Chapter 409: Does President Blackwood Want to Personally Watch Us Be Intimate?

Soon, only Ivy Sherwood and Elijah Hawthorne remained.

"Mr. Hawthorne, you had to leave in a hurry last time and missed breakfast. I was wondering if I might have the opportunity to treat you to dinner as an apology on my brother’s behalf. I hope you’ll release my brother first."

Elijah Hawthorne narrowed his eyes, sizing up the woman before him.

"You have some deep secrets, Miss Sherwood."

Ivy Sherwood said, "I’ve been wearing makeup like this since I was a child. It wasn’t just to hide from you, Mr. Hawthorne."

Elijah Hawthorne gazed at her breathtaking face. If Ivy Sherwood hadn’t hidden her features, a face like this would have undoubtedly drawn a great deal of attention long ago.

"Quentin Blackwood didn’t know either?" Elijah Hawthorne asked.

"He knew."

Elijah Hawthorne stood up and walked toward Ivy Sherwood. "Why don’t you come be with me?"

Ivy Sherwood: "?"

"That face of yours isn’t half bad. How about being my little mistress? Quentin Blackwood doesn’t care about you anyway. Don’t you want to piss him off a little?"

Elijah Hawthorne reached out, pinching Ivy Sherwood’s chin and forcing her to meet his gaze.

This gave Elijah Hawthorne an even clearer view of her face.

Ivy Sherwood’s eyes were glistening and seemed to speak for themselves. When she looked at someone, it was like a gentle spring breeze, making it impossible not to fall into their depths.

But her expression was one of cold indifference. She was like an exquisite flower on a high, unreachable peak.

"You must be joking, Mr. Hawthorne. Quentin Blackwood and I don’t have any grudges, so why would I want to make him angry? Besides, I would never be anyone’s mistress."

"Aren’t you already Quentin Blackwood’s little mistress? You don’t actually think he sees you as his girlfriend, do you?" Elijah Hawthorne felt he had arrived in Lustre far too late. If he had come sooner, who knows whose woman Ivy Sherwood would be now.

"I’m also very generous. I can give you anything you want—definitely more than Quentin Blackwood. And I’m no worse looking than he is. How about it? Give it some thought?"

Ivy Sherwood didn’t hesitate for a second. "Not interested."

Elijah Hawthorne’s lips curled into a smirk. "Aren’t you afraid of what I might do to your brother?"

"My brother is part of the Mercer Family. You’re very powerful, but the Mercers are not to be underestimated either. You wouldn’t make such a powerful enemy over something so trivial. It’s not worth it for you."

Elijah Hawthorne looked at Ivy Sherwood with admiration. ’A smart woman is indeed easy to appreciate.’

’To think Quentin Blackwood would cast aside such a treasure. I wonder if he’ll regret it someday.’

Ivy Sherwood raised her hand, just about to push away the hand gripping her chin, when the door was suddenly thrown open from the outside.

Frozen in that position, they both looked toward the doorway and saw Quentin Blackwood, his face a mask of fury.

Before Ivy Sherwood could even react, Elijah Hawthorne pulled her straight into his arms.

His arm wrapped directly around Ivy Sherwood’s waist. "President Blackwood, how rude of you. Barging in without knocking. Didn’t you see we were having an intimate moment?"

Elijah Hawthorne wasn’t surprised by Quentin Blackwood’s arrival. In fact, it would have been strange if he *hadn’t* shown up.

Quentin Blackwood stared at his hand. ’How dare he touch Ivy Sherwood’s waist?’

Elijah Hawthorne was a dangerous man. Last time, he’d said he didn’t like Ivy Sherwood, but he was going to pursue her anyway.

Elijah Hawthorne was a master of manipulation, and he worried Ivy Sherwood would be taken advantage of by him.

"Is that so? I seem to recall saying that Mr. Hawthorne is not welcome at my resort."

"You’re open for business, so what’s this about being welcome or not? If President Blackwood really doesn’t want us here, that’s fine. Ivy and I can just go somewhere else. I assume President Blackwood doesn’t have a peculiar hobby of following us around, wanting to watch us be intimate with his own eyes, does he?"

