Iris awoke with a renewed sense of excitement at the thought of seeing Cooper again. As she glanced at her collection of short, dark hair wigs, she made a bold decision to throw them all away. The days of hiding behind disguises were over; she was determined to be her true self from now on.Over the years, Iris had become so accustomed to disguising herself that she felt strange in her own natural hair. After taking a refreshing bath, she stood in front of the mirror, contemplating what to do with her long, blonde locks. Eventually, she made up her mind and styled her hair in a way that made her feel confident and free.When Iris descended the stairs, her mother couldn't help but notice the transformation. In the past, Iris had always tied her hair up in a bun during her disguises, so seeing her with long hair was a pleasant surprise."What's going on, Iris?" her mother asked, curious about the sudden change.Iris beamed with self-assurance and asked, "How do I look, Mom?" She ha
Chapter 16 – Doing it for our son “Marry me, and our son will have a complete family.” Garvin's gentle words echoed in Iris's ears, but they felt more like taunts than comfort. He placed blame on her for everything and even referred to her as a whore, although she refused to accept any payment.Despite her attempts to explain that she was just as clueless about the events that unfolded as he was, he continued to accuse her of drugging him. Enduring this pain for over five years, Iris couldn't take his proposal seriously."Excuse me?"Garvin wasn't surprised by her reaction, as he had never courted a woman before and didn't know how to approach the situation. He lacked the ability to take small steps and offer words of reassurance."There's no need to be surprised. We're both single, and we have a son together. So, what's stopping us from getting married?""You must be joking, right? It feels like just yesterday when all you did was mock me," Iris responded bitterly. This self-cente
Garvin believed that Iris was intentionally making it difficult for him to pursue her, but he was determined to chase after her, especially since he knew she wasn't in a serious relationship, as she had claimed.Iris had expressed her willingness to drive an hour and a half to Long Island, where Garvin lived, and then another three hours or more to the Poconos. Garvin wasn't so sure about that.In order to make things easier in case he had to be away, Garvin decided to meet with Barbara first, considering Iris's involvement. He called Serena on the intercom and requested, "Serena, I'd like to see Barbara next."As soon as Barbara entered the room, Garvin informed her, "Iris has agreed to help. She can't commit to working full-time due to her busy schedule, but she's willing to assist with training our Sales team whenever it's convenient for her. I'll leave the details to you."Barbara felt a sense of relief wash over her, as if she had just been given a second chance. "That's great
"Iris?" Garvin's impatient voice jolted her from her trance."Did you call me?""I called you four times," Garvin said in annoyance, wondering how she could just trail off like that. Iris felt embarrassed."I'm sorry."Garvin calmed down and said, "I was thinking that even if we are going with your car, my driver should drive us so we can have a proper talk."Iris did not like the idea. She treated her cars like her third babies. "I don't know...""I insist. Let's go," Garvin said and stood up, waiting for her to begin walking ahead before he followed her. He was concerned about the long drives and couldn't allow her to keep doing it.Nevertheless, he couldn't enforce it all at once. It needed baby steps to show her how much he cared without forcing it. His driver, Samuel, met them at the car park."Samuel, this is Miss Iris Parker, Cooper's mother."Samuel, who was in his early forties, had his jaws dropping when Garvin introduced Iris and added, "We are using her car."Iris forced
"Son, this is your mother. Isn't she beautiful?" Iris's heart skipped a beat at the way he introduced her. Did he mean it, or was he just trying to make Cooper like the real her? Regardless, Iris felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.Cooper looked at the woman before him, who was undeniably beautiful, but he was afraid that if he agreed with his father, he would never see Aunt Iris again. As the woman crouched down in front of him, he sensed a hint of familiarity before she even spoke."Dad, she is beautiful, but her eyes are like Aunt Iris's," the little boy cleverly remarked, trying to show his father that Aunt Iris was equally beautiful.A tear rolled down Iris's cheek as she confessed, "Cooper, it's me, Iris. I'm your mother."Cooper unconsciously took a step back, and Iris's heart ached. Her son shook his head and said, "Aunt Iris has short black hair, and her lips are always red."Garvin chuckled, and Luna was amazed by everything unfolding before her. She still couldn't
Moving in with Garvin was not part of Iris's plan, nor was it something she had considered. However, when she heard the news from her son, she couldn't help but feel disheartened.Garvin was pleased with the idea, but seeing Iris's pale face made him feel sorry for her. Perhaps she still hadn't forgiven him for their first encounter, so it didn't seem right for them to move in together just yet."Champ, your mom will join us as soon as she can, but you have to understand that adult matters aren't always easy. Give it some time, okay?" Garvin tousled his son's curly hair as he spoke.Cooper reluctantly nodded his head, his young mind unable to grasp why his mommy and daddy couldn't be together right now. After dinner, Iris announced,"It's getting late, so I should be heading home.""But won't you read me my bedtime stories?" Cooper asked, his face filled with sadness.Iris felt miserable. It had been all fun and games when she was just known as Cooper's babysitter. She would come an
