Dragon Palace Home #10.
According to Dom, Iris woke up once in the vehicle while they were on their way to Jin Liwei's property but slept again. Once they arrived at the mansion, Lu Zihao carried her to Jin Liwei's bedroom suite. He and Dom stayed with her until Jin Liwei arrived from Jin Corporation.
The butler and the household staff were already informed beforehand that their master's girlfriend would be arriving. Everyone was curious about who would be their potential future madam. After all, their master left the mansion to live with her a while ago. But when they finally saw her, they didn't expect that she would arrive sleeping in the arms of Master Lu Zihao, one of their master's best friends.
Then they became shocked when some of the younger servants recognized the beautiful sleeping woman as the celebrity Iris Long. Some of the maids and the houseboys were even members of the Black Stars. They felt excited finally seeing their Boss Iris in the flesh, but then they remembered the news that broke out earlier. They felt enraged on her behalf and now understood why their master brought her to his mansion.
Dragon Palace Homes was one of the most fortified exclusive villages in the country with the best security. She would be safe here from prying eyes or anyone who wanted to harm her.
Inside the bedroom, Jin Liwei headed straight to his baby girl who was still sleeping on his bed. He sat beside her and stroked her cheek, a pained expression on his face.
"Dominic, step outside, will you? I need to have an important talk with my Third Brother," Lu Zihao said.
"Okay, Big brother boss and sir boss. Please take care of boss!"
Dom tried taking Ice Cream and Popcorn with him outside, but the two kittens refused to leave Iris. They even started hissing and baring their claws at him in a threatening manner.
"Leave them," Jin Liwei said.
After Dom left, the kittens quickly greeted Jin Liwei and rubbed themselves against him before curling into two plump fur balls beside their sleeping Mommy.
Jin Liwei kissed his baby girl's forehead before standing up and leaving the bedroom with Lu Zihao. They sat in the suite's lounging area just outside the bedroom. Jin Liwei looked very tense, clenching and unclenching his hands.
"Be careful when you tell her, Third Brother," Lu Zihao spoke first. "Choose your words wisely and be ready to face her wrath. She might even leave you."
Lu Zihao said this because he witnessed the remnant of the original Long Xiulan taking over his little sister's body earlier in the penthouse. Although he felt confident that his little sister was growing stronger in her control of her body, he was still worried that she might become overwhelmed by the intense feelings of the original's remnant. If this happened, she wouldn't be able to differentiate her feelings from the original and might grow to hate Jin Liwei without her control.
Based on his own experience, the original's soul was long gone and wouldn't return to the body. However, there was still a possibility that the two of them might get kicked out of their current bodies if they weren't careful enough in dealing with the remnants of the originals. Since his sister didn't go into coma this time, it appeared that she was able to calm the original's remnant. For now, at least.
Although there was still a big part of Lu Zihao that was against his sister having a lover, he hoped that she would stay with Jin Liwei after learning the truth. He still thought that Jin Liwei was the best protector for his sister and also the most accessible because the two were already lovers. He needed Jin Liwei's power and influence for his sister's protection.
"Like I told you before, whatever she decides to do, I'll side with her no matter what," Lu Zihao added.
Jin Liwei's lips pressed hard together into a thin line but still nodded. Then he looked up at the ceiling and released a shaky breath. "I'm such an idiot."
"Yeah, you're an idiot." Lu Zihao didn't mince his words or try to make Jin Liwei feel better.
"I thought that Fan Luo only harmed Xiulan back then, that's why I readily covered for her. I wasn't personally close to her but I watched her grow up since childhood. We all thought that she was such a nice girl. I thought that what she did was just a lapse of judgment caused by jealousy between girls vying for my brother. If my brother or any of my family members did what she did, I would also cover for them without question because they're family."
Lu Zihao didn't say anything but his head moved in an imperceptible nod. He also believed that family was number one. The Vetrovs were the number one crime family in the world until their annihilation. Even if a family member killed someone, the family would ensure that the member was protected and wouldn't get caught.
Eternal damnation in exchange for the safety of one's family or a righteous life in exchange of sacrificing one's family? Lu Zihao would choose eternal damnation, hands down. F*ck righteousness! He would rather suffer the torments of hell for eternity rather than see his family suffer. Criminal or not, a family was a family.
Jin Liwei ran his hands through his hair in a rough manner. "I treated Fan Luo like family. F*ck! I've been so blind and stupid. I never expected that she harmed thirteen other women in addition to Xiulan. Four of them even died! If Xiulan wasn't so lucky, she would've also died!"
'She already died,' Lu Zihao commented in his mind.
"It's only now when I ordered a full and thorough investigation on Fan Luo that I discovered that I've been protecting such an evil person. I almost allowed such a psycho to marry my own brother and become an official member of my family. This…I've wronged not only Xiulan but also my brother. I wish I had known earlier. My mother loved Fan Luo and the Fans so much that I just accepted them without thinking too much."
Lu Zihao watched Jin Liwei agonize in self-guilt. In his opinion, the mistake of the Jin family was trusting the Fans in the first place. They treated them like family, not knowing that they just invited a group of poisonous snakes inside their hearts. The Jins lowered their guards, making them prone to dismiss or ignore the Fans' questionable deeds.
And now that the Fans' mask had been shattered and their true nature revealed for everyone to see, the Jins were suffering from guilt because of their close connection to them.
'How stupid,' Lu Zihao thought.