The Iris Pin

The Iris Pin

Stacey Steele · Ongoing · 40.9k Words

842
Hot
842
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Nineteen-year-old Iris Maxwell has always known exactly who she is: a scholarship student fighting her way through design school, devoted daughter to the adoptive parents who found her abandoned at a fire station, and fierce protector of her four younger brothers. With nothing but raw talent and relentless determination, she's determined to build a fashion empire from scratch, no connections, no trust fund, just hard work.
When Iris wins the prestigious Metropolitan Design Challenge, she catches the attention of Tony, a mysterious business student who offers to help with her startup plans. Their coffee shop meetings crackle with unspoken tension and possibility, but Tony harbours secrets of his own. As the heir to the Kennedy fortune, he's trapped between family expectations and his growing feelings for the brilliant designer who refuses to rely on anyone but herself.
Everything changes when Iris enters the Lawson competition, a design contest worth fifty thousand dollars, hosted in memory of Roxanne Lawson, an heiress who vanished twenty years ago. The missing girl shares Iris's birthday, and Tony's strange reaction to this detail hints at connections neither of them fully understands.
As Iris races to complete her collection, she must navigate the cutthroat world of high fashion, the complexities of falling for someone from a different world, and the unsettling possibility that the iris pin she was found with might be the key to a past she never knew existed. Some coincidences are too perfect to be accidents, and some secrets are too dangerous to stay buried.
A contemporary romance about ambition, identity, and the courage to claim your destiny, no matter who you were born to be.

Chapter 1

Iris was sitting on the benches and table of the college grounds, working on her pieces for her design course. She had been working on them for months, and they were getting closer by the day. She wanted to help her adoptive family after they took her in as a newborn and helped raise her four younger adoptive twin brothers.

Alongside her college work, she was working on some competition pieces that she hoped would help not only her family, if she won to set up the groundwork for her own design house that not only was clothing but the accessories as well.

Iris kept to herself at 19; she knew no one, as she was on scholarship, and most of the kids in this college were here thanks to their daddies' money.

“Oh, sorry, Miss, would you mind if I sit at this table with you?” A male voice came from behind her.

Iris glanced up from her sketches, her pencil hesitating mid-stroke. She hadn't expected anyone to approach her table—most students avoided her focused intensity like she carried some contagious disease. She scanned the stranger quickly: average height, casually dressed in jeans and a plain t-shirt that had seen better days. Nothing about him screamed "trust fund baby."

"Sure," she said, her tone cooler than she intended. She shifted her papers to make room, careful to cover her most promising designs with her arm. "Just don't bump the table. These sketches took hours."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied, setting down a worn backpack and taking the seat across from her. "I'm Tony, by the way."

Iris nodded but didn't offer her name in return. She bent her head back to her work, hoping he would take the hint that she wasn't interested in conversation. She needed to finish this sketch before her evening shift at the café.

"Those look incredible," Tony said after a minute of silence.

Iris's head snapped up. He was looking at her jewellery pieces with genuine curiosity, not the dismissive glance most people gave her work.

"Thanks," she said, surprised enough to forget her usual guardedness. "It's for my final portfolio."

“And those ones?” Tony asked, “Those designs are high-end.”

“Ah, they’re for an upcoming design competition I was hoping to enter, but these sorts of industries are more about who you know than how good the designs are. I’ve been saving to start my own design house, and if I can make enough waves, maybe even buy my parents a house of their own. They’ve done a lot for me and my four younger brothers.”

Tony's eyebrows rose slightly. "Four younger brothers? That's quite a household."

Iris felt the familiar tightening in her chest whenever someone commented on her family situation. She never knew whether people were genuinely interested or just making polite conversation before moving on. She studied Tony's face for signs of insincerity but found none.

"Twin sets. They're a handful, but worth it," she said, allowing a small smile to soften her features. "My parents took me in when I was just days old. They didn't have to, but they did."

She immediately regretted sharing that detail. Why was she telling this stranger about her adoption? She never discussed personal matters with classmates. Iris turned her attention back to her sketches, adding a delicate filigree pattern to a pendant design.

"That's really admirable, what you're trying to do for them," Tony said after a moment. He didn't push for more details, which Iris appreciated.

She shrugged, keeping her eyes on her work. "They'd do the same for me. They already have."

Tony pulled out a battered laptop and opened it, seemingly content to work in silence. The lack of forced small talk was refreshing. Most people who approached her either wanted something or couldn't handle the quiet.

After twenty minutes of companionable silence, Iris's phone alarm buzzed. She needed to pack up for her shift at Café Meridian.

"I've got to go," she said, carefully sliding her designs into a reinforced portfolio case.

"Sure," Tony nodded, glancing up from his screen. "Good luck with the competition. Your work is really something."

There was something in his tone, a genuine appreciation without the condescension she often detected from others at the college. For a second, Iris hesitated, wondering if she should say more.

"Thanks. I'm Iris, by the way." She offered her name like a small gift.

"Nice to meet you, Iris." He smiled, and for some reason, it didn't trigger her usual defences.

Three weeks later, Iris's hands trembled as she opened the email from the Metropolitan Design Challenge. She'd submitted her collection on a whim, never truly expecting to place among graduates from prestigious design schools across the country.

"We are pleased to inform you..."

She read the words three times before their meaning sank in. First place. She'd won first place and the $5,000 prize.

Iris pressed her hand against her mouth, suppressing a scream of joy that would have disturbed the entire dormitory floor. This was it, the beginning of everything she'd worked for. With this recognition and the prize money, she could launch her online boutique months earlier than scheduled.

