Chapter 603 Visitor
Lu Zihao used the hard and domineering approach while Jin Liwei used the gentle and loving method to warn Iris to be careful of both her health and safety when she returned to work. Their methods might be different but both were basically just nagging her. She listened to their nagging without any complaints. She was too excited and restless to return to work.
Back to the present, Iris just finished reviewing her schedule for tomorrow with Dom. Her schedule was still busy but due to Jin Liwei's warning, Tang Yiyi didn't dare to fill it to the brim like before. Only the most important work was included while the minor ones were tossed out of Iris' original schedule.
Iris also needed the distraction of immersing herself with work because she only made insignificant progress so far in investigating the true mastermind of the bombing incident behind Tian Kong. What intrigued her the most was the mysterious hacker she battled days ago. Although the thought of going head to head against a formidable hacker thrilled her, she had to restrain herself from doing so this time.
She needed to evaluate the entire situation first, make thorough preparations, and ensure that her safety and that of her loved ones wouldn't be endangered in any way. She was confident that the other hacker didn't know that she was Drakon. Not only Drakon, but the legendary Fantom as well. That would be her trump card.
Returning to work would, to some extent, distance her mind from her current investigations and perhaps even given her an inspiration about how to proceed next. In the meantime, she would enjoy and live life to the fullest with her work, Jin Liwei and their family while waiting for the enemy's next moves. She would be careful but refused to act paranoid. The moment the enemy slipped up, she would pounce.
Iris and Dom climbed down the staircase from her mezzanine home office. Dom carried the lazy Ice Cream and chatted with the equally talkative Ketchup while the hyper-active Popcorn ran down the stairs ahead of them and barrelled towards his daddy who was working on his massive desk downstairs.
Jin Liwei looked up from the documents he was reading and smiled at Iris. His hands automatically petted Popcorn who jumped on his lap.
"Hi, love."
"Hello, darling."
"Ketchup says it's time for dinner," Iris said when she reached Jin Liwei and bent down to kiss him on the lips.
"En." His arms wrapped around her tiny waist, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss."Ehehehe." Dom hugged Ice Cream tighter as he watched the lovey-dovey couple with sparkling eyes, eliciting an annoyed growl from the lazy, fat, grey cat.
Later, all of them headed out of their home office to the kitchen for dinner. Before they reached there, however, Ketchup notified them that there was a visitor outside the Dragon Palace Homes village gate who wanted to meet Iris.
"Who is it?" Jin Liwei asked.
Ketchup told them who it was.
Iris lifted an eyebrow.
"What do you want to do?" Jin Liwei asked her.
She tilted her head to the side, thinking for a couple of seconds before replying, "Instruct the guards at the village gate to let him in."
"Okay, Mommy! Meow~"
Ketchup disguised her voice as one of the senior members of Jin Liwei's security team when talking to the guards at the village gate.
"Done, Mommy and Daddy! The visitor will be here in…"Approximately...45 minutes...to 1 hour...
"Depending on how long he goes through the security checkpoints!
"Meow~"
Iris nodded before falling into deep thought. She already had an idea why that visitor came tonight. Jin Liwei was also thinking the same way.
"You have no obligation to help that person," Jin Liwei told her, distracting her from her thoughts. "If you don't feel comfortable with him, tell me. I'll kick him out immediately. This is our territory."
"I know. But I still want to meet him and hear what he has to say."
"Alright." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. "Let's eat dinner first. We still have an hour until he arrives here."
"Okay."
They continued to make their way to kitchen.
###[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]
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"Good evening, Mr. Long. Welcome to Dragon Palace Home #10," the butler greeted Long Jian when he arrived at the palatial mansion. "The master and the mistress are expecting you. Your coat, please."
Long Jian nodded and handed his coat, feeling weary by his long travel. He just returned from a business trip in Macao on behalf of Long Industries. It was cut short when his mother called from jail (again), already the second time this month. The first time was when Zhu Ning had a public altercation with Wei Lan at the mall spa. She was also detained by the police back then. Fortunately, Wei Lan and her lawyer decided not to press any charges against her.
This time, Zhu Ning was arrested yesterday due to the accusations against her stating that she was lovers with Tian Kong, the bomber, and also the mastermind behind the entire bomb incident. Her current situation was a league more serious than the first time the police detained her.
Long Jian had no choice but to abandon his business trip and ask someone else to replace him before rushing home to help his mother from her predicament. Upon arriving, he immediately called all the people who could possibly help, including some lawyers, Long Industries' COO, and even his father, Long Tengfei. All they could do was give him advice and a clearer picture of what to expect in fighting the case in court. He felt a little hopeless after listening to them. None of them could immediately extricate his mother from the situation, especially after the "evidence" against her popped up. Zhu Ning's position was extremely precarious right now. The authorities didn't tolerate any acts of terrorism and masterminding a bomb incident in public was a big no-no.