Elijah Hawthorne was doing this on purpose. He was even more ruthless than Seth Scott.

After all, the two had been fighting for so many years; it was safe to say they knew each other inside and out.

He could tell that Quentin Blackwood was getting flustered.

Once a person starts to care about someone or something, they have a weakness.

Regardless of why Quentin Blackwood and Ivy Sherwood had separated, his opportunity had arrived. Even if he couldn’t pull Quentin Blackwood down and put his own Hawthorne Group on the throne, he could still thoroughly annoy him and, at the very least, make him miserable.

The moment Quentin Blackwood walked in, Ivy Sherwood had no idea what to do.

She hadn’t even noticed Elijah Hawthorne holding her. But as Quentin Blackwood’s eyes bore into her, Ivy suddenly felt like she’d been caught cheating by her boyfriend.

But then she remembered: Quentin Blackwood wasn’t her boyfriend anymore. It was none of his business how many men she was with or who she was seeing. It wasn’t as if he was the only man for her, and she was determined to show him that she was doing just fine without him.

Ivy Sherwood tugged on Elijah Hawthorne’s sleeve. "Let’s go."

Right now, more than Elijah Hawthorne, she didn’t want to see Quentin Blackwood.

Quentin Blackwood saw Ivy’s small gesture of tugging on Elijah’s clothes. It was the same subconscious gesture she used to make with him.

Elijah Hawthorne saw her movement too. He suddenly reached out and took her hand in his.

Ivy Sherwood tried to pull her hand back, but Elijah Hawthorne was too strong. He even brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against it.

Intimate and suggestive!

In a placating tone, Elijah Hawthorne said, "It’s not every day we get to see President Blackwood. How can we leave without catching up a little? Why don’t we chat for a bit longer?"

After speaking, Elijah Hawthorne feigned a sudden realization. "Oh, I forgot. My dear Ivy is very shy. She doesn’t like to be affectionate in front of outsiders."

He deliberately emphasized the words "my dear Ivy" and "outsiders," and Quentin Blackwood’s gaze darkened even further.

It was safe to say that every word out of Elijah Hawthorne’s mouth was dancing on Quentin Blackwood’s last nerve.

But Elijah Hawthorne simply wasn’t afraid.

After saying that, Elijah Hawthorne deliberately leaned close to Ivy Sherwood’s ear. Before he even said a word, her face flushed beet red.

Elijah Hawthorne even reached out and touched her hair. "Getting shy already?"

The gesture was as intimate as could be, far more advanced than anything Seth Scott would pull.

Elijah Hawthorne said, "Since President Blackwood is so fond of this place, we’ll leave it to you. Besides, it doesn’t matter where Ivy and I are."

Hearing the name "Ivy" come from Elijah Hawthorne’s lips made her feel as if a venomous snake had just slithered over her skin; it made her scalp tingle with revulsion.

But she couldn’t dwell on it now. Elijah Hawthorne wrapped an arm around her and led her away, treating Quentin Blackwood as if he were invisible.

Ivy Sherwood could feel a piercing gaze on her back, but she did her best to ignore it.

When Elijah Hawthorne and Ivy Sherwood went outside, Miles Mercer was still waiting. "Little Sis!"

"Brother, I’m going to have a meal with Mr. Hawthorne."

"I’m going too." Miles Mercer didn’t trust Elijah Hawthorne. The man looked like a total villain.

Elijah Hawthorne shot Ivy Sherwood a look, signaling for her to handle it.

Ivy Sherwood said, "Brother, it’s just a simple meal. Mr. Hawthorne and I have known each other for a long time. Don’t worry."

"You hear that? We’ve known each other for a long time. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll even be my brother-in-law." Elijah Hawthorne spoke loudly, as if intentionally for someone behind them to hear.

Miles Mercer: "?"

’What the hell? What’s this about being his brother-in-law?’

’Who knew my little sister was so popular, with one man after another lining up for her?’