Page 62 of Iridescent
How much?
Did he send those receipts to her too?
Shit.
I have no idea how she found out, but I can see it in her face. That triumphant look. She has me by the throat. If she exposes my secret here, in front of everyone—if Yara hears it like this—
“Have the chauffeur take my wife home,” I snap to the nearest staff member. “Now.”
Chair legs scrape against marble as my father surges to his feet. “Isabel is the least of it?” he demands, staring at his wife. “What the hell have you two been keeping from us?”
“A truth that should have come out long ago,” Geneviève says. “One way or another, it is time ma belle-fille knows what kind of man she married. Don’t you think, mon fils?”
Ma belle-fille—my daughter-in-law. The false sweetness in the way she says it tells me she is done merely trying to wound me. Now she means to destroy my marriage outright.
“You will not say a damn word to her,” I hiss, glancing around to make sure my order has been followed.
The only relief is that she has not said it in front of Yara. I will tell her myself. Just not like this. Not now.
Geneviève lifts one slender shoulder in an elegant shrug. “If you want to be the one to tell her, be my guest. Frankly, I would prefer it. But we both know you won’t. You’ve had, what, five years to grow a conscience and behonest with that girl? Instead, you let her live in ignorance while you play the doting husband.” She tuts softly. “The poor thing does not even realize you ruined her life.”
White noise fills my head. I am seconds from losing it—truly losing it—in a way I have not since I was a teenager under this same roof.
I have to get out of here. Now. Before she cracks me open in front of everyone.
I am a grown man. A self-made billionaire for fucks sake. And somehow these people can still reduce me to a frightened boy.
As I stride out of the room, my mother’s taunting voice follows me.
“Remember—you’re only delaying the inevitable. She’ll find out what you’ve done sooner or later, Xavier. The longer you lie to her, the worse it will be when the truth comes out.”
I pause in the doorway, my back still to them. Her words sink into me like claws. I see Yara’s tear-streaked face. Hear the hurt in her voice every time her body fails her. My eyes burn.
“You’ve let that girl ruin you,” my father spits at my back. “Look at this pathetic mess. All because you can’t control your woman or yourself.”
A bitter laugh scrapes up my throat. “No. It’s because I love her.” It is the first admission of its kind I have ever given them. I turn my head just enough to look back. “Not that you’d know a damn thing about love.”
Then I walk out on my family without another word.
I do not stop moving. I stride through the foyer, past startled staff and lingering cousins in the hall. With every step, that house feels farther behind me, but my heart is still pounding, adrenaline buzzing through my veins. I want to punch something. Break something. Scream. But the only thing that matters now is getting to Yara.
Has she made it home?
Regret and fear twist deep in my gut. I should have gone after her the second she left the table. Fuck, I should never have let her come here at all.
I yank my phone from my pocket as I shove through the grand front doors and into the night. Cold air hits my face, laced with salt and the distant crash of waves below the cliffs.
The screen stays black. My phone is dead.
“Damn it.”
Perfect fucking timing.
I take the front steps two at a time, already reaching for my keys.
“Xavier!”
A voice calls from behind me. Feminine, but not Yara’s.
