He's Not My Father

Iris woke up with a throbbing headache. She got up from her bed, staring blankly at the rows of bookshelves, thinking to herself that she did something important last night but could not remember it.

"Why are you frowning as soon as you wake up? Aren't you happy that the vamp–" she looked over her shoulder, worried that the man she was talking about could hear her. "I mean, aren't you supposed to be happy because our Master is spoiling you?"

She cocked her head to the side and stared at Monette who was leaning against the bookshelves, her arms folded over her breast, smirking at her.

"I don't feel like I'm being pampered at all. You can take my place if you want. I just want to be left alone." She rolled her eyes at Monette and started folding her blanket. Her body felt so tired like she did a rigorous activity when all she did was sleep.

With the way her body felt, she had no energy to tolerate Monette's bitchiness right when she woke up. Besides, the part where she was being pampered by their so-called Master may not be true but she was definitely not being treated the same way Calixto was treating Monette and her parents.

She didn't care if it was because she was Calixto's meal. As long as he didn't look at her with the same disdain he gave to the other members of her family, she's fine with it. Beggars can't be choosers.

She knew based on experience that the moment she accepted a fact, it would cease to hurt or affect her in a negative way.

It's easier to be indifferent toward something if you know where you stand. In her family, when she found out that she wasn't her parents' biological child, she accepted it as a painful fact and moved on. After that, she no longer feels hurt whenever they would treat her badly and unjustly. She knew that they were doing it because she wasn't part of the family.

With Calixto, right when she found out his kind and his nature and how she was by default his meal, she accepted it. Now, she didn't really care if Calixto drank her blood every other day.

It put her mind at ease when she processed and accepted the fact that he would drink her blood and she couldn't do anything about it but in exchange, she could get something from him. And that, she intended to take full advantage of.

The renovation of the basement was one and the other was that her family, especially Monette, could no longer hurt her physically.

So, if Monette thinks she can ruin her already ruined morning, she can think again.

"Papa wants you to have breakfast with us."

Monette clicked her tongue and gave Iris a dagger look. She didn't like how things were happening but after what their Master did, she was willing to keep her mouth shut, for them not to totally lose everything, just like what her mother made her understand.

Outside of the house, their status wouldn't change but inside this house, they would have to follow everything that Calixto wanted. She and her mother were unhappy about it but her father promised that he would do something about it soon.

"Can you just pretend to call me and tell your father any excuses you can think of on why I can't have breakfast with you guys."

Monette scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

Iris smoothened the edge of her bedsheets and surveyed her bed with satisfaction. Making her bed in the morning gave her satisfaction. She likes the feeling of accomplishment in doing such a repetitive and menial task of fixing her bed before she starts her day.

"Why, Monette, have your parents still not told you the truth about my birth?" She felt superior when Monette looked at her in confusion. She didn't think that Monette had no idea of her birth circumstances. She thought she knew since she had always been mean to her.

"Do not speak in riddles! And stop telling me what to do?"

"Huh?!" She flipped her hair and tied it into a high ponytail. "When did I tell you to do something for me?" She said, walking to the bathroom located at the far end of the room.

As she walked to the bathroom, she could hear the now familiar banging in the basement. The man that Calixto forced to work there had started early today too.

She is now sure that Calixto did something to that guy and he was working for him against his will.

"You just told me to tell Papa a lie about why you can't join us for breakfast!"

Iris took bigger steps when she realized that Monette was still after her. She thought she had already left just like she usually does.

In the past, she could not wait to leave whenever she was talking to her. For the most part, she would do everything to avoid having a conversation with her.

That's why it was a surprise to see her run after her.

"And what was that?!" She grabbed Iris' shoulder and forced her to look at her. "What do you mean, my father? Are you disrespecting our father just because you knew that Calixto will take your side when Papa gets mad at you?"

Iris looked at Monette without blinking until the older girl let her shoulder go and got uncomfortable with the look that she was giving her.

"He is your father not mine," she said in a bored tone and turned on her heels to enter the bathroom.

"Wait!! What do you mean?"

Iris stopped on the threshold of the bathroom, folded her arms over her small breast, and gave Monette a pitying look without saying anything.

She watched the other girl squirm in utter confusion. She would not lie. She was having a good time playing with her.

"It's like what I said," she broke the awkward silence when she thought she had enough fun for the day. "He's your father. He's not mine."