Chapter 265: I’ve Liked You for Many Years

Chapter 265: Chapter 265: I’ve Liked You for Many Years

"Get out of my way."

"No."

Sophie Shaw’s head throbbed. "It’s really nothing. Don’t let your imagination run wild."

"I’m going to let it run wild."

"..."

Even if he was dense, he could tell Yuri had designs on Sophie.

"So tell me, what did Yuri say to you?"

Sophie’s gaze darted away, finding it hard to bring up.

Seeing her silent for a long moment, Alaric Blackwood’s expression darkened. He bent down, scooped her into his arms, turned and walked out of the bathroom, and tossed her directly onto the large bed.

Before she could react, the man loomed over her, pinning both of her wrists above her head with one hand.

"Are you going to talk or not?"

Sophie bit her lip. Alaric Blackwood’s sharp gaze made her heart pound like a drum. She couldn’t hold out for long and confessed, "He wants me to... spend a night with him."

"And how did you answer?"

"I didn’t answer."

"Then what are you thinking?"

"What am I supposed to think?"

’Of course I want the necklace back as soon as possible, but I don’t want to get into some ambiguous relationship with Yuri. I decided to dump the problem back on Vianne Kane. This whole mess started because of her. Since she tricked me out of my necklace, she’s the one who should get it back.’

She had given Vianne Kane a week, and the deadline was fast approaching. Though she was anxious, what else could she do?

"Didn’t you tell Vianne Kane to get the necklace back for you? What terms is Yuri offering you?"

Alaric Blackwood asked, enunciating every word. If he didn’t get to the bottom of this, he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.

"Yuri doesn’t need the money. Vianne Kane already raised the offer to sixty million, but he won’t sell. He told me that if I spend one night with him, he’ll sell the necklace to Vianne for sixty million."

’Yuri would definitely want to make back the sixty million auction price. He wouldn’t do business at a loss.’

’And that money should come out of Vianne Kane’s pocket.’

After understanding the full story, the crease in Alaric Blackwood’s brow smoothed out. He leaned down and kissed Sophie’s cheek. "There, there. I’ll continue negotiating with Yuri about the necklace. You don’t have to worry about it."

"I wasn’t planning on worrying about it anyway."

’It was Yuri who made the unreasonable demand, and it’s been bothering me all day.’

"Stay away from Yuri from now on. It makes me unhappy."

Alaric Blackwood said, kissing the side of her neck.

Her mind went blank for a second. Remembering what he just said, she couldn’t help but ask, "Are you going to help Vianne Kane buy the necklace?"

"How is that helping her? Isn’t the necklace yours?"

"She used Joel to trick me out of my mom’s necklace and sent it to the auction house. She should be the one to get it back for me."

"But Yuri isn’t selling, is he?"

"That’s Vianne Kane’s problem to worry about. You’re not allowed to get involved."

Sophie’s tone left no room for negotiation. Alaric Blackwood could faintly sense she was angry. He turned his head to look at her. "What’s wrong? You get angry with me the moment Vianne Kane is mentioned."

"She’s your childhood sweetheart. I heard you have a crush on her."

Alaric Blackwood gave a weary laugh. "I don’t have a childhood sweetheart."

"You said it yourself. Back when you found me at the station, you said with your own mouth that Vianne Kane was your childhood sweetheart."

"I was just making that up."

Strictly speaking, it was Vianne Kane who told people at public events that they had grown up together as childhood sweethearts. He had never admitted to it. Besides, he was preparing to go abroad at the time and couldn’t be bothered with the gossip.

Later, in order to marry Sophie, he took advantage of those rumors.

"So you never liked Vianne Kane?"

"Never."

"Then the person you had a crush on..."

"Wasn’t Vianne Kane."

Alaric Blackwood smiled as he looked at her. "I’ve only ever had one shining star in my heart."

"Who?"

He almost laughed out of exasperation. He pulled Sophie into his arms, his hand tightening around her slender waist. "I took a lot of photos of her. I’d been watching her since we were students. I had planned to go to her family and propose marriage right after I graduated from college, but I never expected that in her sophomore year, she would accept another guy’s confession."

Sophie’s heart began to race as she listened.

’Lots of photos taken of her... accepted a guy’s confession as a student...’

’Why does it feel like Alaric Blackwood is talking about me?’

"My darling is so slow on the uptake."

"It was you!"

"The person I love is you. It’s always been you."

Alaric Blackwood’s smile was tinged with helplessness. He gazed at Sophie’s slowly reddening face, his expression growing more and more serious. "I’ve never had feelings for any woman other than you."

"But I once saw with my own eyes Damian Morgan confessing his feelings to you in public, and you accepted him. You two started dating. My heart was broken. I had lost you before I even had a chance to begin. I was devastated at the time, so I started hanging out in bars and nightclubs. I drank, I smoked, I flirted with girls. My life became a complete mess."

"I really did play the field. I flirted with a lot of girls, and my reputation was terrible. I thought about just letting myself go completely, but in the end, I held onto my principles."

"Thankfully, I held on."

Sophie’s eyes reddened slightly. "You’re so brazen. Why didn’t you ever talk to me?"

Alaric Blackwood smiled in relief. "I wasn’t always like this. I used to be shy and easily embarrassed. I didn’t have the courage to approach you."

That youthful, unrequited love—beautiful, yet bittersweet.

He developed his thick skin later, from hanging out in bars and flirting with girls. With a party animal like Jaden showing him the ropes, he quickly got the hang of it.

The only difference between him and Jaden was that he stayed true to himself.

"Can’t imagine me being an introvert, can you?"

Sophie nodded. She really couldn’t imagine what the old Alaric Blackwood was like. She couldn’t even remember playing with him or taking pictures together when they were children.

"Now you know everything."

Alaric Blackwood no longer held anything back. "In that photo album, every single picture of you was taken by me. And I developed every single one of them myself in a darkroom."

"I love you. I’ve loved you for many years."

He grabbed Sophie’s hand and pressed it against his heart. "You’re in here. You’ve always been."

Even when he studied abroad, on the other side of the world from Sophie, he could never forget her.

When Mrs. Ford and Mandy Halloway tried every way they could to contact him, telling him that the man Sophie was dating was a scumbag and no good, and urged him to come back, propose to the Kane Family, and marry Sophie, he didn’t hesitate for a second. He booked a flight back that very day.

After returning to the country, he spent some time secretly investigating. He learned about Sophie’s situation in the Kane Family and got a clear picture of Damian Morgan’s character. Once he had a firm grasp of the situation, he had Mandy Halloway and Quentin Blackwood go to the Kane Family to propose marriage.

He had already learned from a friend in the media that Vianne Kane and Damian Morgan were going to announce their engagement.

That rainy night, his appearance at the station to pick up a rain-drenched Sophie was all part of his calculations.

He knew he had a bad reputation. If he rashly confessed to Sophie, not only would she not trust him, but she might even think he was just a smooth-talking flirt. So, after planning everything, he deliberately acted careless and cavalier around her.

This, in turn, made Sophie lower her guard around him...

"Marrying you was my long-premeditated plan."

He had revealed the entire truth.

As Sophie listened to his long, heartfelt confession, tears blurred her vision.