Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

Chapter 236: Chapter 236: Tricking Thea Sherwood into Doing Her Bidding

Ivy Sherwood’s expression was placid, showing no sign of being swayed at all.

Behind her, Thea Sherwood bit her lip and glared at Ivy. She couldn’t stand the way Ivy acted so high and mighty.

’She has nothing, so what is she so proud of? How dare she look down on me.’

’So what if the ranking was stolen? A ranking is a ranking. My status will be different then.’

’Anyone who places in the world perfumery competition is a famous Perfumer. They’re a big deal.’

"Ivy Sherwood, I’ll definitely make you see me in a new light!" Thea Sherwood declared harshly.

Ivy said, "Is that so? I’ll be waiting."

Ivy went to the study, and Thea followed. ’Anyway, that’s Timothy Sherwood’s stuff, it has nothing to do with me. I wish he’d lose everything,’ she thought.

Timothy Sherwood’s study had a passcode. Ivy had secretly figured it out before, but she never had a chance to come in.

Thea was surprised when she saw this. "How do you have the passcode?"

Ivy didn’t say anything.

In the past, Timothy Sherwood never let anyone into his study. Even Thea would be kicked out if she went in, so it was even more impossible for Ivy.

Not knowing what was inside, Ivy went in and rummaged around. She discovered secrets about Timothy Sherwood’s illegal business practices.

For example, there were dummy contracts and the company’s real financial statements, which were different from what was reported to the tax authorities, suggesting tax evasion.

No wonder Timothy Sherwood usually kept people out. If any of this leaked, he’d be "invited for tea" by the authorities.

Although Ivy had worked at the Sherwood Company before, she had never been able to access its core operations.

Moreover, Timothy Sherwood’s methods were very sophisticated. These operations looked seamless, and on the surface or upon a cursory inspection, there seemed to be no problems.

If Ivy hadn’t been studying finance recently and getting a lot of advice from Quentin Blackwood, she might not have been able to spot it.

Thea, standing beside her, couldn’t understand any of it.

She had always thought Timothy Sherwood’s study just contained a bunch of junk, nothing of value. So why was Ivy looking at it with such rapt attention?

Thea glanced at her. "Hey, can you even understand this stuff?"

Ivy lifted her eyes to look at her, her own eyes narrowing slightly as the corners of her mouth curved into a small smile.

’After spending some time with a powerhouse like him, I’ve learned the most effective way to pressure someone is to threaten them.’

’And you shouldn’t do the threatening yourself; you should get someone else to do your dirty work. That’s also something Quentin Blackwood taught me.’

"Thea, you can’t understand any of this?"

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Thea thought Ivy was humiliating her.

"You’re managing the company now, right? Well, let me tell you, the Sherwood Company has huge vulnerabilities. If things continue like this, and a problem arises, it’ll be your responsibility. You’re the one in charge; it will have nothing to do with Timothy Sherwood."

Thea was stunned for a moment. "Ivy Sherwood, stop trying to scare me! Doesn’t this look perfectly normal? How can you tell?"

Seeing the fish take the bait, Ivy said, "Never mind how I can tell. I’m sure you don’t want Timothy Sherwood to have money on hand to pull any stunts, right? But regarding my engagement to the Blackwood Family, Timothy Sherwood took five hundred million from them. I don’t know how much he’s spent, but he still has money. As long as you can get that money from him and return it to the Blackwood Family, I’ll tell you about the major problems here."

"Timothy Sherwood has five hundred million?" Thea didn’t know about this.

"If you want the Sherwood Company to remain stable under your management, then our deal is very fair. You can think about it. I’m sure someone as clever as you can find a way to make Timothy Sherwood cough up the money."

Thea wasn’t completely clueless. "Why should I listen to you? Can’t I just make Timothy Sherwood tell me himself?"

Ivy gave a cold smile. "Do you think Timothy Sherwood would tell you? Or rather, can you even tell which of his words are true and which are lies?"

She patted Thea’s shoulder. "You and I don’t have a conflict of interest here, so I have no reason to trick you with false information."

Thea bit her lip, clearly hesitating.

"Also, if you want to win an award in the perfumery competition, it’s pretty much impossible with your current skills. If you can get my mother’s heirlooms back from Timothy Sherwood, I’ll throw in a perfume formula for you."

"That way, even if you win, you’ll have the skill to back it up, and no one will think your award was the result of some inside deal. How about it?"

"I’ll think about it." Thea was tempted.

Right now, it was just the registration for the perfumery competition. After the preliminary selection, they would have to submit new fragrance samples for judging. The later submissions were the important ones.

Although she had Charlie Rhodes helping her find a Perfumer, Thea felt that their fragrances just weren’t as pleasant or natural as Ivy’s.

’If I had Ivy’s formula, then...’

"My time is valuable, too. If you don’t give me an answer by noon tomorrow, then..." Ivy waved her phone. She had just taken pictures.

Meeting Thea’s resentful gaze, Ivy said, "I’ll just submit this evidence directly. When that happens, do you think Timothy Sherwood will make you take the fall?"

Ivy searched around a bit more, but finding nothing else, she left the Sherwood Family home. Behind her, Thea stomped her foot in anger again.

But Thea was fast. The very next day, she managed to get the five hundred million back from Timothy Sherwood.

Ivy knew Thea must have used some kind of trick, but she didn’t care. That money wasn’t Timothy Sherwood’s to begin with.

Now that she had broken off her engagement with the Blackwood Family, the so-called bride price certainly had to be returned.

Ivy asked Silas Blackwood for his bank account number. Silas was thrilled that Ivy contacted him, which meant she must have unblocked him.

Although he didn’t know what Ivy was up to, Silas still sent her the account information.

"Did the Blackwood Group shares pay dividends? If so, you don’t have to give me the money."

Silas was trying to be generous. The Blackwood Group shares had indeed paid dividends yesterday, and a large sum had been deposited into Ivy’s account.

But those shares now belonged to Ivy. It was her rightful income, so why would she give it back?

Ivy quickly transferred the five hundred million and sent a message to Silas: "This is the money Timothy Sherwood asked for from your family before. He called it a bride price. Since we’ve already broken off the engagement, this money should be returned to you."

Silas hadn’t realized that money was the bride price. He certainly wasn’t going to accept it. "Ivy, you’re going to marry me sooner or later anyway. You don’t need to return this money."

"There’s a banquet in a few days. Will you be my date and go with me?"

Silas waited for a while after sending the messages but received no reply from Ivy. When he tried to call her, he discovered he had been blocked again!