186 The Scandal (1)

Who would've thought that twenty kilometers were actually a lot? Iris considered that it might be an undertaking, but she believed she could do it. A couple hours of walking wasn't going to scare her.

But they should have. The first five kilometers were long, but survivable. The next five drained her out. After them, she found a bench and sat on it for good twenty minutes, just catching her breath. And wondering what in the world was she doing.

She didn't have her credit card, but she did have her phone. Kyro was just a call away.

Yet not once did her hand rise to call him. Even if she didn't know how she was going to make her way back on foot, she still didn't want to ask him to come for her.

Part of it was that she had been relying on him too much, but another portion was just simple anger. She had agreed to come to Gale's for him, yet he sprung that betrayal thing without a care for her well-being. What if Gale had decided to take revenge on her since she was close?

And even if not, how could he leave her behind like that? Did it not matter to him at all? Her heart clenched at such thoughts, and she shook her head to clear her mind. With new determination, she stood up and once more set off on her journey.

Once she returned, she would demand an answer. It might not be something she'd like to hear, but it would be better than pretending that nothing happened. If he didn't care about her, then he should just come out and state it instead of sending her mixed signals.

"It'll be fine," she murmured to herself while marching forward. The meters under her feet lasted a minute each, but she forced herself to go ahead. If she dropped dead at Kyro's feet, it would be some kind of statement, wouldn't it?

At the last stretch, Iris stopped even complaining. The soles of her feet had started hurting at some point, but by then they'd gone numb. All of her had gone numb, truth be told. She didn't have the energy to even think anything beyond how to take the next step and that it would bring her closer to somewhere she could fall down and never get up.

When only a kilometer was left, it started raining. At first it was only a slight mist, but then it started pouring. Iris got soaked in a heartbeat, and tassels of wet hair fell on her face. She was too tired to even move them away.

There was only a little left, so she pushed on with a single-minded determination. If she could go this far, then she could reach the finish line. It was now a matter of pride. Even if Kyro showed up with his car next to her at that moment, she would refuse him. This was something she had to finish by herself.

There was no wind, so she didn't start shivering right away. Running as an option flashed through her mind, but disappeared as soon as it came. The mere notion of moving her exhausted body any faster was ludicrous. A savage wolf behind her wouldn't make her increase her pace.

Step by step, she reached the apartment block and the gates. The guards didn't recognize her at first, but once she pulled the dripping hair from her face and mentioned Kyro's name, they remembered seeing her before.

The ten second wait for the elevator seemed like an eternity. Even this moment of just standing still threatened to overpower Iris' tired body. Moving it afterward was almost a challenge of its own.

It was evening by then, made even darker by the storm clouds. When Iris reached Kyro's door, her finger froze over the doorbell. Through the numbness, an emotion pushed through - fear. Suddenly, she wondered if Kyro would even let her in.

What if him leaving her behind meant that he was done with her? What if she came all this way just to hear that he had more important matters to attend to than playing house with her? What if—

She smashed the doorbell with enough force to hurt her hand. The wall beneath it, however, was perfectly fine.

A familiar sound rang out, and Iris listened with her ears perked up. Kyro better showed up, else she was going to stay here all night long, not letting him rest a moment. Whatever his thoughts were, she wanted to go to sleep and now. No one was going to keep her from a bed. Not today.

Moments later, the door opened and a familiar figure showed up. Kyro stood with a halo of light behind him, looking handsome and cold. His eyes betrayed nothing as he looked down on her bedraggled form.

A sense of her own insignificance washed over Iris, and she shivered. From the cold or the emotion within her, she didn't know.

"Thanks for leaving me behind," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. As she did that, her hair fell on her face again, and she was sure she looked like a swamp witch. Just dressed in modern clothes.

Before Kyro could reply, she pushed past him and dropped onto the sofa. A sense of relief washed over her legs, and she closed her eyes. 'Whatever, I don't care, just let me rest now.'

"You're soaked," Kyro noted, coming to stand next to her.

Iris could feel his eyes, but she didn't open her own. For various reasons.

"Get up and take a shower before you catch a cold."

"Later," she murmured, turning on her side and pulling her knees closer. A shiver racked her body. This time, it was certainly from the cold. Once she entered the warm house, her body realized how low was its own temperature.

There was movement nearby, Kyro walking away, and Iris felt a pang of unease from him leaving without a word. Did he really plan to let her stay like this? She had just complained out of habit, wanting a moment's rest before getting up on her feet again.

A sound of rushing water reached her at that moment. Kyro then returned after some time and pulled her up. While Iris was too surprised to react, he ushered her into the bathroom and pushed her straight into the bath as she was - clothed. "Rest there if you're too tired to stand."

Warm water surrounded Iris' legs, and she looked up at the frigid man next to her. Kyro was doing his best to look at anything but her and escaped the room the moment she seemed unlikely to drown herself.

"Don't fall asleep," he warned her from the other side of the door, having closed it tightly behind himself.

"Talk to me then."

The moment Iris said that, her mind caught up with her mouth. With flaming cheeks, she lowered herself deeper into the water, almost hiding her face. Had she really just said that? Her aunt had done that a few times when she was a child, but she was no child now.

And Kyro was certainly not her aunt.