Chapter 183

Iris

I wake to the sound of my phone buzzing beside me. Bleary-eyed, I fumble for it on the nightstand, almost knocking it to the floor.

“Have you seen the news?” Alice’s voice comes through the moment I answer.

“I just woke up,” I mumble, sitting up in bed. Arthur’s side remains untouched, and the memory of last night comes rushing back in all too painful clarity.

“Turn on the TV,” Alice says. “Channel 4.”

Dread takes over me, and I know I shouldn’t. But I reach for the remote anyway and flick on the television mounted on the wall opposite our—my—bed. It takes a moment for the screen to come to life, and when it does, my heart stops.

And there it is. Images of Veronica and Arthur’s kiss last night are plastered all over the news, with the headline scrolling across the bottom of the screen: “ALPHA PRESIDENT’S SECRET AFFAIR: IS IRIS WILLFORD OUT?”

“Fuck,” I whisper.

“Sources close to the Alpha President suggest that he and Veronica Willford have been hiding their true feelings for each other for years,” the news anchor is saying. “The passionate kiss they shared last night at the Solstice Ceremony seems to confirm these rumors.”

The screen splits to show a panel of people discussing my failure, and my stomach drops when I recognize one of them as the stylist who initially dressed me for my first debut as Arthur’s Luna.

“I have the utmost empathy for Iris,” she says, “but it’s no secret that she simply wasn’t cut out for the role. She lacks the polish, the poise, and the confidence. It’s no wonder Arthur’s attention has wandered, and perhaps this is for the best.”

“In a bizarre twist, the evening was also marked by an apparent poisoning attempt on Veronica’s life,” the news anchor goes on. “The renowned pianist collapsed during the celebration but was quickly revived. Police are investigating, but no suspects have been named yet.”

“Do you want me to come over?” Alice asks.

I’m about to say yes when I hear Miles’ voice from down the hall. “Mommy? I’m home!”

“I need to go,” I tell Alice. “Miles was just dropped off.”

“Call me if you need anything,” she says before hanging up.

I turn off the TV just as Miles pushes open the door with his overnight backpack slung over one shoulder. Emi must have picked him up from my parents’ house. When he notices that Arthur isn’t here, he tilts his head.

“Where’s Daddy?”

What do I tell him? That his father has another mate? That the whole country is watching our family fall apart? That things between his parents might be over—again?

“Daddy… had to stay somewhere else for a while,” I say, pulling him close. “Just for a bit.”

Miles looks confused. “Oh. Will he come back?”

The question makes me sick. Will he? Arthur promised to find a way to unbind himself from Veronica. He promised he’d come back to me, to us. But can he really do it? They already failed to do it twice, and after last night’s kiss…

“I hope so,” I finally say. “He’s trying to fix a problem right now, and when it’s fixed, he’ll come home.”

Miles seems to accept this, at least for the moment.

After that, the day passes in a haze. I keep my phone off and the TV unplugged, trying to create a semblance of normalcy for Miles. We make pancakes. We play with his train set. We laugh as Scout chases the laser pointer across the living room.

But over the next few days, that normalcy begins to fade, and Miles grows restless. Arthur doesn’t call. He doesn’t even text. I tell myself he’s busy trying to unbind himself from Veronica, but a small voice in the back of my mind wonders if he’s with her right now.

The news coverage gets worse by the day, too. Every channel seems to have a different “insider” claiming that Arthur and Veronica are star-crossed lovers. Some even suggest I’ve known about their connection all along and tried to sabotage it by bewitching Arthur into abandoning his true mate, and that my mate bond with him is a facade.

It’s like watching my life become a soap opera for all to speculate and obsess over.

By the fourth day, I’m almost used to it. Almost.

I take extra care getting Miles ready for school, even packing all of Miles’ favorite foods in his lunchbox. He’s been asking about Arthur nonstop, wanting to know when his father is coming home. And kids at school have been… talking.

“Tyler says you and Daddy hate each other,” Miles says glumly from his car seat as Emi drives us to Wellington. We can’t walk, not when reporters have been trying to speak to me every time I go out lately.

“Well, Tyler doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” I say firmly. Emi pulls up to the school and I get out, helping Miles out and adjusting his uniform. “And remember, if anyone says anything mean, you go right to your teacher.”

“I know, Mommy,” Miles says, shuffling his sneakers on the pavement.

With that, I pat him on the head and send him on his way. I watch until he has joined his classmates and filed into the building.

When I turn around to leave, I see them: the reporters. They’ve spotted me, and a horde of them is descending on me like vultures circling roadkill. Emi instantly rushes forward, putting her arm around me.

“Let’s get you back to the car, Miss Willford.”

I nod and follow her, but their questions reach my ears anyway.

“Iris! How do you feel about your husband’s affair?”

“Will you be stepping down as Luna?”

“Is it true you’ve kicked the President out of his own home?”

“Does Miles know his father has abandoned you?”

I ignore them all. Someone thrusts a microphone in my face, and I shove it away without thinking.

“No comment,” I say, over and over again. “No comment. No comment.”

Finally, Emi gets me to the car. But one reporter is particularly persistent. “Iris, the public has a right to know! How long have you been lying about your mate bond to Arthur? Is Miles even his son, or is that a lie, too?”

That’s when I snap. Despite Emi’s protests, I whirl around, my eyes shooting daggers at the reporter. “My family is not your entertainment,” I snap. “Leave us alone.”

The reporter’s eyes widen as they meet mine, and he takes an involuntary step back. “You…”

But it’s too late. Emi is ushering me into the car, slamming the door shut and flinging herself into the driver’s seat. And then we’re peeling away, leaving the crowd in the dust.

Emi glances at me in the rearview mirror. When I meet her gaze, my reflection briefly startles me—my eyes are blazing gold. Brighter than they ever have before.

It’s gone just as quickly as it came, though, leaving me confused and, most of all, exhausted.

By the time we arrive back at the apartment, I’ve nearly forgotten about the color of my eyes. I just want to get inside, where it’s safe, where I can paint and forget about the outside world until it’s time to pick Miles up from school.

Unfortunately, the universe has other plans. When Emi and I walk into the lobby, we find Cliff standing by the front desk, wringing his hands while a man in a dark suit stands beside him. The man steps forward, holding his hand out to me before Cliff can explain.

“Miss Willford,” the man says. “I’m Detective Harris. I’m here to ask you some questions about the incident at the Solstice Ceremony.”