plenty of other collaborations.’

Besides, her focus lately was the international perfumery competition; she didn’t have time for such trivial matters.

While things were going smoothly for Ivy, the same couldn’t be said for Nina.

The show was just around the corner, but one of her models had missed a step coming downstairs and sprained her ankle.

They were supposed to fly to Aethelgard tonight. Where was she supposed to find a suitable replacement model now?

This drove Nina absolutely frantic. She spent a long time looking at potential replacements but couldn’t find anyone suitable.

While on the phone with Ivy telling her about it, inspiration suddenly struck. ”Ivy, why don’t you be my model?”

”Me? I can’t.” She didn’t know how to walk a runway; she’d never been a model before.

Besides, she knew how important this show was to Nina. It would be terrible if she messed it up.

”I believe in you, Ivy! I think you’re the most suitable person. You look beautiful in my dresses.”

”Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no one knows it’s you. Please, just do this for me, okay? My dear Ivy, you’re the only one I can turn to.”

Ivy had a soft spot for Nina and couldn’t resist her pleading, so she agreed. ”But I can’t promise I won’t cause you trouble. I really don’t know how to walk the runway.”

”It’s fine, it’s really simple! I’ll come pick you up in a bit, and we’ll head to the airport!”

”So soon? But I haven’t learned anything.”

”You don’t need to learn anything. Just walk normally.”

Even though Nina said that, Ivy still felt completely out of her depth.

It wasn’t until she actually arrived at the fashion show that Ivy was filled with immense regret. If she had known she would run into... she definitely would not have agreed to Nina’s proposal to be a model!