“Dad, Mom, you are still awake?” Iris was disturbed at seeing her parents sitting down on the sofa when she reached the living room. She was not prepared for another banter with them but could not also ignore them, knowing very well that they were waiting for her. “I’ve been waiting since you did not respond to my text message,” her mother accused her. Iris pressed her lips together. She intentionally did not respond since she had not decided, but with Garvin’s constant prying into her life, she knew it was something she had to do almost immediately. “Is that the reason why Dad is also awake?” Iris asked since her father had not spoken to her for two days straight. When Jacqueline told Austin that Iris was going to see Garvin, he got interested in what the discussion was going to be, especially concerning Curtis. “Yes, what other reason could there be?” Austin asked with a straight face. A year after Iris had her twins, she resumed working and has been great at it to the point whe
“Mr. Berrett, you requested for me,” Eric said at the door of Garvin’s office whiles walking in. Garvin let out a rare smile at the sight of him. Since Eric had arrived, Garvin would have time to pursue all his interests without worry. “Were you able to handover to anyone?” Garvin asked whiles Eric walked over to give him a handshake. “Not a proper one, sir. I might have to go back twice a week or so to do that.” Eric left Brooklyn as abruptly as Garvin demanded yesterday, and his replacement had not even arrived. “We shall arrange for it on days I don’t have anything to do outside the office,” Garvin said thoughtfully while beckoning Eric to sit down. As soon as he did, Garvin gave his instructions, “Get my daily activities plan from Serena and adjust yourself to it. The number of meetings you will attend will depend on my unavailability,” Garvin explained. Over the years, the only person who knew the affairs of the company like the back of his hand, except for Garvin, was Eric
Garvin had a small smile on his face. Cooper and Gerald might be wise, but Garvin was still more experienced. “Your method would not have been the best.” “I would have sent them to jail,” Gerald said. He hated that Yvette and Nathaniel were walking around freely, so what if they were impoverished? “They would have served a few terms and then be walking free. They would also come back to enjoy their family’s wealth as if nothing happened. It’s the reason why I took this action,” Garvin explained. It made sense to Cooper and Gerald that though their plan would punish those two well, it would have also been for a short term, but Garvin’s method was a long-term one. “Fine, but next time, you should discuss with us first,” Cooper insisted, but Garvin refused and explained, “Ivory is also my daughter.” Thus, he didn’t need anyone’s permission to protect his daughter. The three men all loved Ivory in different ways, and they were ready to avenge her. Since there was no way around Garvin
Ivory may be resilient and resourceful, but this time, she felt the security of being with her family. Gerald was already there for her, but so were her brothers and parents.Nathaniel was not only humiliated but also afraid. With all these powerful men threatening him, he couldn’t find any means of support and was afraid of his father’s deteriorating health.To find a way to get out of this mess, he decided to expose the brain behind it.“It was all Yvette’s idea. She masterminded everything. Please Gerald, I’m very sorry.” Nathaniel looked remorseful, but the damage caused was too much to let go.Ivory had to constantly look over her shoulder because of the enemies she was exposed to.“Why are you blaming me? If I suggested it, did I tell you to go ahead with it?” Yvette was equally trying to find a way to get out of the mess.“So you agree that you suggested it,” Gerald glared at her. She realized she had made a mistake with her words.“Please Gerald, it won’t happen again.”Gerald
Chaos broke out as the guests began to murmur in confusion. Gerald’s expression darkened instantly, but no one else knew what was going on. Ivory didn’t have her hacking tools with her to stop whoever was trying to sabotage her so openly because it was a joyous event. The first name that came to mind was Dean Arlo, but he was being processed for court and wouldn’t dare. Gerald already got the best lawyers to handle his case. The robotic voice continued to speak as images were shown on the screen. “Two years ago, three company servers were destroyed by Ice Panther. Those companies are now closed down with their employees jobless.” The crowd was already feeling pity for the company shown on the screen, but Ivory was boiling with rage. She was trying to figure out who was behind it since it was not hard for her to defend herself. For that reason, she decided to wait a little, hoping to be able to detect the human behind the robot. “A year ago, Ice Panther hacked into a government s
