Chapter 1011 - Nervous
"Alright, I won't scold our son anymore about a past misdeed," Jin Liwei replied while hurrying up the staircase to escort his wife.
Iris laughed at her husband's actions, her eyes twinkling with amusement. It was just climbing down the stairs from her loft office to his main home office floor, yet he still insisted on holding her waist and guiding her down.
"Liwei, you don't always have to be careful with me. I can at least climb down the stairs by myself."
"Don't mind me, love. I just can't help myself from worrying, especially when I think that you're carrying two additional humans inside you." He glanced down at her flat stomach. "You're not showing yet, but our twins aren't shy in making their presence known."
She sighed but there was a soft smile on her face. "The pregnancy symptoms I'm experiencing right now are all normal. Don't blame our babies for making me feel sick. Besides, it's the two of us who made them, so it's not their fault for coming into our lives."
He laid his palm on her stomach and gave it a gentle rub. "I'm not blaming them. Never. I'm so excited to meet our babies, Evelina."
"Me, too."
"Are you still scared?" he asked.
"A little."
"Me, too. But it's okay. I know that we'll get through this together and continue building our family."
She nodded and hugged him around the waist, inhaling his comforting scent. He also wrapped her soft body in his arms and inhaled the fragrance of her hair (Orchidia Beauty shampoo and conditioner, of course).
The husband and wife stayed in that warm embrace, enjoying each other's presence without caring about anything else in the world. At least, in this moment. The outside world might be chaotic right now with many people wanting to intrude into their private lives especially after everything that happened in the past few days alone. They may not be able to control all the actions of other people, but right here inside their home and within each other's loving embrace, the two of them felt at peace.
After some time, Jin Liwei urged them to head to their master suite because he didn't want his wife to tire herself from standing for too long. He wanted to carry her all the way to their room but she refused.
"I want to take a walk," she told him.
"Alright, love."
Along the way, he noticed that his wife started to fidget. She tried to hide it but his eyes, which were almost always focused on her, couldn't possibly miss anything about her.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? Let me call the doctor—"
"No! Liwei, I'm fine. I'm just...let's return to our room first, then I'll tell you. Okay?"
He observed her for a little longer to make sure that she was really alright before nodding. Later, the finally arrived in their bedroom. He expected her to immediately tell him what was bothering her, but to his surprise, she extricated herself from him and then headed straight to the bathroom before closing the door.
It took him a few seconds to process what just happened. When he came to his senses, she already left him alone in their bedroom. He immediately knocked on the bathroom door and twisted the knob a few times but it didn't open. She locked the door.
"Love? What's going on? Are you okay?"
He pressed his ear against the door and listened. The water was running, so she must be taking a shower. But why didn't she wait for him? He wanted to shower together with her.
"Evelina, are you angry at me? Tell me if I did something wrong."
"Everything's fine," his wife's voice called from inside the bathroom. "Don't worry and just wait for me. I'll be out soon."
"Alright. Just call for me if you need anything. I'll be right here, okay?"
"Okay."
Jin Liwei stopped bothering her but didn't leave the bathroom door to wait for his wife. Even though she told him that everything was fine, he still combed through his mind if he did anything that might have upset her. He couldn't think of anything. They had been acting very lovey-dovey with each other right until they reached their room.
What in the world happened? He had no idea.
Was this another mood swing? If so, then it couldn't be helped.
He continued agonizing over this matter. Unlike his pregnant wife's usual mood swings, this one didn't appear extreme. She didn't look irritable at all. On the contrary, she seemed nervous. He remembered her fidgeting earlier. But why was she nervous?
About fifteen minutes later, Iris finally came out of the bathroom. Her cheeks were rosy from the steam, making her look even more alluring in her husband's eyes. She was wearing a bathrobe and drying her wet hair with a towel.
Jin Liwei grabbed her hand and leaned down to kiss her lips. "Are you really okay?"
She nodded.
He pulled her to their walk-in closet and took over in drying her hair with a blow dryer. When he was done, he admired their reflection on the vanity mirror. Well, he was mostly admiring his wife's reflection while she looked distracted.
He placed the blow dryer on the table and looked at her straight in the eyes in the mirror. "Now can you tell me what's really going on?"
Her hands started fidgeting again. He frowned. Now he was beginning to really worry about her.
"Evelina—"
She stood up all of a sudden and faced him. "Wait here."
Before he could react, she walked away and left him again. He snapped back to his senses more quickly this time and immediately followed behind her. Not wanting to annoy her into a worse mood swing, he stayed silent but observed all of her actions.
Yes, he was right. She was indeed nervous.
She headed straight to the very end of their walk-in closet to a concealed armoire where their personal safe was located. After keying in the access code and scanning her fingerprint, she took out a large manila envelope from the open safe. Then she handed the envelope to him.
"For you."
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Chapter 1012 - Spellbound
Jin Liwei became even more confused by his wife's actions but he still received the manila envelope that she handed him. It was light and thin, but since she was acting so nervous, he suspected that its contents shouldn't be something simple.
"What's this, love?"
"You'll know when you open it."
"Then should I open it now?" He didn't wait for his wife's reply and immediately moved to tear the envelope's seal but she stopped him.
"No!" Iris tugged his arm. "Let's return to the bedroom first, okay? Or maybe you should take a shower first...."
"To the bedroom. I'll shower later."
She nodded, still clearly nervous, while holding his arm. They exited their walk-in closet and reached their bedroom. Iris sat on the chaise longue and alternated looking at Jin Liwei and the envelope in his hand.
He sat beside her. "Can I open it now?"
"Yes," she replied in Russian.
He tore the seal. Then he became stunned when he finally saw the contents of the envelope.
It was a thin pile of photographs. The one on top showed a photo of a breathtakingly beautiful woman with golden-blonde hair and emerald-green eyes. Her subtle smile evoked an air of profound mystery as if she didn't entirely belong in the mortal world.
She was so beautiful that Jin Liwei felt like space and time froze around him as he stared at her photo. Even his breathing and heartbeat seemed to stop. With the exception of his wife, there had never been a case that he felt so spellbound by any women especially based on appearance.
Then he finally realized the identity of the woman in the photo. It felt as if lightning struck the top of his head. Space and time unfroze around him. He started breathing again. His heart thundered almost painfully, feeling as if it was going to leap out of his chest. He whipped his head and faced his wife who was watching him with wary eyes.
"Evelina," he whispered. "Is this...was this you?"
She slowly nodded but didn't say anything.
He looked at the photo again and traced the stunning face with his fingers. This was how his wife looked like in her past life?
He always thought that his wife was beautiful now as Long Xiulan and that there would never be any other woman in the world who could be more beautiful than her in his eyes. Tonight, however, he was proven wrong. There was indeed another woman who was more beautiful than his wife. And that woman was his wife's previous self before she died in her past life.
"Evelina Armanovna Vetrova," he whispered like a spiritual chant.
Jin Liwei couldn't tear his eyes away from her photo. How could a woman be so beautiful? Was she human?
"Were you really human?"
Iris grabbed a fistful of his shirt and shook it. "Liwei!"
He turned to her and saw her anxious face. His amazement remained but he started recovering his stunned senses. The corner of his lips hooked up in a smile.
"I already told you before that I was human," she muttered. "How can you still doubt me?"
He chuckled, reached over, and stroked her cheek. "I'm not doubting you. My Evelina. So beautiful."
