Page 15 of The Truth Between

I thought about it for a second before I shook my head. “I’ll be having dinner alone tonight.”

“Very well. I’ll make sure she gets served.”

“Thank you and I’ll also take my dinner in my office.”

“Excellent, sir.”

With that, I left Franklin in the hallway and headed to my office to lock myself away from my thoughts of Parker’s revelation, which changed everything I thought I knew.

8

IRIS

My hand flew to my chest as my eyes popped open. It took me a second to realize that I was awake, still trapped in this dreary basement. The grogginess started to fade as my brain tried to piece together exactly what it was that caused me to wake up with such a start.

The creaking of the basement door brought my attention to the staircase. The sound signaled that someone was about to make their presence known, giving me little time to mentally prepare. Then again, could I ever be mentally prepared for this shit? Having spent days down here now, my loneliness only broken when Franklin brought me food, was starting to take its toll. But I refused to let them see what being down here was doing to me.

Soren Grant was determined to break me. And I wouldn’t let him.

This didn’t mean that every time I heard footsteps over my head or the basement door opening, my heart didn’t freeze before beating rapidly. There was a mixture of fear and anger bubbling beneath the surface, which I was forced to contain.

When the door opened and I heard the first couple of footsteps coming down the stairs, I knew it was Franklin bringing me breakfast. I’d gotten better at being able to tell the difference in their strides and the sounds of the steps that they took. When Franklin appeared at the foot of the stairs without a tray in his hands, I was confused.

Where was my food? Was Soren planning on starving me now?

Then Franklin looked up, his piercing eyes boring into me, making me wish that he would find some other place to look. “Mr. Grant wants you to eat breakfast with him this morning.”

“Do I need to—”

Franklin took a step closer to me and looked at me with a blank expression. “Mr. Grant did not give me any further instructions. He only said that he wants you to join him for breakfast.”

I had to take Franklin at his word, but I didn’t know what to make of this. Much like the shower incident, what was the catch here?

I wouldn’t find out unless I went along with this farce.

“Okay,” I said finally. “I’ll go.”

Franklin nodded and bent down at my feet to unchain my ankle. Then he turned around, signaling for me to follow him. I removed the blanket from my body and got up from the mattress to follow him up the stairs.

As I climbed the steps, I knew this was just another one of Soren’s games. I didn’t know what to expect, but I needed to keep cool no matter what happened.

Once we reached the top of the stairs, Franklin led me to the dining room, although I would have had no issue getting there on my own now if I were alone. I stepped into the room and noticed a similar setup as the day before. Soren was already seated at the head of the table, his eyes trained on me as I entered.

“Ah, Iris,” he greeted me. “How did you sleep last night?”

So, the games had already begun. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know how well I slept on a shitty mattress on the floor while being chained to a wall. “No complaints,” I said as I started to pull the chair out for me to sit in.

“No, I want you to sit right here. Next to me.”

Of course that’s what he wanted me to do. I bit back a sigh, instead choosing to take a deep breath to calm my emotions. I sat down in the chair to Soren’s left. We filled our plates and ate in silence until Soren spoke up.

Without looking up from his plate, he asked, “How is the food?”

The way he asked the question triggered me. His tone was condescending, and I couldn’t believe his audacity. Then again, I should have expected it, but apparently, controlling my temper wasn’t in the cards.

The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. “It’s great, but you make it seem like I should be grateful. Like, should I be begging you on my knees for not letting me starve?”

“There are reasons why I could see you being on your knees. Begging me for food isn’t one of them.”

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