บท 19: I Want To Be Alone
"He's your father. He's not mine."
Monette stared at Iris for a long time before she was able to speak up. "You knew?!"
Iris scoffed and rolled her eyes at the other girl. "You knew too? Is that why you never treated me as your sister? How long did you know?"
"How long did you know the truth?" She returned Iris' question instead of answering it.
But Iris went inside the bathroom, locking the door behind that Monette was mad and kept on knocking outside the door.
"What are you doing?"
Monette jumped back and turned around to see an angry Calixto.
"Uhm, I was asking Iris to hurry up because we are going to eat breakfast together…uhm, our father wants us to eat together." The lies came out of her mouth so quickly and smoothly.
Calixto stared at Monette's face until Iris came out of the bathroom.
"Excuse me," Iris darted her eyes to the two people standing in front of the door. Her eyes were drawn to Calixto who was boring a hole into Monette's head and was staring at her feet while she fumbled with her hands.
"Before you join them for breakfast, I want you to meet someone."
"Breakfast?" She glanced at Monette who quickly grabbed her elbow and buried her nail in her skin. Her eyes were on her, begging.
"We are all going to eat breakfast. Together." Her eyes were telling her to say yes to what she was saying.
Iris shifted her gaze to Calixto who was waiting for her to answer, observing Monette.
"Yes," she sighed. As much as she didn't like Monette, she didn't want to play with her with Calixto watching.
"Go now," he snapped at Monette who didn't need any more words. She shot out of the library like a ghost was running behind her.
Iris followed Monette with a confused look. When she disappeared from the door, she turned around and walked in the direction of her bed.
"Didn't you hear that I need you to meet someone?"
Iris for the nth time since she woke up, sighed. She could not understand for the life of her why she suddenly became popular with the people in this house. They used to get on with their lives without her, why do they want to include her now.
"Okay," she answered in a bored tone. She didn't want to meet whoever Calixto wanted her to meet but she knew that he wouldn't leave her alone, thus, she just agreed to it.
"This way."
Calixto swiped his hand in the direction of the main library door. Iris walked mutely, staring at nothing in particular as she took the steps to wherever Calixto would like to take her. They ended up in the main living room in the house.
A crease appeared on Iris's forehead when she saw Elmer, sitting on the couch with a pregnant woman and a little boy with unruly red hair.
"Introduce your family," Calixto said to Elmer before he sat down on the armchair, crossing his long legs.
"Iris, I want you to meet my wife, Edina, and our son, Rui. He's four and about to become an older brother. We are going to have another baby." He smiled proudly.
"Hello, Iris. Our eldest is almost the same age as you. She's at school right now, that's why she wasn't able to come with us." Edina said, smiling at Iris.
Iris blinked her eyes with the warm smile that was on Edina's face. She never experienced that kind of warmth that Edina was exuding. She found herself returning her smile.
"Hello," she said in a small voice. She got distracted when Rui, with chubby hands, pulled the hem of her shirt. She never liked kids but there was something with Rui's toothy smile that she found endearing. She reached out and touched his round cheeks and pressed them.
Rui was surprised by her action that he ran back to her mother, climbing on her lap. But Elmer quickly caught him, preventing him from climbing on her mother's almost non-existing lap because of how big her tummy was.
"Starting today they will be living here in the main house."
Iris snapped her neck in Calixto's direction. He was sitting in the armchair as if he had all the time in the world, which was probably true with how old he was.
"How about—" She looked over her shoulder. The dining room was in the next room and cannot be seen from the living room but she still looked over her shoulders, thinking of Monette's family that was sitting in the dining room probably waiting for her.
"They will be staying outside. The employees' quarters are big enough for them."
Iris turned her eyes to Elmer's family and saw that their eyes were clear. She just noticed them now. Even Elmer's eyes were no longer blank and glassy. A crease appeared in between her brows, thinking about what had happened. What was Calixto thinking with all the changes that he had been doing in the house?
"Okay," she said because she could not think of any other thing to say.
"You may go, eat your breakfast." Calixto waved his hand in the air as if he was dismissing a fly.
Iris gritted her teeth and left the living room without saying a word. She didn't want to eat breakfast with the people in the dining room. She didn't like that Calixto would call her every now and then about things that he had decided to do out of his boredom.
She did not want to associate with anyone in the house. She would rather be left alone with her device. She took small steps to the dining room, hoping they had eaten breakfast without her.
When she entered the dining room, her heart sank. The three people sitting at the dining table hadn't started eating. It was clear that they were waiting for her. Not wanting to be rude, she murmured an insincere apology.
"No need to apologize. We are family. Sit down."
Iris's jaws dropped to the floor when she heard what Theo said.
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