Rosie felt terrible for the hairstylist. She had put in so much effort to put in the extensions and they looked good on Rosie.“I’m sorry, but you have to take everything off,” Rosie said politely, but her voice was stern. The hairstylist did not want to, feeling that if Cooper saw Rosie, he would reconsider.“That will take time. You will be late for your wedding.”“Let it be so, but Cooper’s happiness matters to me. After all, I’m doing all this for him, so what is the essence if he doesn’t like it?” Rosie stood her ground.She would rather be late and appear the way Cooper wanted than to appear on time with a look that would make him upset.Ivory smiled at Rosie’s resolve. She would have done the same for Gerald. It was just as Gerald wanted her to wear that wedding dress, and Ivory couldn’t refuse.“She’s right. You should make the necessary changes. We shall wait for her and everyone else,” Ivory added her voice.The hairstylist sighed frustratedly. “Alright. Please remove the we
Three weeks later, excitement brewed in the air as another joint wedding was announced among the Berets after so many years.A journalist was reporting the news on live TV. “I’m Lola, a reporter from Channel Z. Decades ago, the Parker-Berets and their best friends hosted a mass luxurious wedding.”“The trend is repeating itself as the twins, Cooper and Curtis Parker-Beret, are getting married to the sisters, Rosie and Rosalind. What makes it more interesting is that the last born of the Berets, Ivory, is also getting married to Gerald Scott, the hot CEO of Scotts Automobiles and Cambridge Incorporated.”“I am here to give you every information you need about this mega wedding so stay tuned,” the reporter ended.There was a lot of excitement going on. Curtis’s relationship with Rosalind was well known to the populace so the shocking ones were that of Cooper and Gerald.Most people knew that Gerald was engaged to Yvette, not knowing how he was getting married to Ivory.The news sparked
“Admit it. I won,” Ivory smiled and gave in to sleep. She still had no regrets at all. Gerald smiled and shook his head.His little Pumpkin was growing smarter and smarter by the day, she was even outsmarting him now.It wasn’t long before he fell asleep. The next day, Ivory woke up feeling sore. Her movement woke Gerald.“Pumpkin, are you alright?” He asked worriedly. Pain registered on Ivory’s face. How could something so sweet give her so much pain and ache in the morning?“I feel sore. Is this how you wanted our honeymoon to be? It’s as if I have a knife stuck in there,” Ivory exaggerated the pain.Gerald was worried and said, “Don’t move. I will be right back.” He went out and called his dad on the phone, speaking hastily,“Dad, I had my first time with Ivory and she’s complaining of pain. What should I do?” Gerald could manage two companies flawlessly but with Ivory, he was as helpless as a teenager.His father chuckled at the end of the line. “I see you finally became a man.”G
“Ivory’s cycle falls on our wedding day,” Gerald revealed. The twins understood the weight of the problem as Curtis eagerly suggested,“Dude, you should take your pound of flesh before then.”Gerald chuckled. “I’m still thinking about it but I can’t believe she’s your sister. You are giving me bad advice,” he accused Curtis. He laughed and retorted,“She’s a woman after all. So, what happens to the companies if we all get married on the same day?” He asked.Cooper already had that planned out and asked them, “Isn’t that the reason why we have parents who pioneered the business?”As Gerald and Curtis were nodding their heads in agreement, Cooper added, “That reminds me. We should let them handle our wedding planning too.”“Perfect suggestion,” the three men clicked their wine glasses.That night, Cooper had a serious talk with Rosie. “When you get better, would you like to work in the company? I can train you,” he suggested. Rosie recalled what Ivory told her about Cooper and work.She
Cooper frowned suspiciously, but before he could refuse, Gerald cut in, saying, “I even want to speak to you and Curtis, Cooper.”Cooper glanced at Rosie, and as she smiled, his heart warmed. He said to her, “Excuse me, Rosie, I will be right back.”Rosie chuckled and quickly replied, “Take your time, Cooper, Ivory and Rosalind are here.”Cooper did not like it when other people got his woman’s attention. He was the last to fall in love among the three, and his behavior showed that he was trying to catch up on all the years he lost.“You prefer them better than me?” He asked with a slight jealousy in his tone. Rosie was amazed, smiling and asking him,“Are you jealous?”Cooper pursed his lips but did not immediately respond. “I…I will see you soon,” he said and walked out with the two men.Rosalind was glad that Ivory created this opportunity for them to have a girls' talk. She quickly asked her sister,“Rosie, you look happier and better than I ever saw you. What have you been doing?
"Is it the doctors? It’s not yet time for my routine check," Rosie said, equally at a loss. As the plane lowered, Cooper detected the person in it."No. It’s Gerald. That’s his family jet."The two of them walked towards the jet to meet the person in it. It was just as Cooper said. Gerald was the first to alight, his arm intertwined with that of Ivory.Cooper frowned a little at the intrusion and said, "I didn’t know you were coming."Rosie and Ivory had already hugged each other. "Rosie, you look stunning. What is on this Island that makes you look so good? I want to join you," Ivory said half-jokingly. Rosie blushed and looked at Cooper.She knew that not only her health but appearance had also greatly improved."We decided to surprise you but we have something very important to discuss," Gerald was saying to Cooper when another couple alighted from the jet.Cooper wanted more time with his woman and was not pleased with the intrusion, especially when they had not informed him."I s