In some sense, there was wisdom in Wei Lan's words. It was just a shame that the woman's innate personality and life experiences made her worldview crooked. It also didn't help that she married and divorced a womanizer like Long Tengfei who ended up becoming someone akin to her mortal enemy.
Iris had no love for Wei Lan. Even the original Long Xiulan didn't have that much affection for her own mother. However, Iris found Wei Lan pitiful in a way. The woman wasn't inherently evil but she was incredibly shallow, narcissistic and self-centred.
Listening to Wei Lan's advice, Iris understood that the woman was rather pessimistic and didn't believe in absolute loyalty between lovers. True love might be real, but sexual monogamy was only a myth. This was what Iris extracted from Wei Lan's chatter.
Iris didn't bother correcting Wei Lan in her assumption that Jin Liwei would surely be tempted to find a mistress outside if she failed to maintain her beauty and figure. Trusting her man was enough. She didn't care about what others thought, even if it was Wei Lan, her body's biological mother. She and Jin Liwei would just prove to everyone that their love and faithfulness for each other were true by their actions instead of their words alone.
Wei Lan kept on chattering, not caring if anyone was listening to her or not. Iris was starting to feel bored. She eyed the cookies near René Alejandro. Surprisingly, the Spaniard noticed her look right away and pushed the plate towards her. The man smiled at her, showing his deep dimples.
"Thank you," she said in Spanish.
"You're welcome," he replied in Spanish as well, his smile deepening.
Before Jin Liwei could feel jealous and protective, René Alejandro already shifted his grey eyes away from Iris back to him.
"Liam, are there more people coming?" René Alejandro asked.
Jin Liwei stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "En, the others are running late but should arrive by dinnertime. This gathering isn't anything formal. The time doesn't matter much as long as we all get together and spend time with each other."
"I see." René Alejandro was about to continue talking when the door opened and a muscular woman came in.
The toddler called Little Jun shouted "Mommi" before running towards the woman. She swept her child in her arms and lifted him up high in the air like it was nothing. René Alejandro's expression displayed a flash of admiration at the woman's strength.
He recognized her as Jiang Ying Yue, the ex of Iris Long's eldest half-brother and the mother of her and Jin Liwei's godson. According to his team's research, she was Iris Long's former bodyguard before Jin Liwei hired her to become a member of his security team.
"There you are, girl!" Wei Lan exclaimed at Jiang Ying Yue's arrival. "Why did your muscles get bigger?! Oh noooooooooo! You let your eyebrows grow again! A little mooooooore and you'll have a unibrow! Girl, come here and let me see you! Don't tell me you already forgot all the beauty and fashion advice that I taught you befooooooore?!"
René Alejandro was surprised that Wei Lan acted quite close to Jiang Ying Yue. He didn't expect this. His expression was neutral, but inside, he was calculating if he could use Jiang Ying Yue's connection to Wei Lan to get closer to Iris Long and eventually to Jin Liwei.
"Madam," Jiang Ying Yue greeted Wei Lan before nodding at Iris, Jin Liwei and the others while carrying Little Jun in one arm.
She felt helpless at Wei Lan's blunt (and slightly insulting) words. However, she didn't feel offended because Wei Lan played a role in helping her realize that her ex would never change and that she should be confident in herself.
Wei Lan grabbed her hand and pulled her closer while looking at her up and down.
"You have reverted to your old dowdy self! I muuuuuuust bring you to the spa with me again! Then we'll gooooooo shopping for new clothes to replace that horrid outfit! Why are you like this agaaaaaaain? Are you still depressed because of that piece of shit that my ex-husband fathered?"
"WEI LAN!!!" Long Tengfei roared.
Yang Jiahui tried to stop him but he was too furious to listen to his wife.
"What are yooooouuuu yelling at me for?!" Wei Lan wasn't someone who would take his attitude lying down. She lifted her chin and glared at him. "Did I say anything wrooooong? Your eldest son is a BIG PIECE OF SHIT."
"That's true," Iris commented while nibbling on a cookie.
Long Tengfei shot his daughter a look of disbelief while Wei Lan laughed. She looked smug from having her words validated by their own daughter.
Iris finished the cookie and wiped her mouth and fingers with a serviette. She looked casual as if there wasn't a tense situation in front of her.
"Mother, Father, I am pregnant. It hasn't been that long since I was in complete bed rest from almost miscarrying."
Jin Liwei's expression turned cold upon the reminder of the traumatic experience that his wife went through.
She continued, "The doctor says that I shouldn't be upset. If you are going to fight, ruin the Christmas gathering and upset me, please do it where I can't see you. I will never forgive anyone who causes harm to the child in my womb even if they're my parents or even myself."
Before anyone could react, René Alejandro stood up and arrived beside Wei Lan. He pulled her behind her, shielding her from Long Tengfei's poisonous glare. He didn't say anything but shot a silent warning at Long Tengfei with his cold, grey eyes.
Long Tengfei was taken aback, but before he could make sense of the Spaniard's look, René Alejandro had already looked away and was now comforting Wei Lan.
The others didn't notice anything amiss. The look only lasted for less than a second. Long Tengfei was frozen but didn't understand why. He hadn't figured out why he was reacting like this.
Jin Liwei was too focused on making sure that his wife was alright to notice anything aside from her.
Iris glanced at René Alejandro.. She didn't see what the man did to Long Tengfei, but for less than a second, she detected bloodthirst shooting out from the man.
