7

"You haven't been married for up to a day, and you're already dishing out family secrets. You're a disgrace." Father glared at me.

"No, you are a disgrace. I can't believe you've been leeching off her designs for years without paying her or letting her take credit. I underestimated how shameless you could be." Gordon snarled.

"I had every right to. She is, or rather was, my daughter, so I own her and her designs." He retorted.

"I'm sure the judge will love to hear that."

"You can't seriously be planning to take us to court. We’re your family, Iris!" Mother shouted at me.

"I don't want to go to court; that's why I want us to settle this amicably. Just pay me—"

"Pay? You want us to pay you? How did I train such a greedy brat? After all we've done for you, this is how you want to repay us? You don't even have any evidence against us." She snarled.

"I have a lot of ways to get evidence against you, and trust me, if we really go to court, you won't just go bankrupt; you'll be paying debt for the rest of your miserable lives." Gordon said coldly.

Father slammed his hands on the table and stormed out of the dining room. Mother threw me a dirty look, muttering 'ingrate' under her breath as she followed him.

"I'm so disappointed in you, Iris. I expected this behaviour from Gordon but not from you." Ashley shook her head as she and Paul stood up.

"What you did was wrong, young lady. They are your parents. They raised you, they cared for you, and this—"

"Oh please stop the gaslighting. It's distasteful. You can twist your words how you want it, but we're still sticking to what you want. Tell your friend to pay my wife her money." Gordon interrupted Paul.

"You're just as stubborn as always. And now you're dragging an innocent girl into it. I hope you're proud of yourself." He retorted.

"I am very proud. You guys are yet to see what I will do." Gordon smirked.

"This is bad. Really, really bad." I panicked once we were alone.

"What do you mean? This was a dinner well done to me." He smiled.

"No, it wasn't. All the evidence I have that the designs are mine is in my laptop, which is in my father's house. They'll wipe everything before I get it back."

"Do you have it backed up?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Come with me." He grabbed my hand and dragged me to his office.

I nervously watched him log into my mail and try to recover everything I had backed up in it. My heart raced as I tried not to imagine that they had already cleared everything and how much life would be completely destroyed if I lost all my work.

"Done." Gordon smiled.

"Done? You got it?" I asked.

"Yes. I did. And I also logged out your mail from your laptop so they can't access it even if they try. Your work is one hundred per cent safe."

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" I squealed and hugged him. He stiffened in my hold, and I quickly let go of him as I realised what I had done.

"Sorry. I got too excited." I blushed.

"Um, it's ok." He cleared his throat, and there was awkward silence between us.

"So, these are your designs. They look good. No wonder they stole it from you." Gordon said as he scrolled through my work.

"Thanks, but these are really basic. They're nothing compared to my main designs." I replied.

"Main designs?"

I bit my bottom lip as I realised I had said too much. But maybe that was ok. Maybe I could show him.

"Can you... can you keep a secret?" I whispered even though it was only two of us in the room.

"Your secret is safe with me." He assured me.

"When I realised my family wasn't going to allow me to take credit for my designs or pay me, I kind of um… I kind of started reducing the quality of my work. I made 'basic' designs, not bad but nothing spectacular either. But secretly, I poured my heart and soul into others, and I hid them from them." I confessed.

"I knew you had a rebellious streak in you somewhere." He grinned.

"I won't call it rebellious. I just couldn't watch Blair take credit for my labour. She could take the basic ones but not the others. They are my precious."

"Now I'm curious to see these extraordinary designs. If your so-called basic can be this good, then I don't think I can comprehend your masterpiece."

"Well, I could show you if you promise not to tell anyone."

"Cross my heart." He placed his hand over his heart.

My hand trembled as I grabbed the laptop from him and went to the secret folder. I held my breath as I opened it.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said those were basic. These are incredible. You could definitely contend with the best jewellery designers in the entire country." Gordon complimented as he stared at my designs like they had cast a love spell on him.

"Thank you." I blushed as my chest swelled with pride, but then I frowned. "Now I feel even more guilty for hiding my work. My bad designs are making my family's business go bankrupt."

"No, the shitty materials they used are. If it weren't for those 'bad designs', Midas' Touch would have been long dead since. Your work is good, but I've seen the quality of what they produce. It's tacky and isn't worth the price. But these..." He mumbled as he touched the laptop screen like he wanted to pull out the designs from it.

"Thanks for asking them about the design today. I could never have done so." I smiled.

"You're welcome. And you did well today. We should celebrate. Let's go on a date tomorrow." He grinned.

"That really isn't necessary." I mumbled shyly.

I had gone on a few dates with Thomas, but why did the thought of going out with Gordon feel different?

"Why not? If we're going to be husband and wife, we need to know each other. The date will be the best opportunity. Besides, I know the perfect place you'd love."