CHAPTER 150: CHAPTER 150: HAVE A SON, LET HIM TAKE MY SURNAME

Iris Crawford was so startled by Lachlan Wyatt’s actions that her face turned pale. Her wound had not yet healed, and in her current state of emotional excitement, the scab on her neck slightly cracked open again. As Lachlan bent down to examine her knife wound, he couldn’t help but squint his eyes.

Loosening his grip slightly on Iris’s fingers, Lachlan looked at his elder brother, "Is there really any need to be so forceful at this late hour?"

"Is it truly being forceful, or is she hiding something?"

Dante was surprised to see Lachlan step in. His younger brother had always been indifferent to authority, yet he had never been so openly confrontational. And now, for a woman...

In The Royal Palace, bloodline has always been more important than any woman. Naturally, Dante would place the blame on Iris and lowered his voice, "Lachlan, do you know what this woman has been through in the past?"

If this woman is tainted, then marrying into the Royal Family is nothing but a pipe dream!

Dante carefully scrutinized Iris, not expecting Lachlan to ignore his question. Instead, Lachlan kicked the shards of glass aside and pulled Iris out of the bathroom. He took off his zip-up hoodie and draped it over Iris, saying coldly, "Get your bedroom repaired by the servants; you can stay in mine tonight."

Dante called out to Lachlan, "Since when does the future Princess stay with you?"

Lachlan laughed, "Aren’t you the one who thinks your future Princess is unclean? She may be unclean, but I’m heartless, so staying at my place seems fitting."

In this instance, Dante found himself backtracking on an idea that hadn’t panned out as he’d hoped. He did want to find out about Iris Crawford’s past, but Lachlan seemed to ack_FP3y⟩no_FP12.Pendd knowledge of that! If things went on like this, he’d be stuck spending the rest of his life with a woman he deemed unclean. FP%t wasn’t right. He felt his brow furrowin⟩as he sleevelde development slipping out of hidl confessed under his breath, "There’s plenty of guest rooms..."

"None are ready," Lachlan glanced back at his brother, "Why should we let my sister-in-law stay somewhere unkempt?"

This remark was dripping with sarcasm!

Dante was left speechless by Lachlan’s retort. Just then, Raymond peeked in, "Your Highness, I heard a commotion. What’s going on in here?"

"Just in time, clean up this mess..." Dante agitatedly rubbed his brow, gesturing around at the chaos, "And prepare another guest room."

Lachlan moved swiftly. By the time they reached his room’s door, he paused only briefly before pushing it open.

Iris was stunned.

Lachlan’s room style clashed starkly with the grandeur of The Royal Palace. The outside was lavish and colorful, but his room was separate, an exception.

Simplicity at its extreme in black, white, and gray, with sharp, clear lines in the decor — even the bedsheets had no patterns.

Iris opened her mouth but somehow felt her wound begin to ache again, "This is your... room?"

Lachlan nodded to himself, touched a button on the wall, and the room lit up, allowing Iris to see all the interior decor.

The decor was as simple as could be, vastly different from Lachlan’s usual ostentatious style.

Iris instinctively reached for a device by the door. Lachlan said, "That’s an infrared detector I made myself. Don’t break it; it’s worth tens of thousands."

"..."

So all the money went into that, huh.

Lachlan led her to sit on the sofa, taking out a small first-aid kit from a drawer filled with seldom-used but emergency medical supplies. He opened an iodine bottle, dipped a new cotton swab in it, and told Iris, "Tilt your head."

Iris tilted her head towards him.

Lachlan clicked his tongue, "Clumsier than a robot vacuum cleaner; turn the other way." But the corners of his mouth distinctly lifted.

"Oh."

Iris obediently tilted her head the other way, revealing the wound on her neck.

Lachlan used the iodine to disinfect her reopened wound again. Noticing the stitches, his gaze deepened, "It will leave a scar."

"One more scar won’t make a difference."

Iris pointed to her abdomen, "There’s one here too."

For a nice young woman, how could there be so many scars? For a girl who loves beauty, it’s a tremendous blow.

"Shall I find someone to help you with it...?"

"No need."

But Lachlan had forgotten, Iris was not just a typical girl obsessed with beauty.

Her eyes shone so brightly as if a sun resided in them.

She said, "This is a badge of honor."

