Outside the hotel entrance, Keith seemed to have sensed something. He looked up abruptly. However, the jeep that Iris was in had driven away.

For some reason, he felt vaguely uneasy.

Meanwhile, the Burnett couple were beaming from ear to ear. They told everyone who came that their family was celebrating two good news. Not only had Erica been accepted into Bellevue University, but she was also marrying the most handsome man serving at the Walton Army Base.

Deep down, Keith felt a bit displeased. Whether it was the offer to study at Bellevue University or the wedding, those things belonged to Iris in the first place.

Keith only went along with the current arrangement for the sake of Erica's treatment and well-being. Yet, the Burnett couple made it sound like this was how things should be.

Erica stuck close to Keith. Her eyes roamed the room, seemingly searching for something.

Then, s

Keith crouched under the sycamore tree and stared blankly at the pile of ashes. There had been telltale signs of Iris getting ready to leave. Yet, no one cared about it.

A child that no one loved or cared about had left without saying a single word.

She burned all the gifts she received from Keith and destroyed all the beautiful memories they shared together. Then, she left without taking much with her.

Keith had only planned to have a mock wedding with Erica to help fulfill her wish. He never said anything about abandoning Iris. He could not understand why she had decided to leave.

He could not figure out the reason, nor would he ever understand why Iris left. He just found the summer air quite stuffy, making it hard for him to catch his breath.

Some leaves from the sycamore tree fell to the ground as a warm breeze blew. Keith raised his head, looking rather lost. He could see the 

Iris' home was devoid of warmth, and her family was heartless. 

Her heart was broken again. Her gaze swept through everyone before her. She took in Thomas' and Rosanne's disgusted faces and Keith's disappointment. Meanwhile, Erica could not conceal her triumphant smirk.

The people before Iris should have been closest to her. Yet, they hurt her repeatedly, making them worse than her enemies.

Even when Erica framed her, she was forced to go onto her knees and apologize to her.

Her past self would have compromised to protect her relationship with her family and win their approval. But now, she felt nothing but hatred at the fact that she was born into this cold-blooded family.

Thomas scowled at Iris' stubbornness. He kicked her again and growled, "Do you think you're not in the wrong at all?"

She staggered and fell onto the ground. Blood oozed out of her mouth once more.

Keith looked concerned and went up to help her up. But he had second thoughts when he thought back on Iris' behavior. He figured that it might not be a bad idea to teach her a lesson.

Keith held Thomas back and shook his head at the latter. Thomas finally cooled down.

Emotions stirred in her eyes. She mistakenly thought that Keith was trying to help her, but what came out of his mouth almost sounded like a joke.

Frowning, Keith indifferently proposed, "You're not in the right state to register your marriage with me. Erica would have died if she were unlucky. As punishment, I will delay registering our marriage. I will throw a wedding with Erica before that to make it up to her."

Iris trembled from head to toe as she stared at Keith in disbelief. What kind of punishment was that?

Noticing her snide gaze, Keith felt guilty, but his emotions surfaced as anger.

"Well, it's not like I'm marrying Erica. I'm just trying to make up to her."

Thomas and Rosanne stared at Iris while subconsciously standing in front of Erica to prevent Iris from "hurting" the latter in a fit of temper again.

Unfortunately, they were disappointed. Instead of angrily stopping Keith, Iris grinned and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

She bared her teeth at them. "Congratulations in advance to my cousin and cousin-in-law, I guess. Are you guys done? If there's nothing else, I'll have a rest."

Then, Iris walked to the balcony with great difficulty, resolved not to take another look at those people.

Meanwhile, Erica wiped away her tears, looking pitiable. "Iris, you'll attend our wedding, right? It's just a show, but that's enough for me. I hope to receive your blessing."

Thomas harrumphed. "Don't worry. We will drag her to the wedding even if she refuses to attend. She needs to pay the price of her mistakes."

On the other hand, Rosanne yelled after Iris, "If you don't go to the wedding, we'll kick you out of the house!"

Keith couldn't explain the intense feeling of anxiety when he couldn't sense any of Iris' usual jealousy. He would not marry Erica for real. It was all just an act.

