6

"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, boy. My business is none of your concern. Iris, you aren't marrying this bullheaded scum!" Father scowled.

"Unfortunately, she has already married this bullheaded scum, and I'm not planning on divorcing her soon. Honestly, you should be grateful I'm even considering helping your dying business. You deserve to live worse than street dogs for what you did." Gordon scoffed.

What he did? What did he do?

"Still clinging to delusions, are you? You never change." Father rolled his eyes.

"Neither do—"

"Let's not quarrel, guys. We're no longer children." Paul smiled as he patted Father on his shoulder. "I can't believe you fell for his trick. You know how Gordon was a trickster when he was younger. We could almost never keep up. This is just one of his pranks. He isn't really married to Iris. Isn't that right, Gordon? You're only helping her because you heard she was disowned. This is a ploy to convince her father to take her back."

"No. Iris and I are legally married. In a few weeks, we'll be throwing a party to announce it to the public, but we thought to tell you guys first since you're, unfortunately, family." Gordon replied coldly.

"This is bullshit! How dare you marry him less than a day after we broke up! I thought you said you loved me! You're such a liar and hypocrite!" Thomas yelled at me, and I flinched.

"With how you're vehemently protesting Iris moving on, someone might think you're actually in love with her. Are you?" Gordon smirked.

"What... No. I-I'm not. How could I ever love her? Blair is my soulmate!" He stuttered as he grabbed Blair's hand.

"Then focus on your marriage while I focus on mine. Even though our marriage is sudden and she might still have some feelings for you, I intend on making her fall in love with me. I'll love her more than any man could ever love a woman, and only death will do us part." Gordon said and kissed my cheek, making me blush.

I knew he didn't mean that, but my stomach couldn't help fluttering.

"This... This... Fuck this!" Thomas spat and stormed out of the dining room.

"Babe." Blair ran after him.

"Since you've made your decision, Iris, then I won't stop you." Father frowned.

"You can't allow her to marry him!" Mother protested and turned to me. "Apologize to your father, end the marriage and come back home—"

"No. She's free to do what she wants. After all, I have no control over her since she's not my daughter." He said coldly, looking straight into my eyes.

"Please excuse me." I whispered and ran out of the dining room as tears threatened to fall from my eyes.

"Iris!" Gordon ran after me and caught my arm.

"This is a bad idea, Gordon. I feel like I'm making everything worse. Maybe I should have tried to apologise to them before I acted so reckless. What was I thinking? Now Father will hate me forever and—"

"Calm down, Iris." Gordon said gently.

"Don't tell me to calm down. I thought Father not acknowledging my hard work was bad, but this is worse. Let's end the deal. I want out." I cried.

"Then what? You'll go back to them and keep living like a slave? Do you like that life?" He growled.

"I... I... No." I shook my head. "But—"

"Do you think they'll welcome you back with open arms after all this? Do you think they'll forget? No. They'll treat you worse. Is it until you die that you'll know they are toxic?" He said harshly, and I kept quiet.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began gently wiping my eyes.

"I promised to make you see there's more to life than the validation of people that don't give a shit about you, and I can't do that if you bail on me at the beginning. Trust me, Iris. You won't regret this marriage."

"I... I trust you."

"Thank you. Come on, we can't leave our esteemed guests waiting." He grabbed my hand and led me back to the dining room.

"Sorry for suddenly leaving; I had to make sure my wife was ok." Gordon said as we sat down.

"Right. We understand." Mother scrunched her face and cleared her throat. "We'll be having a small lunch on Thursday to celebrate Blair and Thomas' wedding, and even though you are no longer part of our family, we would still love you to come."

"I think I can clear my schedule—"

"The invitation is only open to Iris." She said sharply and smiled at me. "I'm sure that will give you enough time to realise this is madness and come back home."

"She's already home, Monica. The sooner you accept it, the better for you." Gordon replied.

"We'll see about that. So, Iris, you're coming, right? You don't have a choice."

"I would love Gordon to come with me." I said softly.

"Gordon isn't welcomed into the Adams home. If you insist on coming with him, then you aren't welcome either." Father snapped, and I bit my bottom lip. This was a trap, but...

"Fine, I'll come alone, but only because I want to take my stuff."

"What stuff? You mean that trash you left behind? We've tossed them with the garbage bin." She snorted.

"Then you'll pick them out, won't you, Monica?" Gordon glared at her, and she stiffened under his poisonous gaze.

"Yes, I'm sure we can get them back." She quickly replied.

"Thank you," I said.

"Since we're talking about returning things that don't belong to us, how would you pay Iris what you owe her? Gordon said.

"What nonsense are you talking about now?" Victor frowned.

"I'm talking about the designs you’ve been stealing from her.”