Chapter 11

Lucien's POVI forced myself to calm down and tried to soothe the boy, but he swept a glass off the table. It shattered on the floor, shards everywhere."I want Mommy!!!"Children always wanted whoever wasn't there. Maybe it was because Iris had been at his side every single day for six years that Luke was reacting this way.He was still clawing at the hem of my shirt, crimson light flashing in the depths of his eyes.I raised my voice sharply: "Stop!"The room went dead quiet. Luke's eyes went wide. Then he cried even harder.He looked at me like I was a stranger.The pure, unfiltered hostility of a child sent a chill down my spine.He turned and bolted out of the room. The door slammed behind him.I stood alone, my breathing heavy. The screen still showed no reply.Iris hadn't even read my messages.She would never have done this before. No matter what I said, she'd always responded immediately.But now I'd sent two messages, and I was too proud to send a third. I raked a hand over t

Chapter 12

Lucien's POVBy the time I finally wrestled an exhausted Luke back home, it was fully dark.The garage light clicked on automatically, cold white light falling across the windshield. I sat there without turning off the engine.In the back seat, Luke had cried himself to sleep, curled up in his car seat, dried tear tracks on his face.I savored those five minutes of quiet, but one thought kept circling back, louder each time.Iris still hadn't replied.Hours had passed since morning. What was she doing?I opened my phone. The chat was stuck on my last message: "He just really misses you."Unread.I stared at those two gray texts, and a slow discomfort spread through my chest.For ten years, she'd never made me wait. She'd always been the one handling the child, watching Luke's moods, absorbing the fallout.Now she'd left in a fit of pique, and I was thrown off balance---almost feeling overlooked, abandoned without warning.That feeling irritated me, and it drove me to scroll through my

Chapter 13

Lucien's POVI stared at the screen without looking away.Thirty seconds passed. Then a minute. Still unread.I tapped the screen impatiently and sent another photo---the three of us at a picnic on the lawn. Rebecca in the center, Luke and me flanking her. Framed like a family portrait."Luke is pretty attached to her."This time, the status changed to read.I waited, but not even a typing indicator appeared.From the back seat came a faint rustling. Luke had woken, his voice hoarse, asking if Mommy was back yet.I told him no. His eyes went dull immediately, and he started repeating that he wanted her.Back inside, he kept going---monotone but relentless---each repetition hammering against nerves that were already fraying.I tried redirecting him, even tried ordering him to stop, but he just kept at it.The crying continued, sticky and ceaseless, as though it would never end. A vampire's strength had no business being wielded by a toddler in the middle of a meltdown. My patience wore

Chapter 14

Iris's POVLucien couldn't have predicted how quickly I'd reply.And he certainly didn't expect the answer itself."Agreed. Let's divorce."I'd been waiting for this message longer than he knew. I just hadn't anticipated it would take him only eight days of solo parenting to lose both his patience and his judgment.I'd loved too humbly, for too long---long enough that he'd convinced himself I'd never dare leave, never dare end this marriage.His call came through immediately, stripped of its usual composure."Iris? Have you lost your mind? You'd throw away this family over some ridiculous job?"In the background, I could hear Luke's hysterical wailing and the crash of things breaking."I told you---I'm painting portraits for the Elder Council. I can't leave."A beat of silence on the other end.He clearly hadn't expected me to be this calm."You're painting?" He scoffed. "Iris, what exactly are you trying to pull?"I said nothing.His voice turned harder, colder, laced with the familia

Chapter 15

Iris's POVWhen the lawyer and I arrived at the villa, the house stood quiet on its corner lot, just as it always had.The moment I pushed open the door, a wave of stale, unfamiliar air hit me.The floors were a disaster---broken glass everywhere, the smell of animal blood thick in the air.I paused in the doorway.The lawyer asked in a low voice whether I was certain this was my home with Lucien. I nodded.Just then, shuffling sounds came from the kitchen, and a man hurried out.Lucien's assistant, clutching a mop, looking clumsy and panicked. The instant he saw me, he froze, the color draining from his face."Ma'am---"His voice came out dry and cracked.I looked at him without expression."Where's Lucien?"He instinctively dropped his gaze, his throat bobbing."Mr. Valerius... he took the young master out."I said nothing, just waited. The silence made him even more flustered.His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, then thought better of it.The lawyer beside me adjust

Chapter 16

Iris's POVThe divorce was simpler than I'd imagined. A few signatures, and Lucien and I had nothing to do with each other anymore.The Elder had him escorted from the conference room.When the door closed, the space went suddenly quiet. Just me and Luke.Minutes ago, right in front of his eyes, the Elder Council had stripped his father's assets and placed everything under my name.And his father---who had first tried to convince me to change my mind, then begged me to leave him something---hadn't fought for custody. Not even once.Luke stood rooted to the spot, his small body rigid, as though frozen solid.His eyes were red and swollen. These past days, he'd been battered by one emotion after another with no patient hand to guide him through it. It had taken a toll.He looked at me, and for the first time, his gaze held no stubbornness, no resistance. Only fear."Mom..."I looked at Luke and remembered the first time I'd seen that tiny, scrunched-up face wailing at me from the hospita