Iris slowly closed the door and slumped against it with a heavy sigh. Her mood soured and she felt as if her day was ruined. Even though she had a normal relationship with her sisters, she was uncomfortable around them, and she really did not want to see their mother. The woman never hid the fact that she hated Iris, and she had shown her that repeatedly over the years she had lived with them.
Probably to alleviate his guilt for what happened to her mother, her father kept her in the Clayton house and tried to give her everything her half-sisters had. That, however, was impossible. It was impossible to deceive her as she was older and saw everything that happened firsthand. Her father clearly had another family while with her mother, and a daughter who was only a few months younger than she was.
If she had her way, she would never set foot in that house, ever. But she knew she had no say in that matter. Even if her father's assistant did not say so when he came here, she couldn't really say no. She didn't even want to think about what her father might do if she did not go. So, no matter how reluctant she was, she had to pay her family a visit tomorrow.
She sat there staring into space for a while, and wondering what would happen when she went there tomorrow. Hopefully, it would be a normal dinner, and she'd come back home no matter how late it was. All she hoped for was that her father wouldn't insist she stayed.
Because of how distracted she was, she failed to notice that Kris had woken up, and was staring at her.
"Who was at the door?"
Iris jumped, and her head shot up towards Kris who was sitting upright and staring at her with curiosity.
"You startled me Kris, jeez."
Kris yawned and stretched her body. Without answering, she got up and walked towards the fridge for some water.
"What are you so worked up about? You've been sitting on the ground for a good minute, acting as if something horrible happened. Who was at the door?"
"Oh that? It was one of my dad's assistants. He came to tell me that my dad wants to see me at the Clayton House. I'm supposed to go to their house tomorrow to have dinner with them."
"Oh."
"Don't worry too much about it, Kris. I'm not upset or anything. Even if I was, it's not like I can do anything about it, can I? It's just having dinner. What could they possibly throw at me now?"
Kris's expression darkened.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you, dear."
Iris rolled her eyes and rose from the ground.
"I seriously do not care. I'm moving to country Y after I graduate, so It will be easier to avoid them, I will be far away from them, and everyone will be happy."
Kris could only shrug.
"Whatever you say."
Iris glanced at her friend. She could tell that Kris had more to say, but she wanted none of that. No matter what she had to say to help her or make her feel better, it would not make anything better. She was no better than an illegitimate child at this point, and she was too weak to fight the Clayton family.
No matter how much she tried to lie to herself though, she had to admit that she resented them a lot. They had fed her and clothed her, so what? It was all her mother's money. Her kindness was the reason they were who they were now, but what did it matter? They made sure that she and her mother were considered dead and took everything that was hers. Iris even had no claim on an inheritance, her stepmother thoroughly made sure of that. As a result, she could not bring herself to be comfortable around that family, no matter how her father and Leah tried to be nice around her.
She knew her friend was simply worried about her, but at this point all she wanted was to be far from them, and talking about them did nothing other than worsen her mood. She had already decided, and since she couldn't outright cut them off, the next best thing was to be as far away as possible.
Iris walked towards the kitchen and leaned on the counter.
"What's for breakfast?"
Kris glanced at her sideways, then drank the rest of her water without saying anything. Iris decided to speak again.
"I'm feeling pancakes, would you have the same?"
Kris continued staring at her but decided to respond after a few moments.
"Sure. But don't think I didn't notice what you're trying to do. It's fine if you won't talk about it, I can't really do anything if you won't. I just hope you'll be okay."
I smiled.
"I will, don't worry."
Kris placed the glass down and turned away.
"Whatever you say. I'm going to take a shower. And please wake that slob up. His manager must be wondering where he is by now."
"He came here because of you, you know? And you're kicking him out like that. Pierce will be so heartbroken."
"Alright fine, wake him up for breakfast as well. I just hope his manager storms this place while he's still here, eating like nothing happened. I'm starved for good drama."
Iris could only watch as her friend sashayed into her room with an amused expression. When the door shut behind her, she shook her head and decided to get started on breakfast. The smell of the food would likely wake Pierce up, and if it didn't, Kris's offkey singing certainly would. The last alternative was to actually wake him up, and that was a chore she didn't want to get into.
She shut her mind off and began working on the pancake. After all, what was better than a good filling breakfast?