Chapter 7
For a full thirty seconds, I simply stood there, mind blank with horror.
Then survival instincts kicked in.
"Okay. Okay. Breathe. He can hear me. That's fine. That's completely fine. I just need to never think again. Easy."
Ezra raised an eyebrow.
"Stop listening!" I screamed internally.
"I can't turn it off," he said, rubbing his temple. "Believe me—I've tried."
I grabbed my phone and typed furiously, shoving the screen in his face.
*SINCE WHEN. HOW. WHY. EXPLAIN IMMEDIATELY.*
He read it, sighed, and gestured to the couch. "Sit."
I didn't sit. I stood with arms crossed, vibrating with indignation.
"I don't know how," he admitted. "It started the moment we exchanged rings. Like a switch flipped. At first, I thought I was losing my mind."
He paused. "Then I realized the voice in my head was significantly more... colorful than my own thoughts."
I looked down at my wedding band. Simple platinum, antique setting. His family heirloom.
"The ring?" I thought.
"Possibly," he said. "I haven't exactly found a manual."
My mind raced. "So every time Serena was doing her little act—and I was ripping her apart in my head—"
"I heard all of it."
"And when I called Victor a—"
"Spineless jackal wearing a human suit? Yes. That one was vivid."
I could have melted into the floor.
But then—a new thought surfaced. Sharper. More calculated.
"You heard me. This whole time. You heard what they were doing to me—and you chose to step in."
Ezra met my eyes. Didn't deny it.
"You didn't just defend me because of some alliance. You defended me because you knew—you actually knew—I couldn't defend myself."
Something shifted in his expression. A crack in the ice.
"Iris," he said quietly, "I'm not the hero in this story."
He stood, moved toward his office. "But I'm not going to stand there and let them—"
His phone buzzed. He glanced at it. His face went hard.
"Serena just leaked photos to the press," he said flatly.
He turned the screen toward me.
The headline screamed: *"GOLD-DIGGING MUTE TRICKS WOLFE HEIR INTO MARRIAGE—LOVING SISTER SPEAKS OUT."*
Below it—a candid shot of me at the wedding, mouth open in a silent gasp that looked, in the wrong context, like I was screaming at Serena.
---
Then survival instincts kicked in.
"Okay. Okay. Breathe. He can hear me. That's fine. That's completely fine. I just need to never think again. Easy."
Ezra raised an eyebrow.
"Stop listening!" I screamed internally.
"I can't turn it off," he said, rubbing his temple. "Believe me—I've tried."
I grabbed my phone and typed furiously, shoving the screen in his face.
*SINCE WHEN. HOW. WHY. EXPLAIN IMMEDIATELY.*
He read it, sighed, and gestured to the couch. "Sit."
I didn't sit. I stood with arms crossed, vibrating with indignation.
"I don't know how," he admitted. "It started the moment we exchanged rings. Like a switch flipped. At first, I thought I was losing my mind."
He paused. "Then I realized the voice in my head was significantly more... colorful than my own thoughts."
I looked down at my wedding band. Simple platinum, antique setting. His family heirloom.
"The ring?" I thought.
"Possibly," he said. "I haven't exactly found a manual."
My mind raced. "So every time Serena was doing her little act—and I was ripping her apart in my head—"
"I heard all of it."
"And when I called Victor a—"
"Spineless jackal wearing a human suit? Yes. That one was vivid."
I could have melted into the floor.
But then—a new thought surfaced. Sharper. More calculated.
"You heard me. This whole time. You heard what they were doing to me—and you chose to step in."
Ezra met my eyes. Didn't deny it.
"You didn't just defend me because of some alliance. You defended me because you knew—you actually knew—I couldn't defend myself."
Something shifted in his expression. A crack in the ice.
"Iris," he said quietly, "I'm not the hero in this story."
He stood, moved toward his office. "But I'm not going to stand there and let them—"
His phone buzzed. He glanced at it. His face went hard.
"Serena just leaked photos to the press," he said flatly.
He turned the screen toward me.
The headline screamed: *"GOLD-DIGGING MUTE TRICKS WOLFE HEIR INTO MARRIAGE—LOVING SISTER SPEAKS OUT."*
Below it—a candid shot of me at the wedding, mouth open in a silent gasp that looked, in the wrong context, like I was screaming at Serena.
---