Teach me some manners

Chapter - 16

"Oh, come on, darling. She's twisting my words. That's not what I…"

"Shut up," she snapped, cutting him off with a glare that could slice through steel, "I will deal with you later."

Iris watched the exchange between them with mild amusement.

The middle aged lady turned her attention back to Iris, her lips curling into a sneer, "And you," she spat. "You think you are clever, don't you? Just because you have been given a place in this family doesn't mean you belong here."

Iris arched her brow, with a sneer, "Oh? And here I thought you would be thanking me Vivian for exposing your husband's unnecessarily wandering eyes before he embarrasses you in public." She sighed dramatically, "But I suppose denial is indeed a woman's best friend."

The wife's nostrils flared, "You little shit…"

"Careful," Iris interrupted smoothly, her smirk widening, "Losing your temper won't do much for your wrinkles."

"And look at you, Mr. Aldritch. A grown man with no spine, standing behind his wife like a backup dancer." Iris did not shy away from taking the two of them head on.

His face darkened, "Watch your mouth," Mr Aldritch muttered.

"Why?" Iris's voice turned sickly sweet. "Afraid I might say something too real? That maybe, just maybe you would have to face the fact that you are nothing but a trophy husband in this house."

Vivian, or one should say Mrs. Aldritch, let out a bitter laugh, "Don't try to turn this on us," she said. Her expression hardened, "You should remember where you came from— a street rat who got lucky." 

"If it wasn't for my mother's foolish soft heart, you would still be rotting in some shithole." 

"I have no doubt you have been manipulating her, just like you did twenty years ago, crawling your way into a life that was never meant for you."

Lucius who was enjoying the show till that moment suddenly looked curious. He didn't understand the history between the two women, but the tension in the room was easily visible. He felt the air grow heavy as Iris and Mrs. Aldritch clashed.

"I don't understand why my Mother keeps letting people like you drag themselves and the likes of yourself in this house." Mrs. Aldritch said, rolling her eyes. 

Iris's expression didn't change, but something flickered in her eyes, "Well it's funny coming from you," she said, her voice slowly losing the playfulness in it, "Last I checked, you are a fully grown woman still living under your momma's roof, not alone but with your good for nothing deadbeat husband as well."

Mrs. Aldritch gasped, her face confronting with anger, "You punk—"

Iris didn't stop there. She tilted her head, her gaze sliding back to Mr. Aldritch. "And you married into this family, living off your wife's name, her money, and still trying to act like you have a say in anything. It must be exhausting to pretend to be the man in whatever relationship you have." 

"Huhh… How do you live with that knowing everyone knows you are just a leech. A leech too painful to look at." Iris finally stopped with a big sigh.

Mr. Aldritch's face turned red. He opened his mouth but then shut it again. His fingers twitched, but he could do nothing.

Mrs. Aldritch stepped forward, her hands balling into fists, "You bitch, how dare you—"

"Now, if you will excuse me," Iris interrupted Vivian, "Some of us actually have important things to do."

With that, she strode away, leaving behind a fuming wife, a speechless husband. She had just won this round.

But just as he turned away, her gaze fell on Lucius who was still standing by the railing, looking down at all of them.

Her gaze locked with his as she asked, "Do you need anything?" her voice getting back to normal from before.

Lucius, still leaning against the railing, trying to study her emotions. He saw the frustration in her stance. "No…I'm fine," he replied.

Iris nodded, not pressing any further, "Dinner will be ready soon. I will have someone bring it to your room." With that, she turned away, heading outside without another glance at him or anyone else.

Lucius watched her go, his mind replaying the conversation he just witnessed. This house wasn't just a sweet cheesecake. Everyone here was fighting for a bite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking out of the house after butting her head with Vivian, Iris stepped into the garden for fresh air. As she slowly walked, her boots crunched against the gravel path.

A gentle breeze played with her hair, carrying the scent of the blooming jasmine. The first stars have started to peek through the slowly darkening sky.

"Huhhh…" She let out a long sigh, puffing her cheeks slightly. 

But no amount of sighing could relieve her of the prick she felt by Mrs. Aldritch's words, still stinging her like an annoying mosquito.

"Ugh," she groaned, stomping her foot lightly against the ground, "That woman never shuts up. Never!"