After treating Iris’s wound, Lachlan flipped his quilt, telling her, "You’ll sleep here tonight."

"What about you?"

"I’ll sleep on the streets." Lachlan smiled with lofty arrogance, as if he had bestowed a great favor on her, "If you’re kind, you can let me stay with you."

Iris pointed at the door, "Get lost!"

"..."

Lachlan gritted his teeth; he knew Iris’s temper, soft-hearted and unyielding!

Fine, fine, he’d leave. He was the best at leaving!

He would leave tonight and return tomorrow!

Come and go as he pleased!

As Lachlan reached the door, Iris called out, "Wait..."

Soft-hearted?

Lachlan’s eyes twinkled with excitement, dirty and lascivious like a pervert, "Little girl, feeling lonely at night and can’t let brother go? Brother is here..."

The man undid three buttons in a second and was about to fling his shirt off and jump onto the bed, but a pillow flew off the bed and hit him in the face. Iris, expressionless, said, "It’s cold outside, worried you won’t sleep well, so here’s an extra pillow for comfort."

And with that, she tilted her chin, "Alright, you can go now."

"..." Whose heroine is she? Please take her away before I can’t handle it anymore.

******

The next morning when Iris awoke, as expected, she saw a familiar face by the bedside. Lachlan appeared as if he had never left, sitting composedly at the bedside, one hand under his chin. His defiant face seemed sharply defined against the backdrop of sunlight.

Iris was momentarily dazed, almost doubting whether Lachlan had truly left the room last night.

"How did you silently appear here?"

"You sleep like a log." Lachlan Wyatt tucked the blanket around her, "Seems like your medication has some sedative components."

Indeed, Iris Crawford had been in the hospital for a week, her complexion worsening the longer she stayed. She was plagued by nightmares, constantly repeating the scene of colliding with a blade.

Over and over, like she was bound to some inescapable contract in her dreams, she repeatedly experienced that fear and pain.

Yet now, for some reason, lying in Lachlan Wyatt’s bedroom, she didn’t have nightmares for the first time.

That’s why the doctor added extra sedatives to help her sleep a little better.

"You look a bit better than before." Lachlan Wyatt’s tone was still somewhat numb, but there was a hint more of concern than before. Iris Crawford pointed at herself in shock, "You’re taking care of me?"

Lachlan Wyatt snorted through his nose, "Take care of you? Did you get your brain knocked loose?"

Iris Crawford’s face turned pale, and Lachlan Wyatt realized he went too far. After a while, he said, "I’m just hoping you get better soon. Otherwise, my brother would be lonely guarding an empty house."

"Why do you always have to say such unpleasant things?"

Iris Crawford said, "Shut up, I don’t want to hear it."

"..." Alright then. Lachlan Wyatt obediently closed his mouth, but after a while, he started doing sign language at the side. Iris Crawford couldn’t understand it after watching for a while, "You’d better just speak."

Lachlan Wyatt said, "I brought Seraphina Colbert over for you."

Iris Crawford’s eyes lit up, "Really?"

Lachlan Wyatt felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at by her shining expression and turned his face away, "Yeah, weren’t you bored alone? Plus, the doctor said you were having nightmares, so I thought having your best friend around would help. Right now, Seraphina Colbert should be..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a rush of footsteps at the door, and Steven Rhodes was stopping them, "Wait a minute, Colbert, Iris Crawford should still be sleeping."

"Sleeping? I’ll sleep with her!"

With a clang, someone bounced in from outside, and when they saw Iris Crawford sitting pale on the bed, they paused, and the next moment their eyes turned red, "Iris Crawford!"

With a thud, they hugged Seraphina Colbert tightly.

Iris Crawford hadn’t been hugged so fully for a long time, it felt like hugging the whole world.

The friendship between girls is truly beautiful.

"You fool, if Lachlan Wyatt hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known anything." Seraphina Colbert pouted woefully, as if holding something back, "You were so badly hurt! I learned from the newspaper that the crime organization was eliminated; it said it was a joint effort by our country and The Kingdom of L. But there’s no report about you, maybe to protect you. I don’t understand. But you’re the savior, Iris Crawford, you’re our savior!"

Seraphina Colbert had been sold overseas by them, and if not for Jude Hawthorne "rescuing" her, Seraphina might not be alive now.

How many people have such courage and bravery?

If it were Iris Crawford, she might not make the exact same choices and actions again.

