Iris thought that the original Long Xiulan was a pitiful girl. Sure, she didn't have the most endearing personality. In fact, she had been extremely outrageous throughout her short life. Her home life was the epitome of a lonely, rich girl cliché who rebelled due to lack of parental affection and attention.
As someone who possessed the original's body and memories, Iris understood Long Xiulan's desire to be accepted. To be honest, the original was a naturally talented girl. She only lacked the skill and dedication because of her spoiled nature.
The original's natural talent gave Evelina the foundation to use her own advanced skills and techniques from her past life in order for the brand new Iris Long to quickly rise up in showbiz after making a high-profile comeback.
Similar to the original Long Xiulan, Evelina Vetrova had also craved a "normal" family life.
She had known that her father loved her but couldn't spend a lot of time with her because he was the head of the organization. He had been too busy running what was basically a criminal empire.
As for her mother, there was no need to mention how Evelina had been treated by the woman while she was growing up. Madam Vetrova had acted more like a cold and heartless robot programmed to execute objectives as perfectly as possible rather than a human being.
If not for her older brother who had always provided her with love and warmth as best as he could, she might have already long given up in her past life. Nikolai Vetrov was every bit a Vetrov—cruel, ruthless and vicious—yet he doted on her, his one and only little sister. He might be cold-hearted to everyone else, but in reality, he wasn't someone without a heart.
If Nikolai Vetrov had been as heartless as his enemies painted him to be, then how could Evelina feel so loved and treasured by her older brother?
It was a pity that his brotherly love hadn't been enough to sustain her. She found herself slowly and painfully dying inside the longer she lived as a member of the Vetrov family.
Now that she was reborn as the new Iris Long, she could see that both she and the original Long Xiulan had both lived lonely lives that ended in tragedy.
"Liwei."
Her husband looked at her while continuing to play with their eldest twin son, Little Mochi.
"What is it, love?" Jin Liwei asked.
"Do you think that if the original Long Xiulan lived in a normal family with parents who loved and cared for her and educated her properly, she wouldn't grow up the way she did? Maybe…just maybe she wouldn't have died so tragically like that?"
Jin Liwei didn't reply right away. He thought about her question in silence for a few moments. The shaking rattle in his hand sounded almost jarring in the sudden somber atmosphere.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know," he finally answered. "We can't say anything for certain when it already happened the way it did. All I can say is…it must be fate."
Iris lowered her gaze and reflected on the word "fate" in her mind.
"I might sound insensitive by saying this but I'm glad that the original Long Xiulan…passed away," he continued saying.
She raised her eyes up and looked at him in surprise before frowning. Indeed, his words were quite insensitive.
"Of course, I still feel guilty and sorry for indirectly causing Long Xiulan's death due to my erroneous decision to protect Fan Luo as my brother's fiancée back then. But…"
He looked at her straight in the eyes. His gaze was firm.
"…if Long Xiulan hadn't died, I wouldn't have you now, Evelina. I'm always thankful every day that you were reborn as Long Xiulan because I got the chance to meet you, my fated lover."
Her expression softened. She found herself becoming teary-eyed.
"I love you, wife. So much."
She chuckled and wiped her eyes before standing up. She walked to him and stood on her tippy-toes for a kiss.
"I love you too, husband."
The kiss was light and gentle but the intensity of love it held was unmeasurable.
Little Mochi's restless wriggling and loud wail interrupted the husband and wife, effectively ending the sweet kiss.
Jin Liwei rocked their eldest twin son. It was obvious from his dark expression that he was displeased but he wouldn't take his anger out on his little baby.
Iris giggled and kissed Little Mochi's forehead. The baby immediately smiled. It was as if he didn't wail just now.
"Drama queen," she said to her son in amusement.
"En." Jin Liwei agreed but he didn't look as amused as her.
Iris felt her breasts becoming too swollen and heavy so she went to a hidden corner to pump milk.
While she was out of sight, Jin Liwei looked at Little Mochi. The baby's gaze was still unfocused but Jin Liwei pretended that the two of them were having a serious father and son heart-to-heart talk.
"Jin Haoyu, be good. Don't interrupt your mom and dad like that again. Do you understand?"
Little Mochi farted.
Iris giggled from the hidden corner.
Jin Liwei sighed and remembered that his wife had great hearing. He lowered his head to smell his son's diaper and winced. He sighed again as he changed Little Mochi's diaper.
###
By the weekend, Iris finally had a breakthrough in her investigations on Tian Kong.
She did her best to be as careful as possible in not drawing attention. Although battling against other hackers was fun and rewarding, it consumed large amounts of time and energy. She didn't have the same amount of time and energy that she had before after becoming a mother to her baby twins.
For now, she could only suppress her competitive instincts as a hacker and avoid direct confrontations as much as possible. At least until the twins had grown up enough not to require her constant attention.
Her efforts these past few days bore fruit. She was able to find some helpful clues without directly engaging with other hackers who were protecting the information about the real mastermind behind Tian Kong's crime.
"At last," she muttered before smiling.
