“Uncle Haohao’s car just entered the main gates 1 minute and 3 seconds ago. There are four other cars accompanying Uncle Haohao filled with unfamiliar people. Ketchup has no records of these scary-looking individuals, so they must be new recruits! Meow!
“Now searching for available information from different local and international databases…
“Creating new records…
“Complete! Meow!
“Ooooh! Uncle Haohao has recruited some foreigners this time! Amazing! Would Mommy and Daddy like to see the quick records Ketchup created about them? The records may still be incomplete, though. Some information had been tampered with and deliberately erased and hidden, so Ketchup or Mommy needs to dig deeper to create more accurate records. Meow~”
Iris stopped panicking for a moment to advise the cat AI. “No need. Don’t interfere with your Uncle’s business, especially if he doesn’t ask for assistance. Just let him and his subordinates be.”
Jin Liwei had a different opinion. “Send the records to me later. I need to know every single person who enters our property.”
“But darling—”
His gaze was serious when he looked at her. “I trust Fifth Brother, of course. But his subordinates are a different matter. I, Jin Liwei, am still the master of Dragon Palace #10. I need to personally ensure that my wife, children, and everyone else under our protection are safe from any outsiders because at the end of the day, that’s what Fifth Brother’s subordinates are—outsiders.
“Although they assist in protecting you and in strengthening the security of our home, not to mention that they get along well with our household members and even help improve our security team’s overall skills, they are still not our people. They aren’t contracted under us but to Fifth Brother. We don’t even know who they really are or where they came from. If it wasn’t that I trust Fifth Brother, I would never allow strangers like them who I haven’t performed extensive background checks to enter our home.”
“It’s different now. You’re pregnant. We need to be extra careful, love.”
She wanted to argue with him but thinking more about it, he was correct, so she shut her mouth. Nevertheless, she still felt torn, especially since this involved her brother. [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]
“I know that you trust Fifth Brother,” he said, his tone becoming gentle. “But I hope you understand where I’m coming from. My main priority will always be you and our family. I can’t risk our safety just because of unknown factors. So if only for our peace of mind, I need to know more information about Fifth Brother’s subordinates, especially these new foreign recruits that he brought today.”
Sighing, she nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.” He smiled.
“Ketchup,” she called. “Do what your dad says.”
“Aye aye, Mommy and Daddy! Now sending all files of Uncle Haohao’s subordinates who come and go inside our home to Daddy…
“Transfer complete! Meow~”
She closed her eyes and felt a faint, throbbing ache in her temples. “We need to inform Big Brother about this. Though I don’t know if he’ll like it.”
She pouted at his words but still nodded in agreement. Still, this was her brother they were talking about. Although she understood that things were different now than in her past life, it was still quite difficult for her to separate the domineering image of Nikolai Vetrov which was stamped deeply inside her soul from who he was now as Lu Zihao.
In their past life, Nikolai Vetrov only followed the Vetrov laws. And if something fell through the cracks that the Vetrov laws didn’t cover, then he would just make his own rules. This “our home, our rules” that Jin Liwei was saying would never apply to the Vetrovs. The Vetrovs didn’t even give a damn about the laws governing sovereign states, so why would they care about individuals’ personal rules? If someone told them “our home, our rules” in the past, they would surely laugh before putting a bullet at the poor person’s head.
‘This is not the past. This is now,’ she reminded herself.
Jin Liwei was right. Despite this, she still couldn’t help but feel nervous. Perhaps her uneasiness wasn’t really about interfering with her brother’s business or respecting his privacy. Maybe it was more about her fear of what she would eventually unearth once she dug deep enough about what he really had been doing all this time. She knew deep down that her brother had an intense desire for revenge for the Vetrovs’ annihilation. And knowing him, he wouldn’t rest until he achieved all his goals even if he had to go through hell.
This extreme direction of her thoughts filled her with great anxiety and foreboding. It felt like the dark past that she desperately wanted to escape from—and successfully did—was now creeping slowly closer and closer to her until it caught her again. All this stress was too much. A pained moan escaped from her cold, pale lips.
“Love?”
Warm embrace enveloped her.
“Follow me. Breathe in, breathe out. That’s it.” Jin Liwei sounded calm but still couldn’t completely hide the strain in his voice. “You’ll be alright. I’m here with you.”
“…so hungry…food…chocolates…ugh…” Her voice was weak.
She moaned, sounding like she was going to die. The past catching up with her frightened her like no other. But right now, eating was more important. With a sudden burst of energy, she grabbed Jin Liwei’s collar and begged him like a deranged woman.
“I swear, Liwei! If you don’t feed me now, I’LL EAT YOUR FACE!!!”
