The child was innocent in all of this. Iris could only hope that Little Jun would be able to grow up properly with all the love surrounding him right now and not let his father's toxicity affect his development.
Of course, she and Jin Liwei would always be there to help Jiang Ying Yue in raising Little Jun as best as they could.
It wasn't only them. There were many people who loved the little guy. Even the self-centered Wei Lan doted on the child. Wei Lan treated Little Jun in a way that she had never treated her own biological daughter, the original Long Xiulan.
Sighing, Iris adjusted her posture while rubbing her belly bump through her loose clothes and went to finish her task at the company for today. Just as she was organizing her stuff into her purse, Jin Liwei arrived to pick her up.
Following behind him was Dom who came from LXC Studio after representing her in a minor meeting. He greeted Iris and took her purse before letting the two lovebirds have a few moments alone by themselves inside the office.
Jin Liwei pulled Iris into his arms and pecked her lips. "Tired?"
"A little." She wrapped her arms around his strong waist and pressed her whole body against him. His scent was comforting as always. She felt like it was washing away all her tiredness.
"How about we don't attend the birthday party later?"
She chuckled. "It's fine if you don't want to attend. I can go to René Alejandro's birthday party with Dom instead."
He scowled. "I'll go with you."
"Alright." She smiled and patted his cheek. "I know that you're worried about me but I'll be fine. There shouldn't be too many people. Besides, we already promised Wei Lan and René Alejandro that we'll be attending tonight. Also, there shouldn't be anyone who can stop us if we want to leave early."
"Fine," he said, sighing.
"Most importantly, I want to be there because Wei Lan is running a fundraising auction for Iris of Hope at the same time. If I don't show my face for a long time, my foundation might eventually become Wei Lan's in the eyes of other people."
He nodded. He held his wife's hand and they walked out of the office together. Dom and the bodyguards followed them.
While walking, Jin Liwei commented, "That René Alejandro has entered our country's high society because of Wei Lan. In such a short time, he has already befriended quite a few influential socialites here."
"It's mostly because of Wei Lan's relationship with you. You're the vizcondesa's son-in-law and René Alejandro is her step-son. The way I see it, Wei Lan is presenting René Alejandro as someone akin to your brother-in-law. This kind of connection is extremely desirable to many people. If they can't get the actual CEO Jin Liwei, then at least they can brag about being close to your Spanish brother-in-law, who is by the way, the adopted son of a foreign titled aristocrat."
Jin Liwei wasn't too interested in claiming any close relationship with the Spaniard. In fact, he disapproved of Wei Lan's attempts to paint such a close connection between him and René Alejandro in the eyes of other people.
However, he could sense his wife's cautious interest in the Spaniard's background. It also didn't help that his brother-in-law, Lu Zihao, was so hostile against the foreigner. If the Vetrov siblings were acting like this, then there must be something more about René Alejandro than he was presenting to the public.
"Wei Lan and René Alejandro will have no connection to me without you," he muttered.
Iris shrugged. "I know. But people are more interested in you than in me, especially those who are in high society and the business industry. They want to be closer to you and not to me. If they are being friendly with me, it's more likely because they want to use me as a bridge to get closer to you since I'm now your wife."
His expression was quick to turn ugly. He wanted to refute her words but knew deep inside that she spoke the truth.
"Bunch of blind fools," he spat. "Can't see a genius when faced with one."
She laughed and hugged his arm. "Let's not talk about this anymore since it's upsetting you so much. I personally don't care. I know myself and you know me. I don't need other unimportant people's validation to prove my worth."
"En."
"Let's hurry home." Then she leaned forward and whispered, "Your twins are so hungry. I feel like I can eat an elephant."
His ugly expression disappeared and turned bright in an instant. He chuckled and raised her hand before kissing it.
"Alright, love. Let's go home and feed the brats."
###
A long row of luxury cars lined up the road in the wealthy neighbourhood waiting for each vehicle's turn to enter Wei Lan's new home. This wasn't a rare sight to this kind of rich residential area so the neighbours didn't bat an eye upon seeing the spectacle. In fact, some of the neighbours who were friendly with Wei Lan even came to the party as guests.
Inside by the main entrance, Wei Lan and René Alejandro personally welcomed their guests. Of course, Randy was there to accompany them.
Wei Lan initially wanted to make René Alejandro's birthday party into a big and extravagant red-carpet event where they could all get their pictures taken by members of the media. Her reasoning was that this party would be René Alejandro's formal debut to this country's high society.
In the end, René Alejandro managed to dissuade her from following her original idea in favour of making the party classier without the blatant media presence.
"We are members of the nobility of España, Mamá," he had told her. "It is more important to raise more funds for my Sister Iris' charity than to place all the attention on my birthday, no? I am already a grown-up adult and have no need of such extravagant celebrations for myself."
At that time, Wei Lan dabbed imaginary tears from her eyes and praised him for being a big-hearted and self-sacrificing man like his father.
