Chapter 5

“Five years.” Hugh’s tone was cold. “Alright, what about my salary?” At this point, the only thing Iris cared about was money. With enough money, she could ensure that Rei’s parents would live a comfortable life. “We’re splitting it nine to one. Also, you’re not allowed to wear a mask anymore.” Hugh continued, “And don’t try to play any tricks with me. If you can’t make any profit in a month, I’ll demolish Rowan’s gravestone.” The standard profit sharing for the party girls in Royal Palace was an even fifty-fifty split. However, a nine-to-one split was applied to Iris. This was blatant exploitation. Hugh deliberately made things difficult for her. Without her mask, she would be looked down upon by the guests even if she only worked as a janitor. She doubted that any guests would like to hire her. Even if such a guest were to show up, she would only get ten percent of her hard-earned money, and it was chump change. “Alright,” she answered calmly. Since there was no way for her to escape, she might as well accept her fate. “Scram.” Hugh’s voice was colder. With that, Iris stood up silently and left without hesitation. The door closed. Hugh clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles slowly turned pale… After a long time, he turned around and walked to the French windows. He then overlooked the night view in the city condescendingly. There was still a raging flame inside him as if it would burn his heart! - After leaving Hugh’s office, Iris went to Claire’s office. Just when she was about to knock on the door, she saw Claire walking toward her hastily. Claire had been busy entertaining several high-maintenance guests all night. Therefore, she was completely unaware of what transpired downstairs. When she saw Iris, she greeted her with a smile, saying, “What is it, Vermouth? Did you need something from me?” Iris briefly told Claire about everything between Hugh and herself. Hearing what she said, Claire seemed at a loss, “What did you do to upset the boss so much? He rarely shows up in this place and he doesn’t even speak to any of the girls here, so why would he call you up to his office and reassign you to another department himself?” Iris confessed with a long sigh, “My dad’s name is Rowan Baron.” Everything suddenly made sense to Claire at the moment. If her memory served her right… The former richest man in Zwanda, Rowan Baron, seemed to have a daughter who went by the name Iris. Claire had never seen his daughter. However, she heard countless talks about that girl. It was said that she was the pampered child of Rowan and also the most beautiful woman in Capital. Everyone who had seen her said that she was gorgeous indeed. At the thought of what she heard about Iris in the past, Claire could not help feeling a wave of sympathy for the girl standing in front of her. Claire had also heard about what had happened between Hugh and Rowan as well as his daughter. It was rumored that Rowan was the adopted son of Hugh’s grandpa and that Rowan murdered Hugh’s parents in order to gain control of the family business. However, Rowan was conscience-stricken later. To make up for what he had done, he took in Hugh who was only three months old at that time while keeping everything a secret; he raised Hugh like his own son. Word was that later on, Rowan’s daughter tried to kill Hugh’s girlfriend, Olenna, in a fire for some unstated reason. After that, both Rowan and Iris paid for their crimes and took a turn for the worse. Hugh was certainly ruthless to Rowan and his daughter. However, it was not in Claire’s place to say that Hugh was wrong. Based on what she knew about Iris thus far, she found it quite difficult to associate Iris’ personality with that of a ruthless murderer. With a long sigh, she gently took Iris into her arms, saying, “Was there something more to what happened back then?” Iris shuddered the moment she heard this. It triggered a wave of trauma response buried deep within her. After that incident, everyone pointed out that she had deserved it and that her father had spoiled her rotten. The only people who believed her were Rei and her father. After the two of them passed, she knew that no one would trust her anymore. However, it turned out there would be someone who would like to side with her. “Yes... But, I don’t want to talk about it,” Iris said with a wry smile. Her eyes became slightly red. The sheer remembrance of what had happened back then was grueling, so she would much rather not. “Alright.” Claire gently stroked her hair. For some reason, her heart went out to Iris since she met the girl. She had a feeling of déjà vu. Now that she learned about Iris’ predicament, she grew even more distressed. “Please help me, Claire, I need the money more than ever. You’re aware of my situation, I have two elderly to take care of,” Iris pleaded with Claire, hugging her. It had been a long time since someone had sympathy for Iris. As now Claire was so nice to her, Iris desperately tried to hold onto her. “Alright.” Claire assured her, “I will put in a word for you if I see some kind clients.” While they were talking, Tracy’s attending doctor called Iris, telling her that they had managed to find a suitable kidney transplant candidate and they could conduct the operation tomorrow. A month ago, Iris contacted the doctor as soon as she got settled at Royal Palace. She did not expect that he could find a donor in such a short period. Iris was overjoyed. She immediately called Tracy and instructed her to go to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning for the kidney transplant operation. After everything was sorted out, she asked Claire to settle the month’s salary. Then, she promptly transferred five hundred and twenty thousand dollars to Tracy. Five-hundred thousand was for the kidney transplant, and an additional twenty thousand was for hiring a nurse and buying supplements. If possible, she wanted to be there for the operation. However… All her money was nearly consumed now, so she had to stay here and focus on her work. It was important to put together some emergency funds for the Garnets just in case. The couple was very old, so there were all sorts of expenses to cover for them. Claire watched as Iris meticulously made all the appropriate arrangements. Once again, she was moved by Iris’ kindness. Iris was truly unlike any other girls working here. She was far kinder than any of them. “Vermouth, do you feel better now that you finally managed to settle what has been giving you the most stress this entire time?” Claire asked. Iris smiled and answered, “Yeah.” At least her hard work in the past month was not in vain after all. Everything worked out in the end. - The next morning, Iris woke up to a call from Tracy. She glanced at the time, and it was nine o'clock. Tracy must be at the hospital at this hour. She immediately picked up the call and asked tenderly, “Tracy, are you at the hospital now?" “Yes… I just told the doctor to cancel the operation.” Iris could hear the depression in her voice. Iris was flabbergasted at that instance as she asked, “Why?”