She reached for her phone to call her parents, then hesitated. It was past midnight, and they'd be asleep with early shifts tomorrow. This news could wait until morning.

Instead, she opened her laptop and began drafting plans for her website. Sleep could wait. Her future and that of her family were just about to start.

‘Ok Iris we need to be careful with this money some of it needs to go into the bank for a real store may a couple of hundred, maybe a thousand to start off her online store but some of her clothing designs to not just jewelry there was another competition she was already work on designs towards so she would need to get more art supplies for that so maybe three hundred maybe four, a thousand aside to get her own place and a thousand to start the deposit for a home for her family. The rest could go to bills if anything were left.’ She thought to herself.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Biker's Fate

The Biker's Fate

832k Views · Completed · Piper Davenport
"You are absolutely my fucking woman, Dani. Got me?"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
The Prison Project

The Prison Project

442.5k Views · Ongoing · Bethany Donaghy
The government's newest experiment in criminal rehabilitation - sending thousands of young women to live alongside some of the most dangerous men held behind bars...

Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?

Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.

Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.

Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...

At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…

Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?

Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?

What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…

A temperamental romance novel.
From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

613.8k Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
The Lycan Prince’s Puppy

The Lycan Prince’s Puppy

2.4m Views · Ongoing · chavontheauthor
“You’re mine, little puppy,” Kylan growled against my neck.
“Soon enough, you’ll be begging for me. And when you do—I’ll use you as I see fit, and then I’ll reject you.”


When Violet Hastings begins her freshman year at Starlight Shifters Academy, she only wants two things—honor her mother’s legacy by becoming a skilled healer for her pack and get through the academy without anyone calling her a freak for her strange eye condition.

Things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that Kylan, the arrogant heir to the Lycan throne who has made her life miserable from the moment they met, is her mate.

Kylan, known for his cold personality and cruel ways, is far from thrilled. He refuses to accept Violet as his mate, yet he doesn’t want to reject her either. Instead, he sees her as his puppy, and is determined to make her life even more of a living hell.

As if dealing with Kylan’s torment isn’t enough, Violet begins to uncover secrets about her past that change everything she thought she knew. Where does she truly come from? What is the secret behind her eyes? And has her whole life been a lie?
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

350.8k Views · Ongoing · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
His Mission

His Mission

350.7k Views · Completed · Sakz Hussain
Meet Emily Wentworth. Since the death of her father, she's been living a home life full of abuse. It's remained a secret for years until she meets the town's bad boy, Jake Melvin. It doesn't take long for him to figure out her secret.

Emily is suddenly thrown from one world of danger and uncertainty into another. The two teens ride the rollercoaster of love, unbelievable betrayal and heartache.
Badass in Disguise

Badass in Disguise

315.8k Views · Completed · Sherry
"Everyone out," I commanded through gritted teeth. "Now."
"Jade, I need to check your—" the nurse began.
"OUT!" I snarled with enough force that both women backed toward the door.
Once feared by Shadow Organization that drugged me to replicate my abilities into a more controllable version, I had escaped my restraints and detonated their entire facility, ready to die alongside my captors.
Instead, I woke up in a school infirmary with women arguing around me, their voices piercing my skull. My outburst froze them in shock—clearly they hadn't expected such a reaction. One woman threatened as she left, "We'll discuss this attitude when you get home."
The bitter truth? I've been reborn into the body of an overweight, weak, and supposedly dim-witted high school girl. Her life is filled with bullies and tormentors who've made her existence miserable.
But they have no idea who they're dealing with now.
I didn't survive as the world's deadliest assassin by allowing anyone to push me around. And I certainly won't start now.
Mated by Contract to the Alpha

Mated by Contract to the Alpha

241.1k Views · Completed · CalebWhite
My perfect life shattered in a single heartbeat.
William—my devastatingly handsome, wealthy werewolf fiancé destined to become Delta—was supposed to be mine forever. After five years together, I was ready to walk down the aisle and claim my happily ever after.
Instead, I found him with her. And their son.
Betrayed, jobless, and drowning in my father's medical bills, I hit rock bottom harder than I ever imagined possible. Just when I thought I'd lost everything, salvation came in the form of the most dangerous man I'd ever encountered.
Damien Sterling—future Alpha of the Silver Moon Shadow Pack and ruthless CEO of Sterling Group—slid a contract across his desk with predatory grace.
“Sign this, little doe, and I'll give you everything your heart desires. Wealth. Power. Revenge. But understand this—the moment you put pen to paper, you become mine. Body, soul, and everything in between.”
I should have run. Instead, I signed my name and sealed my fate.
Now I belong to the Alpha. And he's about to show me just how wild love can be.
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

411.4k Views · Completed · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Accardi

Accardi

144.9k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
“I thought we discussed this earlier, Weakness? I warned you. His death is on your hands.”
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.


Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride

213k Views · Completed · Riley Above Story
On the day Evelyn thought Liam would propose, he shocked her by getting down on one knee—for her stepsister, Samantha. As if that betrayal wasn’t enough, Evelyn learned the cruel truth: her parents had already decided to sell one daughter’s future to a dangerous man: the infamous War God Alpha Alexander, who was rumored to be scarred and crippled after a recent accident. And the bride could’t be their precious daughter Samantha. However, when the "ugly and crippled" Alpha revealed his true self—an impossibly handsome billionaire with no trace of injury—Samantha had a change of heart. She was ready to dump Liam and take Evelyn's place as the family daughter who should marry Alexander.
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis

154.8k Views · Completed · Jessica C. Dolan
Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé.
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.