Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Young Uncle Is So Intense, Telling Her to Shower Right Away
Ivy Sherwood looked up at Quentin Blackwood, confused. His eyes were dark. "You plan on going out like this?"
Ivy glanced down at herself. She was indeed a bit of a mess. Besides, it was raining outside; she’d just get soaked again.
And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been in a worse state before.
Before Ivy could say anything, Quentin had already pressed the button for the top floor.
The elevator doors opened. Quentin walked out without a word, and Ivy had no choice but to follow.
"The bathroom is over there. Go take a shower."
"Uncle, coming on a little strong, are we?" ’Telling me to shower the second we arrive!’
Quentin: "..."
"What are you thinking about? Don’t blame me if you catch a cold." He wasn’t interested in women, and he was even less interested in Ivy Sherwood.
"Well, thank you so much for your concern, Uncle!"
Ivy went into the bathroom and took a relaxing shower. The hotel’s body wash had a sweet, fragrant milk scent.
Her clothes were soaked and she had nothing else to wear, so Ivy had to wrap herself up tightly in the bathrobe.
Just as she was about to leave, Ivy caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror. Fresh from the shower, her eyes were dewy, clear, and vibrant. Her long lashes were thick and full. Her skin was already fair, and now, flushed pink from the hot water, her cheeks resembled ripe fruit, waiting to be plucked.
Her hand froze on the doorknob, and her expression stiffened.
’Oh no. I washed my face in the shower, and all that dark foundation washed away. The face in the mirror now... it’s my real one.’
’It’ll be a disaster if Quentin Blackwood sees me like this. But I don’t have any makeup here. There’s no way to reapply it.’
’What do I do? What do I do?’
Ivy paced anxiously around the bathroom.
Outside, Quentin Blackwood dealt with some work. An hour passed before he knew it.
Then, there was a knock at the door—the clean clothes Quentin had ordered had arrived.
Quentin took the clothes to the bathroom door. The light was still on, but Ivy hadn’t come out yet.
Quentin knocked. "Ivy Sherwood."
"I’m here, Uncle!"
’How am I supposed to go out there?’ Ivy had no idea what to do.
"I left the clothes for you at the door."
"Okay," Ivy agreed. ’I didn’t expect Uncle to be so thoughtful.’
But her current problem wasn’t about clothes.
Her phone was outside, so she couldn’t contact anyone else. If she asked Quentin to have some makeup delivered, would he think she was crazy?
Hearing that her voice sounded normal, Quentin went back to his work. But after another half hour, Ivy still hadn’t emerged.
She had been in the bathroom for a very long time.
Just then, Julian Grant called. "Master Blackwood, you want to come out and play tonight?"
"No."
"Then what are you doing?"
"Working."
"So boring. You guys just work all the time and don’t know how to enjoy life. Quentin, you’re not getting any younger. If you don’t start having fun now, you’ll be too old for it. Don’t wait until you can’t party anymore to realize what you’ve missed."
Quentin’s expression didn’t change. "Anything else?"
"Nope, nope. I won’t disturb your work then." With that, Julian Grant was about to hang up.
Then, a thought occurred to Quentin, and he said suddenly, "Wait."
"If a girl stays in the bathroom and won’t come out, what could be the reason?"
"What?!" Julian Grant thought he’d misheard.
’What did Quentin just say? A woman? In the bathroom?’
’There’s a woman there, and Quentin can still work so calmly?’
"Which woman? Do I know her? Is it your little nephew’s fiancée?" Julian felt like he was onto some juicy gossip.
From the second of silence on Quentin’s end, Julian knew he’d guessed right.
’This woman is something else. She must have used her charm to attract our Third Master Blackwood.’
"Well, there are lots of reasons she wouldn’t come out. Maybe you were too rough, and the poor girl couldn’t handle it?"
"Get lost."
"Okay, okay. There’s another reason. Maybe it’s ’that time,’ and she’s not prepared and is too embarrassed to come out."
"’That time’?"
"You know, the one that girls get once a month!"
Quentin understood. He hung up on Julian Grant immediately.
’Ivy is staying in there, most likely for that very reason.’
Quentin called his secretary again and asked him to bring "those things" up.
Zane Linton had been with Quentin Blackwood for many years, but this was the first time he’d ever been asked to deliver women’s clothes and, now, sanitary pads.
But he knew Quentin’s temperament. When the CEO gave an order, he never asked questions; he just carried it out.
Just as Ivy was wondering if she could just spend the night on the toilet, or perhaps hope that Quentin had to leave for some urgent business, there was another knock on the bathroom door.
"I’ve left the things for you at the door. I didn’t know which brand you use, so Zane Linton just bought them all." Quentin’s voice was cool, but very pleasant to the ear.
Ivy froze. ’Quentin knows what I need?’
’When it comes to makeup, I’m not picky. Expensive, cheap—I can use anything.’
"Thank you!"
A joyful voice came from inside. A faint smile touched Quentin’s lips. ’Girls are just shy. She’d rather stay in there for so long than say anything.’
Wrapping the bathrobe tighter around herself, Ivy kept her head down like a thief and prepared to grab the things outside the door.
But when she saw the pile of items, Ivy was dumbfounded.
It wasn’t makeup. It was a pile of sanitary pads!
This was definitely the work of a clueless man. There were daytime pads, nighttime pads, all of it. The sight made Ivy’s face flush uncontrollably.
’Did Quentin Blackwood misunderstand something?’
’And he had someone else go buy them, too! What must that person have thought?’
The thought of Quentin’s stern, icy face as he gave such an order made Ivy stifle a laugh.
She peeked her head out for a look. Over at the desk, Quentin’s focused expression was truly captivating.
He had a cool, steady aura, like the powerful head of a wealthy, noble family. The string of Buddha Beads on his wrist, in particular, made him look both ascetic and alluring.
But when a man like that lost control, he was a different beast entirely—a man-eating predator that looked like he wanted to devour you whole.
Ivy suddenly wondered if a man as indifferent as Quentin would ever fall for a girl—the head-over-heels, can’t-live-without-her kind of love. What would that even look like?
An audacious idea suddenly came to her. She put a hand to her head, then quietly tiptoed over to him.
CLICK! Ivy flicked the switch, plunging the room into darkness.
Only the screen of Quentin’s laptop cast a soft glow.
"Ivy Sherwood!" Quentin called out her name.
Ivy circled around behind him. "Uncle, are you done with work?"
"What are you doing?"
Ivy reached out and pushed the laptop lid down.
Just like that, the only source of light in the room was gone.
Ivy hopped onto the desk. She leaned down, bringing her face extremely close to Quentin’s. The strong, milky scent of the body wash, mingled with her own unique fragrance, seemed to force its way into Quentin’s bloodstream with every breath he took.
His breathing grew ragged, and his blood began to boil.
"You misunderstood, Uncle. It’s not my time of the month." Ivy whispered against Quentin’s ear, the end of her sentence trailing off in a seductive lilt.
"So?"
"If you don’t want this, you can push me away." After saying that, Ivy tilted her head and unerringly captured Quentin’s lips with her own.
Comments