Don’t Drink

For most of the guests, Iris was easier to accuse than believe.

She was young. She was poor. She was visibly frightened. She had a torn lip, a bleeding cheek, and hands rough from work, not from tennis or piano lessons. In a room like Waverly Court, fear was often treated as guilt when it came from the wrong person.

Beatrice turned that instinct into a weapon.

“She has been strange all evening,” she said, breath quick but voice polished. “She stared at our table. She came too close. Sebastian, she could have injured you.”

Iris almost laughed, but nothing came out.

She had just knocked poison away from his mouth, and the bride was worried about etiquette.

Sebastian did not answer immediately. He looked down at the spill spreading across the marble. The orange stain had reached the edge of Beatrice’s white hem. She stepped away from it as if truth were dirty.

“Iris,” he said, surprising her by knowing her name. “What did you see?”

The room shifted. The groom’s voice was low, but it carried better than Beatrice’s outrage.

Iris looked toward the service arch. The assistant manager stood there, pale and useless, already deciding which version of events would save his job.

“A hand,” Iris said. “Near your glass. I could not see the face.”

Beatrice laughed, but it cracked at the edges.

“A hand,” she repeated. “That is your evidence?”

“No,” Iris whispered.

She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out her phone.

Her fingers were slick with sweat. The screen glowed in the chandelier light. The image was blurred because she had filmed while pretending to gather empty plates. There was no readable data. No clear name. No face clean enough to hang a charge on.

But there was movement.

A figure leaned over the table. A hand hovered above Sebastian’s juice. Something small disappeared into the glass.

The sound of the ballroom changed from judgment to hunger.

People leaned in.

Sebastian took the phone from Iris. His mouth tightened as he replayed the clip. Once. Twice.

Beatrice’s eyes did not go to the screen.

They went to Iris.

And for the first time, Iris saw fear inside the bride’s anger.

Sebastian saw it too.