Mag-log inIris's POV
The smoothie place had orange plastic chairs that hurt to sit on and a menu written in chalk that someone had decorated with little drawings of smiling fruit. The mango had eyes. The pineapple wore sunglasses. I stared at them while my friends talked about the failed proposal they'd witnessed in the food court, the one where the girl kept eating her burrito while her boyfriend knelt there with a ring. Amy was still stuck on it. "I need to know what wasVictor's POV I was in my study with a glass of whiskey and a stack of contracts I had no intention of reading. The house was quiet around me, the way it always was, the way I had designed it to be. Silence had been my companion for twenty years and I had made peace with it. Then Iris had walked into my life and shattered that peace into something I could no longer recognize, and now the silence felt less like comfort and more like a sentence I was serving. When her name flashed on the screen, I set down the whiskey and answered. "You never call this early." "Victor." Her voice was frayed at the edges, the kind of frayed that came from crying or screaming or both. "Something just happened. Maya knows…she knows everything." I leaned back in my chair. "She's known for months." " She has known all along, but now she's done covering up for me so she gave me an ultimatum. I have until
Iris's POV The smoothie place had orange plastic chairs that hurt to sit on and a menu written in chalk that someone had decorated with little drawings of smiling fruit. The mango had eyes. The pineapple wore sunglasses. I stared at them while my friends talked about the failed proposal they'd witnessed in the food court, the one where the girl kept eating her burrito while her boyfriend knelt there with a ring. Amy was still stuck on it. "I need to know what was in that burrito. Bean and cheese doesn't inspire that kind of emotional detachment." "Maybe she was in shock," Bianca said. "She was chewing methodically like a cow." "Some people process emotions through food." "Some people process emotions by being human beings," Amy said. "He was shedding actual tears while she just sat there masticating." Zelda winced. "Don't say masticating." "Why not?"
Iris’s POV "Jealous ex?" Victor repeated the words like he was tasting them, deciding whether to spit them out. "Is that what I am to you?" I didn't answer. The parking garage hummed around us, the fluorescent lights casting long shadows across the concrete. Somewhere above, a car alarm chirped. "Get in the car, Iris." "No." He moved before I could step back. One hand caught my wrist, not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to let me know he wasn't letting go. The other pressed against the small of my back, pulling me against him. I could feel the heat of his body through his shirt, the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my chest. "You blocked my number," he said, his mouth inches from my ear. "You sent me a text like I was some inconvenience you could delete and now you're standing here, in this parking garage, telling me I'm your jealous ex." His
Iris's POV The phone felt like a brick in my hand. I stared at the screen, at those three lines from an unknown number that wasn't really unknown because I knew exactly who it was. I always knew. Victor had a way of making himself known even when he wasn't supposed to be there. "Iris?" Maya's voice cut through the fog. "Who is that?" I looked up. My friends were all watching me now, their shopping bags dangling from their hands, their faces shifting from post-shopping bliss to concern. Amy had stopped mid-sentence. Bianca had lowered her phone. Zelda and Kate stood shoulder to shoulder like they were preparing for bad news. "Nobody," I said, and my voice came out too high, too thin. "It's just... I have to take this." "Take what?" Amy stepped closer. "You look like you've seen a ghost." "I'm fine." I forced a smile that felt painted on. "It's a family thing. I need to handle it p
Iris's POV The bridal shop was everything I had pictured and somehow nothing like it at all. I had walked into the appointment expecting the same quiet, polished atmosphere the shop usually offered with soft music and respectful silence. The kind of place where everyone whispered like they were in a library that happened to sell wedding dresses. Instead, my friends had turned it into what could only be described as organized chaos. "I need more pins," Margaret the seamstress announced, her voice barely cutting through the noise. "She keeps moving." "She keeps breathing," Amy corrected. "That's the problem. If she would just stop breathing, this would go much faster." I stood on the small raised platform in front of a wall of mirrors, wearing my wedding dress for what felt like the hundredth time. It was the same dress I had tried on with
Iris’s POV He was standing near the counter, waiting for his order, looking like he had just stepped out of a business meeting and also somehow a magazine photo shoot at the same time. Dark blazer, crisp shirt, that effortless composure that made everyone around him look slightly underdressed. My stomach dropped so fast I thought I might actually slide out of my chair. Maya saw him a second after I did. Her eyes went wide, and she kicked me under the table. Hard. "Ow," I hissed. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "My foot slipped." Victor turned, coffee in hand, and his eyes scanned the room. I knew the exact moment he spotted me because his expression flickered, just for a heartbeat. Then he smoothed it over with that calm, polite smile I had come to know too well. He started walking toward our table. "No
Iris’s POV I stared at Victor’s message for a full thirty seconds before I finally typed a response.We need to meet. It is urgent.The three dots appeared almost immediately, which told me he had been watching his phone, waiting for me to say something. I told myself that did not mean anything. I
Iris’s POVI kept my hand over his, my fingers laced with his, and I watched the city lights blur past the window in streaks of gold and red. I should have felt settled. The dinner was over. I had survived. But Victor's voice was still in my head, his words still pressed against my skin like finger
Iris’s POV The house was bigger than I expected. A wide brick place set back from the road, with a circular driveway and tall windows glowing warm in the evening light. Marcus parked behind a line of cars and glanced at me with a small, reassuring smile. Through the windows, I could see people mov
Victor’s POV She whispered my name again. Victor. I stayed frozen above her, my cock pressed right against her tight entrance. Every muscle in my body screamed to pull away. She was drugged. She was my son's fiancée. She was untouched. I had no right to take this from her, no right to be the on







