Hearing Marceline say this, Iris burst into laughter, stepping forward to embrace her "Beloved Concubine" like an emperor, unable to resist because Marceline was petite. Iris then said, "Just tell how Yvonne found you, and I’ll give you my brother’s contact info—how about that?"
Yvonne could co up with plenty of sches to fra others, surely soone was advising her behind the scenes. It’s not enough that Yvonne’s gone; they need to root out the villain behind her as well!
Upon hearing Iris’s words, Marceline’s eyes rolled playfully. Normally, she wouldn’t trust Iris so easily, but she believed in Lachlan—Lachlan wouldn’t be easily led astray by other won. So if even Lachlan unconditionally sided with Iris...then surely sothing was amiss on the other side!
Marceline shared her thoughts, speaking quite logically, then gave Lachlan a hopeful look for praise, "Listen to my analysis, Lachlan Wyatt, didn’t I get it right?"
"Your thinking is much better than other won’s." Dane Rivers, nearby, looked up at the sky, perhaps reminiscing about the days when he also saw Iris as a villain.
"Others believed the slander and continually thought Lachlan Wyatt was being deceived. In reality, it disrespects Iris and fails to regard Lachlan Wyatt as a person. Lachlan Wyatt is an adult with independent thoughts; does he need you to worry for him? So no need to rush to save a man from a supposedly ’bad’ woman because she might not be bad, and the man might not be a fool."
"Dane, you’ve grown a brain!"
Iris looked at him as if she discovered sothing new, her eyes wide with surprise, "Oh my! Co here, let Auntie have a look—is this really Rivers speaking?"
Dane gritted his teeth, "I can grow up too, alright!"
Marceline, on the other hand, felt annoyed; she couldn’t understand why Lachlan wouldn’t pay attention to her—his eyes were entirely on Iris, filled with complex emotions that weren’t purely admiration but carried a hint of aggression.
Lowering her eyes, Marceline dejectedly adjusted her dress hem, a hand reached out from beside her.
"What are you doing?" Marceline turned her face away.
"Co, I’ll take you to my house." Iris pointed at Lachlan, "There’s nothing likable about Lachlan; my brother is the only good man in the world—self-proclaid, of course."
Half an hour later, Orion sat at ho, hearing a loud bang as soone kicked open the slightly ajar door and walked in boldly, "Brother!"
Orion imdiately got up from the sofa at The Crawford Family’s old house, dashing towards the door, "Oh my! My darling!"
Just as he was about to pounce, Orion suddenly realized the person in front of him, halted abruptly, but inertia had him lunging forward, landing with a thud in the man’s arms.
Lachlan held Orion in a tight embrace, scolding, "Who the hell is your darling? So gross, get off!"
"Why is it you? Oh my, it’s so damn unlucky!" Orion cursed and pulled himself out of his embrace, only then noticing Iris behind Lachlan, "You two got back together?"
Dane Rivers replied faster than Lachlan, "No!"
Lachlan could instantly guess this kid’s thoughts, and gave Dane a cold smile, causing Dane to shrink his neck, "Well, I’m just speaking the truth."
Lachlan laughed coldly again, seemingly answering him with laughter—no reunion, and it wouldn’t be his place anyway.
Orion led his precious little sister inside, looking and touching, "Oh Birdie, long ti no see, you’ve gotten thinner."
"First, it’s only been a few days, second, I’ve gained two pounds, not lost weight." Iris tugged at her lips, pulling the inside of her arm’s flesh, "Brother, don’t lie. By the way, where’s my sister?"
"Your sister went out for sothing, why suddenly co back to the old house?"
Orion brewed a pot of tea for them, using an exquisite tea set, serving each a cup. This tea set was made by an artist Iris liked years ago, with four cups in total, each with different patterns.
But when placing in front of Lachlan, Orion grinned broadly, showing his teeth while putting down a bowl that looked already quite worn.
The bowl’s edge was chipped.
"... Lachlan said, "Giving special treatnt?"
"The set cos with only four cups, no extras." Orion shrugged, "Make do with it."
Dane exploded into laughter, it seed Orion was still holding a grudge—after all, being a brother obsessed with his sister, Lachlan taking Iris away couldn’t have sat well with Orion.
Marceline quickly swapped her cup to Lachlan, "Lachlan Wyatt, use mine."
Orion finally took a closer look at Marceline, "Which family’s lady are you? You seem familiar but can’t recall."
"Brother, this is your future girlfriend." Iris spoke freely, instantly making Marceline blush again.
But Orion jumped up, pointing at Marceline and scolding his sister, "Are you out of your mind! Bringing an underage ho introducing to ! Want your brother to land in prison?"
"Ridiculous!"
Even the always-timid Marceline burst out with a dialect expletive, "You’re the one underage, you fool! I’m twenty, alright!"
Iris and Dane Rivers were stunned on the spot.
"... Orion, yelled in silence upon Marceline’s outburst, after a long pause, "Sister, can I call you sister, calm down..."
Marceline hated getting carded everywhere she went for her ID because her baby face and petite figure always gave the impression of being underage, requiring ID checks.
After so much carding frustration, hearing "underage" made Marceline upset quickly—who would’ve thought, upon return ho, she’d hear it from Iris’s brother!
