Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Aren’t You Going to Explain?

"Whoa, hold on. I think this might just be a misunderstanding," Ivy Sherwood said, her voice tinged with guilt. "Quentin Blackwood doesn’t look like he has a girlfriend at all."

"You can’t be sure about that. There are plenty of wolves in sheep’s clothing out there."

Had Nina Scott known that the woman being gossiped about—Quentin Blackwood’s supposed girlfriend on a blind date—was, by a bizarre twist of fate, Ivy, she would have understood just how ridiculous the whole affair was.

Nina Scott couldn’t figure it out. "But what’s with today? Is it some auspicious day for blind dates? Why is everyone going on one today?"

"Nina, I’m about to leave work and head home, so I gotta go," Ivy said. She didn’t want to get any deeper into this gossip. She needed to find Julian Grant and demand an explanation for how this rumor started.

"Okay, be careful on your way home."

"Okay, bye!"

Ivy hung up the phone in a flash, tidied the documents on her desk, and grabbed her car keys.

She glanced at the message from Julian Grant and headed to the club he mentioned.

Ivy soon arrived and, after giving her name to the receptionist, was led into a private room.

There were only three people in the room: Quentin Blackwood and his two best friends, Julian Grant and Graham Sherwood.

Graham Sherwood didn’t get together with the other two very often; family matters were enough to run him ragged. But when he heard there was some juicy gossip, he cleared his schedule to join them.

"So who exactly is Quentin’s girlfriend? How do you know and I don’t?" Graham Sherwood asked, puzzled.

Julian Grant was deliberately mysterious. "Why don’t you ask him yourself?"

As if Graham would dare ask Quentin. Besides, knowing Quentin’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t talk.

"Drink up, drink up." Julian Grant filled everyone’s glasses, mixing several kinds of liquor together.

The concoction was not only high-proof, but it also got you drunk fast.

"Drink up. The three of us aren’t going home sober tonight."

At Julian Grant’s urging, Quentin Blackwood did drink quite a bit, but he could hold his liquor well and wasn’t even close to drunk.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. A server entered and said, "Mr. Grant, your guest is here."

Graham Sherwood found this odd. "There are other guests?"

At that moment, Ivy Sherwood walked in. She was taken aback when she saw two other people in the room, one of whom was Quentin Blackwood.

"Mr. Grant? President Blackwood?" The third man was a stranger to her.

She had assumed Julian Grant had called her over simply to explain what was going on. She never expected the other person at the heart of the matter to be here as well.

Thinking about the rumors of her being "Quentin Blackwood’s woman," Ivy’s face flushed, and she hesitated to step any further into the room.

"Come on in, hurry." Julian Grant enthusiastically pulled her into the room, clearly enjoying the drama he had created.

Julian Grant pushed her right next to Quentin Blackwood and poured her a drink. Ivy refused, "I’m sorry, Mr. Grant, but I drove here, so I can’t drink."

"Oh, you drove?" Julian Grant grinned brazenly. "What a coincidence. Quentin has had quite a bit to drink, too. Why don’t you give him a ride home later?"

Ivy was left speechless.

Ivy hadn’t even figured out how to face Quentin, and now this. It wasn’t as if she’d actually done anything to wrong him, but the thought of "going on a blind date behind his back" made her feel as if she’d committed some great moral transgression.

"Well, I think we’ve had enough to drink for one night. Graham, it’s time we get going," Julian Grant said, patting Graham’s shoulder and pulling him toward the door.

"Hey, Mr. Grant!" Ivy started to protest.

’If they both leave, it’ll just be me and Quentin, won’t it?’

’How awkward would that be?’

"If you want answers, just ask Quentin," Julian Grant said, dragging Graham out of the room before she could say another word.

Ivy was at a loss for words.

As Julian Grant pulled him out, a confused Graham asked, "That woman... she looks a little familiar..."

"Don’t ask. Let’s just say she’s the leading lady."

Realization dawned on Graham. "You mean she’s Quentin’s girlfriend!"

Back in the private room, Ivy didn’t know whether to sit or stand. She fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, overcome with awkwardness.

Quentin, however, calmly poured himself another drink and sipped it slowly.

From the corner of his eye, he watched her, clearly noticing how uncomfortable she was.

He didn’t set down his glass. Instead, he swirled the liquid inside, the overhead lights catching the crystal and casting a glaring reflection.

"Ivy Sherwood. You have nothing to say?"

’I have plenty to say,’ Ivy thought, ’but I don’t know where to begin.’

"When did you leave the manor, Uncle?"

Quentin’s deep, dark eyes simply stared at her, offering no reply.

’Wrong thing to say?’

Ivy couldn’t read him at all. After a moment’s thought, she tried again. "Mr. Grant asked me to come. I didn’t know you were here."

And... that was it. She didn’t know what else to say.

’Thinking about it, there’s no reason I need to explain today’s events to him,’ she thought. ’It’s not like he’s my anything.’

’He’s not going to pull the ’I’m your elder’ card and interrogate me again, is he?’

"Is that all?"

"What else did you want to hear, Uncle?"

Seeing her so defiant, without a trace of guilt, he thought back to the video. ’Does she really want to get married that badly?’

Quentin decided to be direct. "You went on a blind date today."

It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.

"Mr. Grant told you, didn’t he?" ’I can’t believe this,’ she thought. ’It was just a chance encounter. I didn’t think he’d actually tell Quentin.’

’I can’t believe it blew up like this. Soon everyone in Lustre will know.’

"Aren’t you going to explain?"

Ivy said deliberately, "There’s nothing to explain. It’s exactly what Mr. Grant saw."

Quentin’s eyes darkened instantly. The calm that had settled over him moments ago vanished, replaced by a gathering storm.

"Don’t forget your..."

"I know, you don’t have to remind me every time. ’Don’t forget your place. You’re Silas Blackwood’s fiancée.’" Ivy could recite the line by heart at this point.

’So now he remembers I’m Silas’s fiancée? He didn’t seem to remember that when he was in my bed, did he?’

"Who says Silas Blackwood’s fiancée can’t go on a blind date? Even if I were your fiancée, if I wanted to go on a blind date, I’d still—"

The last word died on her lips as she met his chilling gaze. Ivy snapped her mouth shut sheepishly.

’This man really can’t take a joke,’ she grumbled internally.

"It was a joke. You didn’t take it seriously, did you, Uncle?"

"It was all a misunderstanding. I wasn’t the one on the blind date, it was supposed to be Nina Scott. Her family forced her to go. But her date was late, and after waiting for a long time, he still hadn’t shown up. Nina went to the restroom, and who would have thought, that’s exactly when the guy arrived."

"He mistook me for Nina, and no matter how much I tried to explain, he wouldn’t listen. Then, somehow, Mr. Grant saw us. I bet he sent you a message, didn’t he? But I swear, I have no idea how everyone found out about this. I definitely wasn’t the one who spread the rumor. I only just found out myself."

Ivy’s explanation was rushed and utterly sincere, terrified that he would misunderstand.

Quentin raised his glass to his lips, hiding the faint smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth.