Chapter 14

The woman with Thomas was the famous celebrity, Toto Gibson; She was pretty and hot. "Oh, isn't that Thomas and Toto? They are old friends, I guess," Sue said as she quietly observed Iris. Delighted to see Iris' face pale and her starry gaze dimming, she goaded, "Go on. It's just good manners to greet your elders, after all." Iris' mind was in a mess, and she remembered the girls at Lunar Peak talking about the rumors surrounding Thomas and Toto. Iris flinched and said, "It's probably inconvenient for him…" Sue grinned—Iris took the bait! The malice in her eyes was so obvious. She lowered her eyes, pretending to take a sip of her coffee. "What's inconvenient about it? She's no more than a toy, and she'd be nothing without Thomas. Honestly, he's too generous for his own good, spending so much on a toy he'd play with for a while. Still, it makes sense—even if he has a fiancee in Winter Sands, a man with money and power isn't going to stay chaste for anyone. Don't you agree, Iris?" Sue's words were disdainful and pointed. At the same time, Iris turned deathly pale, her blood seemingly freezing up while her whole body grew cold. Thomas had a fiancee! Everyone knew that, and Thomas still had affairs with other women anyway. In that case, was she a disposable, contemptible woman to him as well? Iris felt her heart torn apart, and her eyes welled up with tears. She could not help looking towards the table nearby just then, where Toto was coquettishly leaning her curvy body against Thomas, her lips reaching up to his cheek, looking like she was going to kiss him. Iris was stupefied—scenes of how that man threatened and coerced her flashed in her head before her mind went blank. It was simply disgusting, and her heart felt like it had been sliced through! Unable to stop shaking, she got up and told Sue with great restraint, "I think I'm a little sick, Aunt Sue. I don't think I can stay." She fled before she got an answer from Sue as if something terrible would happen if she dragged her feet. Sue simply watched as she left, her fake smile soon fading as she snorted coldly. There was no way she would let Thomas off easy when her own son was hospitalized! - Iris' tears were gushing when she left the cafe, and she lowered her gaze at the designer clothes she wore. They were bright and dazzling, making her just look like a clown! It was all fake—nothing more than Thomas' party tricks for womanizing, and she was just some idiot who would spread her legs for his money! Her rabbit bracelet gleamed just then, catching her eye. She remembered how her heart raced when he gently put it around her wrist, but it was now all pain and irony! What she thought was budding love was just Thomas' leash! As the thought crossed her mind, she removed the bracelet right then! - Returning to her room in Franklin Manor, Iris changed out of her clothing and put on her old clothes before packing her suitcase with all her belongings. She left the rabbit bracelet on Thomas' bedside cabinet and looked at his room before heading downstairs with her suitcase. Seeing that, Mrs. Watson promptly asked, "Where are you going, Ms. Lynd?" Iris smiled faintly despite her heartache. "I'm leaving for a few days. I've already told Aunt Ida." Mrs. Watson appeared hesitant but asked anyway, "What about Mr. Franklin?" "I've told him, too." Mrs. Watson breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, uttering, "Very well. Safe travels, Ms. Lynd." - When Thomas returned to Franklin Manor in the evening, he spotted the rabbit bracelet on his bedside cabinet the instant he stepped inside his room. His handsome face fell right then, and he said coldly, "Mrs. Watson." He was not being particularly loud, but Mrs. Watson was already breaking out in a cold sweat as she hurried to him. "Yes, Mr. Franklin?" "Where is she?!" "She said she would be away for a few days. She even told me that she already told you…" Mrs. Watson stopped when she saw the terrible look on Thomas' face. Without another word, he fished out his phone and dialed Iris' number, only to find that her phone was turned off! Glowering, Thomas called Kenny right then. "Find out where Iris went!" Kenny was shocked—Thomas had just told him to hire a female bodyguard for Iris, but she went missing? Despite the questions he had, Kenny could also hear the repressed rage in Thomas' voice—he would probably get killed if he asked anything now. Three minutes later, he called Thomas and reported, "She's in Port Town, sir—probably at her uncle's place." Thomas scowled. "Get