Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Evan Ford Won’t Do, Pass on Him
Listening to him gave Alaric Blackwood a headache. Even though he and Evan Ford had grown up together, he had no idea what kind of woman Evan liked, so he couldn’t offer any advice.
He sank several shots in a row, every ball finding a pocket.
He was on a roll, so he went ahead and ran the table.
Frustrated by his friend’s skill, Evan Ford tossed his cue aside. "I’m done."
Alaric Blackwood lit a cigarette and leaned against the pool table, watching him with an amused expression. "So, the matriarch is nagging you to get married. What’s your plan?"
"Worst comes to worst, I’ll just hire someone. Just to tide things over."
"Our situations are completely different. Don’t follow my example."
Sophie Shaw and I already had a marriage contract. I only agreed to a contract marriage with her at first because I had no other choice. Evan Ford’s situation is completely different.
"Marriage isn’t a game. Don’t be reckless."
The words had barely left Alaric Blackwood’s mouth when his phone rang.
It was a call from Preston Chase.
"Mr. Blackwood, the custom bracelet you had me order is ready."
Since he was far away in Silhaven, Preston Chase couldn’t deliver the bracelet to Alaric Blackwood himself. He asked, "Should I have the bracelet delivered to the office tomorrow, or should I have it sent to Maplewood Estate?"
Alaric Blackwood considered for a moment. "Can it be delivered now?"
"Yes, we can."
"Then have it sent over now."
Alaric Blackwood gave him the address of the billiards club. A little over ten minutes after hanging up, a young man carrying a fine-looking bag walked in.
He took the bag from the young man and opened it to inspect the contents. The bracelet had been customized to his specifications, complete with a precision tracking device inside.
This was a gift he had custom-made for Sophie Shaw. Ever since she had been forcibly taken back by the Kane family, he’d had Preston Chase arrange for this bracelet to be made. The tracking data would sync directly to his phone.
After confirming the bracelet’s tracker was working properly, Alaric Blackwood waited for the young man to leave before immediately getting ready to call Sophie Shaw. He couldn’t wait to give her the gift.
Evan Ford picked up the bottle of red wine, pouring some into a glass. "Alaric," he said, "have you ever heard the saying..."
"What saying?"
"Distance creates beauty."
"..."
"Women can’t stand it when a man is too clingy."
Alaric Blackwood’s hand, about to press the call button, paused in hesitation. A few minutes later, he still hadn’t made the call.
He put the bracelet back in its gift box, returned it to the bag, and decided to be a little more reserved.
"I’m not that clingy."
He stubbed out the cigarette, which had nearly burned down to the filter, in an ashtray. Picking up the bag, he stood to leave. "It’s getting late, I’m heading out."
"Hold on."
Alaric Blackwood stopped in his tracks and turned to see Evan Ford striding toward him. Evan reached a hand into Alaric’s jacket pocket, plucked out the keys to the supercar, and then shoved his own car keys in.
"You have to keep your word. I get the car for two months."
"Fine. Any tickets or accidents are on you."
Evan Ford nodded. He glanced at his watch, then made a call to Jaden, asking him to come out for a drink.
Alaric Blackwood reminded him not to drink too much, then took his leave.
After calling Jaden, Evan called for a designated driver. When the driver arrived, he got in the car and headed for the bar where he was meeting Jaden.
However, the designated driver had never driven an imported supercar before and was nervous. Just a few minutes after pulling onto the road, a coupe accelerated past them from the rear left. In a panic, the driver yanked the steering wheel and, with a loud BANG, crashed into a tree by the side of the road.
Evan Ford sat frozen in the back seat, completely stunned.
’I just got my hands on the car, and it’s already been crashed?’
...
「Meanwhile.」
Sophie Shaw drove Anne to a hot spring resort.
While they were playing pool earlier, they had discussed going to a hot spring and decided they might as well stay at the resort overnight to properly unwind.
The resort was located far from the city, making it a bit remote, but it was a lavishly decorated and expensive five-star establishment positioned for the high-end market.
Sophie Shaw had booked a deluxe suite, which cost as much as 35,000 a night.
The moment they entered the room, Anne started looking around everywhere. She couldn’t help but sigh in amazement, "My god, one night in this room costs more than my entire monthly mortgage payment."
"You fly all over the place with Nina. You must have stayed in a presidential suite before, right?"
"I have."
As the personal makeup artist to a top celebrity, she had, of course, enjoyed high-end services with Nina Halloway. It was just that during work, all her accommodations and expenses were arranged by either the talent agency or the production crew, so she was never aware of the actual costs.
"Sophie, you really married a tycoon."
She blinked her sparkling, almond-shaped eyes. "I’m so jealous. When will I get to marry a rich tycoon and start living my best life?"
Sophie looked at her friend’s love-struck expression and laughed. "Want me to scout someone out for you?"
Anne thought about it, then shook her head.
"You don’t want to?"
"Dating is too much trouble. I’m better suited to watching other people fall in love."
Sophie took off her jacket and hung it up. She pulled two hotel-provided bathrobes for the hot springs out of the closet and said thoughtfully, "You know, we’ve known each other for so long, but I’ve never heard you mention being interested in any guy."
As far as Sophie could remember, Anne was either making money or on her way to make more.
"I like money more than I like men."
Anne gave her a sly grin and raised an eyebrow. "Men are only useful for providing emotional support. What I need is money—endless money. Only money can give me a true sense of security."
"What if, one day, you find a man who can give you emotional support *and* has endless money to spend on you..."
"Stop. I don’t believe such a perfect man exists."
Sophie pressed her lips together, thinking to herself that Alaric Blackwood was exactly that kind of man.
’He provides her with emotional support, gave her a no-limit credit card, and in *that* department, he’s the attentive type...’
’Of course, he had his flaws, too.’
’He was too clingy.’
’So clingy she could barely handle it—to the point where she was hiding out at a hot spring resort, afraid to go home.’
’And Alaric Blackwood had a few too many tabloid scandals to his name before they got married.’
"Mr. Blackwood has plenty of eligible friends. If you want a boyfriend, I could ask him to introduce you to some."
Anne scratched her head, tempted. "Well, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble for Mr. Blackwood, I guess an introduction wouldn’t hurt."
Her brother had a stable job now, Nina Halloway was on vacation, and her only daily task was preparing Nina’s three meals. Other than that, she was quite free.
’Being twenty-three and never having been in a relationship... people would probably laugh at her if they knew.’
Having made up her mind, she said to Sophie, "If there’s someone suitable, go ahead and set me up. Who knows, we might just hit it off, hehe."
"Speaking of which, what do you think of my cousin?"
Sophie tossed one of the hotel bathrobes to her while she unhurriedly changed into the other one.
"Your cousin? You mean that Mr. Ford who never smiles?"
"That’s the one. What do you think of him?"
"Uh..."
Anne was at a loss for words. All she could remember was accidentally walking into the wrong restroom at Sophie’s wedding and seeing that man... peeing.
It was still pretty embarrassing to think about.
So she shook her head vehemently. "Nope, nope. Hard pass."
"You’re saying no after barely exchanging a few words with him?"
"Yep. It’s a no."
"So you don’t like my cousin’s type?"
"He’s handsome enough..."
"He’s not just handsome, he’s rich. And don’t you love money more than anything?"
Anne’s eyes lit up for a second before dimming again. The image of that man standing at the urinal popped back into her head.
For all she knew, he might have heard her shrieking with excitement as she counted her money in the stall.
’So embarrassing.’
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