189 The Scandal (4)

Once Kyro left the apartment, Iris let go of her control and burst out laughing. His expression when she showed up in his T-shirt was worth gold. It didn't change much throughout the morning, either. Even though he didn't say anything, he kept on looking away from her, focusing on his coffee, sandwich, or whatever else he was holding at that moment.

While she was overcome with amusement, Lucy poked out his head. He watched her from Kyro's bedroom with a distrustful gaze.

Iris shifted around to rest her hands and head on the backrest and stared right back at him. "Are you still angry at me?"

The cat did not answer. He watched her for a few moments more, then walked away toward the kitchen.

This was also Iris' destination, so she quickly collected the cups and went there. Her leg muscles were sore, making it a great chore to move, but she persevered. Lucy gave her a cold glare upon entrance, but did not say anything, crunching down his dry food.

Soon, Iris finished up with the washing and crouched down to Lucy who was about finished as well. "Hey, don't be angry, I wouldn't have done it had it not been necessary." While speaking, she lowered her hand to pet Lucy.

He replied with a snort and ran away. He disappeared into Kyro's bedroom once more, but Iris didn't chase after him. 'Maybe next time.'

She went to change instead and put on the now dry clothes from yesterday. As fun as it was to tease Kyro, she wasn't certain he wouldn't flip out after finding her still the same as in the morning.

Once done, she turned on the computer and had the drama she wanted play on the big screen in the living room. Although she was worried about Lily, there was nothing she could do about it. Somehow, she had never asked the girl's number, and it was doubtful she would answer anyway.

There was no doubt that Gale wasn't too happy with Kyro at the moment. Even if it were part of some plan, he didn't like it one bit. He hadn't moderated his strength at all when kicking Iris out.

The day passed in no time, and Iris found herself glancing at her phone again and again. There were still five minutes till five o'clock, and Kyro would still need some twenty minutes if not half an hour to get back. Yet she had raised her phone to check the time four times in the last two minutes.

"Stop thinking about unnecessary things!" she ordered herself. There was a very good drama on the screen that should have been able to catch her attention and not let go. However, the episode was a filler, or she was just too unfocused, for she couldn't even say what had happened in the first twenty minutes.

After another ten minutes, Lucy ventured over, and Iris finally had some real distraction. She paused the drama and tried to make the cat forgive her. It took quite a while, but in the end Lucy couldn't resist being petted and stroked. His back rose at her touch, and he began purring

Iris grinned at him, celebrating her victory in silence. The cat no longer ignored her, and she played with him for some time. When she next checked the phone, it was already close to six. In five minutes, the dinner delivery would come, but Kyro was still missing.

"Hey, Lucy, do you think Kyro really decided to avoid an explanation and won't return home?"

As she said that, the doorbell rang. It was time for dinner, so Iris went to pick it up herself, leaving Lucy on the sofa.

Behind the door, the delivery girl was startled by Iris' appearance. She even took a few secretive glances around to make sure she hadn't come to the wrong apartment.

"You're at the right place, Kyro is just a bit late," she told the girl, extending her hand for the bags of food.

While the girl hesitated, the elevator rose up again, having come down before Iris opened the door. Kyro came out and saw their confrontation. "Good evening, Irene."

"Kyro!" the girl exclaimed in relief. She quickly passed the food to him, then turned to look back at Iris. "So she's the reason you've been ordering two meals from us?"

He nodded, and the girl beamed at Iris. "Nice to meet you! I'm Irene."

"Same. Iris." She shook the girl's hand, feeling a little weird from her sudden enthusiasm. What was here to be so happy about?

"Like the fox? Can I see it now? It's been so long!" The girl tried to sneak a glance in, but Kyro motioned for her to leave. She pouted at him, then ran away. "Till next time!"

Kyro passed Iris the food bags, and she picked them up while giving him a thorough once over. Although he was dressed as proper as befit his image and had an impassive face, it was a little too forced. His eyes were a little narrower than normal, his movements a little more choppy.

"Something happened at work?"

"Nothing unexpected. I had an idea of how everyone was going to react." When she gave him a questioning look, he gave up and turned around. "I just didn't think they'd start acting like I've got the plague. All the senior managers are avoiding me, and my secretary went out of her way to come and admonish me. Even Sheila showed up to tell me that I'm gonna ruin the company like this."

When he took off his shoes, he threw them on the ground with a loud thud. "They're all so damn scared of me now."

"You did betray your best friend," Iris told him, not sugar-coating the matter. It probably would have been better to console him, but she had yet to receive her own explanation.

"Are you going to try and lecture me as well?"

There was an edge to his voice, so Iris chose to back off. "Do I need to?" While saying that, she brought the food to the table and started unwrapping everything.

In the meantime, Kyro went to his bedroom to change. He took only a few minutes before coming out in casual clothes and dropping down on the sofa like he never planned to stand up again.

Iris pushed his meal over and started to eat her own. It had some kind of meat pieces hidden beneath an egg. There was a lot of salad on the side, almost dwarfing the whole meat dish.

"So what do you want to know?"

The question made Iris raise her head. She saw that Kyro hadn't yet touched his food and was looking at her, his face inscrutable. "Everything. Even if I can't help much, I want to understand what's happening around me."

Her words were enough for him to turn away, thinking. "You're asking a lot. Many things depend on whether my knowledge remains secret."

Iris rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be so dramatic. I'm not asking for your company's inside information. All I want is to understand what's happening."

"Dramatic? I'm being dramatic?" Kyro stared at her, baffled.

"Of course!" Iris laughed at his expression. "Don't even try to argue. You're acting as if I'm asking for your main bank account number."

"I think I'd rather say that one…"

This time both of them laughed, and Iris had a hard time trying to remain serious enough to say, "Maybe I should accept it then…"

"Would you?" Kyro asked with his fork raised next to his mouth.

A few moments later, Iris shook her head. "What would I do with that much money? The sudden influx of new 'friends' would tire me out before I could even enjoy my newfound fortune. Keep it."

They ate in silence after that. When they were finished, Iris leaned back against the backrest and turned to Kyro. "What really happened back then? Why did you say those things to Gale?"