CHAPTER 51: 51-THE DEVIL-IN-LAWS

Iris:

I watched Kash leave in a hurry, probably because he missed Lara.

I stood silently for a few seconds before turning back and walking inside the room where my kids were.

The two of them watched my face with hopeful eyes.

I rubbed my palms anxiously before joining them on the bed.

"Your daddy has some important work, and he really needed to go," I explained as I sat down.

I noticed their smiles fade instantly.

"Even when daddy knows I’m sick? Daddies usually stay awake by their children’s beds when they are sick. Our daddy won’t do it?" Colin questioned, his little voice stirring something in my chest.

I forced a smile and reached to caress his cheek, but he pulled away.

"I’m tired. I’ll go to bed now," he muttered, looking upset.

Once he lay down, I watched Amy crawl under the covers too.

"Why are you two upset? You have your mommy. Hasn’t she stayed beside your bed when you were sick before?" I asked softly, running my hand over my son’s blanket.

"You have. But that’s why we wanted daddy because then who will take care of mommy when she gets sick?" Colin mumbled from under the blanket.

"You two will. I trust you more than anyone in the world," I replied.

The minute I said that, Colin pushed the blanket aside and smiled.

"I can take care of you," he said proudly.

"And I can too," Amy added.

I giggled as they jumped off their beds and hugged me.

After a while, I finally put them to sleep again.

When I walked out of the room, I saw my mother sitting in the living room, holding a glass of wine.

"The Blue River cannot bring happiness to any of us," I stated, walking to the table and sitting across from her.

She stared into the distance.

"Yeah, I heard," my mother replied, taking a sip and still avoiding my eyes.

"But it’s not my children’s fault. So why won’t you unlink my son from your son now?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm though it felt like pleading.

I hated that feeling.

She took another sip, scoffing to herself as if a thought had just come to her.

"Iris, I have sad news for you," she said finally, putting her glass down and looking at me for the first time.

"I don’t know how to unlink the two without using the blue water," she admitted.

The minute she said that, it felt as if my soul left my body.

"So it’s either the blue water really works, or one of the boys dies. Either way, my son will never be free from the illness. And for your one to survive, my son will have to die. Which, you know, I’ll never let happen," she finished.

Her words felt like tiny needles pressing into my skin.

"Why did you do that?" I yelled, sitting up and clenching my fists.

My body started to shake from anger as big tears rolled down my cheeks.

"You know why I did it. Now go and find a way to test the waters yourself because I don’t trust your man," she snapped.

She got up, shrugged, and started walking away.

"Maybe once he realizes the water is needed for his son, he’ll finally put in some effort to figure out how to use it to cure the illness," my mother said before walking into her room.

She slammed the door shut while I stayed sitting, my face burning with anger.

My phone rang, snapping me out of my thoughts. I was glad it did, otherwise, I felt my head might explode.

I looked down at the phone on the side table and saw Kash’s name appear on the screen.

Ex-husband calling....

"Is Colin okay?" That was the first thing he asked.

I scoffed, wiping a tear from my cheek with my finger.

"Why do you care? Focus on your girlfriend," I replied and hung up.

He started calling again and again, but I didn’t answer.

I hated people who gave me the bare minimum, and now the father of my children was doing the same.

I went to my room and fell asleep with much difficulty, but I forced myself to rest because tomorrow was the weekend, and I wanted to wake up when my kids did.

However, it seemed my mother had different plans.

She was really testing my patience, because if I ever retaliated, she had one simple way to ruin me, by waking up her son.

I didn’t even know where he was, but if he woke up, it would mean my son would be in unbearable pain.

I wasn’t sure how much more my little boy could tolerate.

I woke up to the sound of my mother yelling outside, mostly at Scarlett, telling her what kind of breakfast she wanted.

By the time I had taken a shower and changed into blue jeans and a loose white T-shirt, I realized there were guests at home.

When I walked into the living room, I froze. Zoe and my ex-mother-in-law were sitting there with my mother.

At that point, it no longer seemed like she was doing it for her son, but rather to hurt me.

The minute they saw me, the same cruel look returned to their faces, while my mother turned to me with a smile.

"Mother, what’s going on here?" I asked, avoiding the two without even greeting them.

My fists clenched as I turned to face her.

All the dark thoughts and memories rushed back the moment I saw them again.

The same cruel look lingered on the faces of Zoe and Lady Vivian.

To me, they were demons in human form.

I remembered when I told them their son was cheating and how they reacted.

They grabbed me without care and threw me out, showing no concern for me at all.

And now they were back, but for what?

To meet their son’s children?

The children I gave birth to, the children I raised.

"They’ve come here to meet the children," my mother stated, her eyes gleaming with fake happiness.

She was taking things too far, bringing all my enemies back into my life.