Chapter 18

IRIS POV:

I woke up to crying.

Not loud, not dramatic, but quiet, the kind someone does when they think no one can hear them.

I sat up slowly. Grey morning light was pressing through the curtains.

I listened.

It was coming from down the hall.

I pushed the blanket off and padded out of my room. My mother's door was slightly open. I pushed it gently.

She was sitting at her dressing table. Still in yesterday's clothes. Her hair still loose. Her phone face down on the surface in front of her and both hands pressed over her mouth like she was trying to hold something inside that kept trying to get out.

"Mum."

She looked up at me in the mirror.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked smaller than I had ever seen her look. Like something essential had been quietly removed from her overnight.

"They let me go," she said.

Her voice was so calm it was worse than if she had screamed.

"The hospital called this morning." She picked up the phone and set it back down without looking at it. "Twenty-two years, Iris. They said the position was being restructured." She laughed softly. A hollow sound. "Restructured."

I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her from behind.

She didn't cry anymore. She just sat very still inside the hug.

We stayed like that for a long time without speaking.

—·—·—·—·—·—·—

I was in the kitchen making tea I didn't want when my phone buzzed on the counter. A number I recognized. My manager.

I answered it.

"Iris." My manager's voice was crisp and professional. The kind of voice someone puts on when they have rehearsed what they are about to say.

"Good morning," I said carefully.

"I'll get straight to the point," she said. "As you may be aware, our company maintains very close ties with several high-ranking pack families in this territory. Relationships that are essential to how we operate."

I said nothing.

"It has come to our attention that recent events involving yourself and the Crest family have created a certain level of… tension that we as a company cannot afford to be associated with." A pause. "Effective immediately, we are terminating your employment contract. You will receive the standard two weeks' severance in accordance with your agreement."

I stood very still in the kitchen.

"I see," I said.

"This is nothing personal, Iris. You were a good employee. It's simply a matter of…"

"Business," I said quietly.

A short pause.

"Yes," she said. "Exactly."

"I understand," I said.

"We wish you all the best going forward."

The line went dead.

When the call ended, I set the phone down on the counter.

I stood there looking at the wall.

No father. No salary coming in. A lawyer's bill building by the hour. My mother sitting upstairs in yesterday's clothes staring at a phone that had taken twenty-two years from her in a single call.

I picked the phone back up.

I called Sarah.

She answered on the second ring.

"Iris? What's wrong?"

"My mum was let go this morning," I said. "From the hospital."

Silence.

"And I just got off the phone with my manager," I added.

"No," Sarah said quietly.

"Yes."

She exhaled slowly. "Iris."

"I know."

"This is Nicholas," she said. "Him and his father. They're dismantling everything piece by piece."

"I know," I said again.

The kitchen felt very quiet around me. The tea I had made was going cold on the counter.

"Sarah, I don't know what to do," I said. "I have nothing coming in. My mother has nothing coming in. My father is sitting in a cell somewhere with a lawyer we can't afford, and I don't."

"Hey." Her voice cut through gently but firmly. "Stop. Breathe."

I breathed.

"Okay," she said. "I need you to listen to me because I have been thinking about this since last night, and I know something that could work. At least for now. At least to keep things moving while everything else gets sorted."

I leaned against the counter. "What is it?"

"My job," she said carefully.

"Sarah, I don't know anything about client relations…"

"You don't need to," she said. "You're smart, and you're organised, and you're good with people when you want to be. It's personal assistance work mostly. Scheduling. Correspondence. Managing things for high-end clients who just need someone reliable and discreet." A pause. "The pay is good, Iris. Really good. And I can get you in. My manager owes me a favour, and there's an opening right now."

I was quiet for a moment.

Outside the kitchen window, the garden sat pale and still in the morning light. My mother's garden.

"Okay," I said.

Sarah paused. "Okay? Just like that?"

"I don't have another option, Sarah," I said simply. "And I trust you."

A beat of silence.

"I'll call Vera today," she said softly. "You start Monday."

After we hung up, I stood in the kitchen for a little longer.

The tea was completely cold now.

I poured it down the sink and made a fresh cup and carried it upstairs to my mother.

She was still at the dressing table.

I set it beside her without a word.

She looked at it. Then she looked at me in the mirror.

"Thank you, baby," she said quietly.

I nodded and slipped back out of the room, pulling the door halfway closed behind me.

In my own room, I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Aurelian's jacket folded on the chair.

His card still in the pocket.

I looked at it for a long time.

Then I lay back and stared at the ceiling.

I can't involve Aurelian in this. I just can't.