Sylvaine pulled two drunk women out of the bar.
By the roadside was a luxury car, its black paint gleaming, and a man in a black shirt with a tall, lean frame and sharp, handsome features stood there silently and upright.
If Sylvaine remembered correctly, it was already midnight.
Roderick had been waiting for an hour.
She was rather surprised. She had heard from her eldest brother that the head of the Nightblade was notoriously difficult—someone who would spare no one's feelings, fearless of offending anyone, and quite challenging to deal with.
Just now, she'd been drinking and acted impulsively, spurred by her anger and her sympathy for Catriona, having seen the hardships she endured.
But to say she wasn't nervous would be a lie. If this Nightblade's figure really decided to make things difficult, her brother would send her out of the country by dawn.
Yet here he was, coming to pick up Catriona himself, waiting patiently for an hour with remarkable composure. This didn't sit right with Sylvaine—wasn't the Nightblade large enough that he didn't need to come personally?
According to Catriona, they were simply living together for little Cedric's health, purely as partners, with nothing more between them.
But would a "partner" stand by the roadside at midnight, waiting an hour just for her?
Sylvaine couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't adding up.
Could this cheap father actually be interested in Caddy?
She staggered a little, pulling along the two women, both tipsy. The next moment, Catriona spotted a familiar car—the one she and her son often rode in.
She pulled her hand away from Sylvaine. "I'm going back; Cedric is waiting for me in the car."
"Take a good look at who's by the car!"
"Who?" Catriona's face flushed, her body swayed, and she squinted at the tall figure walking toward her.
Her vision wobbled, and she finally made out his face. Catriona clicked her tongue dismissively. "Oh, it's him. Just ignore him."
Her Cedric was in the car, and that was enough.
Usually, when she rode in the car with him, she treated him like a stone, completely ignoring him.
So at this moment, she brushed past him without a second glance, wobbling as she headed toward the car.
"Caddy! Come back!" Sylvaine was still holding onto someone else and hadn't expected Catriona to leave so abruptly. She wasn't keen on letting Roderick take her back, unsure what he might do.
Catriona turned back, flashing a bright smile and waving. "Bye, Sylvaine! See you tomorrow!"
Right after she said this, her foot slipped, and she nearly had a close encounter with the ground.
Then, a pair of strong hands grabbed her waist, holding her steady. She struggled and turned her face, meeting a pair of golden, silent eyes.
His ears turned red, and his thin lips tightened as he said somewhat awkwardly, "I'll help you to the car."
Catriona stared at him for a moment before suddenly pulling away, standing upright and frowning delicately. "What are you doing? Always grabbing at me."
Roderick slightly pursed his lips.
Catriona had already turned and walked toward the car. "Cedric, have you been waiting for Mommy for a long time?"
As she approached the car, the door sensed her and slowly opened, the lights inside illuminating as Catriona climbed in.
Sylvaine: "..."
Forget it.
Sylvaine took a deep breath and looked at Roderick. "Mr. Nightblade, may I have a word with you?"
Roderick responded with a casual "Hmm."
This was the cub's mother's friend, not just any human from his business dealings, so he needed to treat her differently.
Sylvaine pulled Eulalia into her car, shutting the door firmly. Standing outside the bar in the night, she raised her chin, crossed her arms, and spoke with a barely perceptible tension in her voice, "I'll be blunt. Only you and Caddy know the exact circumstances of what happened back then, but this child was raised painstakingly by her alone. You've been absent for all these years, and I believe you have no right to claim the child."
Facing someone like Roderick, Sylvaine put on a tough front, but internally, she thought: Sylvaine, are you really going through with this?
She really didn't want to go abroad.
The next second, she heard Roderick say in a serious tone, "Yes, Miss, you are right. I indeed have no right."
"When did you find out about Cedric's existence, Mr. Nightblade?"
"Two months ago."
"I'll be frank. The child is yours now, too, and you got to experience the happiness of being a father without doing anything. As her friend, I feel that's unfair."
Sylvaine's gaze turned slightly fierce as she lifted her chin and finished speaking, though inside, she was silently begging: My dear elder brother, spare me! Don't send me abroad!
Keeping up her tough facade despite her inner turmoil, she continued, "Catriona's too shy to ask, so I'll say it: Please settle the child support. From what I understand, Mr. Nightblade has plenty of money, right?"
Her fierce, haughty look spelled out two words: Pay up!
Roderick pressed his lips together and nodded, his voice deep and calm. "Whether it's your sense of imbalance as her friend or the cub's child support, it's all deserved."
His gaze fell on the car not far away, where the woman was frantically searching inside for her little one. Finding the car empty, she stepped out, circling it in distress, calling out, "Baby, baby," her voice filled with increasing desperation.
In her drunken state, she had shed her usual calm and rational demeanor, and he found her rather cute.
Seeing her put his heart at ease.
His ailment seemed cured.
So she hadn't gone on a date with Lucian after all.
This fact pleased him immensely.
In his deep, golden eyes lay an unfathomable emotion. "As long as she wants it and I have it, I'll give it to her. Here, in the human world, I possess many things that money can buy—money, buildings, cars, planes... I can share all of them with her. Even what she desires but I don't yet have, I'll strive to give her."
Sylvaine, though not as tipsy as the two lightweights Catriona and Eulalia, was still under the influence of alcohol.
"Mr. Nightblade, are you reciting lines or something? You sound like you're courting her, like you're making some kind of confession."
Roderick paused, realization dawning upon him. "So, Miss, giving these things...is that how you humans pursue someone?"
"What?" Sylvaine felt confused, waving it off. "Yeah, sure, just go ahead and give her all those planes and houses if you have so many."
"Thank you. I understand." Roderick nodded seriously.
Sylvaine, as the delayed effects of alcohol began to cloud her mind, found herself puzzled. Roderick didn't seem as difficult as her brother had described.
At that moment, a woman in white approached.
"Sylvaine, it's time to go home."
Sylvaine was startled by the sound and hurried over. "Anna! What are you doing outside? If Norman and Mom and Dad find out, they'll be furious!"
Anatalia nodded gently to Roderick with a soft smile and then led her younger sister away. "It's been years since I went out. I can't stay at home my whole life, right? I need to go out and see the world."
Roderick didn't listen to the sisters' conversation.
He stared at the woman beside the car, lost in thought.
Then, for some unknown reason, his ears began to turn red.
