DaveThe Uncle Roger I remembered was big. He was larger than life. He seemed to fill up every space he walked into, which was probably why my mind believed him to be a fat man. My mind believed that he would have gorged himself on the excesses of life, spilling out in all areas, building himself on general lines. But here I was, shocked and surprised that even the mansion I had once imagined as a child was nothing more than an actual house. I hopped out of the car, clicking my tongue just slightly, feeling a little bit of disapproval rise up within me. *It’s not my money,* I told myself as I stepped further towards the house. Roger himself was seated on the front porch. The front porch was a large balcony-style area with even a small dining space, coupled with one of those benches that swung back and forth when you sat on it. I remembered sitting on those when I was a child. "The only reason why I’m looking at you here and not sending you away is because of the fond memories, b
TiffanyConversations with Mom were draining, I noticed. So draining, in fact, that instead of feeling elated and glad that someone listened to me, I felt as though so much had left my body—so much had left my mind. My mind felt raw, it felt unfiltered, it felt so strange. By the time I reached the office, I simply plopped down on one of my couches and hoped to God that my misery would soon be put out and this drawing competition would just disappear. Which I was thinking, I thought to myself as my door opened."Hey."I propped up when I heard Dave's voice."Hi," I said, raising my eyebrow in question. Dave genuinely looked as if he wanted to talk, but frankly, it was draining in itself."You're not going to believe it," he said."You are not going to believe it!" He pointed at me theatrically—typical theater kid."Then tell me so I can believe it," I said, genuinely hating that I had to play into his theatrics."I found the owner of the company," he said. "It was tough, it was hard,
IrisIt was strange being put on the spot like that. The fact that I felt her eyes boring holes into my skull, she waited with her arms folded across her chest genuinely caused heart palpitations. "Well?" she really used an eyebrow."I answer that right now, I’m afraid," I said, strangely blurting out. "But I do know I have feelings for Orchard.”"But isn't it so weird? The woman married to your son after years is unsure of whether or not she loves him 100%?" I chuckled at myself. "Feelings," Orchard's mom said. "Are fickle," she said. "Believe me, I know. I know that feelings can vary. Sometimes tricky," she said, "but I know that really will be fine. At least we're thinking of the worst possible. I'm sure you'll be hard," she said. "After all, I didn’t pick a whisk to run my own company, now did I?""Why me?" I found myself blurting out."Why not you?" she shot back at me with an ignoring smile. "I've looked into you," she said, after a short awkward silence. "Trust me, I'm not r
Iris’ PovShe let go of my arm at that moment, strutting away. I, however, stood in one spot, still as a statue. "Oh no, she didn’t," I thought to myself after my mind went black for a few minutes. "She did not just insult my mom’s memorial," I thought, as I glared at the spot where she had just been standing. Then I decided, "Who cares? I’m going to go after her and see what she was there for." I began to stride right after her, and by the time I reached the receptionist, she smiled. "That was a lady," I said. "Bleach blonde?""She came here," the receptionist said. "Oh, yes. She has an appointment with Mrs. Barrett, so..."I instantly bolted to the elevator, pushing the button over and over again until the elevator doors opened, and I was able to enter. But even while I stood inside, I was jittery. All that was in my head was wondering what she would tell my mother-in-law. Eventually, I came out of the elevator. I pulled off my heels, gathered them in my hands, and began to snea
Iris The next morning, during breakfast, I treated myself to a sizzling meal and a fancy cup of coffee.Both Orchard and Halle left early that morning. Orchard had a meeting with his father’s lawyer, and Halle had an important meeting at the office. She had mentioned there was something important she needed to take care of. I wondered what it was, but decided not to pry. If she wanted me to know the details, she would have told me.After breakfast, I couldn’t stop thinking the event at the office yesterday. If I had been caught, what would my excuse be? "Sober"? How I spent most of the night, and then the next morning, thinking about it so much that I found myself standing in front of a flower shop after telling the driver to stop. "Already thinking specific?" Harold asked me, his dark green eyes flashing in the rearview mirror. "I think I'll handle this one myself," I said, opening the door without him. He almost opened his mouth to protest, as though he was about to curse m
IrisUnfortunately, just as I was hoping to have another small "girl boss" moment, Harold was standing outside, practically waiting for me with the door open. He gave me a smug smile as he bowed dramatically. Unfortunately for me, I was not wearing any tea dress. No, it was the simple sheath dress and heels—ridiculously high, but I didn’t even know why they existed. "Hope?" I rolled my eyes with a hidden smile tugging at my lips as I entered the car, feeling slightly excited. I placed the tulips on the chair beside me and reached into my bag to fish out my phone to call Orchard. "Guess what?" I said into the phone after he picked up on the second ring. "The sky is falling and aliens are abducting people? You happen to find yourself in an alien spaceship and guess what? They're not trying to make humans food. Instead, they're trying to input the ultimate party ideas into our heads." "Close call," I said. "Very close. I got your mom flowers to celebrate. I thought, with the whole