Her eyelashes fluttered as she studied his expression, trying to see if his words were truly honest. "Really?"
"En. I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you, Evelina."
"Do you...like how I looked like before?"
"En." His reply was quick without any hesitation.
The anxiety on her face eased. Then her eyes began twinkling with mischief. She leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder as they looked together at the photo of herself as Evelina Vetrova.
"How can you be sure that this was how I really looked like? What if I tell you that I'm pranking you and I just printed some photos of a random woman?"
"I'm sure that this was you."
She looked at him, a little surprised and also intrigued at the certainty in his tone. "How are you so sure?"
"I feel it here." He placed his hand on his chest directly over his heart. "When you searched your name Evelina Vetrova on the internet before and I tried guessing which one was you from among the image search results, I didn't feel anything looking at the photos of those different women. But this photo right here, I feel an instant connection. I don't know how to explain it. I just know that this was you."
There was now an extremely pleased smile on Iris' face. "Yes, you're right. This woman is...was me, Evelina."
Feeling excited like a kid opening a present, Jin Liwei looked at the other photos. There were a total of five photos of his wife when she was Evelina Vetrova in different poses.
The first one was the beautiful candid photo of her that stunned him into speechless amazement.
There was also a photo of her side profile while playing the piano in what looked like the inside of a castle.
"This was my music room at the Vetrov estate in Russia," she told him a soft voice.
He looked at the next photo. It was of a younger Evelina sitting on the floor in a room filled with computers and many other devices. She was building what appeared to be a small laptop that looked like a leather-bound journal. The place looked similar to her computer room at her current Gold Heights penthouse but only with older-looking computer models. Well, the photo was shot years ago.
"I was around fourteen here before Cross Academy scouted me."
His eyes were soft as he stared at the photo of his wife when she was still a teenager. Even when she was young, she had already been such a gorgeous girl. The innocence and purity in her eyes were also more prominent, eliciting a strong protective instinct within Jin Liwei.
He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, and kissed her forehead. Then he flipped to the next photo.
It was of an adult Evelina together with three familiar-looking men. Jin Liwei squinted his eyes and studied the photo more carefully.
"Are these Headmaster Erwan Dupont, Maestro Ludovico De Luca, and Mr. Enrique Valdez?"
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Chapter 1013 - The Vetrov Siblings
"Yes, it's them," Iris replied. "This was taken at Cross Academy's main building. You've been there before."
"En, I remember that ugly castle." Jin Liwei paused before giving his wife a deep look. "I also remember why I followed you to Cross Academy and everything that happened after that."
His words reminded her of what happened back then. It was around the time when the original Iris Long's remnant was getting stronger due to its uncontrollable desire for revenge. When Jin Liwei confessed his involvement in concealing Fan Luo's crime that caused the original Iris Long's fatal car crash, the remnant went berserk and beat him up. In the end, she decided to leave him to resolve the remnant's revenge.
Then after allowing the remnant to punish Fan Luo and the Alarm Girls with the help of her big brother and Shadow Winds, she went into depression due to guilt. She ended up running away to Switzerland with Grandpa Lu. From there, the old man dragged her to Cross Academy where the unique top-notch academic environment which was very familiar to her from her past as an alumni managed to snap her out of her dark slump. Her other emotions resurfaced, most especially her yearning for Jin Liwei.
After an emotional phone call, he flew all the way to Switzerland and reunited with her at Cross Academy. Their relationship, at that point, had taken a drastic change from being mere lovers to being the love of each other's lives.
The next events after that deepened their bond and strengthened their commitment to each other. It was at Cross Academy that she told him "I love you" for the first time. Then after leaving the academy with her two music instructors, they travelled to Germany before staying in Italy where Jin Liwei finally and formally asked her hand in marriage with a beautiful and memorable proposal.
Remembering all of those events caused her eyes to water. Who would've thought that they would marry a year later? She was now even pregnant with twins.
The two of them had come such a long way from back when they first met each other in person at that hotel lobby. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant first encounter for the two of them, yet here they were now, deeply in love and happily married and expecting their first human children together. It was indeed quite the emotional journey with many ups and downs for the two of them.
"Don't cry, love." Jin Liwei wiped a stray tear before it could fall from the corner of her eye.
She smiled and shook her head. "Hormones."
He kissed her forehead and comforted her.
Wanting to return to the topic about the photo they were looking at, she pointed at one of the men beside her. "Look at Teacher Enrique. He still looks the same even now. It's like he never ages."
"En. His long shaggy hair in this photo looks terrible, though."
"That was the style during those days. He was also still actively performing with his band back then before their vocalist died from drug overdose. I didn't personally meet their band's vocalist but I loved—no, I still love his voice. He was able to express and even amplify the powerful emotions of the songs that Teacher Enrique wrote for their band. Even after his death, the power of his voice is immortalized through their band's music. I want to be like their band one day—immortalized through my music."
"You're already on your way there, love. I believe that you can achieve anything. I'm also right here to support you."
She gifted him with a sweet smile. "Thank you."
They continued looking at the two other men in the photo.
Professor Erwan Dupont, headmaster of Cross Academy, still had some dark blonde hair in the photo, not like his current pure white mane. His eyes, however, remained the same—stern and sharp.
As for Maestro Ludovico De Luca, he hadn't gone bald on top of the head yet in the photo. He also looked slimmer than he was now.
Finally, his eyes returned to the photo of his wife's past self—Evelina. Despite being surrounded by three older men who were considered legends in their chosen fields, she held her own and didn't look intimidated by them at all. In fact, her calm confidence and dignified demeanour made her look like she belonged among the three legends standing beside her.
Something flickered in Jin Liwei's mind—a memory of something but it was soon gone before he could dwell on it.
"This is one of the rare photos that I was able to take with people from Cross Academy," Iris said, interrupting Jin Liwei's meandering thought. "I wasn't allowed to leave traces of my identity anywhere outside of the Vetrov's territories. It was for my protection, the weakest Vetrov in combat, from countless enemies."
Jin Liwei's expression turned serious, knowing that this was a sensitive subject for his wife. There would always be a bitter shadow in her eyes whenever she remembered her lack of freedom in her past life.
She shook her head to rid herself of the shadow from her past life. Then she gestured for him to move on to the final photo.
He did and his eyes widened. He stared at the photo before turning to his wife. "Is this...?"
She nodded. "Me and Big Brother Nikolai."
The Vetrov siblings.
Jin Liwei studied the brother and sister in the photo. The siblings didn't resemble each other that much except for their striking eyes. Both were green but his wife's eye colour was closer to emerald while Nikolai's was like dark green olives. He was also dark-haired while Evelina was a vibrant blonde. Despite these differences, there was no doubt that the siblings were equally stunning in the looks department.
The brother was devilishly handsome while the sister was like a beautiful angel.
They looked great together. It was also clear just by their expressions that they cared about each other. Although Nikolai wasn't smiling in the photo, the gentleness in his eyes for his sister was obvious.
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Chapter 1014 - Identity Crisis
Jin Liwei was silent while studying the photo of his wife and brother-in-law from their past selves.
"What do you think?" Iris started to look nervous again.
"Hmm."
Her hands tightened around his arm, waiting for him to say something.
"Actually...."
"Actually?"
