Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Quentin Blackwood Sees Ivy Sherwood’s Face and Discovers Her Secret
Quentin Blackwood supported Ivy Sherwood’s cheek, letting her rest against the side of the tub.
He then grabbed a nearby towel, wet it, and wiped her cheek a couple of times. The white towel was stained. ’What’s going on?’
Quentin Blackwood had little experience with women; he didn’t know the secrets they kept on their faces.
Julian Grant, on the other hand, was practically an expert on women. He might know.
Quentin Blackwood dialed his number. It was noisy on Julian Grant’s end—it seemed he was still out.
After a moment, the noise subsided as he presumably found a quieter spot. Julian Grant’s voice came through. "Quentin, what’s up? I’m out and about. Want to join the fun?"
"No, I need to ask you something."
"Go ahead, Quentin." It was rare for Quentin Blackwood to ask him for anything, so he would be sure to tell him everything he knew, holding nothing back.
"If a woman has what looks like dirt on her face that won’t wipe off, what does that mean?"
He had just tried to wipe it off, but found the substance wasn’t so easy to remove.
"Quentin, did you bring a woman home?" Julian Grant sounded as if he’d just heard some earth-shattering news.
"Don’t ask what you’re not supposed to," Quentin Blackwood said, his voice turning icy.
’It couldn’t be Ivy Sherwood, could it!’
Despite his burning curiosity, Julian Grant didn’t dare ask the question out loud.
"A lot of women wear makeup, and modern cosmetics are very waterproof. You need to use makeup remover oil to get it all off her face."
Julian Grant continued, "And you have to remove it before she goes to sleep. Otherwise, the cosmetic residue will stay on her skin and can easily cause damage."
"Got it." On the other end of the line, Quentin Blackwood mercilessly hung up.
Makeup remover oil. He really didn’t have anything like that here.
Quentin Blackwood called Zane Linton again and had him go buy a bottle of makeup remover oil.
Zane Linton was incredibly efficient and returned with it in no time.
Quentin Blackwood glanced at the instructions, poured the makeup remover onto a face towel, and immediately began to take off Ivy Sherwood’s makeup.
The towel was quickly soiled. ’Is all makeup this color?’
Quentin Blackwood continued to wipe Ivy Sherwood’s face, and soon, her forehead, cheeks, and chin were all wiped clean.
And that fair, delicate little face was thus exposed before Quentin Blackwood’s eyes.
Upon seeing her clearly, Quentin Blackwood’s heart jolted, and a rare flash of astonishment crossed his handsome face.
Her fair skin had a rosy glow, a far cry from her usual dull and lackluster complexion. Without the dark foundation and all the exaggerated contouring, her original, true face was so stunningly beautiful it was shocking. It would be no exaggeration to call her an angel fallen to earth.
’This... is Ivy Sherwood?’
But this was clearly a completely different face from the Ivy Sherwood he saw every day.
He had seen this face before, at the last banquet.
That explained it. Why would a woman he supposedly didn’t know hide behind him while being harassed by Silas Blackwood?
And why, knowing that Silas Blackwood was in the restroom doing *that* with another woman, she had still come out to stop him.
And then later, the beautiful woman was gone, replaced by an Ivy Sherwood who seemed to have just rushed over, wanting to leave with him after being there for less than two minutes.
So that was Ivy Sherwood’s real face. The one she usually showed to the world was just something she created with makeup.
Quentin Blackwood had only ever seen people use makeup to make themselves more beautiful; this was the first time he had seen someone use it to make themselves uglier.
Now, Ivy Sherwood’s eyes were shut tight. Even with her usual makeup, her most outstanding feature had always been her expressive eyes; their lively sparkle was the hardest part to conceal.
He recalled the last time. He’d thought Ivy Sherwood had been in the restroom for so long because she felt unwell. Now it seemed it was because her makeup had been ruined, and she was hiding inside, not daring to come out.
Later, Ivy Sherwood had quietly turned off the lights before coming out. The next morning, she had slipped away before he even woke up.