Orchard’s PovI kept glancing at my phone, which lay face-up on the polished surface in front of me. Every time the screen lit up with a notification, my heart jumped, only for the disappointment to set in when it wasn’t Iris.I had left so early that morning, she was still asleep when I left. I can still picture how beautiful she looked with her hair sprawled across her face, and how peaceful she seemed as her chest heaved up and down. She was everything.I hadn’t heard from her all day and was worried about her. I knew she was fine, if she wasn’t, I would have been informed by one of my men, I just needed to talk to her, but also didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, so I sat there, staring at my phone in confusion.I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, pretending to focus on the stack of reports Richard had handed me earlier. My mind wasn’t in it, though. My thoughts kept drifting back to Iris—her laugh, her voice, the way she scrunched her nose when she was teasing me.“Y
IrisHarold already knew where I was heading, I didn’t have to say anything, and found myself musing, then looked at the flowers. What exactly would happen in a few hours' time when Tiffany would show up? Of course, Tiffany was definitely part of the team now, I felt. And while they said there was no "I" in team, there was certainly an "I" in Tiffany. I kept wondering if I should call her to inform her about the allergy, but I realized I didn’t even have her number. Also, knowing Tiffany, she probably wouldn’t listen to me. She would think I was trying to sabotage her, just like she accused me in the flower shop. But I had to warn her somehow, I just didn’t know how. By the time I got to the office, I was rather glad to see Tiffany wasn’t there yet and no ambulance was outside. In fact, it was rather telling, only for me to discover that Orchard’s mom was fine and in her office with her head buried in a tablet. “Oh, thank God you’re here,” she said. “Oh my goodness!” Her face
OrchardIris made the most adorable pregnant woman ever. Maybe it was just my sentiment—I would always believe that. Maybe it was still my sentiment to want her to have another baby just because she made the most adorable pregnant woman ever. And perhaps those sentiments couldn’t be shared with her. But when it always came down to the delivery room, I found myself pacing. "It’s a normal reaction," the nurses said. "It’s normal," they said eventually. "Why don’t you come hold her hand?" the half-face-covered nurse stretched out a hand. "Are you okay?" I whispered in her ear. "Oh yeah, I’m amazing," she mumbled. "But sure, if we want to make this mountain out of a molehill, we can. Besides, I already requested an epidural," she rolled her eyes at me. "Maybe you’re just being dramatic," she waved me off. Maybe I was. Maybe I was just shy. After all, it wasn’t every day a man got to witness this perfect being born. "Okay, I feel something," she gripped my hand. The secon
Orchard Nothing, except the mild silence of the humidifier beside my bed, the steady beeping of the heart monitor, and, of course, the gentle hum of the air conditioner, filled the room. Aside from having to convince my wife—well, I wasn’t sure what we were now, but we surely were something—convincing her to go home, take a shower, get dressed, and look prettier the day after was more than enough. The same could apply to Mom. Partly, it was because of the text message I had received from Dad. “Is it all right if I come see you?” he had texted earlier. “Me telling you no isn’t going to change your mind, so why bother?” I texted back. And, as they say, speak of the devil, and he shall appear. An hour later, Dad walked into my hospital room as though he owned the place—which was mildly accurate. He was one of those with the largest holdings in the hospital. Or, well, he had some of the largest holdings in the hospital. While he didn’t own it specifically, neither did I, but he d
IrisHarold couldn’t be fast enough. Or maybe it was the fact that the speed limit was simply too slow, and Harold was dancing just at the edge. Either way, I kept pounding my heel against the floor of the car while biting my lips, and it seemed the buildings were moving apart too slowly. “I’m going as fast as I can, Mrs. Hector,” Harold said, and turned towards the rearview mirror, his eyes darting towards me. “I’m driving as fast as I can,” he said again, his eyes meeting mine this time. “We’ll be there soon.” His eyes crinkled at the edges, smiling at me. He offered little comfort, I thought to myself, as my face strangely cracked into a small smile. “Thank you,” I said, letting out a huff of air and pulling my fingers together, trying to calm them from the shaking earlier. Who’d have thought talking to the stepmother who effectively bullied you your whole life would cause some form of shakiness? Eventually, we reached the hospital in one piece—mostly. I bolted straight u
