Iris and Dom slipped out of the hospital following Jin Liwei's arrangement after she was discharged. His two subordinates drove her and Dom in an unassuming car.
Noticing that another car was following them, she expressed her concern. What if a reporter recognized her and was now following?
Jin Liwei's subordinate assured her that the car following them were their colleagues. Meaning, they were Jin Liwei's people as well. He explained that their boss called for more men in order to ensure that she was well-protected and can leave safely under the noses of all the reporters and rumourmongers still snooping around the hospital's vicinity.
Iris closed her eyes, her hands tightening into fists. She took deep breaths, trying to control her frustration. Yes, she agreed to hire a bodyguard but that didn't mean that she gave Jin Liwei free rein to surround her with his men. She would have to discuss this with him later when he returned home from work.
###
Gold Heights Condominium.
Yi Mei burst into tears when Iris and Dom arrived home. The old housekeeper forgot her usual composure, pulling her Young Miss in a tight hug.
Iris' chest filled with warmth and her eyes moistened. She blinked her eyes and patted Yi Mei's trembling back, letting the housekeeper release her concern and emotions through tears.
Finally, Yi Mei calmed down and released Iris. While struggling to regain her usual composure, she started fussing around her Young Miss. She didn't even notice Dom greeting her before running to the kitchen to look for something to eat.
Iris felt extremely pampered. Yi Mei was like a mother hen making sure that she was warm and comfortable. She realized that this was the first time she experienced such warmth, concern and pampering from an older female figure.
Similarly as the new Iris Long, she didn't have any mother-daughter relationship with Wei Lan. Their relationship was more like friendly acquaintances who saw each other occasionally. The woman would come and go whenever she felt like it. Now and then, Wei Lan would drop by the penthouse unannounced to gossip and chatter about her recent escapades. She would give her daughter expensive things she bought from her travels and shopping sprees. Things like brand-name dresses and shoes (in the wrong size), exotic bags (too outrageous for Iris to use), expensive bottles of wine (Iris didn't drink), etc. Wei Lan didn't know that her daughter's tastes vastly changed since she woke up from coma. She also didn't stay more than an hour when visiting, quickly leaving when she finished chattering. She would be gone for weeks, sometimes for months, before she popped by again.
Compared to her mother in her previous life and Wei Lan, Yi Mei fitted the role of mother figure better than the two. To her, Yi Mei, Dom and her household staff were her family. And Jin Liwei too, as long as they remained lovers. Long Tengfei also seemed like he wanted to have a proper father-daughter relationship with her.
All of these connections were something that she never had in her previous life. She was only close to her father and older brother back then. However, they were always away and busy running the organization. Her mother frightened her, so she avoided the cold woman whenever she could.
Now it felt like she was really living life. There were so many things that were available for her to explore, so many people that she could connect with. Most importantly, she could openly work towards reaching her dream of sharing and performing her music to the world. She could do all of these whenever she wanted to without having anyone restrict or stop her.
She was still getting used to this newfound freedom and independence. She lived her entire previous life in such a sheltered manner that she couldn't instantly get rid of its lingering effects on her mentality. However, she wasn't worried because she had been given this second life to learn and experience all the things she was deprived of in her previous life.
For the rest of the day, Iris enjoyed everyone's care. Just before dinner, Jin Liwei called that he would be coming home late because it was very busy in his company. She felt disappointed that they wouldn't be able to eat dinner together. However, she also understood that his company needed him.
11 PM.
Iris was in the cat room, playing with Popcorn with a laser pointer. Ice Cream was already sleeping on her soft fluffy bed. The door was ajar so she immediately heard it when someone began shouting from outside the room. She stopped playing with the kitten and hurried to the living area where the commotion was coming from.
"How dare you return here, you devil?! Stay away from the Young Miss! You're no good for her! You're just going to hurt and ruin our Young Miss!" Yi Mei was in berserk mode as she tried to attack Jin Liwei who just arrived from work. However, she couldn't even touch him because Dom had his arms wrapped tightly around her.
Yi Mei wasn't listening to him.
Jin Liwei just stood there silently, his expression cold. However, his usual indifference was absent. Although he was still cold, he looked more like someone who disassociated his mind while his body was taking a beating.
"Yi Mei, please stop," Iris said when she arrived. She stood in front of Jin Liwei facing the housekeeper. She already heard from Dom how Yi Mei blamed Jin Liwei for her fainting episode.
"Young Miss, this man is no good for you. I beg you to think more carefully. You're still young. There are many men in the world. You still have many years ahead of you to meet other nicer men. Why must you stay with this man when you just met him? Powerful men like him only play with young girls' hearts."
Iris hesitated and then turned her head to glance at Jin Liwei.
Jin Liwei saw her hesitation and his cold expression cracked. Panic bubbled inside him. "Baby…" He wanted to persuade her that he was the best man for her but couldn't find the right words. His hand reached out to her but dropped it. A sense of insecurity flowed like sticky goo all over him.
Iris looked at him and her heart leaped. Taking a deep breath, she turned again and looked at the raging housekeeper.
"Yi Mei, Jin Liwei is important to me," she said, her voice calm and sincere. "Please don't blame him. It's not his fault that I fainted. In fact, he took care of me."
Behind her, Jin Liwei's heart was racing inside his chest. He was important to his baby girl! Relief was quickly followed by joy. He wanted to envelop her in his arms and kiss her but stopped himself. This wasn't the right time. The atmosphere was still tense.
"Thank you for caring about me, Yi Mei. I'm very thankful. I also care about you. You and Dom are both important to me."
"Oh boss…" Dom's eyes watered. His arms were still wrapped around Yi Mei.
"But Jin Liwei is also important to me. All of you who care about me, you're all important people in my life. Yi Mei, I don't know if Jin Liwei will hurt me. But I also don't know if I'll hurt him. In life, how do we know if we'll hurt each other? I don't want to avoid something because I'm afraid of getting hurt."