For the sake of a peaceful life with her husband and their family, Iris decided that she needed to stop running away. The shadows from her past life as a Vetrov kept on following her in the most unexpected ways and disrupting her current happy life.
At this rate, she would never attain full peace of mind to pursue all her passions and continue raising a happy family that she didn't have the opportunity to experience in her past life as Evelina Vetrova.
In her past life, she did her best to escape from her responsibilities as a Vetrov descendant. Even when she couldn't physically escape, her mind shut itself close from the hellish kingdom on earth that the Vetrovs created and reigned supreme as the number one criminal family in the international underworld.
She thought that by becoming reborn as a completely different person in the body of Long Xiulan, she had finally freed herself from the heavy shackles of her past life as Evelina Vetrova.
It seemed that she was completely wrong.
Facts proved that her karma was still deeply connected to her past life. No matter how much she tried to avoid it, her past life would still always find a way to encroach on her current life.
'I can't continue running away like this. What if something from my past life surfaces again but I'm not prepared to block it in time and endanger my family? I'm a mother now. I can't gamble with chance when it comes to my children. I have to always be prepared for the worst so that no matter what happens in the future, my children will always be safe.'
Jin Liwei called her brave. She wanted to prove to herself that she was indeed brave by no longer running away.
As she finally fell asleep, she didn't notice that her chaotic mind went completely calm. So calm that she didn't even dream.
Something clicked inside her, as if an unused gear started rattling before finally moving in action. The neglected part of her old soul lit up and started assimilating to her current self.
The next day, Iris woke up feeling better than she had ever felt before. Her fever was completely gone. Thank goodness.
She sat up and stretched, feeling herself brimming with energy.
Her movements awakened Jin Liwei who once again accompanied her throughout the night. This time, he was lying in bed beside her. Compared to her, he looked disheveled and exhausted.
She beamed at him. "Good morning!"
Her enthusiasm infected him. His sleepy gaze softened and the corners of his mouth curved up. "Morning, beautiful."
After a light breakfast of nutritious chicken noodle soup, the doctor finally cleared Iris' health. The husband and wife left the hospital wing and headed directly to their master suite to clean themselves up.
While Iris was doing her daily morning skincare routine in front of the vanity mirror, Jin Liwei continued observing her.
"Are you really okay now?" he asked while putting on his clothes.
She looked at his reflection on the mirror. "Yes. Honestly, I feel excellent. I don't know if it's a positive effect of falling sick which forced me to take a rest. My mind feels clearer and sharper."
He studied her expression and judged that she must be telling the truth about her current condition. "That's…good. Evelina, about the other night…."
"Since my brother says that the enemies have my dead body in their possession, then it must be true. Big Brother wouldn't lie about something grave like that to me."
He stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "So…how do you feel about this…entire situation?"
"Do you think that I should leave it and let those people keep my body until the end of time?"
"No!" His expression turned ugly. "Evelina, I can't—"
"I know, I can't do it either." She patted his hand on her shoulder. "It's not only my body. I want to know what happened to my brother's body…as well as our parents'."
Jin Liwei did his best not to react but her sharp eyes still noticed the way he flicked his eyes away for a moment to avoid looking at her.
She froze and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Liwei, do you know something? Did my brother tell you anything about it?"
He kissed her head. "Don't overthink it, love. Let's hurry and finish up. The twins miss their mom so much. Little Matcha was easy to coax and stopped crying when I held him yesterday. His elder twin brother is a little harder to deal with. Little Mochi wants his mommy. The little guy even tried sucking my chest while I was consoling him."
This topic about their babies almost distracted her but Iris wasn't stupid. It was obvious that Jin Liwei had something to hide from her. She grabbed his hand before he could leave to grab a pair of socks.
"Liwei, tell me."
He pressed his lips together and looked at her. When it was clear that she wouldn't budge, he sighed and revealed what his brother-in-law told him the other night.
"While you were killed on the spot that night, it was most likely because the enemies knew that you weren't directly involved in running the Vetrov organization. That wasn't the case for your parents and brother. They…uh, how should I say this?"
"You mean they were tortured," she said in flat tone. "I was killed on the spot as an act of mercy. Hah."
She sneered even as her eyes turned red.
Her dry laughter was filled with a combination of fury, mockery, and sorrow which made Jin Liwei's heart ache. Seeing her like this felt even more painful than when she cried.
He pulled her into his arms. "Whatever you want to do, I'll support you. My only request is that you prioritize your safety."
"Don't worry, Liwei. I won't put myself or any of us in danger. Both of us need to live long for our children. I don't want them to grow up as orphans."
"En, good."
She took a few deep breaths and soon regained a calm state of mind.. Jin Liwei noticed that she seemed more emotionally stable and…colder in a way that he couldn't quite figure out yet.