IrisPerhaps it was not just me but the entire court, but everyone seemed to let out a breath of relief. I caught sight of Karen sitting somewhere at the back of the room.Simply, I got sight of her because I was jittery, my eyes darting all over the place.Perhaps I was so eager to keep my eyes off Dave that I simply couldn’t look at the person—the wicked person—he had become. He was so unrecognizable.He was not the man I had known all my life; he was not the man I had fallen in love with. No. Buried far from those things were the sweet smiles he had given me when I was younger and the messages of conviction. *"You’re the only woman I could ever marry,"* he had said. Well, perhaps that part was true. I was the only one he married—but probably not the only one he could love. No. His love went to other places; his love had a knack for doing that, going to various places. But none of that mattered for the children. At least that chapter was closed. I raised my eyes to the prose
Iris’ Pov I got the call from the police station. They told me Dave wanted to see me. I didn’t want to go. After everything he’d done, why would I? But then, Orchard’s mum, Halle, said she’d come with me. I needed her support, so I agreed.When we got to the station, my hands were shaking. Halle held my arm gently, and we walked in together. They led us to the room where Dave was sitting. “Iris,” he said, “you came.”I didn’t sit down. I just looked at him, feeling all the anger rise inside me. “You better pray Orchard wakes up,” I said, “if she doesn’t, you’ll regret ever knowing me.”Dave smirked. “I don’t care what happens to me. If Orchard dies, I’m justified.”I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Justified? For what? Before I could say anything else, Halle held me.“There’s no use talking to a man like him,” he’s lost his mind. Let’s go, Iris.”Just as we turned to leave, a cop walked into the room. He had a file in his hand and a serious look on his face.“We found new evide
Iris’ PovI sat in the cold, hard chair outside the operating room, my breaths were shallow and uneven. It felt like I had been holding my breath the entire time.Orchard was in there, fighting for his life. The doctors had rushed him in as soon as we arrived at the hospital, I wanted to believe he would make it, but the blood, there had been so much blood. I couldn’t stop seeing it.My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I joined them together, pressing them tightly against my lap, trying to steady them, but it didn’t work. My clothes still smelled like blood and sweat, and I hated it.“Iris,” a soft voice said beside me.I looked up to see Orchard’s mother. I had called her as soon as I arrived. She placed a hand on my shoulder.“He’s strong,” she said, though her voice cracked. “He’s going to make it.”I nodded, but I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t find any words.The hallway was too quiet, the kind of silence that only made things worse. Every time the doors to the operating room swung open,
Dave’s PovThe sound of the gunshot still rang in my ears as I stumbled back, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. The scene before me felt surreal, like something out of a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Orchard was on the floor, blood spreading around him like a dark, growing shadow. Iris knelt beside him, screaming his name, her hands pressed desperately against his chest as if she could stop the life from slipping out of him.“Orchard! Stay with me! Please!” she sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Her voice was filled with panic, raw and heart-wrenching.And I just stood there, frozen. My hand was still gripping the gun, my knuckles white. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. All I could do was stare at the chaos I had caused.What have I done?The question repeated over and over in my mind, but I couldn’t find an answer. I hadn’t planned for this to happen, not like this. I just wanted to scare them, to make them pay attention, to make her listen to me. But now… now it was
Iris’ Pov The gun pressed against my head was a constant reminder of how close I was to disaster. I could see the anger in Dave’s eyes, the wild, unpredictable rage that told me he wasn’t bluffing. He was mad enough to do anything. The memory of the day he shot my stepsister, suddenly hit me. The look on his face then was the same as now. No hesitation, no regret. Just pure fury.I knew better than to argue with him. If I made one wrong move, one wrong word, this could end horribly. I forced myself to take a shaky breath, trying to calm the panic that threatened to overwhelm me.“Dave,”please, let’s not do this. Name your price. Whatever you want, we’ll do it. Just… just let us go.”For a moment, he didn’t say anything. He just stared at me, his grip on the gun tightening and loosening, like he was considering his options.Then he laughed, a bitter, hollow sound that made my stomach twist. “Name my price?” he said mockingly. “It’s too late for that, Iris. Don’t you get it? There’s n
Iris’ Pov My body stirred, waking me from a restless dream. At first, I didn’t understand why I woke up, but then I felt a familiar discomfort in my stomach.I sighed quietly and got out of bed, careful not to wake Orchard. The room was dark, lit only by the faint light of the moon that filtered through the curtains. I paused for a moment, listening to his steady breathing, and then padded softly toward the bathroom.The bathroom tiles were cold under my bare feet, and I shivered slightly as I finished and washed my hands. I thought I would just crawl back into bed and try to sleep again, but as I stepped out of the bathroom, I realized how dry my throat felt. My mouth felt like sandpaper, and my lips were cracked.“I need some water,” I murmured to myself, my voice barely above a whisper.The thought of going downstairs in the middle of the night wasn’t appealing, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t quench my thirst. So, I turned toward the stairs, walking as quietly