Iris tilted her head to the side, pondering about the bombshell Wei Lan just dropped. The others looked shocked, even Jin Liwei, when they learned that Wei Lan was now an official viscountess. They never expected this kind of development at all. However, Iris wasn’t very affected or impressed. She didn’t care about inherited titles like this.
“Mother, if you’re a viscountess now, why are you staying here at your daughter’s place? Does your husband only have a title but no money? He can’t even afford to provide his wife accommodations?” Iris asked.
“Oh, honey! Not at all! Your mother’s husband is veeeeeery wealthy, but I don’t know how wealthy. He came from old money after all, so it’s a bit difficult to exactly estimate his entire wealth,” Wei Lan explained. “I decided to stay here at your place because I just want to spend some quality time with yoooouuuu, my beloved daughter!”
Iris gave an unconvinced look. Even the others didn’t believe her.
Wei Lan looked wounded by their skepticism. “It’s true! Honey, belieeeeeve me! I really want to spend more time with my own daughter! I learned so much from my husband! After becoming lovers, we travelled all over the Mediterranean, exploring many places. Then we travelled to North Africa next and then to South America. He brought me to some of the poooooorest places in those regions. At first I hated it but as time passed, Mother’s heart was touched!
“Oh honey! I saw sooooooo much suffering and poverty during my travels! Ah! My heart breaks just remembering all the people I’ve met! My husband is a philanthropist, so he and his adopted son are using their wealth and status to help the less fortunate.”
Wei Lan wiped (invisible) tears from her eyes for effect. Nevertheless, she still sounded genuine enough. Then she continued describing the horrid living conditions of all the poor people she met.
Moments later, both Dom and Clover were so affected by her stories that the siblings started sobbing.
“Wuwuwu! That’s so heartbreaking! Now I feel bad that I’m eating so much when there are so many people in the world who literally have nothing to eat!” Dom cried while shoving more food into his mouth. “I’m so thankful that I’m so blessed! Wuwuwu!”
“I know! So sad! That kind of stories are actually also common in my country, the Philippines. When foreigners come out of the airport, they see the skyscrapers, huge malls and all the rich parts of the city. But just an hour away, the poorest of the poor are living in conditions barely fit for humans,” Clover said next, wiping her tears and blowing her nose.
With that, Wei Lan and the siblings Dom and Clover felt a connection with each other when it came to this topic. Both Iris and Jin Liwei were pushed out of the conversation while Dom and Clover took over talking with Wei Lan.
“My husband made me realize how shallow of a person I’ve been! He opened my eyes and mind to the true realities of the world! Travelling with him and doing charity work made me realize my true calling in life! As his vizcondesa, I also want to dedicate my life in helping alleviate poverty in the world and making it a better place for the generations to come!” Wei Lan told them with much passion.
Dom: “Oh! We support you, Mama Boss! That’s like a perfect beauty queen pageant answer!”
Clover: “That’s a very noble cause, Madam Wei Lan. I pray for your success.”
Iris and Jin Liwei looked at each other, not expecting this kind of development in their dinner conversation. They never expected such a passionate and humanitarian speech from someone like Wei Lan.
“Despite being a rich viscount, my husband and his adopted son are pretty secretive and low-profile about their real status. They don’t like showing off their wealth, opting to quietly do philanthropic works all over the world instead,” Wei Lan continued to explain. “That’s why I decided to start living a low-key life as well, and strive hard to become a capable viscountess who’ll be able to proudly stand beside a great man like my husband!
“It’s not easy trying to become a better person, you know. Ah, the struggle is real! I frequently catch myself almost reverting to my old ways. But I’m trying veeeeery hard to become a better version of myself. I no longer want to be known as Madam Wei Lan, former model and ex-wife of Long Tengfei. From now on, I want to be known as Vizcondesa Lan of Castillo de Estrellas, a philanthropist who’s making the world a better place!”
Dom and Clover both praised her grand yet noble ambitions. Finding a receptive audience in the siblings, Wei Lan continued extolling the greatness of her new husband.
She revealed that her husband owned and funded several orphanages all across the world. Unlike regular orphanages, however, the ones he owned provided high-quality education to the orphans living there.
“Actually, my husband adopted his son from one of his orphanages. I was hoping to matchmake René Alejandro with yooooouuuu, honey, so I was a bit disappointed when I heard that you’re already engaged.”
Jin Liwei’s expression immediately turned ugly. Iris grabbed his hand and rubbed it, soothing him.
“But after learning that dear Liwei is your fiancé, my heart is now at ease. I’m suuuuuuuure that dear Liwei will treat you like a queen. René Alejandro is also a CEO of his own company, something like making anti-virus for computers or something—whatever that means—but he’s nowhere near dear Liwei’s level. After all, his little company isn’t a multinational company like Jin Corporation.”
Iris’ eyes lit up at the mention of what Wei Lan’s new stepson did for a living. “Oh, a cybersecurity company. How interesting… Mother, do you remember his company name?”
“Cyber-what? Uh… Sooooorry, honey. Mother forgot what the company is called. René Alejandro explained everything to me but it’s all soooooo confuuuuusing and booooooring that I don’t remember anything!”
Iris looked a little disappointed and was about to ask more questions but Wei Lan continued speaking.
“The majority of René Alejandro’s employees also came from the orphanages like him. As for the other orphans, many of them became honourable soldiers protecting the country they were in, while some began working at government positions. And then some of the more brilliant ones either worked for big companies earning high salaries or started their own companies like René Alejandro. Aren’t they all impressive? Isn’t my husband so amazing to help produce such awesome people like them?”
Wei Lan looked very proud of her husband’s achievements, as if they were her own.
Dom: “Yes! Amazing!”
“What’s even more amazing is that those successful orphans are now giving back, so that the orphanages could provide more orphans with good life and great education. Now they are sharing the burden of helping fund the orphanages, so my husband doesn’t need to shoulder everything like before,” Wei Lan added.
Jin Liwei unconsciously rubbed Iris’ hand, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
“Hmmmm… Those orphanages remind me a little of Cross Academy,” he murmured.
Iris’ eyes widened. She tilted her head to the side. “Really?”
“En. They’re like the poor man’s Cross Academy but still provides quality education and produces highly-skilled people that are the most sought-after in any industry they enter. Also exclusive…to orphans. And everyone remains connected and help each other out even after leaving the place. Isn’t that like Cross Academy, love?”
She was silent as she thought over what he said. She agreed…to some extent. For some reason, however, the way he summarized the orphanages was making her uncomfortable. She wondered why.
Then it hit her.
Gathering orphans, educating them, and then raising them to “give back”—no, training and brainwashing them for eternal loyalty and subservience…
Instead of being similar to Cross Academy, wasn’t that exactly how the Vetrovs trained the next generation of subordinates for the family organization?