He tapped his finger on his brother-in-law's image. "I was expecting for your brother to look big with bulky muscles like how he transformed my Fifth Brother Zihao's body. But he's quite slim in this photo."
His words distracted her from her nervousness. "Don't be fooled by what you see on the outside. Big Brother Nikolai may have looked slim with clothes on but he actually had extremely powerful muscles. I have no doubt in my mind that despite looking smaller back then, he was stronger than he is now as Fifth Brother Zihao. Big Brother started training his body from childhood. He was like a well-oiled, high-performance machine. Even I was in awe at the things he could do with his strength and speed back then."
Jin Liwei nodded. Although he didn't witness it with his own eyes, he could imagine his brother-in-law's original prowess when he was still the infamous Nikolai Vetrov. Just from reading the Vetrov report that his wife prepared for him, Jin Liwei knew that his brother-in-law had been an extremely dangerous man.
He felt a tug on his arm. "Hm? What is it, love?"
"Now that you've seen what I looked like before in my past life, what do you think about me now?" She was unable to conceal the anxiety in her expression.
His eyes widened in surprise before he frowned. "What do you mean? Evelina, did you think that I would feel differently about you after seeing how you looked like in your past life?"
She didn't reply.
His frown deepened in disbelief. "Look at me."
She did.
"Tell me what's troubling you."
"I already had these photos ready the day after you told me that you wanted to see photos of me but...it's only now that I felt ready enough to show them to you. I was...worried about what you'll feel after seeing my photos."
He was confused but didn't speak and instead waited for her to finish explaining.
"What if you don't like how I looked like before? Does that mean that if we met when I was still Evelina, you won't fall in love with me? And that you only love me now because I'm in Long Xiulan's body?"
His mouth opened and closed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from her.
"My worries also go the other way. What if you like how I looked like before that you'll wish that you're with me in my original body? Will you love me less now?"
He stared at her. Seeing the genuine worry, no, fear in her eyes, he released a long frustrated breath before running his hand through his hair.
"Evelina, those words are probably the most offensive thing that you've told me ever since we got together."
She froze for a few seconds. "O-offen...sive? How?"
"I'm offended because I feel like you're still doubting my love for you at this point in our relationship. You really think that I'll love you less after seeing the difference in your past and current life's appearances?"
Now that he was talking like this, he could feel anger rising up from the pit of his stomach like sour acid.
Iris finally realized that her worries had hurt him. "I...messed up, didn't I?"
His lips pressed into a thin, hard line as he did his best to control his anger. He didn't want to fight with his wife about this matter.
"I'm not doubting your love. Not at all! I just..." She looked frustrated while trying to express herself. "Is it wrong for me to have these worries, Liwei?"
It was clear that she was now starting to become agitated. Her complexion changed and didn't look right either. His anger cooled down in an instant as his concern for her well-being took over.
"Love, let's stop this for now. Take a deep breath—"
"You don't understand, Liwei! I'm a different person now! I'm Long Xiulan now but...but I'm not really her! Do you understand?! No, of course you don't! How could you possibly understand how I feel?! I'm Evelina...I'm Evelina but nobody knows...."
He pulled her and hugged her tightly, not letting her go even when she resisted. The front of his chest immediately turned damp from her tears.
"I know that you're Evelina." He rubbed her trembling back and felt his shirt getting more soaked. "I know who you are, baby. Even if the rest of the world forgets, I won't. Your Big Brother Nikolai also won't forget. He's in the same situation as you. Look at me."
She reluctantly lifted her head and looked at him. He pulled tissue from a box on the table and wiped her tears.
"Please don't ever doubt my loyalty to you, Evelina. I fell in love with you because of the real you. If you aren't in this body, I wouldn't even give Long Xiulan a second glance. Regardless of which body you're using, I'll continue to love you for who you are, so don't worry about it anymore. Okay?"
She rubbed her tender cheek against his warm palm before nodding.
Jin Liwei sighed in relief after seeing her finally calming down. However, he took note of this outburst of hers. It appeared that his wife still had some lingering issues about living as another person. Indeed, he couldn't fully understand what it must be like. There was also no quick fix for an issue like this.
His wife needed to resolve this shadow in her heart slowly but surely with time. All he could do was to continue making her feel loved and cherished no matter what.
A thought entered his mind.
His wife always appeared hesitant whenever she talked about her past life. He could feel her desire to bury it where it belonged—the past. Right now, however, it became clear that she could never forget who she was in the past—Evelina Vetrova. And that it was creating some kind of identity crisis with her current life as Iris Long.
Perhaps it would be better for her to confront her past life in a more unreserved manner instead of trying to run away from it like she had been doing so far.
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Chapter 1015 - Elusive Memory
Jin Liwei's protective instinct was triggered by his wife's vulnerability about her two identities in her past and current lives. He didn't expect that his desire to see a photo of how she looked like in the past as Evelina would distress her like this. He felt sorry for upsetting her but he nevertheless didn't regret this outcome.
At least he was able to discover this serious underlying issue before it continued festering in his wife's heart. Now they could start working together to address it before it was too late.
For now, however, he decided not to say anything about his idea of letting her confront her past life without trying to evade it. He instead reminded himself to discuss it with her on another day when she was calmer. It was not a good idea to agitate or stress her out during this period.
Iris tugged his hand. "Are you still mad at me?"
He gave her a soft smile. "No."
"Sorry."
"I know, love. Don't worry about it anymore." He glanced at the scattered photos on the table. "Can I keep these?"
She didn't reply right away and thought about it for a few moments. "Okay. I printed them for you anyway. But don't show them to others, especially the photo of me with my brother. Not many people outside the Vetrovs might know about my existence but Big Brother Nikolai was—is still perhaps the most well-known Vetrov today because of his powerful charisma."
"En."
Even without her reminder, Jin Liwei had no intention of showing these photos to other people. He was planning on framing the first solo photo of his wife and keeping it in his office's desk drawer so that he could take it out and look at it at work. He would instruct Xu Tian first thing in the morning to have a special lock installed on one of his desk drawers.
The second photo of his wife's side profile while playing the piano would also get the same treatment. He planned on keeping it in his bedside drawer.
The third photo of his wife as a teenage girl custom-building a small laptop would also be framed and kept in his home office.
He would tell the butler to install special locks on the drawers of his bedside table and home office desk. Just imagining that he would be able to constantly look at his wife's beautiful photos of her past self on a regular basis was enough to make him happy. It might become his new method of relaxing his tired mind.
However, he still took note not to appear too passionate while looking at the photos or his wife might think that her worries were coming true after all. Inwardly sighing, he kissed the top of her head, trying to convey with his actions that he loved her no matter which face or body she was using.
As for the other two photos, he would just lock them in their hidden personal safe. He wasn't interested in looking at photos of other men daily.
He tidied up the photos and sent his wife to bed while he took a quick shower. While water rained down on him, rinsing the soapy bubbles from his body (Orchidia Beauty body wash from Jin Chonglin's men's line, soon to be released), his mind was filled with Evelina's otherworldly beauty.
The mind was a powerful thing. He was just imagining it but the image of his wife seemed to come alive. Although he never met her in her past life, he could see her talking, smiling, laughing, singing, and hacking in his mind. It was very easy for him to imagine. All he needed to do was superimpose Evelina's appearance that he saw in the photos to her current self.