In his eyes, Iris needed to be stopped from making mistakes out of jealousy. He felt that she wouldn't be a lost cause if she could learn her lesson.

He decided that he would have a good talk with Iris after his "wedding" with Erica.

Nevertheless, he was very bothered by the way Iris called him "cousin-in-law" while appearing relieved.

He didn't know what that feeling was.

After that episode, Thomas, Rosanne, and Keith did not pay Iris any more attention. They didn't care about her condition after falling off the stairs, and they didn't care whether or not she'd run away from home.

In their mind, Iris cared for her family and loved Keith to the moon and back. They figured that she had no other place to turn to.

…

Iris did not throw a tantrum in the next three days. Instead, she focused on her recovery at home while her parents and Keith happily prepared for Keith and Erica's wedding.

The wedding was scheduled to be held at Connolly Hotel, which was a very extravagant move in those times. However, Thomas and Rosanne would spend a fortune on the wedding just to make Erica happy.

On the day of the wedding, Iris packed her stuff ahead of time and waited for the lecturer from National Defense University to pick her up. 

Her parents and Erica had gone to Connolly Hotel to greet the guests. Keith, who was a military man, did not wear a suit to his "wedding".

He approached Iris and said to her, "Iris, come with me later. This wedding with Erica is just for show. I'm not registering my marriage for real. You have nothing to worry about. I'll still marry you."

Keith spoke with the same certainty as when her 11-year-old self was cast out by her parents, crouching beneath the sycamore tree. He brought her hope, and he promised never to leave her.

But he had changed in no time.

Iris grunted coldly without any expression, much to Keith's relief. He was most worried that Iris might cause a scene at the wedding.

He reckoned that she had learned her lesson from her reaction. He hoped that she would behave in the future.

However, after he had insisted on bringing Iris to Connolly Hotel, she had not reacted as he had expected, which had worried him greatly.

She responded to all his words calmly, as though she were talking to a stranger instead of her fiancé.

Right when Keith was about to haul her into the car, a guard approached him, informing him that the hotel needed him there right away.

He finally gave up on coercing Iris into attending. Still, he reminded her to attend the event, or he'd not marry her.

Iris watched coldly as Keith ran away in a hurry. She then walked out of the garden while holding a sack.

After Keith drove off, the lecturer from National Defense University showed up in a car.

The lecturer asked if Iris wanted to say goodbye to her family. Iris looked around her shoulder at the garden—the place that gave her sadness for 15 years. She didn't want to stay a minute longer.

She never wanted to see her biased parents and her fiancé, who had betrayed her again.

"No. I'm fine." She hurriedly got into the car.

After Iris joined the cryptography major at National Defense University, she would discard her birth identity and live in secrecy for the rest of her life.

She no longer wanted to be Thomas and Rosanne's daughter and Keith's fiancée for the rest of her life. She wanted to be herself and devote her life to serving the nation.

When the car drove past Connolly Hotel, Iris peeked out the window and saw her family welcoming the guests at the entrance. Her parents and Erica smiled happily, while Keith looked slightly bashful and expectant.

Iris couldn't help but think that the four of them truly looked like one big happy family.

They vanished from her view when the car drove away slowly.

Finally, Iris could live life on her own terms.

Outside the hotel entrance, Keith seemed to have sensed something. He looked up abruptly. However, the jeep that Iris was in had driven away.

For some reason, he felt vaguely uneasy.

Meanwhile, the Burnett couple were beaming from ear to ear. They told everyone who came that their family was celebrating two good news. Not only had Erica been accepted into Bellevue University, but she was also marrying the most handsome man serving at the Walton Army Base.

Deep down, Keith felt a bit displeased. Whether it was the offer to study at Bellevue University or the wedding, those things belonged to Iris in the first place.

Keith only went along with the current arrangement for the sake of Erica's treatment and well-being. Yet, the Burnett couple made it sound like this was how things should be.

Erica stuck close to Keith. Her eyes roamed the room, seemingly searching for something.

Then, she said gloomily, "I don't see Iris anywhere. Didn't she promise to come and congratulate us? Is she

Chapter 9