Marceline Galloway was still panting, when Iris Crawford, like soothing a child, pulled her into her embrace, "Don’t be upset, don’t be upset, it’s all my brother’s fault, he can’t take a hint. I’ll have him take you shopping tomorrow and foot the bill!"
Dane Rivers, hearing this, mimicked Marceline’s tone and said in a high-pitched voice, "Iris~ I’m a kid too, you know~ I’m only 19, even smaller than her, you know~ spoil a little, take shopping tomorrow too~~~"
Lachlan Wyatt’s face turned dark instantly, as he crushed the old cup in his hand with a crack, "Want to take you for a tour of 600 Blackwood Road instead?"
"..." No, no thanks.
******
"Yvonne Jennings’s plan has failed again."
Soone turned on the light in the pitch-dark single-story villa, waking Jonas Kingsley with the blinding light. He squinted and shielded his eyes as he said, "What?"
"Witness Marceline Galloway was not as easily controlled as we imagined." The woman standing in front of Jonas with her head lowered said, "So Yvonne Jennings’s plan was exposed, and Marceline Galloway did not help her to fra Iris Crawford."
"Tsk."
Jonas sat up from the luxurious sofa in annoyance, ruffling his hair, the light cast a shadow on half of his face, and just by looking at his face, you’d never guess how malicious he is. The man, half-shrouded in shadow, exuded a rebellious yet delicate aura, carrying an oppressive air combined with a strong sense of aggression. He looked at the woman in front of him, "Then discard Yvonne Jennings as a pawn. By the way, the data we were hiding for her doesn’t need to remain hidden anymore. Yvonne is no longer useful. Isn’t there... the next one?"
There were several photos of won scattered on the coffee table; among them was the photo of Yvonne Jennings. The woman stepped forward, tore Yvonne’s photo into pieces, and threw it into the trash.
"Useless."
Jonas’s expression remained unchanged as he watched Yvonne’s photo being discarded, even sneering, "But as a mistress, isn’t this the ending she deserves?"
Once he withdrew all his protection of Yvonne, it was only a matter of ti before Iris found out what Yvonne had done.
Yvonne had long lost any chance to resist, ever since she failed to fra Iris.
"You’ve done your utmost for Yvonne," the woman said, her eyes lowered, making it impossible to discern her true thoughts, "You even went out of your way to eliminate the thug from prison, leaving no proof of Iris’s kidnapping... Yvonne was simply not up to the task."
Three years ago, Yvonne ca to his office, confidently declaring she wanted to win over Jordan Jacobs, seeking Jonas Kingsley’s assistance.
"Want to be a mistress? You’ve co to the right place." Back then, Jonas was at the peak of his ga, his handso face enough to captivate any woman, "I specialize in taking orders from won like you, whether it’s a mistress or a paramour, be it wealth or status you’re after, find , and you won’t go wrong."
Jonas held unimaginable power and a vast network of informants, despite leading a large family business, he simultaneously conducted an operation that remained unknown to the public, guided by him.
That operation was mistress consulting.
Specifically, training those won to beco professional mistresses, or lovers. Also providing assistance to those mistresses.
"In a world where so many want to climb the social ladder, I rely offered a little help," recalling this, Jonas leaned back on the sofa, his head tilted back, looking up at the woman in front of him, seeing only her sharply defined, exquisite chin.
The man grinned, "They say Lachlan Wyatt is an illegitimate child, well, so am I, Hannah Lennox."
The woman called Hannah Lennox bent down, showing her face to Jonas.
Jonas was indeed another illegitimate child of Hugh Wyatt, for Hugh had dallied with many won outside, leading his original family to depression and hospitalization.
Deep down, Jonas and Lachlan were the sa; both resented marriage and despised the family that had long beco a re shell of its forr self.
He never understood the aning of the word marriage, and as he grew up and gained wealth and power, seeing through the cold warmth of society, he increasingly felt that love was nothing more than a ridiculous self-induced illusion.
He began consulting for many won or n with ulterior motives who wanted to take shortcuts, to have them destroy other families or capture the excellent resources of wealthy families to climb the ladder.
After all, his family had long since been destroyed.
The responsibility within a family lies with both parties involved, it has nothing to do with outsiders. Mistresses aren’t obligated to protect others’ families, are they?
Yvonne Jennings was one of them.
The breakup of Iris Crawford and Jordan Jacobs by Yvonne was but a small note among Jonas’s many "masterpieces".
There were countless won wanting to climb up, and countless n without restraint. As long as shaless desires exist in this world, those seeking his help will never vanish.
What is marriage but a tool?
What is real love? Real love is rely about how long it can be used.
Jonas looked at Hannah Lennox’s lowered face and, after a long silence, asked, "I was hoping to see Iris at the celebration, wanted to see her face when she found out Yvonne was pregnant and orchestrating a feast, what a sha, I won’t see it."
"That child..."
"Even if it doesn’t miscarry, it will be aborted." Jonas’s eyes were cold and devoid of emotion, "What’s more, Yvonne wouldn’t want this child to live anyway, she only wanted to not have the child while seizing the opportunity to fra Iris."
Hannah’s eyelashes trembled, as if reading another aning behind his words.
"Let’s go, the show is about to start, with Yvonne out of the way, let’s see who I can find to play with Iris next?" Jonas curled his lips, "She’s truly fascinating."
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