Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

At the Blackwood estate, Silas Blackwood knelt on the floor while Caleb Blackwood brought a cane down squarely on his back.

”You scoundrel! You useless waste of space! What can you do besides cause trouble?!” Caleb Blackwood’s cane struck Silas’s body with one heavy blow after another.

”You can’t even manage the company, and now you’re letting some woman wrap you around her little finger!”

Silas bit down hard on his lip, making no sound, but fine beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, his face pale with pain.

”Son, hurry and admit you were wrong! Apologize to your father!”

Beside them, a heartbroken Mrs. Blackwood tried to pull Caleb away. ”Honey, what could our son have possibly done for you to be this ruthless?”

”Get out of my way!” In his rage, Caleb shoved Mrs. Blackwood aside.

Sylvia rushed to steady her mother. ”Dad, how could you push Mom!”

But Mrs. Blackwood paid no mind to her own stumble, her eyes red with tears. ”Are you trying to beat our son to death? He didn’t do anything! He just slept with some woman. It’s not like he got her pregnant, so what’s the big deal?”

”This is all that Ivy Sherwood’s fault for being so dramatic. What man doesn’t have a few women on the side these days? And she went and live-streamed it! This was clearly a trap for Silas. Our Silas is so naive; how could he have known Ivy had such a black heart!”

”How is a woman like that worthy of marrying into our Blackwood Family? If she joins this family, will we ever have a day of peace? My son would have to suffer her bullying every single day!”

”You, shut your mouth!” Caleb Blackwood seethed.

”This is all your fault for spoiling him! Look at him now! I told him to cut ties with that Anna Nash long ago. I even had her locked up, but you had to go and let her out!”

As he spoke, Caleb brought the cane in his hand down hard on Silas’s body again. ”Don’t you know she’s a vixen? She’ll be the ruin of you!”

”What?” Silas lifted his head to look at Caleb.

’Anna Nash... But I wasn’t the one who let her out, was I?’

He had almost forgotten about Anna at the time. Even when his men told him they’d found her, Silas hadn’t taken any action.

And then later, Anna just seemed to reappear, and he never asked for the details.

”And this time, didn’t she set a trap for you again? You think she actually loves you? She’s just after your status and your money!” Caleb shouted.

Silas retorted, ”Anna’s not like that! She truly loves me!”

”Dad, you’ve always been so harsh! All you care about is the company, about forcing me to get married! Do you have any idea what I really want? Only Anna knows! Only she’s ever been there for me! I never wanted to marry Ivy Sherwood in the first place!”

The words burst out of Silas. Although his feelings had started to shift recently, he had been completely against marrying Ivy from the very beginning.

”You scoundrel, you’ve completely lost your mind!” Caleb was livid.

He knew Ivy Sherwood was unwilling to go through with the marriage.

He had gone to great lengths, leaking news of the Blackwood-Sherwood union to the press to ensure Ivy had no way to back out of the engagement. And now, Silas had just handed her the perfect opportunity on a silver platter.

Ivy was now broadcasting to the world how the Blackwood Family had wronged her, and the public online was now directing all their scorn at the Blackwoods.

Because of this, the Blackwood family’s stock price was becoming unstable, and he, Caleb Blackwood, could barely show his face in public.

Fooling around with women wasn’t a major issue, but now it was public knowledge. Everyone knew about the Blackwood Family’s scandal.

Ivy had irrefutable evidence. She was the victim now, and he couldn’t even find an angle for his PR team to spin it!

Caleb said, ”I’ve already arranged for the media to come here. You are going to publicly apologize to Ivy Sherwood. You must be sincere. Say you were drunk, that vixen deliberately set you up, and promise it will never happen again.”

”I won’t do it!” Silas refused. ”Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

’I’m the young master of the Blackwood Family. So what if I fool around with a woman?’

Seeing Silas’s obstinate attitude, Caleb felt his blood pressure skyrocket. He was about to have a heart attack from the rage.

”You’ll apologize whether you want to or not!”

He swung the cane down with all his might, striking Silas so hard that the cane snapped in two. Silas collapsed from his kneeling position, sprawling onto the floor, nearly coughing up blood.

”Caleb Blackwood!” Mrs. Blackwood could no longer contain herself. ”Is that any way to treat your son? He’s your own flesh and blood, your only son!”

Mrs. Blackwood rushed to cradle her son. ”Son, are you alright? Where’s the doctor? Get the family doctor!”

Just then, a maid hurried in. ”Sir, Madam, Miss Sherwood is here.”

”Show her in.” Caleb shot Silas a warning glare. ”If Ivy tries to break off the engagement, you’d better play the victim. You must convince her to stay!”

Hearing Ivy’s name, Mrs. Blackwood’s eyes filled with disgust. ”That Ivy Sherwood actually dares to show her face here. She’s thrown our family into chaos before even marrying in. Imagine what it’ll be like if she actually does! Oh, Silas, my poor boy.”

Ivy followed the maid inside and immediately saw Silas kneeling on the floor, a broken cane lying nearby.

”Uncle Blackwood, Mrs. Blackwood,” Ivy said politely as she entered. ”I apologize for the intrusion. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and there’s something I need to discuss with you formally.”

”Ivy, you’re a good kid. We know all about what happened. It was Silas’s fault. He’s the one who wronged you. I’ve already taught him a harsh lesson. Rest assured, we will give you a satisfactory resolution.”

As soon as Caleb Blackwood spoke, the aura of the Family Head was undeniable.

”Uncle Blackwood, I still believe Silas and I aren’t a good match. He doesn’t love me, and I think he deserves to find his own happiness. I can’t stand in the way of his search for true love. Besides, I’m not cut out to be a doting, virtuous wife.”

”And just as Mrs. Blackwood said, I’ve thrown the Blackwood Family into chaos before I’ve even married in. If I were to join your family, I wouldn’t be a good wife, and that would likely end up hurting even more people.”

”So please, Uncle Blackwood, reconsider our engagement. I’m willing to make a concession. We can announce publicly that the Blackwood Family called off the wedding because you didn’t approve of me. Or, if you have other conditions, please feel free to name them.”

Mrs. Blackwood’s face stiffened. She hadn’t expected Ivy to have overheard her, but so what if she did? ’Everything I said was the truth,’ she thought.

”Ivy, I know you’re angry right now and just letting off steam. But marriage is no trivial matter. You and Silas are just in an adjustment period. Your aunt and I went through the same thing. What couple doesn’t argue? They always kiss and make up.”

Caleb Blackwood smiled, looking perfectly pleasant.

”But calling off the engagement is out of the question. This was arranged between you and Silas when you were children. When your mother was still alive, we promised her we would take good care of you. If we were to break the engagement now, people would say the Blackwood Family is dishonorable. We wouldn’t be able to face your mother’s spirit in heaven.”