As the evening grew late, some people began to leave. There were those, however, who only became more spirited as the party went on.
The festive atmosphere prompted many to drink more alcohol, becoming inebriated, although fortunately none acted too rowdy and ended up embarrassing themselves in front of their bosses and colleagues with any wild, drunken behaviour. Some though lost a little of their inhibitions by becoming more extroverted but thank goodness they didn’t lose their good manners in the process as well.
Iris, who for some reason had become oversensitive to smells lately, almost couldn’t bear the nauseating mishmash of revolting scents wafting from everyone around her. She paled and stumbled a little on her feet, doing her best not to inhale too much of the polluted air while cold sweat beaded on her skin.
She was roaming around by herself at the moment and interacting with some of her fans. Long Jian had long since left her to chat with his own circle of close colleagues.
Everyone was busy doing their own thing at the party, either using it as an opportunity to network and advance their careers or simply treating it as a break from work to relax and have a good time.
Iris adored her loyal fans, the Black Stars, and would always be grateful for their support but right now, she could no longer take the sickening smells assaulting her. After signing what felt like the millionth autograph tonight, she excused herself and made a quick escape.
In her peripheral vision, she noticed her bodyguards following her without acting too conspicuous with the female bodyguard walking closest to her.
“To the powder room,” Iris said in a low voice but then gasped when the surrounding smells almost choked her. She immediately held her breath while hurrying out of the main hall. Her desperate actions caused her to sway and almost fall down.
Her female bodyguard reacted quickly and grabbed her arm to steady her. Iris allowed her bodyguard to guide her to the nearest empty powder room. It was fortunate that nobody noticed her discomfort because she still managed to look elegant as always.
The female bodyguard entered with her inside. Iris felt weak and a little dizzy but also relieved to be away from the suffocating jumble of smells at the party. Gradually, she managed to recover her bearings.
But before her bodyguard could respond, an insistent knocking interrupted them. Iris frowned, annoyed at the person who disturbed them.
“Occupied!” her bodyguard shouted at the door.
“It’s me,” a familiar male voice replied.
Iris’ eyes lit up, her frown disappearing. The female bodyguard moved to open the door. [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 Cross]
Jin Liwei, still in his business suit, entered the powder room while the female bodyguard left and closed the door to give the couple privacy. He zeroed in on Iris and scowled after seeing her pale, unhealthy appearance. Her bodyguards needed some serious scolding because they didn’t take care of his baby girl. It only took a second for him to reach her with his long legs.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he gathered her in his arms. His voice sounded calm but his tight expression revealed deep worry for her and a touch of anger for those who caused her to become like this.
“I’m fine now,” she assured him with a smile, delighted that he came to pick her up when she didn’t expect it. Her body melted in his embrace while she pressed her face against his chest and inhaled his scent, not caring that some of her make-up smudged on his white dress shirt underneath his business jacket.
Ah, he smelled so good!
She could feel her entire olfactory system being cleansed of the stinky pollution she suffered earlier at the party. He was like her very own personal air freshener. As expected of her darling.
Sighing softly, she hugged his waist and pulled him closer.
“What happened?” he asked in a gentle voice while rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head.
“Hmmm. Just exhausted. I want to go home now, Liwei.” Now that he was here, she felt very comfortable and lazy to provide a detailed explanation.
“Alright. We’ll go home now.” He didn’t press her but decided to interrogate her bodyguards later. For now, he needed to bring his baby girl home so that she could rest.
The level of her exhaustion lately had become quite worrisome. He didn’t want to interfere with her work knowing that she loved being busy, but if it started negatively affecting her health, then he would have no choice but to take a stand and stop her even if it resulted to them fighting. He couldn’t bear for her to faint or go into coma again. Those experiences had traumatized him for life.
While hugging her, he began remembering what she was like in the past couple of weeks or so. A suspicion bloomed in his mind. Once it took root, it started nagging at him without rest.
He opened his mouth and was about to voice his suspicion to her but then stopped himself. His baby girl was too exhausted at the moment. There was no need to agitate her tonight. He closed his mouth and sighed. He would have to talk to her about it when she was well-rested, perhaps tomorrow.
They left the powder room. Xu Tian was outside the door with the bodyguards. Before Iris could say anything, Jin Liwei was already instructing his assistant to inform Long Tengfei that he would be taking Iris home. Xu Tian immediately left to do his bidding.
“Is that okay?” Iris asked. “I’m Long Industries’ brand ambassador. I should at least personally inform Father and the others before leaving.”