ready. We're heading over right now." As he hung up, his fingers clenched on his phone, and Mrs. Watson looked on in horror as cracks tore over the phone screen! How angry was he that he could crush a phone? She was left sweating buckets and shaking in her shoes… - Aria Lynd answered the ringing doorbell and scoffed when she saw that it was Iris. "Oh, what do we have here? How rare of you to visit—I thought you had climbed up the social ladder. What brought you back?" However, she quickly noticed that Iris was in her old cotton skirt and looking no different from her gloomy state before. Becoming furious right then, Aria snapped, "Were you chased out by the man’s legal wife? Leave! We don't welcome freeloaders here either!" Iris simply held up an envelope at her, and Aria took it to see the 300 dollars inside. She smiled right then as she moved aside. "At least you know tact. Come in, but don't even think about staying in my room, you jinx! Dad and Grandma left to attend a funeral in the hometown, so you can stay in her room! And leave tomorrow!" "Fine," Iris said as she entered. As soon as she did, her aunt Jean Keaton came out, snapping right then, "What are you doing here?! Get out!" Aria brandished the envelope of money in return. "Mom, she's just staying the night. She'll be off to see Grandma in the village tomorrow—we can wait that long." Jean only gave in after seeing the money and pulled her daughter along to their room as if Iris was filthy. "What a jinx!" Iris was used to their insults. She entered her grandmother's room, her eyes welling up with tears as she looked around. That small room where she stayed with her grandmother was a place of warm memories. She turned on her phone, but just as she was about to call her uncle, countless missed call notifications from Thomas popped up, almost freezing her phone! Her dainty hands trembled, and she turned off her phone! - Three hours later, Thomas got a call that Sue led a group of bodyguards, barging into the hospital to take Josh away. "Let them go," Thomas said coolly. Beside him, Kenny remained perfectly still, fearing that Thomas would suddenly turn his sights on him. After Iris fled, and now this mess? Thomas would be the proverbial eye of the storm, and anyone who upset him now would be killed, no questions asked! Still, Sue's timing was a little too precise, and Kenny felt a sense of dread. When Sue made a bid to claim the family estate for Josh, she was not shy of goading his enemies into making attempts on his life. Could she be the reason Iris suddenly returned to Port Town too? "Sir, I think Sue Stanford might have something to do with Ms. Iris' sudden departure—" Thomas shot Kenny a look. "You've finally connected the dots, I see." Thomas had immediately sensed something funny when he realized that Iris ran away, and the only thing unusual he noticed the entire day was Toto being unusually intimate. He promptly asked someone to check the security footage at the cafe, and the look of heartbreak on Iris' face as she fled the place was stuck in his mind like a splinter. Was she going to be alright? With that in mind, he growled with repressed rage at Kenny, "How much longer?" "Well, her uncle's house is in the northern district of Port Town, a two-hour drive from the airport." Kenny held his breath, seeing that Thomas was glowering further. Still, they eventually arrived at three in the morning. "Should we come back in the morning, sir?" Kenny suggested. Thomas' gaze was dark, and an air of savagery seemed to spill from him. Beside him, his ashtray was filled to the brim with cigarette butts, and he glanced upstairs before saying icily, "Let's wait until she wakes up." As morning came, the neighbors who woke up early were surrounding and gawking at the grand Bentley parked at the alley, all of them impressed. None of them knew about the devil sitting within… "Sir, it's past six now," Kenny said. "Should I go now?" "Yeah," Thomas replied. Kenny promptly alighted and dashed through the alley. Iris just happened to be coming downstairs, and she paled as she ran into Kenny! - Meanwhile, Bobby was lying in a hospital bed while his mother rambled beside him. "Did you know? I saw Iris in our neighborhood just yesterday… She's even more beautiful now. You've always liked her, right? Let's go back to pay her a visit when you're better…" 'What? That b*tch returned?! Wonderful!' If not for her, he would not have his right hand broken and his leg crippled! He swore then to sell Iris to the slavers and make her wish she was dead!