For him, the two identities were one and the same. He hoped that his wife could resolve the issue of her identity crisis in a similar way. He believed that there was no need to create such a distinct separation between her two identities because she was ultimately still herself deep inside no matter which body or name she was using.
He stepped out of the shower and started drying himself with a towel. Then once again a faint memory of something flickered in the depths of his mind. But like what happened before, it seemed to escape him. He couldn't figure it out.
What was it?
His mind was still preoccupied with this elusive thought when he returned to the bedroom.
"Darling."
"Hm?" He snapped his attention back to the present and approached the bed with only a towel wrapped around his waist. "Why are you still awake?"
Iris sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can't sleep," she whispered directly to his ear before brushing her lips along his jaw line.
Something started to harden under his towel. He leaned down and kissed his wife's lips, slowly pushing her down on the bed with his body. They kissed and fondled each other with no rush. However, the slippery memory popped in his mind again, causing him to stop his actions.
She sensed his distracted state and pushed him away with a displeased frown. "What's wrong?"
He straightened his body and sat beside her on the bed. Iris immediately felt empty without him on top of her. Her frown deepened as she watched him. It was clear that his mind was absorbed thinking of something.
"Liwei, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, baby. I just...there's something that keeps on bothering me but I'm not sure what it is."
He told her about the elusive memory. Curious, she momentarily forgot her urge to make love with him tonight and began asking him for more details about the memory. To her disappointment, however, he couldn't remember much.
"Hmm." She tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure that it actually happened to you?"
"I don't know." He sighed before shrugging. "It's a waste of time thinking about it. Wait here, love. I'll just dry my hair and we'll sleep, okay?"
"I'll help you dry."
He let her. They headed to their walk-in closet. He helped her dry her hair earlier and now she was returning the favour. Blow drying his wet hair didn't take as long as hers. However, he enjoyed these short moments of her pampering him.
While she busied herself with drying his hair, she began humming a song. It sounded familiar. He remembered that it was the same song that she sang to him as lullaby while he grieved after discovering for the first time that his Fifth Brother Zihao was dead and the one occupying his sworn brother's body was actually his brother-in-law.
His wife's melodious voice was soft yet still clear enough to be heard above the whirring blow dryer. It just went on to show the high quality of her voice and her top-notch vocal skills.
The Italian aria was supposed to be emotional, yet she transformed it into a comforting song instead. It was like a delicate but still powerful salve to one's troubled soul. Jin Liwei's distracted mind began to clear as he savoured his wife's beautiful singing voice.
Then it was as if lightning struck him. He gasped as the slippery memory finally revealed itself in his mind.
"Liwei?" Iris turned off the blow dryer and looked at him in concern. "What happened? Why do you look shocked?"
He didn't answer because several quick images flashed inside his racing mind. He stood up all of a sudden and carried his alarmed wife before running back to the bedroom.
"Liwei! What are you doing?! Calm down!"
He placed her on the chaise longue, and then grabbed the envelope on the table. He removed the photos inside and stared at Evelina's beautiful solo shot.
"Why are you looking at them again?"
He faced her. "I remember."
"What do you remember?"
"Evelina."
"Yes? Liwei, you're acting so weird right now."
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before sitting down beside her. The photo was still in his hand but his eyes were focused on her face, intending to closely observe her reaction.
"Have you ever been to my university in Boston before?"
She blinked a few times at the unexpected subject of his question. "No."
He frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I haven't gone to America yet ever since waking up in this body and starting to live as Long Xiulan."
"No, that's not what I mean. I'm asking if you ever visited my university as Evelina."
"Oh." She tilted her head to the side and thought about it. Then her eyebrows rose. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I did visit your university before."
His eyes lit up. "Really? Do you remember when?"
"Hmm, yes. My brother helped me sneak out of our Russian estate and then we flew straight to America. Big Brother had some important business to attend in Boston so he left me to explore the place with his subordinates. Your university is famous so I went there to see what it's like and how it compares to Cross Academy. Why are you asking me this?"
She looked at him in confusion, not understanding at all why he was asking her this question with such a weird expression on his face. Did her outburst from earlier angered him too much that he went cuckoo in the head?
No, that shouldn't be the case. Her husband wasn't the fragile type. He wouldn't break so easily like that. Then why was he acting so oddly like this right now?
His heart jumped and started racing with excitement.
"Evelina, I think we've met before."
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Chapter 1016 - That Was You?
Iris gave her husband an incredulous look. "I don't think so, darling. Some of my past life's memories might be becoming hazy as time passes by but I have quite a good memory. Unless you looked different when you were younger, I'll surely remember it if I met my own husband before."
"Hmmm." Jin Liwei's forehead wrinkled.
Was he mistaken? Maybe the stunning woman he saw years ago at his university library wasn't his wife. After all, he only caught a glimpse of the woman back then. The memory, however, only became more prominent in his mind. It was bothering him so much that he might not be able to fall asleep tonight if he didn't get a clear answer about his hunch once and for all.
"Wife."
"Hm?"
"I want to tell you a story. Will you listen to your husband?"
"Of course. What is it?"
He took her hands and started massaging her soft palms. His eyes continued staring at her face to observe her reaction.
"It was summer time when I just graduated and received my bachelor's degree. Instead of returning home to see my family here in China, I decided to stay in Boston and take some advance classes to finish my accelerated MBA degree early. I was studying everyday and spending a lot of time in the least crowded library at the university."
Iris was not sure where his story was headed but she could sense that telling it was important to him. She had no idea why, though. However, she still nodded to encourage him to continue speaking.
"One day, I forgot to bring one textbook from my required reading list so I decided to borrow it from the library instead of wasting time getting it all the way from my apartment. The librarian instructed me to get the book from the upper floors. There weren't many students who frequented that particular library so I thought that I would be the only one upstairs."
His eyes staring at her became sharper and...expectant, making her feel even more confused.
"On the floor where the textbook that I needed was located, I heard someone singing. At first, I was annoyed that someone would have the audacity to make noise inside a library that was supposed to be a quiet place for everyone. But as I walked nearer to the source of the singing, my attitude changed. Why? Because the person's singing voice was the most beautiful that I've ever heard in my entire life."
Iris couldn't stop herself from curling her lips. He always told her that her singing voice was the most beautiful that he had ever heard in his entire life. Although she wasn't conceited to believe that her voice was the very best in the world, she still felt pleased that her own husband believed her to be the very best. Yet now he was telling her that there was someone who was better than her in his heart?
She attempted to snatch her hands out of his hold but he didn't allow her. On the contrary, he held her hands even tighter. She snorted and turned her head away, refusing to look at him. His face looked very annoying to her at the moment. She became even more annoyed after hearing his light chuckle. She turned her head to face him again and glared at her annoying husband's laughing face.
"The song the woman sang sounded exquisite."
Her eyes narrowed and became dangerous. "Oh? So it was a woman?"
"En."
She clenched her jaw hard. "Was she beautiful?"
"En."
"Jin. Li. Wei," she growled each syllable low in her throat. "Were you attracted to that woman?"
"Hmm."
"What 'hmm'? What does that mean? Does it mean 'hmm, yes' or 'hmm, maybe'?!"
Jin Liwei's expression was serious, but in Iris' anger, she failed to see the amusement twinkling in his eyes. She didn't even know exactly why she was getting angry right now.
