Inevitable Crash (19)

For a very long minute, Kyro just stared at Mr. Smith. Then his eyes roamed to Jane's face. She was still hiding behind a mask, acting as if this didn't concern her in the least.

"And you would agree to this?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's for the better of both our futures." A corner of her lips lifted, and she added, "It's not like either of us would find this arrangement distasteful. We had once believed that that's what awaited us."

"Many things happened since then." Kyro shook his head, understanding where she was coming from, but not agreeing. What she talked about had happened over half a decade ago. Was he supposed to not have changed, like she?

Jane laughed, her expression relaxing. "So what? Our relationship had some troubles, but we can work on it again. We still have our whole lives before us, and it'll be a profitable deal to top it. What's there not to like?"

'Why are you asking me?' Kyro shook his head again. "I already have someone. You're a bit too late."

Mr. Smith's face shifted to reveal a knowing smile. "Oh, Kyro, no need for the act. We know that you've only used that girl as a shield. She's an illegal immigrant, and of no relation to you. You've known her for less than a month."

Kyro's lips thinned, his temper rising. No relation to him? They sure presumed a lot.

Just because he didn't date anyone during his work years, he was supposed to be still hung up on Jane. And because he didn't know Iris for long and she wasn't anyone important, she couldn't be anyone to him.

'What a funny world they live in. Everything's so simple and easy to understand. And not resembling reality in the slightest.'

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to refuse." He turned to Jane. "I might have cared about you in the past, but… those feelings are long gone. You can't expect for me to have treasured you in my heart for all that time."

Upon rising to his feet, he gave Jane a last look. She was as beautiful as before, even more so maybe, but his heart didn't stir in the slightest. It was the same as looking at Lara or any other woman. The moments they shared had been covered in dust and put in an attic where no one would ever look for them again.

As he left, he couldn't resists saying, "Back then, you were never this conceited. To really think I'd agree to this kind of arrangement because of some lingering affection."

Mr. Smith wanted to add something, but Kyro didn't give him a chance. He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind himself.

When he reached his car, he sat down and leaned on the wheel. It had been easy to voice his refusal to their schemes, but doubt assailed him upon walking out. It was fine if he fell with Dioscuri, but what about everyone working under him? There were thousands of employees that would have to suffer the result of his pride.

'Maybe I should have accepted their offer…'

But even as he thought that, he took out his phone and looked at its screen. Iris stared back at him with fierceness, holding a three meter long python. A smile tugged at his lips, and he knew that he didn't have the heart to hurt her or himself like that. He'd just have to work harder to make sure that Dioscuri didn't get eaten by the sharks surrounding it.

-

At home, Iris played with Lucy. Once Kyro wasn't home, the cat deigned to pay attention to her as well. They lay together on the sofa, with Lucy on Iris' stomach, purring in satisfaction.

It was at that moment that the doorbell rang. Surprised, Iris picked up her phone to check time. It was past six, but Kyro would just enter himself. The neighbors would probably not come at random, either. Caron would have just spoken to Iris earlier in the day when they met outside.

"Sorry, friend, I need to answer the door."

Lucy meowed at her in indignation when she moved him away and turned his back to her. "Sorry, sorry."

At the door stood an unfamiliar woman. She was a bit older than Iris, but her skin still glistened with vitality. Dressed in a fancy dark tuxedo-like clothes, she exuded a pressure that threatened to cower Iris.

"Hello?" Iris was certain that this kind of person couldn't be looking for her, so she added, "Kyro isn't yet home."

"I know," the woman said while looking Iris up and down. "You're not much to look at."

"Excuse me?" Iris couldn't help, but straighten up and take a step closer. Although she knew that her looks weren't stunning, she wasn't going to just accept an insult to her face with a smile.

The stranger sneered at her, not even hiding her disgust. "You're nothing more than a leech. I thought I might have a conversation with you about what's good for Kyro, but I seem to have wasted my time."

"What do you mean?" Iris asked in a controlled voice.

Her fury was rising, but pouncing on this who-knows-who wouldn't help her. Yet her nails itched to rake the other's face. The word leech hit a nerve. She knew she wasn't doing much and just living off Kyro, but to hear it from a stranger… It hurt more than she wanted to admit.

"He just refused the one thing that can save him from ruin because of you," the woman said with a snarl. "You sure know how to weave your webs to entrap men, but don't rest on your laurels yet." She sent Iris a mocking gaze. "I will make Kyro see you for who you truly are - your leech nature. I won't waste time seeing you again, but when the sky will fall on you, know that it was my doing."

The woman then turned around and left, entering a shiny black car whose door was opened to her by a driver. In a heartbeat, it was as if she had never even come.

Standing by the house, Iris scrunched up her face in annoyance. 'Told me to remember her, but didn't even say her name. As if I'm going to call out "Oh, stranger! Why did you do this to me?" when something happens."