So, all of this was because Ivy Sherwood was hiding such a huge secret.
The calloused pads of his fingers brushed across Ivy Sherwood’s cheek, his eyes holding a trace of inscrutable depth.
’It seems the Sherwood Family doesn’t know this secret of Ivy’s.’
And he’d heard that Silas Blackwood had recently been frantically trying to find that woman.
’If he were to one day find out that Ivy Sherwood is that woman...’
「...」
Ivy Sherwood soaked in the bathtub for a full three hours before finally falling into a deep sleep.
Quentin Blackwood lifted her out and changed her into the pajamas he had someone prepare earlier.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen her, so Quentin Blackwood did it himself.
He didn’t know if it was because of the drug, but Ivy Sherwood’s skin was flushed pink, and Quentin Blackwood nearly lost his self-control.
He wasn’t an animal; he wouldn’t take advantage of someone in their moment of weakness.
After placing her on the bed, Quentin Blackwood picked up the makeup he had told Zane Linton to prepare.
Ivy Sherwood was hiding her secret, which meant she didn’t want anyone to find out.
Quentin Blackwood didn’t know how to do makeup and had never done anything like this before. He found a couple of video tutorials to learn from, then took the dark foundation and patted it haphazardly onto Ivy Sherwood’s face.
Worried it wasn’t dark enough, he gave her face a few extra pats, and her skin instantly became as dark as charcoal.
Quentin Blackwood frowned. This was the best he could do to restore Ivy Sherwood’s appearance. ’It should be close enough.’
Only after finishing all this did he call a doctor to come check and bandage Ivy Sherwood’s wound. He then went to take a shower himself.
By the time Quentin Blackwood returned from his shower, the doctor had already finished the bandaging.
Ivy Sherwood’s only injury was a cut on her palm. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep. It just needed the dressing changed on schedule and to be kept out of water, and it would heal quickly.
Quentin Blackwood took note of the instructions, arranged for a maid to look after Ivy Sherwood, then went downstairs.
Zane Linton approached with a tablet. "President Blackwood, everything has been arranged according to your instructions."
The tablet displayed a surveillance feed of a room.
There were several men in the room, all of them the ones from the restaurant restroom who had intended to assault Ivy Sherwood. Gabriel Walker was among them.
A camera was set up in the room, and the same type of incense from the restroom was burning.
They had already inhaled a fair amount in the restroom, and now, having breathed in even more, they were completely unable to control themselves.
Even though they were all men, they couldn’t care less; they just wanted to find release.
The scene was one of utter debauchery. Someone began crawling toward Gabriel Walker.
Gabriel Walker was panting, kneeling in a corner and watching in horror as one of the men approached. "Don’t come over here! Get away! All of you, stay away!"
The men had lost all reason. Gabriel Walker was also drugged, the door was locked tight, and he had no way of getting out. His body was limp; he was like a fish on a chopping block, left to the mercy of others.
As the man crawling toward him got closer, Gabriel Walker collapsed completely on the floor and looked toward the camera. "I was wrong, President Blackwood! I’ll never do it again! I didn’t know Ivy Sherwood was your woman..."
He was such an idiot. Quentin Blackwood had just warned him, but for a chance to cooperate with Silas Blackwood, he had gone and offended him again.
Quentin Blackwood’s methods were an eye for an eye.
He had drugged Ivy Sherwood, so Quentin Blackwood had all of them drugged in return.
He had wanted to film a video of Ivy Sherwood, so Quentin Blackwood set up a camera to let him get all the footage he wanted.
The thugs he’d hired were all tall and imposing. Just watching the scene with the other men was enough to make Gabriel Walker want to vomit, but now, it was his turn.
The man came over and thrust himself at Gabriel Walker. Gabriel Walker’s eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
Quentin Blackwood had no interest in such a scene. He closed the tablet and handed it to Zane Linton, his thin lips parting as he spoke in a tone utterly devoid of warmth.
"Send the video to President Walker later. Let him have a good look at his son."
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