It shouldn't be a big deal if deep inside he thought that there was someone else who had a more beautiful singing voice than her. But did he have to tell it to her right now? Especially when he had been telling her all this time that she was the best singer in his heart. And now he was telling her that the person was a beautiful woman, even answering in such a vague manner when she asked him if he felt attracted to the woman.
Her nostrils flared and her muscles quivered as the urge to beat up someone filled her. She wasn't usually a violent person, but right now, she felt like a wild beast whose territory was being invaded by stray vermin.
Jin Liwei leaned forward, intending to pacify her with a kiss, but she evaded him.
"Calm down, love."
"Calm down?! You're telling me to calm down?! Tell me, Jin Liwei, Liam Jin, Evelina's husband, father to all my children, and sperm provider to my ovaries. Tell me clearly—and don't you dare lie to me—if you were attracted to that beautiful woman you met in Boston!"
Despite her fit of temper, he maintained his composure. He even had the nerve to drawl his answer as if what they were talking about was nothing.
"At that time, I didn't think that I was attracted to that woman because I only caught a glimpse of her. But thinking back to it now...."
"Jin Liwei, I'm telling you that if you dare—"
"Thinking back to it now, I realize that, yes, I was indeed attracted to that beautiful woman with an exquisite, heavenly singing voice. No, I am still very much attracted to her."
Iris' mouth fell open, her breath hitched, and then her eyes turned red. Then she let out a series of furious Russian expletives.
Jin Liwei only understood a few phrases and even he couldn't help but wince. His wife rarely cursed. But when she did, it meant that she was truly angered. It appeared that he had gone too far this time.
"Love—"
"Jin Liwei, you dolt! Even if you feel that way, do you really need to say it to my face?! What do you hope to accomplish by telling me this?! Don't tell me that you're hoping to reunite with that woman! You liar! You told me that you've never been attracted to anyone before me! That you've never had sex with anyone besides me! And that I'm the first and only one you've ever fallen in love with! If you dare to chase after her—"
He pulled her into a tight hug and refused to release her even when she began struggling in earnest to escape from his embrace. He felt a sharp pain on his shoulder where she bit him hard, but he still didn't loosen his arms around her. She was free to vent her anger on him this time.
Then he rubbed her back with a soothing pressure and started humming the melody of his now favourite Italian aria. His voice might not be the best but he could at least hold a tune without embarrassing himself especially if it was just simple humming. After all, his own flesh and blood brother, Jin Chonglin, was a superstar musician.
The Italian aria's melody and his tender ministrations proved to be effective in calming his wife. She softened in his arms but he could sense that she was still pissed off at him.
"Evelina."
"Hmph."
He continued massaging her back, reminding him of when he had to pet a grumpy Ice Cream. "Did you know that the beautiful woman sang this Italian aria in the library? I don't speak or understand much Italian but I felt the emotions through her voice."
This time, the anger and jealousy overwhelming her started subsiding a little, replaced by curiosity. This particular Italian aria that he liked so much that he often requested that she sing it for him wasn't that popular in the classical music world. People who knew the aria were few and far between so she was interested in the woman that her husband was talking about, even though she wanted to pull the woman's hair out for seducing her husband.
"After the song ended, the woman told me that I was rude for eavesdropping. I remember that she had a very classy British accent."
Iris frowned and pushed Jin Liwei's chest to create some space between them so that she could take a proper look at his face. Her head was tilted to the side as her curiosity grew.
"I told her that it's rude to make a noise inside the library."
"Huh?" Her brows furrowed as something flickered in her mind—a similar memory.
He smiled upon seeing her expression. "She asked me if her singing was so horrible that I treat it as noise."
She gasped. Her eyes widened. She looked at him in astonishment. "You...."
"Guess what I said?"
Her lips trembled. "You said to her...'You misunderstand. You sang well.'" She clutched the front of his shirt and shook it. "Am I right?"
His smile widened. "En. You're 100% right."
A shaky breath escaped from her slack mouth. Her anger and jealousy disappeared in an instant. They were now replaced by a great sense of wonder, amazement, and disbelief. Her eyes watered and her heart pounded.
"Liwei...."
He touched her face, stroking it. "Evelina, that woman back then was you...right?"
She bit her lip before nodding. "Yes, I think so. I remember it now."
"Then this means that we've really met before."
He was ready to wipe her tears if needed but they didn't fall. What fell instead was a hard smack on his chest. His eyes widened in surprise at her unexpected reaction.
"So you were that rude jerk who called my singing noise! That was you?! Hmph!"
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Chapter 1017 - Fate Or Coincidence?
Jin Liwei was taken aback by his wife's unexpected reaction. Did she not feel the same impression of destiny between the two of them after discovering that they had already met years ago when she was still Evelina Vetrova?
He glanced down at the two clear red handprints on his naked chest. The smack didn't really hurt. It just sounded loud because her hands hit his flesh directly. However, his wife hitting his chest and getting mad at him for such an odd reason sent him into confusion. Now he felt a bit uncertain on how to deal with his fuming wife, so he chose to do what he believed to be the safest option whenever she was angry.
"Sorry for being a rude jerk to you that time, Evelina. If I only knew back then that you'd eventually become my wife, I would never have dared to be so impolite with you. I would've chased you right there and then and made you my wife sooner."
Iris tried maintaining her angry glare but her heart was already softening as soon as she saw the redness on her husband's chest where she smacked him. And of course, his sincere words of apology were like a gentle spray of tender feelings that finally extinguished the dying embers of her anger.
The truth of the matter was that she wasn't really mad at his rude behaviour during their surprising encounter years ago. What made her angry was how he deliberately teased her while telling her about the encounter, causing her to misunderstand his attraction to an unknown woman.
An intense feeling of possessiveness for her husband flooded through her, overwhelming her so much that she could barely control her volatile emotions. She even wanted to fight with the unknown woman and pull all her hair out, only to discover that the woman was actually her!
Now she felt a little stupid. How dare he make her jealous of herself?!
Too evil!
She almost dragged her sinful husband to the bed and pushed him down under her in order to punish—ehem ehem—to "demonstrate" to him how he would never find another woman like her in the world. How dare he fancy another woman and talk about his crush to his pregnant wife?
But since he already apologized, she no longer had the heart to stay mad at him especially for such a petty reason as feeling jealous of herself. She sighed and started caressing her husband's chest, feeling a little guilty for hitting him during the heat of the moment.
"It's fine now," she said in a much gentler voice. "No need to apologize for what happened years ago. If you didn't remind me of it, I wouldn't even remember. Besides, we were total strangers back then."
He caught her hand on his chest and lifted it to his lips before turning it over to kiss her soft palm. "Not strangers."
She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean 'not strangers'? We didn't know each other at all back then so we were complete strangers, Liwei."
"We might not know each other that time, but the fact that we've met before even if it was only for a brief moment proves that we have fate together. That's what I believe. Don't you think so, too?"
Her heart trembled, touched by the conviction in his voice. When he put it that way, she also wanted to believe that maybe the two of them were really fated to be together.
However, there was a skeptical part of her thinking that it might only be a coincidence. Although she thought that this might be the case, she held her tongue and didn't say it out loud especially after looking at her husband's passionate and "enlightened" expression. Sighing, she couldn't help but admit to herself that she was still far from reaching her husband's level of romantic sensibility.
