“Of course not. Rose Young, or other women for that matter, can never compare to you. You’re in a league of your own, love,” Jin Liwei said to Iris during their phone call earlier.
His words somewhat eased her irked feelings about the entire situation with Rose Young who was obviously trying to get close to her man. Iris didn’t feel threatened by Rose Young. Not at all. She also trusted Jin Liwei’s love for her.
Nevertheless, the woman needed to be taught a lesson for coveting a taken man. For now, however, Iris felt that Jin Liwei should be the one to make the decisive move because Rose Young was his direct colleague and employee. Not to mention that she was someone the majority of the board of directors voted for the position of Chief Marketing Officer. In simple terms, Rose Young was basically the current darling of Jin Corporation’s shareholders.
Iris was curious how Jin Liwei would handle the entire situation with Rose Young and her popularity among the higher-ups of Jin Corporation. But regardless of whatever he chose to do, Iris would still start making her moves behind-the-scenes.
She and Dom were currently on their way home to the mansion. Dom exhausted himself from his impassioned rant against Rose Young earlier. He was now snoring softly on his seat besides Iris in the executive van.
Iris remembered what happened in the dressing room earlier.
Jin Liwei obviously wanted to explain everything in detail to her, but Iris preferred to speak to him in person. She told him to wait for her at home and ended the call. Although she said that she didn’t feel jealous of Rose Young, something from the online post bothered her.
She turned to Jin Chonglin beside her and asked, “The Jins are close to Rose Young’s maternal relatives?”
“Close to some of the branch families, yes. But to us from the main family? Not really. We’re acquainted, that’s all,” he told her, shrugging.
“They tried to pair Liwei with Rose Young?” she continued to ask.
He continued, “You have to remember that he’s the head of our Jin family and Jin Corporation. His choice of marriage partner is extremely important to all the Jins. After all, his wife will become the next Madam Jin so everyone in the family—except me—cares about who he marries.”
“Hmm…” Iris went into deep thought.
“Feeling scared now, sister-in-law?” Jin Chonglin smirked and teased her.
She raised an eyebrow. “Why should I feel scared? I never once cared about what the Long relatives think about me, so why should I care about whether your Jin relatives like me or not? The only people from the Jin family who I deem important and care about are Liwei, Grandma Li and Aunt Yuyan. And they already treat me as family.”
“Hey! What about me?” he protested.
She ignored him. “I may not care about what your relatives or other people think about me, but I do care about what they think about your brother. I don’t want Liwei to lose his position as head of the family and Jin Corporation because of me. It’s not that I care about the position itself or its accompanying status and wealth—to be honest, I couldn’t care less—but it’s something that was bestowed upon him by your late grandfather, father, and Grandpa Lu. It’s his right, and I don’t want to take that away from him.”
Her words made everyone quiet in the dressing room. Jin Chonglin studied her, not saying anything. Iris also didn’t say anything more afterwards.
Jin Chonglin was the one who broke the serious atmosphere. He leaned down and whispered to Iris’ ear.
“Introduce me to the hacker who gave you access to that hotel’s surveillance system, okay?”
“Come on, Sister Xiulan,” he continued to whisper so the others wouldn’t hear him. “I’ve asked Big Bro several times before to lend me some of his tech people but he’s so stingy. You’re not going to be stingy too, are you? Have some pity for your brother-in-law.”
“You want to hire a hacker? Why?” she asked him in a whisper as well.
He nodded. “Well, you see…I have some friends with, uh, benefits and they might have, you know, some pictures and videos—”
“You mean sex tapes?”
“No! Not sex tapes. But maybe some naughty photos and short videos. If you know what I mean.” He winked at her.
“Not interested,” she said.
“Aaw. Come on! I’ll pay!”
Iris’ eyes lit up. “Hmm… The hacker I know is one of the best in the world. Can you afford?”
Jin Chonglin looked insulted by her words. “Can I afford? Are you seriously asking this prince that question? This prince is one of the biggest superstars in the country, so of course I can afford!”
She was currently saving up to buy more Long Industries shares if any were put on sale again. As much as possible, she wanted to use her own money instead of asking Jin Liwei for help. If she could earn some easy money deleting Jin Chonglin’s sex tapes or whatever, then it would be great for her bank account.
Grandpa Lu’s shameless booming laughter echoed inside her mind at that moment.
Back to the present, Iris and Dom finally arrived at Dragon Palace Home #10. It was already late at night. The sky was dark. Shadowy clouds covered the moon and the stars. A slight chill was in the air.
The butler greeted them as soon as they entered the grand foyer. Beside him was Jin Liwei.
“Welcome back, love,” he said and moved to hug Iris.
However, she held up a hand and stopped him from getting near her.
“Where’s your business suit?” she asked him instead.
A look of hurt flashed in Jin Liwei’s eyes for about a second before he put up an impassive expression on his face. His arms which were reaching out for her fell awkwardly to his sides.
The butler and the other household staff pretended not to notice the awkward atmosphere while sweating bullets inside their clothes. Were the master and the mistress fighting?!
Iris looked like a woman on a mission. Her expression, tone—everything was serious. “The one you wore at work today. Where is it?”
He frowned and felt confused as to why she was asking about it. But he still answered her. “It’s in the laundry hamper in our bathroom. Why?”
She didn’t reply, walking past him instead. She gestured for a maid and a houseboy to follow her.
“Love? Can we talk, please? Wait for me.” Jin Liwei followed and walked beside her.
Of course, the drama-hungry Dom also followed after them. His sleepiness was completely gone.
Jin Liwei’s lips pressed together into a thin line, and his hands clenched into tight fists. He wanted to pull his baby girl, to force her to stop and to listen to what he had to say. However, it was obvious that she didn’t want him to touch her. He felt frustrated and also hurt. Not wanting to fight with her, especially in front of their household staff, he refrained from talking for now and just kept on following her in silence.
Moments later, they finally arrived at their bedroom suite. Everyone followed Iris inside all the way to the bathroom. She marched towards the laundry hamper. When she confirmed that Jin Liwei’s business suit was inside, she turned to the maid and the houseboy.
“Take this hamper and burn it. I want it burned until all the clothes inside turn into ashes. Understood?”
“Yes, Mistress! Right away, Mistress!”
Jin Liwei didn’t understand what was going on. “Wait!”
The maid and the houseboy paused.
“What are you doing?” Jin Liwei asked his baby girl. “You have so many nice dresses and lingerie in there. Let me take them out first.”
“No! Don’t touch them! You’ll get dirty! I don’t want them anymore. They’re contaminated now. I’ll just get new ones,” she said. Then she pointed at his body. “Take off your clothes and go in the shower. I’m going to wash and scrub you thoroughly until you’re squeaky clean tonight!”
His eyes went widened in surprise before darkening with desire. Then his mouth curved up into the faintest of smile.
“But I already showered,” he told her, even as his hands already started removing his shirt.
“I need to wash you again myself to make sure that you’re completely clean of that woman’s contamination.”
“Hmm… Alright, love.”
The maid and the houseboy averted their eyes and hurried out of the bathroom.
