Chapter 7

★★★★★

Gilbert stood at a distance, watching as Iris got carried into the car by Harrison. He folded his fists tight, feeling so angry and wishing he could do something about the situation but apparently, there was nothing to do.

Iris was gone from him.. forever.

But just as Harrison moved to the front seat after dropping her at the back, his face came into view and immediately, Gilbert recognised him!..

Who wouldn't recognise the son of the most popular billionaire in California, anyways?..

"Hey, move out of the way.." A man who was pushing a wheelbarrow behind him said.

Gilbert turned to the man immediately, intending to transfer aggression on him.

"What happened to the magic words, huh." He picked up an unnecessary oral fight. The man stared at him with a smirk and expression that portrayed his non-interest in the conversation..

Without a word in response, he pushed the wheel barrow, moving out of his sight but Gilbert was relentless..

Someone ought to pay for Iris' sins!..

Without giving even the slightest warning, he grabbed a handful of the man's cloth from behind, stopping him in his tracks with that.

"Please, excuse me, sorry, thank you, pardon me. Those are the magic words, you illiterate!" He said, raising his fists like he was about to punch him in the nose.

The man scoffed, wondering why he was this mad over a very simple issue.

"I never knew that the number of mad people in this country had increased already.. what the hell.." the man said, shaking his head sideways and increasing Gilbert's anger.

"You expired monkey robot!" Gilbert cussed angrily, bringing his folded fists closer to the man's nose with the intention to punch him hard till he lost his front teeth.

But just as he was about landing the punch on the man's nose, a car suddenly drove out of the empty street where Gilbert had taken iris to earlier, splashing water on them due to how fast it was moving..

"What the –"

Gilbert's intention to curse got short-lived when his eyes caught the moving car.

He blinked repeatedly like a doll, letting go of the man he was holding immediately.

"1FF3—" he squinted his eyes to read the plate numbers but his voice suddenly trailed off on its own as his predictions got confirmed.

" Damn!!!!!!" he screamed loudly.

"My car!!" he shouted again and began running after the car which he had confirmed to have been stolen..

"Mad man.." the man with the wheelbarrow chuckled..

•

•A FEW HOURS LATER, ALIVE HOSPITALS•

Iris' eyes stirred repeatedly, seeming like it would be opening anytime soon. She felt a sticky plaster on her hand and the gentle tug of wires attached to her body while her brain replayed the scene that happened at the abandoned house with Gilbert, not long ago..

"Leave me alone, it's disgusting.." She mumbled, still not fully conscious yet..

Harrison immediately turned to her, getting attracted by the voice. He had been operating on his laptop before now and she has been unconscious for more than three hours.

He was actually allergic to the smell of hospitals so from the accident scene, he took her to house after calling his private doctor with the claims that it was an emergent situation.

"You're awake?.." he muttered, getting up from the chair where he was seated and walking over to the king-sized bed of his, where she was laid.

"Save me.." another mumble came from her and this time, a tear from the corner of her eyes followed.. just like the way it happened when he almost hit her.

Harrison let out a breath..

"Well you're safe now, you can open your eyes" he said in response to her previous plea.

That statement, as if magical, made her eyes flung open immediately and the first thing she met was an unfamiliar ceiling..

"Are you okay??.." Harrison asked and she turned to see who owned the voice, still having the fear that she had during the hot chase, in her..

She sat up immediately on seeing a male figure right beside her on the bed and at that instant, Gilbert's image was all she could see on Harrison's face..

"Noo… stay away from me.." she said breathlessly, shifting away from him in fear.

"Uh?.. " Harrison muttered confusedly, shifting closer to her.

The dread was still in Iris so all she kept seeing was Gilbert with his sinister smirk.

"I can't do it, I'm going to die!" She screamed, getting up from the bed immediately.

"Is she.. a psychopath?" Harrison thought in surprise.

"She seems traumatized" He thought again.

"You aren't my father, are you?.. I should have known that when you started seeming suspicious!" Iris said again in a rush, forcefully disconnecting all wires connected to her and hurting herself in the process.

"That's going to hurt you deeply!" he said, referring to the drip's needle which she was trying to force out of her skin and immediately, he got up from the bed, walking to her without minding her last statement.

"Don't come closer" iris said before he could get to her, moving backwards steadily. She picked up a fork which she swiftly caught a glimpse of, on the drawer, pointing it towards him with threatening looks as she kept seeing Gilbert. Just him.