"You said that if you knew back then that I would eventually become your wife, that you'd never have dared to be so rude with me," she said, redirecting the subject away from the talk of fate. "And that you would've chased after me and married me."
"En." He showered another bunch of light kisses on her hand that he was holding.
"I'm glad that we didn't fall in love back then."
He frowned. "Why?"
"Liwei, have you already forgotten my identity at that time? If we fell in love when I was still Evelina Vetrova, then that would be the definition of true tragedy."
His eyes widened in realization. Then he pulled her into his embrace, rubbing her back again to soothe her.
"It would've been almost close to impossible for us to be together that time because I was a Vetrov daughter. For one thing, I don't think my brother would've approved of you because you don't belong to the criminal underworld. And I also wouldn't want you to be embroiled in such a dangerous world where you can't even fall asleep peacefully at night because enemies might assassinate you. You'll have to watch out for every little suspicious thing whenever you go somewhere because you might get attacked if you become careless for even just a moment. It's a life that makes you paranoid all the time. You can't trust anybody, not even your own family members.
"And the only way to survive was to be more brutal, more merciless, and more inhuman than all your enemies. That was the reason why the Vetrovs had reigned supreme in the international criminal underworld for several generations. The Vetrovs had been the most brutal, most merciless, and most inhuman among all the criminal organizations in the world.
"So you see, Liwei? If we really ended up together back then, I wouldn't hesitate to leave you in a heartbeat even if it would cause me a lifetime of pain because it would be for the sake of your safety. I would rather sacrifice my own happiness than bring harm to a person that I love."
Jin Liwei lifted her and then placed her on his lap. The towel wrapped around his waist loosened a little. She felt his thing under the towel start to harden as soon as she sat on it, but his touches remained gentle and nonsexual. He was focused on comforting her and not on seduction.
"You're right," he murmured while kissing her forehead. "Meeting and falling in love back then would've been extremely difficult for the two of us. It wasn't the right time. You didn't have the sense of freedom and security to do anything you wanted when you were still Evelina. I wasn't the same Jin Liwei back then either. I was too busy studying and training myself to succeed my father's position as the next head of the clan and Jin Corporation. If I fell in love before achieving my goals, then I wouldn't be the same Jin Liwei that I am now.
"I would've also made a difficult choice like you. Either abandon my clan and Jin Corporation so that I could fight to be with you, Evelina Vetrova, or force myself to forget you and continue pursuing my original goals. If I abandoned the clan and the company to be with you, then I would be reduced to an average man with no power or connections to protect someone like you. But if I forget about you, then I'm sure that it would be the greatest regret of my life.
"That's why even though you had to experience something so tragic in your past life, I'm still glad to have met you after you've been reborn as Long Xiulan. You now have the freedom to do whatever you want in life, chase after your own happiness, and fall in love with me."
She nodded, her eyes watering.
He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Our first encounter at my university in Boston wasn't the right time for us. But our meeting in that hotel lobby when I saw you reading a Russian book—that was the right time for us."
"Yes."
"You might not be in your own body anymore and no longer using your original name, but I hope that you know that I fell in love with you and not Long Xiulan. I fell in love with the person inside this body. It's you, Evelina. Only you."
She sniffed and blinked back the tears threatening to fall down her eyes. "Y-yes."
He smiled at her, looking straight into her eyes. "I love you, Evelina. So much."
"I love you too, Liwei."
They stayed embracing each other on the chaise longue. The sound of flowing water from the wall-mounted waterfall fountain in their bedroom gradually relaxed them from their emotional conversation.
In a much better mood, Iris began talking about her own memory of the day when they encountered each other in Boston.
"I performed with a street piano. It was the first time that I performed in front of a crowd and it felt amazing!"
Jin Liwei's eyes narrowed. "Did you perhaps sing 'We Will Rock You'"?
She gasped.
"Ah. So it was you."
"Did you watch me?"
"Unfortunately, I didn't make it in time. You already left when I arrived. But I remember my friends raving about you."
She looked a little disappointed.
"They wanted to show me the photos and videos they took of you during your street performance but for some reason...." His voice trailed and his eyes widened upon realizing something. "Ah, right. You were already a hacker back then."
She grinned. "Yes, I deleted all records of my street performance that day." Then she sighed. "I didn't want to but I had to do it."
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Chapter 1018 - Seeds Of Destiny
"Don't feel sad, love," Jin Liwei told her while looking straight into her eyes. "You didn't have the luxury to pursue your dreams in your past life but the situation is different now. You now have extremely loyal fans, the Black Stars, and many other people who would pay to listen to your music and watch you perform on stage. There's no need to hack and delete your presence in the world anymore. Now you can leave your mark in history as much as you want."
Iris gave him a bright smile. "You're right. I shouldn't feel sad but grateful and glad instead. The opportunity that I had been waiting for literally my entire past life has now come. This is my time."
"En. It's your time to shine. And our time to love each other and be happy together while building our family."
"Yes." Her smile widened and became brighter.
Her mood improving once again, she continued talking about her one-day mini adventure at Jin Liwei's university in Boston years ago. She told him about meeting an adorable little girl and an equally adorable puppy.
"I let the girl watch some cartoons on my laptop while I played with the puppy. Then the girl's parents arrived. The girl then gave me a pack of mints before leaving with her parents." She chuckled while reminiscing about the amusing memory.
Jin Liwei took a sharp inhale. "Did you eat the mints?"
She thought about it for a moment before nodding.
His expression turned weird.
"Hm? What's wrong, darling? Why do you look like that?"
"Evelina." His whisper was filled with amazement.
"What is it?"
"I met the girl and her puppy that day, too."
She blinked. "Really? You did?"
He nodded. "Both of them crashed into me and my friends while they were running."
"Were they okay?"
"En. I caught the girl in time before she careened to the ground. My laptop wasn't so lucky, though. The screen got cracked."
"I'm glad that they were fine."
"I'm pretty sure that I met them before you did."
She raised an eyebrow. "How can you be sure about that? Oh. Is it because her parents weren't with her yet?"
"Well, that's one reason."
"What's the other reason?"
He grinned. "You ate the mints I gave the little girl."
Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. "Those were your mints?!"
"En." His grin became wider.
"Oh."
Jin Liwei threw his head back and laughed out loud, releasing all of his joy, wonder and amazement. His deep, masculine laughter reverberated throughout their entire bedroom. He looked so silly that Iris couldn't help but laugh with him.
Then he shifted the way he was holding her and stood up all of a sudden while carrying her in his arms. She gasped and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. This was the second time tonight that he lifted her up without any warning. It seemed that her husband was on a roll today.
His sudden movement caused the towel wrapped around his waist to loosen before finally falling to the ground. She felt his hard thing poking at her backside.
"Liwei!"
He was still laughing as he carried her back towards their bed. Despite his excited state, he still made sure that he was as gentle as possible while laying her down on the bed.
She didn't unwrap her arms around his neck and pulled him down with her on the bed. A sigh of satisfaction puffed out of her smiling lips.
"How amazing, Liwei. It seems that our encounter at the library wasn't the only incident that connected us back then."
He gave her mouth a loud, smacking kiss, making her giggle. "You ate my mints."
"I did." She laughed when he gave her another loud, smacking kiss, this time on her cheek.
He lifted himself a little so that they could look in each other's eyes clearly. His expression was still joyful but there was now a touch of seriousness.