"Who does she think she is? Some kind of queen? As if I need her royal ass approval," she kicked a small pebble off the path, as she complained to herself, "She acts like she owns the world. Newsflash bitch, I run the world you live in!"

She let out an exaggerated, bitter laugh before shaking her head, her expression shifting into something between frustration and sheer disbelief.

Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists, then forced them to relax, slowly exhaling. Her gaze drifted back to the cold, indifferent stars, and her lips pursed into a small pout.

"Forget it," she mumbled, kicking at another pebble, "I don't care. I seriously don't. I mean, why should I? That bitch is nobody. Living off her mother's money and spending her days chasing young boys… Hehehe"

"She thinks I don't know."

"…But seriously, how can one person be so annoying?"

If anyone had seen her like this, standing alone in the garden, grumbling to herself like a sulky kitten, they might have thought they were hallucinating.

But even the cold and almighty Iris was in the end just a girl at heart, a girl with feelings that could be hurt.

And with that, she spun on her heel and walked back toward the house... still grumbling under her breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BANNGGG!!!

The door slammed open with a loud bang, rattling the walls as Cockroach stormed into the dimly lit room. 

His face was twisted in frustration, jaw clenched so tight that a vein pulsed angrily at his temple. Without uttering a word, he marched straight to the bar at the far end. 

He grabbed a half-empty bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass with shaky hands. Alcohol fell over the edges, but he didn't care. 

Without waiting for another second, he gulped the whole glass down in one go, and the burn he felt in his throat was nothing compared to the fire in his gut.

"Aghhhh" he exhaled sharply as he felt the alcohol hit him hard.

Behind him, a man entered quietly, shutting the door with far less aggression. He was Cockroach's close confidant, a man who knew better than anyone to speak when his boss was fuming.

The man didn't speak right away. He knew better. Instead, he waited, as he watched Cockroach refill his glass, and then Cockroach reached for a cigar. 

Soon, the room was filled with a sharp scent of tobacco as he took a deep drag from his cigar. After he had settled a bit, he leaned against the bar, gripping the edge like it was the only thing keeping him from smashing something.

A few moments passed before the man finally broke the silence. "I take it that the meeting didn't go well?"

Cockroach let out a hollow chuckle, shaking his head, "Oh, it went great… fucking great. if you consider being treated like a damn errand boy great." He took a deep drag from his cigar, his fingers tightening around the glass in his other hand. "Those people think they can dictate terms to me. Me?"

"For them I am just some low-level thug. That I don't know what's going on behind their backs." His fingers tightened around the cigar, "But I know. Oh, I know."

The man nodded as if anticipating it already, "They don't respect anyone but themselves. That much was expected."

"Expected?" Cockroach scoffed, gulping down another glass of drink. "They didn't just disrespect me. They made me look like a beggar. Like I was some fool groveling for scraps." His jaw tightened as he stared at the swirling smoke.

The man sighed, "That wouldn't have ended well."

Cockroach's eyes darkened, but before he could respond, the man continued carefully. "Besides, dealing with the Shadow Council is always like this."

The moment the words left his mouth, Cockroach turned sharply, his glare like a dagger.

"Don't say that name," he snapped. His voice was low, but the air in the room felt heavier.

The man lifted his hands slightly in surrender, "Fine."

A tense silence filled the room again. Cockroach took another slow drag from his cigar before exhaling through his nose.

After a moment, he looked at the man, "Forget them for now. What about that man?"

As the topic shifted, his expression turned uneasy, "About that…"

Cockroach narrowed his eyes, "What? You haven't found him yet?"

The man shifted slightly, clearly reluctant to continue. "We set up the meeting just like you asked. A quiet place, where no one could interrupt us. Somewhere we could handle things without interference." He swallowed. "But…" 

"But you let him slip away," Cockroach's grip tightened around his glass, "And now you have no lead to start with?"

The man exhaled slowly, "We underestimated him."

"We don't call him Draugr for nothing," Cockroach leaned back as he looked at the ceiling, "He will come back from the dead just to protect those he treasures."

"I don't care what it takes," he said, voice low and sharp, "Find him. I want to see his corpse."

The man gave a curt nod, knowing there was no room for argument.