Lara;
For a mont, it felt like I was in a dream, because the voice that had just reached my ears was one I never expected to hear again.
Hearing it again felt like dying and coming back to life.
I stared at everyone’s faces, too afraid to turn around.
The very comfortable look on everyone’s faces scared .
Zoe tried to hold back her smirk as she took a bite of her food.
Lady Vivian’s eyes were shining with new hope.
Amy and Colin’s eyes widened.
They shared a glance with bright smiles before looking back at the person who had just arrived.
And then there was Markus, who had fear in his eyes.
"What happened? You’re not even going to turn around and look at ? I an, wouldn’t you look in the eye and remind that you won everything?"
As her voice ca closer, like she was whispering right behind , I pulled my body forward and then turned around.
And right there, before my eyes, stood the woman who should not have been here.
"Iris?" I asked, trying to get up, but she placed both her hands on my shoulders and pushed down to sit again.
For a mont, I could not even respond.
I just sat there without moving, as if, if I did not move, it would sohow turn out to be not real.
Then Kash arrived, and I lifted my head toward him, trying to ask what was going on, how the woman who betrayed him was back in the mansion.
Kash ca and sat in the seat opposite very casually, focusing on his food.
"Co on, my dear. Wouldn’t you sit and eat with ?" he called to Iris.
She walked around the table and offered her hand to Kash, and he helped her sit down before the two of them giggled softly.
"Mom, you’re back!" Amy and Colin scread happily, getting up to hug their mother.
But I was still sitting there like I had a fever, like I was trapped in a nightmare.
Then I turned to look at Lady Vivian and Zoe, confused about why they were treating this so normally.
"Here, try this, Iris," Zoe said casually, offering her so food.
"Try this too," Lady Vivian added as she began pouring fresh orange juice for Iris.
I shook my head again and again, trying to confirm if this was truly happening, because none of it made any sense.
How was she back again?
"What is going on?" I asked in a broken tone.
"Why is she back?" I asked again, turning to Markus, whose eyes widened before he sank into his seat, not even trying to remind them what this woman had done to them.
"Wait, I... I do not approve of this. What is going on?" I said, my voice starting to rise as nobody responded to anymore.
"I have missed you so much," Kash murmured to Iris, leaning toward her and pressing a quick kiss on her cheek, all of it right in front of my eyes.
Tears began gathering in my eyes because nothing was making any sense.
"Why is she back?" I asked again, sniffling hard this ti.
"Kash, please tell . What is she doing back here? Do you not rember what she has done?" I cried again.
Kash simply shrugged his shoulders very casually.
"I realized that I cannot live without her, so I forgive her for whatever she did," he said with no regret, no anger, and no guilt.
"No, this cannot be true. How can you?" I said, turning to Iris.
"How can you forgive him? Did he not beat you? Did he not reject you?" I demanded.
But in response to my words, Iris started laughing out loud, and Kash, his mother, and Zoe laughed along with her.
While I was panicking and trying to understand what was happening, Markus tried to stand up, but Zoe held his hand and forced him to sit back down.
That was when I realized sothing was wrong.
"You must have received a video on your phone. Why don’t you check it?" Zoe said calmly as she continued eating.
I could not check my phone, but Markus did.
And when I heard the noise, the voices, I already knew what was happening.
It was a recording of and Markus. Not just a recording, but a video of us making plans to get rid of Iris, Kash’s family, and then his children.
All of it was in one video.
"Your Highness, I was blackmailed," Markus said quickly, raising his hand first.
However, Kash gave him one glare, and Markus fell silent.
Then Kash began to look at .
I could not fathom what had happened. Did all of this happen afterward? Where did they get this video from?
"It is not true. I did not do it. It is AI," I mumbled.
And the family started to laugh once again.
"How could you forgive him?" I asked Iris, because I thought that was the best thing to do, to make sure she did not forget the humiliation she had gone through.
"How could I not forget what?" Iris asked in a confused tone.
The calmness in her voice scared .
"He rejected you. He beat you," I continued, but as I spoke, they began laughing again.
Everything suddenly beca clear to .
"It was all our plan, you idiot," Zoe said, rolling her eyes as she reached for her food.
"You all played ?" I asked, pointing at my chest.
Kash finished his bite, took the napkin off his lap, and suddenly threw it on the table with such force that the noise made flinch.
"Do you have any idea what you are going to get for playing with the Alpha King?" he yelled, making my eyes widen.
That much anger.
I had lost him.
He was looking at with nothing but hatred in his eyes.
"Kash, you know I love you," I said, my lips curling downward as I got up from my seat.
I walked toward him and noticed he was holding Iris’s hand.
"No, let go of that hand. She is not worthy of your love."
As soon as I said that, sothing in Kash snapped.
He flipped out, got up, shoved the chair away, and grabbed both my arms, shaking .
"Did you seriously fucking think you would co between and Iris and I would let you do that?"
As he scread, he shook so hard that tears began running down my face.
"But I had you," I uttered, while he laughed right in my face.
"You never had , you stupid bitch."
Kash’s words made my jaw drop.
I had known Kash for a very long ti.
I had seen him get angry and all those things, but I had never heard him use that kind of tone for anyone.
For him to say that to made feel like I had truly lost him.
"I’m a bitch?" I asked, tearing up.
"Oh boy, it seems like she’s completely delusional." That ca from Zoe.
I could not even snap at her anymore. I turned to look at her, then sniffled, holding back my tears.
"Zoe, I understand that now you think it was all a plan, and maybe that Iris was played by Markus," I continued, instantly pointing at Markus when ntioning him, trying to put the bla on him for the whole Markus and Iris situation.
Markus returned the glare to , his jaw clenched tight.
"But trust , I’ve been your friend for a very long ti. How could you accept Iris and not ?"
It felt as if I was speaking another language.
At first, Zoe kept watching my face like she did not understand, then she started laughing as if it were a joke.
"Um, you’re no one’s friend, Lara. Maybe you’re forgetting that the minute you thought you had the power, you tried to get rid of and my mother. It’s literally in the video. It is clearly defined by your actions. How could you still try to fool us?" Zoe shot back, her tone laced with sarcasm and taunting.
I looked down to hide my eyes because I was embarrassed.
I don’t know what got over , but I always wanted more. I always wanted all the power.
When I was living with my father, I wanted his attention to myself. And now that I have Kash, I want him all to myself.
Why do they see my toxicity in this and not my love for these people, not my possessiveness for them?
At this point, I could tell that I was losing Kash.
But I was not going to let it go now.
He had to accept .
"Kash," I uttered, holding his hand, but he shrugged himself free and looked at like I was sothing disgusting.
"Please, you need to forgive ," I cried, trying to reach for his hand again and again until Iris stood up.
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