"Those mints were like seeds—my seeds—that planted themselves in you after you ate them. But because it wasn't the right time yet, it didn't germinate while you were still Evelina Vetrova. It was only when you got reborn into who you are now that the seeds germinated. We met each other again and we both know what happened. I immediately became attracted to you, wanted you to be mine no matter what, and fell so crazily in love with you."
She stroked his hair, then his face, while looking at his shining eyes filled with passion and love for her. "I think you're right."
"I am right." His tone was certain. "Maybe the little girl and her puppy were our Cupid, tying our destinies together."
Only a few moments earlier, she felt skeptical about her husband's claim that their encounter at the library years ago was fate. She thought that it was more likely to be just a coincidence.
Now, however, she began changing her mind especially after all of things that connected them back then in her past life.
The Italian aria she sang in the library which he rudely eavesdropped.
Their encounter with the same pair of girl and puppy.
And finally, the pack of mints that originally came from him but ended up with her.
One time was coincidence.
Second time was still coincidence—a rather lucky and amazing coincidence.
Third time was perhaps as Jin Liwei claimed—destiny.
And indeed, that was what he kept on repeating as he rained light kisses on her face.
"We're fated, Evelina. Our destinies have been tied with each other so long ago. I believe we are. I know we are. Those incidents connecting us are proof that we belong together."
It was like a mantra that he kept on chanting, gradually hypnotizing her into also believing.
"Yes, Liwei. We're fated. We belong together."
She wrapped her legs around his waist, letting his hard thing poke her where she was already starting to get hot and wet for him. He groaned and returned to kissing her lips, sucking on them before sticking his tongue inside her mouth.
Their tongues intertwined in a dance that they were already both so familiar with. This kiss, however, felt more special and intimate than the ones they shared before. Their bond seemed to have grown stronger and deeper tonight. They felt more connected with each other especially after discovering that they met years ago while she was still living in her original body as Evelina Vetrova.
Jin Liwei was now fully erect, yet he was not in a hurry to plunge himself inside her. His priority right now was in pleasuring his wife, his amazing wife, who he separately met in her two different bodies. It should've been an unbelievable notion, but to him, it was the cherry on top of his conviction that they were destined for each other.
Iris moaned when his mouth trailed wet kisses from her neck to her upper chest. She was still wearing her nightdress but it was already in a mess with the skirt hiked up her thighs and the collar exposing the top of her full and aching breasts.
His hands brushed her nipples through the thin material of her nightdress. Knowing that she was extra sensitive to touch on her breasts due to her pregnancy, he worked hard to experiment and learn the right amount of stimulation to give her shapely mounds without hurting her.
She gasped and closed her eyes. Her body arched upwards, craving more of his body heat. His scent that she loved so much made her feel so comfortable. She sighed in satisfaction.
Jin Liwei was moving his hand up her thighs when he felt his wife turning soft and lax in his arms. He froze because this feeling was already familiar to him as well.
"Love?"
As expected, there was no reply. He looked up and saw that she was already breathing in a deep and regular rhythm. A helpless chuckle escaped from his moist and slightly swollen lips. He glanced at the clock and saw that midnight had long passed.
Ah, no wonder.
It was already long past his wife and their twins' bedtime. There was nothing he or his wife could do about it. She would fall asleep whenever their twin babies demanded that she sleep immediately no matter what.
Sighing, he first kissed his wife before kissing her flat stomach next where their twin babies were growing. After arranging them in their usual, comfortable positions, he pulled her close to him, leaving almost no space between the two of them.
His erection was still painfully hard but there was no thought of relieving himself using his hand. He would just save it after they woke up.
Morning sex wasn't a bad idea. Not at all.
Looking forward to it, he embraced his wife more tightly, closed his eyes, and followed her into deep sleep.
###
Friday.
All employees of Jin Corporation and all its subsidiary companies in the country and abroad received an exciting surprise during lunch time when a buffet-style catering meal was provided for them. Their lunch time was also extended to three hours so that they could fully enjoy their meals. They learned that it was their boss' post-celebration of his marriage to his wife, celebrity Iris Long.
It wasn't only Jin Corporation who enjoyed a sumptuous lunch buffet catering. Iris Long's companies—Orchidia Beauty, Planet Monkey, and Gold Heights—also went into celebration mode.
Of course, she didn't forget about the lone employee of her perfume company, Liberté (formerly known as Sang Bleu). Although the renamed company was still inactive, its CEO Clover Chua wasn't forgotten. Iris and Jin Liwei arranged a French chef to personally cook a meal for her in France.
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Chapter 1019 - All The Shocking News
The post-wedding celebration at both Jin Liwei and Iris Long's companies was so large-scale especially with Jin Corporation's international influence that it even got on the news. Employees proudly posted photos of their lunch on their social media accounts, garnering the attention of other netizens outside their circles.
Many regarded the sumptuous buffet lunch as an equivalent to the newlyweds' banquet to those who weren't invited to the small, extremely private wedding. The buffet lunch might only be for three hours and the employees still had to return to work afterwards but they felt good because their bosses hadn't forgotten to celebrate their wedding with them.
Despite the fact that Iris Long had been lying low in the last couple of months and limiting her public appearances to a bare minimum, her name along with Jin Liwei had become a regular sight on the headlines after the successive bombshells the couple dropped in this week alone.
First was the shocking announcement of their marriage just this past Monday through the popular À la Mode magazine. It came from out of nowhere and sent the general public in an uproar.
Next was the super enticing special contest hosted by Jin Liwei in honour of his new wife, Iris Long. Only official members of her fan club, the Black Stars, were eligible to enter and win the eye-popping prizes estimated to be worth at around 100 million RMB. So many people from across the country signed up to become Black Stars just to enter the contest, hoping to win one of the numerous prizes. All they needed to do was praise Iris Long to the high heavens. How hard could it be? They could only do their best to stand out from the rest of the pack with their creativity and hope that Jin Liwei would like what they submitted.
Then came another shocking news. This time, superstar Jin Chonglin was added to the mix. The fact that someone of his status in showbiz was finally leaving his long-time "home" and starting his own entertainment company with his sister-in-law and brother was in itself already deserving to make not only the national headlines but also the news abroad where several armies of his foreign fans were thriving.
Following in the footsteps of his older brother, the elite CEO Jin Liwei, and even his fellow celebrity sister-in-law Iris Long who had just launched her own wildly successful company, Orchidia Beauty, it seemed that Jin Chonglin was now a true boss in the literal sense of the word. He was even revealed to be the majority owner of LXC Studio, holding half of the company's equity, while Iris Long and Jin Liwei shared the remaining half between the two of them.
These news were all shocking but they received mainly positive responses from the general public. The next news that came afterwards were also exciting but for all the wrong reasons.
All of a sudden, Jin Liwei fired his company's Chief Marketing Officer. Jin Corporation was a huge multinational company so this was a big deal. There were speculations that Iris Long became jealous of the CMO and thus made her husband fire the hapless businesswoman.
The executive in question, Rose Young, had an impressive résumé that made her very appealing to almost any world-class companies. She definitely became an asset to Jin Corporation after being hired but it only took a few months for Jin Liwei to fire her.