At the moment of colliding with the blade, what flashed through her mind? It was the cries for help of the vulnerable, the hopeless weeping of victims’ families, and their inhumane laughter—

There are always people in this world worth risking everything for.

Iris Crawford took a deep breath, "We are a community of shared destiny. Risking life for you is equal to doing it for myself."

Lachlan Wyatt heard this from the side and, for once, curled his lips and raised an eyebrow.

Seraphina Colbert wiped a tear, "Silvan Caine brought me here. He seems to know the First Prince of The Kingdom of L, and Lachlan invited him. So he brought me along en route."

"Huh?" Iris Crawford didn’t expect Silvan Caine to be involved. She looked up and saw standing at the door during her and Seraphina Colbert’s moment of sisterhood was a handsome mixed-blood guy who was being completely ignored.

Silvan Caine pointed at himself, grinning cheekily, "What, no warm welcome? I’m a distinguished guest after all."

Iris Crawford chuckled coldly, "Not welcome. Steven, send Young Master Thorne back."

Steven, not knowing who Silvan Caine was, responded to Iris Crawford’s orders as commands and made a gesture of invitation to show Silvan Caine out.

Silvan Caine was about to explode with anger. Even after nearly dying at the blade, Iris Crawford woke up still not giving anyone face with her domineering style, which almost made him furious to death. So, he said, "Lachlan! Control her!"

"I can’t control her now, I’m his sister-in-law." Iris Crawford pulled Seraphina Colbert behind her, "In what capacity did you bring her here?"

"She used to be undocumented in The Kingdom of L. If she wanted to come, her brother James Chesterton had to step in. But since James was busy in The Kingdom of L with no time, I solved these issues and brought her over." Silvan Caine crossed his arms and sneered, "As for the price... I haven’t thought of it yet. I’ll ask her when I come up with an appropriate benefit. How about it, Seraphina Colbert, you give me a son?"

Iris Crawford’s brow twitched, "Sure, give birth, and let the son take my surname, go to hell."

"..."

Lachlan Wyatt was silent for a long time before he asked, "Jude Hawthorne? Did you have his permission when you came?"

Jude Hawthorne.

The mention of the name made Seraphina Colbert’s lashes tremble.

Iris Crawford sensed something was wrong, "Is Jude Hawthorne giving you trouble again?"

Seraphina Colbert shook her head, "No, it’s just that... he hasn’t reached out for a long time. Maybe there’s no connection between us anymore. Iris Crawford, let’s not mention Jude Hawthorne next time."

"So generous, Jude Hawthorne treats you like that and you just let it go?" Silvan Caine’s tone was mocking, "But when I suggest you get pregnant, you bring your best friend along, ready to kill my entire family."

"What do you mean by just get pregnant?"

Iris Crawford wanted to slam the table, but Silvan Caine only got more animated, "Isn’t it true! Compared to Jude Hawthorne, my actions are negligible. Seraphina Colbert, do you dare confront Jude Hawthorne!"

Seraphina Colbert’s fingers clutched together, wanting to say something but unable to.

Jude Hawthorne had given her a second life, yet this life couldn’t escape suffering.

In the hands of a crime syndicate, or in Jude Hawthorne’s hands, which is easier?

Closing her eyes, Seraphina Colbert smiled self-deprecatingly, Jude Hawthorne, did you save me, or destroy me again?

But Iris Crawford said, "The pot is calling the kettle black, Jude Hawthorne is no saint, and neither are you! All you think about is reproduction. Why don’t you just donate your sperm to a sperm bank and spread your seed all over the world!"

Silvan Caine turned red in the face from Iris Crawford’s cutting words, "Jude Hawthorne might be silent now, but that implies he’s tacitly allowed Seraphina Colbert to be with me! Do you understand! So what’s wrong with her giving me a son! Aren’t you women typically quite fertile! Just carelessly pop one out, that’s how Mother Earth’s title came to be, isn’t it!"

Oh, the anger! How can a man be so ignorant and vile!

Iris Crawford, unable to bear it, "Lachlan, throw Silvan Caine out!"

Lachlan Wyatt casually unscrewed a hunting rifle decoration on the wall, loading it with a numb expression in front of Silvan Caine, pointing the thick barrel at him.

"..." Silvan Caine suddenly remembered they were in The Kingdom of L.