"Drop the fork. I have no bad intentions.." Harrison said with sincerity and Iris' head began aching badly for a reason she couldn't tell.

"Don't!.." she managed to yell again when he took more steps forward.

He sighed..

"Stop all these and at least, hear me out!" He raised his voice a bit, getting so frustrated by the whole drama.

However, it was quite successful..

His words made her tension reduce a bit but somehow, it increased her confusion..

Of course, Gilbert would never utter words like that except some nasty demands spewed out with an authoritative tone.

But why was he looking exactly like Gilbert then?....

Noticing that she said or did nothing challenging again, Harrison decided to speak further..

"Listen, if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have brought you to my house after you fainted on the road!" he said, trying hard to sound convincing enough.

"Right, I should have taken you to the hospital but my allergy wasn't supportive a single bit so I brought you here after contacting my doctor. Obviously, you were receiving treatments before you woke up, does that seem like the intentions of someone cruel?.." he added again..

As if those words had some magical powers, Gilbert's image immediately vanished from Harrison's face, leaving him to his real looks .

The fork dropped from Iris hands immediately and her breathlessness slowly reverted back to normal..

"I.. I…" she stuttered, saying nothing meaningful while staring in surprise..

What a nightmarish hallucination!!

More memories began coming and this time, she could vividly remember how she fainted with the fear of being hit by an oncoming car..

How she begged to be saved after seeing his flawless face for just a second.

She immediately regretted the actions she had just made, feeling quite embarrassed too.

"I should have rubbed my eyes well upon waking up." she thought.

"I'm sorry .." she said, still a bit breathless. Harrison sighed in relief..

"I mistook you for my dad who wanted to take advantage of me.." she admitted, clearing Harrison's initial prediction of her being a psychopath.

"Your dad?.." he asked in shock.

"That's what he claimed" iris muttered simply..

"That's terrible.." Harrison said, feeling so surprised.

"Thanks for saving me.. " she said again and he smiled without realizing, finding the pout her lips made as she spoke, cute.

"I owe you that. I almost hit you" he said and she pressed her lips together, trying to avoid locking eyes with him.

He looked so perfect in cuteness and she knew without being told that locking eyes with him would give her some nasty feeling..

"Are you fine now?.." he asked and she nodded slowly..

"Yes.." she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"And what's your name?.." he asked, seeming so interested in knowing more about her.

He really couldn't tell if he was sane or not because he had been behaving abnormally since the encounter on the road.

First it was bringing her into his room which he had never done to anyone, even the maids, except Gina though.

Second, he was so worried about her that he even watched her for two hours before resuming his operation on his laptop..

And now, it's asking her name..

This wasn't the normal Harrison Brooks!!..

"Huh.." Iris voiced, having no idea what her name is for the first few seconds.

"You are Velvet Strauss" the words Nina said to her when she demanded for her name after losing her memories, rang in her ears.

"I'm Velvet. Velvet Strauss" she replied, almost stuttering..

"I'm Austen James Brooks' first son, Harrison Eun-jo Brooks.." Harrison said, extending his white hand for a handshake..

Her hands moved on their own in an attempt to receive the handshake but there was this particular feeling that seemed to threaten her wellbeing..

'Harrison Brooks' that name echoed repeatedly in her head and she felt an ache creeping into her head..

"What?.." Harrison asked, noticing the distress in her.

"Arrgh.." she winced, feeling an increment in the pain in her head.

At that moment, Flashes of blur images like a slideshow on fast forward, snippets of inaudible conversations like half-remembered dreams…. All flooded her head but nothing seemed meaningful to her..

Instead, the headache kept increasing.

Blood rolled out freely from her nostrils and before she could fall to the ground, Harrison caught her immediately..

However, he wasn't so balanced on his feet and so, her weight made him lose balance completely, making them fall on the bed together..

That wasn't just it..

The fall made her land on top of him and their lips touched..

Harrison's eyes widened immediately but Iris couldn't do anything, including moving away…

She felt so weak to do so due to the effect of hee aching head and so, she remained on him, wincing silently at the effects of her throbbing headache..

Harrison proceeded to disconnect their lips but before he could do anything, the door opened immediately..

"Harrison, what's the meaning of that nonsense act you did at the family meeting?!.." a familiar voice filled his ears and his eyes widened more..

That was his father!..

Of course!!..

His father met Iris and him in that position!!

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