Dragon Palace Home #10.
That night, Iris arrived home exhausted just before dinner time. She got an earful from Tang Yiyi when she returned to work after leaving Jin Liwei’s office with red, puffy eyes. Fortunately, the swelling went down after she used a cold eye mask, a prototype for a future Orchidia Beauty product.
Jin Liwei called to tell her that he would be running late tonight but promised that he would come home before bedtime. They still wanted to talk more about what happened earlier in his office before sleeping.
Later, Iris headed to the kitchen for dinner. Surprisingly, Lu Zihao was also there. He had been absent for quite some time ever since the bomb incident. The siblings hadn’t seen or spoken with each other for many days.
Lu Zihao looked as exhausted as Iris, maybe even more so than her. He must’ve been very busy with whatever he had been doing. She knew that she was one of the reasons why he was so busy because he and Jin Liwei were jointly working on their own investigations to find out the real mastermind behind the bomb attack. Her own investigations on the side had also gained a few small clues but nothing too significant yet. They had been cooperating by sharing their investigations results.
The Shadow Winds’ hacker team was a great help in decreasing her burden in the investigations. She discovered that they collectively named themselves as the hacker ShaWn and had helped her contain the malicious online hate campaign against her right after the bomb incident. Sometimes, she would impart some hacking tips and tricks to them that would leave them all ecstatic. They were improving at an impressive rate, greatly pleasing Lu Zihao. However, they were still several leagues below a world-class master hacker like Iris, but that was only because she was a monstrous genius.
They needed to dig deeper in order to find out the real mastermind(s) behind the bomb incident. With each passing day that they failed to find anything concrete, Iris became more certain that either the mastermind(s) or the protector was a formidable hacker like her. This only made the situation more dangerous yet also more exciting for her.
But for now, she had to put this whole matter aside because of how exhausted she felt after everything that happened at Jin Liwei’s office today.
The brother and sister, Lu Zihao and Iris, ate dinner with the others except for Jin Liwei who was still at work.
“I heard that you visited Third Brother in his office during lunch,” Lu Zihao talked in a casual tone while they ate. “But then I heard something interesting.”
“I heard that you left his office with red and swollen eyes.” He placed his chopsticks down and looked at her.
His aura became dangerous, making Dom and Jiang Ying Yue shut up from their own lively conversation and then cower in their seats. Fortunately, Little Jun was too young to sense danger so the toddler continued eating his food, unaware of the change in the atmosphere.
“So tell me, little sister,” Lu Zihao said in a deceptively light voice. “Did you fight with Third Brother?” Then his voice turned cold. “Did that bastard make you cry?”
Although affected by her brother’s deadly aura, Iris still straightened her back and replied to him in a calm, firm voice. “Liwei is not a bastard, Big Brother. He’s my future husband…and…and the father of my future baby…or babies.”
His eyes narrowed, his lips thinned, and the air grew colder.
Dom and Jiang Ying Yue shivered and avoided looking at the siblings. Little Jun continued eating happily and entertained himself by watching the antics of his cat cousin, the goofy Popcorn.
“And no, Liwei and I didn’t fight,” Iris continued. “He didn’t make me cry. Technically, it wasn’t him.”
“Heh… Is that so?” Lu Zihao asked, still suspicious. He picked up his chopsticks again to resume eating. “Then why did you cry after leaving his office?”
Iris was about to complain why he knew so much about what happened earlier when he wasn’t even there, but then remembered that about half of her personal security team consisted of his subordinates. Those people must’ve ratted her out to him as soon as they arrived home.
“Fine! Liwei and I made love in his office and it got wild and intense! I lost control of myself and I just started screaming and sobbing. That’s what happened! Are you satisfied now?”
Lu Zihao froze, his expression indescribable.
Dom gasped dramatically and covered the ears of the clueless and innocent Little Jun while Jiang Ying Yue turned red.
Iris didn’t lie to her brother. Well, not technically. She only applied some of the interview-dodging skills Tang Yiyi constantly instilled in her and chose to tell only part of the truth while hiding some. She didn’t want to hide things from her brother but had to in order to protect her man. If Lu Zihao knew that she had a pregnancy scare earlier today, he would probably beat the shit out of Jin Liwei as soon as he returned home later tonight.
Lu Zihao cleared his throat to clear the awkwardness. “Forget I asked. By the way, have you tasted this scallion soup? It’s good. Here, eat some.”
Iris was relieved that they stopped talking about the topic. She wanted to talk to Jin Liwei about it first before sharing it with others, if the need to share with their family and friends became a must. But first, she and Jin Liwei needed to confirm whether she was really pregnant or not.
Finally, dinner ended and they all headed to their own rooms.
The brother and sister walked together in the meantime.
“I’m glad that nothing serious happened with you and your man,” Lu Zihao said. “This body…and also I know after living as Lu Zihao for some time now that Jin Liwei is a good and dependable man. He’ll take care of you. I also have to admit that I can see very clearly that he loves and cares for you. Heck, the man’s ready to give you everything, even die for you. You just need to ask and he’ll do it.”
“But.” Lu Zihao stopped walking.
She stopped walking, as well.
“He’s still a man who’ll eventually make mistakes. There might come a time when he’ll hurt you either unintentionally or on purpose.”
She didn’t reply, instead waiting for him to say more.
“Regardless of whether it’s unintentional or not, hurting my sister is still something I deem unforgivable. So if he ever hurts you and makes you cry, remember to tell me. Even if you don’t tell me, I’ll still know. If that happens, I’ll—”
“Big Brother, I love Jin Liwei,” she interrupted. “If you ever harm him, you’ll hurt me, too.”
###
[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]