A very conspicuous group of netizens began openly criticizing Jin Liwei for his decision which they called a big mistake. Of course, they also criticized his wife Iris Long—much more harshly, in fact—for influencing an elite businessman like him to start mismanaging his company. The Black Stars immediately came out in droves and sent out their notorious troll unit, the Slippers Army, to defend their Boss Iris and her husband Jin Liwei against all those who were attacking their names.
This nasty online battle didn't take long, however, because the tabloids quickly changed their tune and redirected their line of fire from the newlyweds Iris Long and Jin Liwei to Rose Young, the woman who was seen as the victim in the whole situation earlier, but was now being painted as a shameless, obsessive homewrecker.
The sex videos featuring her moaning Jin Liwei's name drew outrage from the public. It disgusted and angered the Black Stars, causing them to feel extra protective of their Boss Iris's marriage with Jin Liwei.
Coveting someone else's spouse was taboo to a lot of people, especially wives and girlfriends who had their own fair share of experiences dealing with their partners' mistresses. Not only did audacious women destroy marriages but they also fractured many families. Of course, this kind of hatred also applied to boyfriends and husbands who had to deal with their partners' extramarital affairs.
As a result of the viral sex videos, Rose Young was now labelled a homewrecker. People felt that she deserved to be fired. Public sympathy quickly reversed from Rose Young to Iris Long. Since Iris Long was the official wife, she automatically gained the support of the majority of the people.
Despite this, there were still a few remaining naysayers who continued to defend Rose Young and attack Iris Long and Jin Liwei. They said that the sudden reversal of the situation was suspicious. Then they claimed that Iris Long and Jin Liwei must have manipulated the events to clear their names while casting all the blame on Rose Young. This group, however, failed to elicit support from the general public.
The newlyweds' bad blood with Rose Young hadn't been resolved yet. It was still very hot in the news, especially on the internet where the sex videos were spreading like an infestation of bed bugs.
Although this was the case, Iris Long and Jin Liwei appeared to be unaffected by all the negative publicity related with Rose Young. Once again, their names appeared together on the news to show off their recent marriage through their widescale post-wedding celebrations in their companies.
It was basically just lunch—no big deal, right?
Wrong.
How could it not be a big deal?
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Chapter 1020 - Worshipping An Unknown Genius
The company-wide post-wedding celebration was of course a big deal. It was estimated that the newlyweds Jin Liwei and Iris Long spent more money in treating every single one of their employees today for lunch than what they spent on their small, private wedding.
Jin Corporation alone and its subsidiary companies already boasted an employee population numbering in the hundreds of thousands. In addition, the catering service that they hired and the food that they chose to serve their employees were top quality.
At the moment, Jin Liwei was finally able to leave after receiving countless congratulatory words from everyone he happened to pass by while walking. Each department enjoyed their own catering service so they didn't have to leave their office floor.
Jin Liwei visited every department in his company building because his wife told him this morning to show his face to his employees who would be enjoying the celebratory lunch buffet in honour of their marriage.
His last stop was the IT Department, or more specifically, the special security unit of the department. He glanced at his assistant, Xu Tian.
"Go to a department of your choice and celebrate with them. I have something to talk about with my tech team. I'll meet you in my office later after the lunch break."
"Understood, President."
"Did you book a restaurant reservation yet for the dinner tonight with the executives?"
"Yes, sir." Xu Tian told him the reservation details.
Jin Liwei nodded. "Good."
"Young Miss Ketchup informed me that Mrs. Jin might also come along to the dinner if her condition feels alright, so I reserved a few extra seats for her and Dominic Chua and an additional person that she might want to bring."
"Oh?" Jin Liwei looked surprised. He didn't know that his wife was planning to come to the dinner scheduled for tonight. They already agreed a few days ago that it was better for her to skip it because the different smells in the restaurant might trigger another bout of her morning sickness.
"Tiantian, you poopoo-head!" Ketchup's familiar child voice berated her daddy's long-time assistant in an adorably irate tone. "Tiantian wasn't supposed to tell Daddy about Mommy's plan to attend tonight's dinner party! Meow!"
"You didn't tell me that it was supposed to be a secret, Young Miss Ketchup."
"Oh no, fandango! Uh-oh! The cute and mighty Ketchup forgot to mention that it was supposed to be a secret! Oopsie daisy~ Ketchup didn't expect that Tiantian needs everything to be spelled out to you and thought that you would've figured it out by yourself. My daddy said that Tiantian is a smart man so you should use your brain more or else Ketchup's powerful system will leave you in the dust! Meow~"
Xu Tian's mouth twitched but his professionalism helped him maintain an impassive expression even after the cheeky cat AI's comment about his apparently lacking brain power compared to hers. He decided that it was better if he didn't reply. If he did, Ketchup might find another reason to chatter nonstop about another shortcoming that she found in him yet again. Fortunately, the AI chatterbox stopped focusing on him.
"Daddy, please pretend that you didn't hear Tiantian just now, okay? Mommy wanted to keep her plan a secret because she's still unsure whether she'll be able to go to tonight's dinner or not. Meow~"
Jin Liwei sighed but amusement twinkled in his eyes after his AI daughter's playful banter with his assistant Xu Tian. He was already used to the two of them interacting like this on a daily basis. Ketchup had improved her organizational skills by learning from Xu Tian which, in turn, upgraded her management of her own company, White Tigress International Virtual Assistant Services.
It was fortunate that there weren't a lot of people in this part of the company building, so there was no one who witnessed the boss and his right-hand man speaking with a strange child's voice through the intercom speaker in the hallway. This area was also restricted to most of the employees except for a few authorized personnel because it housed the company's all-important server room.
After the hacker Eagle's attack on Jin Corporation this past summer, his wife had secretly installed custom-made, one of a kind, advanced technology, both software and hardware, to enhance the company's computer operations especially its security system.
With the addition of the powerful cat AI Ketchup, Jin Liwei had no need to worry about other hacker attacks to Jin Corporation in the future. His wife was a legendary hacker while their two AI children were also powerful hackers like her.
"Daddy?"
Ketchup's voice interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to the present.
"Alright, Ketchup. Don't worry about accidentally revealing your mom's secret to me anymore."
"Daddy, it was Tiantian who spilled the secret, not the cute and mighty Ketchup! Meow~"
Jin Liwei chuckled. "Fine. It's Xu Tian's fault, not yours."
Xu Tian's eyebrows twitched next, but like before, he managed to maintain an impassive expression. He was already used to his boss siding with his AI daughter and not with him.
It was obvious to Xu Tian that his boss was less strict with Ketchup than with Bacon. One reason might be that his boss preferred daughters over sons but Xu Tian didn't think that President Jin would be unfair like this to his children. A more likely reason might be because of the black cat AI's innately poisonous personality that needed constant disciplining. Even Xu Tian was helpless to defend against Bacon's poisonous tongue. Fortunately, Bacon rarely interacted with him.
Another possible reason was that Ketchup knew exactly how to butter up her daddy. After all, they spent a great deal of every single day working together.
Xu Tian had long begun to think of the two cat AIs as his boss and lady boss' children especially after witnessing their unusually familial way of interacting with each other. He had no idea from where his boss got not one but two amazingly advanced and sophisticated AIs that could send the world of artificial intelligence into a mad frenzy if exposed. Nevertheless, he restrained his curiosity because even he knew that revealing the two cat AIs' existence was extremely dangerous.
All he knew was that he worshipped whoever created two very lifelike AIs complete with humanlike emotions. That person was certainly a genius.
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