The COO felt sorry for him and comforted him, even contacting his own lawyer to review Zhu Ning's case. It would be up to the lawyer if he wanted to handle the case. Although the COO was very helpful to Long Jian, he was still a very upright man. If his lawyer personally judged that Zhu Ning was guilty, it was likely that the COO would distance himself from Long Jian. Associating with a terrorism mastermind was something that the COO would never want to do. Long Jian insisted that his mother was innocent and framed. The COO believed him…for now.
Long Jian was grateful for the COO's goodwill and understood his reservations. It was already more than what he expected anyway. In his mind, he already looked up to the COO more than his real father.
As for his own father, Long Tengfei didn't show much of a reaction when he approached him about the situation. At first, Long Jian didn't want to ask Long Tengfei for help but the COO urged him to do so.
"He is your father," the COO told him.So Long Jian asked his father for help. Surprisingly, Long Tengfei had already gathered internal information about Zhu Ning's case through his own channels. His father shared what he discovered to him. Long Jian's eyes widened in disbelief after listening.
"A s-sex video?!!"
It was more serious than what he originally expected. He heard about the rumours circulating about the sex video but dismissed it as something made up by drama-loving gossipmongers. He didn't expect that there was actually a real sex video involving his mother. Long Jian didn't want to believe it but there was a small part of him that was unsure. His mother was not the most morally upright person in the world after all. She had several lovers after Long Tengfei broke up with her.
"The one in the video…was it…was it my mother?" he ended up asking.
Long Tengfei took almost a full minute before replying, increasing the apprehension Long Jian felt.
"I'm not entirely sure," Long Tengfei finally replied, frowning a little. "It has been so long since I've been with your mother. Her body surely must have changed a lot since then. However, if my memories serve me right, that's not how…" He cleared his throat. "The way the woman in the video moves is different from your mother."
Long Tengfei didn't blush and his face remained impassive but Long Jian could still sense a bit of embarrassment from his words. Long Jian didn't care about it all. He was already a grown adult and knew that his father and mother had sex in order to make him.
Even though his father's words were uncertain, they still gave him hope. He didn't even take a moment to think before asking, "Can you testify in court and say that the woman in the video is not my mother?"
Long Tengfei's expression hardened. Long Jian held his breath, already expecting his request to be rejected. Contrary to his expectation, however, his father sighed before agreeing. This shocked Long Jian to the core. Long Tengfei had a sour relationship with his past women, except maybe for Long Jinjing's mother. His father detested his mother and Iris' mother the most.
"Really?" he asked, not daring to believe."I regret being with your mother but I don't regret fathering an excellent son like you. Zhu Ning has many faults but she did a splendid job in raising you to be goal-oriented, hardworking and disciplined. I first thought that promoting you to Deputy COO would be too early and too much of a pressure and burden to you but good thing I listened to the COO's advice. Now I know that it's one of the best decisions that I made this year for our company.
"So yes, I'll testify in court and tell everyone that I don't think the woman in the video is your mother. This is the least I can do for the woman who bore me such an excellent son."
"Thank you, Father." Long Jian still resented his father for all the years he missed being a stable father figure in his life. However, he did feel a little better after Long Tengfei praised him and also grateful for his promise to testify in court if needed.
Long Tengfei nodded and hesitated a little before saying, "This is all I can do. I suggest that you talk to your youngest sister about this matter. Maybe she can help you."
Long Jian thought that he heard wrongly. Youngest sister?
"Ask Xiulan?" he asked in confusion.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Your sister knows many impressive people. Even more impressive than the people I know."
This surprised Long Jian, initially filling him with disbelief and resentment. Disbelief because there was still a bit of prejudice left in him like so many others when it came to his youngest sister, the former spoiled brat. And resentment because he thought that Long Tengfei bringing up Iris in this matter was just another proof that she was his favourite child among them.However, he still ended up following his father's advice after thinking about it more carefully. Indeed, Iris knew many impressive people. Or to be more exact, her fiancé, billionaire CEO Jin Liwei did. Long Jian believed that someone like Jin Liwei possessed countless invaluable connections to most of the powerful figures not only in the country but also all around the world. Since the man was Iris' future husband, then it was understandable that Long Tengfei would say that she also had these connections.
In short, Long Jian misunderstood his father's suggestion, thinking that he was indirectly telling him to ask for Jin Liwei's help as a future brother-in-law through his sister. This was why he rushed to Dragon Palace Homes after asking his father for his sister's current address, deciding to come without warning because he thought that Iris would refuse to see him if he called ahead. He thought that she would have no choice but to let him in if he directly showed up at her door.