Chapter 374: I’ll Give You a Chance, Kill Me
Joy Sheridan watched Quentin Blackwood’s retreating back, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
They had finally reached this point. She felt a joy she had never known.
Marrying Quentin Blackwood, being with him—this had been her wish since childhood.
’Even though I’ve lost my grandfather, he would have passed away sooner or later. The trade-off was worth it.’
’Let’s see how that Ivy Sherwood acts so arrogant now!’
Just then, Joy Sheridan’s phone rang.
She answered it. "Why are you calling me now?"
"Joy Sheridan, I assume you’ve gotten your wish. Don’t forget what you promised me," said the voice on the other end of the line.
Joy Sheridan replied, "Don’t worry."
"Quentin Blackwood is definitely going to investigate this," her collaborator said, clearly worried. "With his capabilities, what happens if he traces it back to us?"
Joy Sheridan said, "We don’t act familiar with each other in public, and you’ve never shown much ambition at the company. The ones kicking up a fuss are other people entirely. Besides, didn’t your plan involve them hiring someone? It has nothing to do with us. The only person Quentin Blackwood can find is the patsy. When he does, we’ll just arrange for an ’accident’ to take care of him."
The man laughed. "Whoever said Miss Sheridan was just some delicate flower? The shareholders underestimating you was definitely the biggest mistake they could have made."
Old Master Sheridan was a formidable man, after all. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Joy Sheridan said, "And you’re no different. They couldn’t trace the last poisoning incident back to you, could they?"
In reality, this man wasn’t a key figure at the company, just a minor shareholder. Joy Sheridan repeatedly chose to work with him because he was smart, and they were cut from the same cloth.
He was just an insignificant shareholder at the company, so no one would ever suspect him.
Even though they were the ones pulling the strings and egging on the other ambitious shareholders, Quentin Blackwood’s investigation would only lead back to the puppets.
Once Quentin Blackwood dealt with all of them, the collaborator could simply sit back and reap the rewards.
Joy Sheridan was even less likely to be suspected. After all, who would harm their only living relative? Everyone knew how close she and her grandfather were.
...
Quentin Blackwood left the hospital room. There was still much to do, including helping with the arrangements for Elder Sheridan’s funeral.
After all, Elder Sheridan had been shot on his account.
And then there was Ivy Sherwood. He had no idea how to face her. The thought of her smile and her bright eyes made his heart feel as if it were being squeezed by a giant hand, tearing it apart. A stabbing pain shot through him, numbing him to his core.
Quentin Blackwood could barely breathe. A profound fear gripped him. ’It feels like I’m going to lose Ivy.’
The normally composed Quentin Blackwood had, for the first time, completely lost his bearings.
’I never knew my feelings for Ivy ran this deep. Why would fate play such a cruel joke on me?’
He steadied himself against the wall. After a long moment, Zane Linton appeared before him and handed him a new phone.
"Those men from last night... have you found anything?"
Zane Linton replied, "We have. They were professional mercenaries. The one who hired them is the largest shareholder in the Sheridan Group, other than Old Master Sheridan himself."
"It’s likely because President Sheridan has been in frequent contact with you. It seems he was planning to hand the company over to you, which made them anxious. They arranged the hit, and you were most likely the target."
"He thought that by eliminating you, he’d be removing the biggest wild card. With no one left to compete with him, and the old master not having much time left, the company would naturally fall into his hands."
"He’s been buying up loose shares for a while now and has become the company’s largest shareholder. He just never expected Old Master Sheridan to be returning with you, or that the old man would be the one to get hurt."
Zane Linton recapped the sequence of events. That was the story of last night.
A sharp pain pulsed in Quentin Blackwood’s temple. "The mastermind... have you caught him?"
"We got him. He’s at the police station."
"I understand. Arrange for some people to come here. Old Master Sheridan... is gone."
Zane Linton fell silent for a moment. "Alright. I’ll have our people handle the arrangements."
"By the way, President Blackwood, Miss Sherwood called me last night. She said she couldn’t reach you. I didn’t tell her what happened. Do you want to call her back?"
The mention of Ivy Sherwood’s name was like a knife to Quentin Blackwood’s heart.
He didn’t know how to face Ivy, how to tell her about everything that had just happened.
"I’ll tell her myself." He needed to think carefully about how to break the news to Ivy in a way that would cause her the least amount of pain.
"One more thing. We’ve recovered the Blackwood Family’s Jade Pendant. Our men searched for a long time before finally finding it in Caleb Blackwood’s study. It’s out now. I’ll have someone bring it over shortly."
"Good." ’That Jade Pendant belongs to Ivy,’ he thought. ’It should be in her possession.’
Zane Linton could tell from his voice that something was wrong. ’Old Master Sheridan’s death must have hit President Blackwood hard,’ he thought.
’After all, Elder Sheridan died saving the president... He must be feeling awful right now.’ Zane Linton wasn’t clear on the details of what had happened in the room.
Quentin Blackwood quickly washed up at the hospital, changed into the clean clothes Zane Linton had prepared for him, and went straight to the police station.
The shareholder had already been arrested, completely unaware that he had been made a scapegoat or of Joy Sheridan’s true intentions.
He watched in terror as the man approached him step by step. Quentin Blackwood radiated a menacing aura. Having not slept all night, his eyes were completely bloodshot.
Just the sight of him standing there, his expression cold and lifeless, was enough to make the man inside want to drop to his knees in fear.
"You’re the one who wanted me dead," Quentin Blackwood said, staring coldly at the man before him.
"I... I wasn’t thinking straight, President Blackwood! I’ll never do it again, I swear! Please, let me go!" The man’s face was ashen, his expression terrified.
’The men he hired had all said it would be a sure thing. They had guns! They were supposed to kill Quentin Blackwood. Once Quentin was dead, the old man would have no other heir, and the company would eventually be his.’
’Joy Sheridan didn’t seem like the type to run a company anyway. Even if the old man left all his shares to her, he could still take them from her.’
’Who could have known that Quentin Blackwood was so formidable that he’d managed to disarm them? In the end, the old man died, but Quentin Blackwood was still alive.’
He assumed Quentin Blackwood was here to make his life hell. Instead, Quentin walked right up to him. "I’m giving you a chance. Kill me."
"Huh?" The shareholder thought he must have misheard.
A gun was even pressed into his hands. Only then did he realize, ’Is Quentin Blackwood serious?’
It was the gun Quentin Blackwood had used last night. He hadn’t had a chance to give it to anyone, so he had kept it on him for the past few hours.
The man had no idea what kind of game Quentin Blackwood was playing. This was a police station; how could he dare to kill someone here?
He dropped to his knees, letting the gun fall to the ground with a sharp CLATTER. "President Blackwood, please, let me go! Or just put me out of my misery! I was blinded by greed! I wanted the Sheridan Group shares, that’s why I did something so desperate!"
Quentin Blackwood stared at him impassively, his crimson eyes utterly devoid of warmth.
He wasn’t joking. If this man had actually dared to pull the trigger...