The Disguised Husband

Keith's voice trembled as he stared at Iris in disbelief. "Iris, these are my gifts to you. Why did you set them on fire?"

The unexplainable loss of control made him panic.

She watched the burning doll turn into ashes. Then, she slowly turned around and calmly stared into his eyes.

At that moment, Keith had a bad feeling that she might leave him.

Iris took a deep breath. The moment his gifts turned into ashes, she managed to let go of her feelings. She no longer cared about her parents' favoritism or grieved over Keith's changed affection.

Those were none of her business anymore. She needed to walk her own path.

She said to him, "The gifts turned moldy. That's why I burned them all."

At first, she almost wanted to lay everything out with him, telling him that she no longer loved him.

Still, she had to bear with it for 20 more days, after which she'd be gone.

Feeling relieved, Keith nodded. "Well, better to burn them all. They're not that valuable anyway. We can always buy new ones after we're married."

Iris flashed a smile. After all, they'd never be married, and there would be no future between them.

Keith gave it some thought and decided that his worries were unfounded, as Iris had no better option than him. He was confident that she would never leave him.

He reverted to his haughty demeanor and frowned unhappily. "Smile, won't you? Erica became depressed after she lost both of her parents. She can't be triggered. You have everything, so do not try to fight with her."

Iris smiled mockingly. "Tell me. What do I have?"

She had lost the love of her parents, and Keith didn't care about her. She didn't even own proper clothes.

What else could she cede to Erica when the latter had taken away everything that once belonged to her?

Keith, oblivious to Iris' bitterness, grew impatient. "You have me and your parents! Erica is suffering in the hospital now. You should apologize to her."

Iris thought that she had misheard him. Erica had faked her depression, but her family and Keith feigned ignorance.

Her voice was devoid of emotions as she said, "My parents keep her company, and you take care of her, too. The medical staff attends to her. Do you still think I need to be there?"

Keith became enraged. "How could you be so heartless? Erica developed depression because of you! I don't care. As her older cousin, you need to be the bigger person.

"You haven't acknowledged your mistake until now. It looks like I have spoiled you too much. Iris Burnett, I'm giving you a chance now. If you refuse to go to the hospital, I'll need to think about registering our marriage."

With that, Keith left in anger. He thought that Iris would cave in if he threatened her with their marriage.

But Iris couldn't care less. She watched as Keith left in his car, her expression totally calm.

Iris returned to the house again, ready to pack up her stuff and leave, only to realize that nothing in that spacious house was worth bringing along.

At night, her parents gave her attitude, as though they blamed her for triggering Erica.

Rosanne went up to Iris, her expression stern. "Iris, you need to give up on Keith. Erica loves him, too, and she's threatening to take her life at the hospital over him. You're the older cousin, so you need to be more generous."

Even though Iris knew that Rosanne was hopelessly biased toward Iris, she never thought her mother could be this shameless.

Rosanne's words were like biting cold winds in the middle of the summer.

Iris stared into Rosanne's eyes numbly and croaked, "Mom, I'm your birth daughter. You asked me to give things up to Erica, which I did. I gave up many things to her over the years.

"I gave up the meat in my meals, my new clothes, my bedroom, and basically everything new in our house to Erica. I even gave up on Bellevue University. Now, you're asking me to give her Keith. Are you going to make me take my life if that's what Erica wants?

"Mom, am I your daughter or not?"

Iris could no longer keep her anger under control and confronted Rosanne with a piercing question.

Instead, Rosanne slapped her while looking disappointed. "Erica, your cousin, lost her dad because of you! You have enough blessings in your life!

"Your dad is right. You're indeed an ingrate. This time, you have no choice but to give up on Keith, or I'll disown you!"

She then left after making that cruel remark.

Iris leaned weakly against the doorframe. The setting sun shone from above, seemingly mocking her. Apparently, she was a blessed daughter in her family's eyes.

Not long after, Keith came back. He said frankly, "Iris, Erica's mental state is deteriorating. We need to postpone our marriage registration."

It wasn't a discussion but more like an order.

Sadly, Iris had been let down too many times to feel sad over his words.

She looked pale as she enunciated each word, saying, "Alright. Fine."