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I forced myself to remember why I’d come here. It wasn’t to make friends or establish authority; it was to get something that would help in some small way to address the damage my family had caused.
“I want money for rehab centres.”
Her face contorted as she twisted to look up at me. “What rehab centres?”
Vivian’s face flashed across my eyelids reminding me of her sister. “We can’t let these innocent people live with an opioid addiction that we’ve caused. We have to help them.”
Iris’s eyebrows shot up. “Did we force the stuff down their necks?”
“No…”
“Then we didn’t cause anything.” A think vein appeared at the side of her face – a tell-tale sign her patience was running thin. “They took it entirely of their own volition…” Her eyes narrowed into bullets, just like Ossian’s. “Because they were weak.”
“That’s not true,” I replied.
“Only weak people take drugs, dear boy. Only weak people need painkillers and mood enhancers.”
I couldn’t believe she could be so openly evil. And she wasn’t budging. None of them were. She was like a puppet master, making them all perform to her bidding. I realised then, I had no other options. I had to speak my truth.
“This is why you stole us,” I said, quietly.
Despite her icy exterior, Iris suddenly looked as though I’d slapped her. “What are you talking about?”
Since the Consortium – or Iris – wasn’t going to fund the rehab centres, there was nothing more I needed from them. I had nothing left to lose.
“Me and Hector.” I glared at her darkly, and her gaze dropped to my fingers curling tightly around the back of the chair. “You stole us as babies.”
The room fell deathly silent and all eyes swivelled to me and my so-called mother.
I ignored them and focused on her. “Is that because you knew Ossian would be weak too? You were hedging your bets? You thought if Ossian failed, you at least had me and Hector to fill his place.”
“Rupert, have you gone mad, dear? You’re not making any sense.”
“I’m making total sense, I snapped. “I have the proof. Whose names are on our birth certificates, Iris?” I leaned in towards her, obliterating all sight of anyone else in the room.
“Mine and your father’s of course.” She released a nervous chuckle and flashed her eyes past me to the gathered Consortium members.
“No, they are not,” I said, slowly. “Our parents’ names are Enid and Robert Winters.”
A loud gasp echoed at the far end of the room and I straightened, still piercing her with a glare. “That’s right, isn’t it? You stole me and Hector from a poor island family and sent them away so that no one would ever find out.”
“Iris…” someone whispered from a few chairs away.
“Is this true?” Andrew Cartwright stood and shot a deep frown at Iris. It was the first time my new father-in-law had spoken since I entered the room.
Iris’s gaze flickered between me and Andrew. “N-no, of course it isn’t true,” she said, then rounded on me. “Now stop this, Rupert.” Her eyes narrowed only on me. “Don’t forget how much we’ve done for you, and how much you have to lose.”
“Ah, but that’s the thing isn’t it, Iris? I don’t have anything to lose, do I? None of the Thorn estate has been left to me or to Hector. We don’t factor anywhere on Sinclair’s will. I have nothing.”
Miles looked across the table. “Dex, is that true?”
Dexter held his palms up. “I can’t discuss private client matters.”
“But this is serious,” Miles said. “If it’s true, it calls into question Iris Thorn’s integrity and we should consider removing her from the Consortium, or the caretaker position at the very least.”
“Pah,” Iris suddenly cackled to life. “You can’t remove me from anything,” she hissed. “It’s written into the manifesto. I will serve this Consortium as its caretaker until the day I die. But it’s good to know where your loyalty lies, Miles.”
“Dexter can have you removed,” Anthony said. I noticed Elspeth’s father kept quiet. It wouldn’t serve him to remove Iris because what would that mean for him? That his daughter had been married off to a nobody? Or worse, a former member of a disgraced family? I looked to Dexter expecting to see an expression of deep thought and conflict but instead he was staring thin-eyed at me.
