Iris paled once the thought entered her mind. Cold sweat started soaking her.

Still holding her hand, Jin Liwei felt his baby girl's skin suddenly becoming freezing cold. He looked at her and was alarmed at how pale she had become.

"Love? What's wrong? Do you feel sick?"

His worried tone caught everyone's attention.

"Mama? Mama!" Little Jun called her several times.

When Iris failed to respond to him, the toddler began crying loudly.

Iris only regained her senses when he felt Little Jun pulling on her dress while crying hysterically. His pitiful tear-filled face was looking up at her with fear and worry, repeatedly calling her "Mama". Ice Cream and Popcorn were also trying to jump on her lap. Their meows were as loud as Little Jun's cries.

Then she felt her hand hurting a little because Jin Liwei was gripping it hard. It was only then that she realized that she was almost sitting on his lap. The anxiety on his face was obvious.

Everyone gathered around her, worried. Dom was on the phone. It seemed that he was calling Dr. Ching.

"I…" Iris cleared her throat because it sounded a bit croaky. "I'm alright, really. Dom, no need to disturb the doctor. I just spaced out a little."

Despite her reassurance, they still looked worried. Iris lifted Little Jun and sat him on her lap. She needed to calm the child first, and of course, the cats too.

Wei Lan: "Honeeeey! What happened to you? Are you feeling sick? Let's go to the hospital!"

"No need, Mother. I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. Whenever you're like this, you either faint or go into coma," Jin Liwei said in a tight voice. "Dom, tell the doctor we're coming. Yi Mei, call the driver. We're going to the hospital RIGHT NOW."

Both Dom and Yi Mei acknowledged his instructions. Yi Mei already warmed up a lot towards Jin Liwei, ever since seeing with her own eyes how deeply in love he was with Iris and how he was treating her like a queen. However, the old housekeeper would always remain loyal to Iris, not to Jin Liwei.

"Darling, no! Everyone, please calm down! I said I'm alright. I just spaced out a bit after remembering…something. Something scary. Yes, that's it! So don't worry. I'm really fine. Sorry for worrying you."

It took some time but they finally looked like they believed her. They all released sighs of relief. Now, however, Jin Liwei refused to take his eyes off of her. He guarded her like a hawk, ready to rush her to the hospital at the slightest sign that she looked ill.

"Oh, thank gooooodness you're okay, honeeey! Some colour has also returned to your face," Wei Lan said. "But I think that you should still take a pregnancy test, just to be sure. What if you're pregnant? Being pregnant is no joke, you knooooow. And you should also be extra careful of your health, if you are. I suffered sooooo much while I was pregnant with you. I felt sick all the time! Ugh! And when I finally gave birth…ah! Worst pain ever! You literally ripped my vagina and I had to be sewed back! My vagina had never been the same since then!"

This time, all of them paled after hearing Wei Lan describe how she gave birth to Iris. Only Jiang Ying Yue sighed and nodded in complete understanding. However, her eyes gentled when she looked at her son on Iris' lap.

Dom gasped in horror and cupped his crotch, as if he also had a vagina that could rip into two while giving birth.

Iris, who already somewhat recovered, paled once again. She turned to an equally pale Jin Liwei. "Darling!"

Jin Liwei's hand subconsciously pressed against her flat stomach in a protective manner. Then he mumbled, "We'll hire a surrogate…yes, yes. We should do that."

"What surrogate? If my daughter is capable of giving birth on her own, then she should! But honey, have a plastic surgeon at the delivery room just in case your vagina ever rips. At least a plastic surgeon can sew everything back together and still make it look nice, even though it would never look the same way after childbirth. Regular doctors dooooon't care! I almost sued my obstetrician back then for ruining my vagina! Ugh!"

Wei Lan seemed to revert back to her old vain self, as she blamed her old doctor for her "botched" vagina.

With all of these talk about vaginas ripping and painful childbirth, Iris was able to forget—at least for now—the disturbing memory of the Vetrovs' training method being similar to the education system of the orphanages owned by Wei Lan's new husband. Besides, she also didn't want to dwell on such dark memories.

The night ended with everyone feeling bewildered by Wei Lan's change—in a good way.

Yi Mei and the rest of the household were especially on edge the entire time. They felt so exhausted being cautious around Wei Lan for almost the whole day. They were just waiting for the moment that she would start acting like a diva again and make life difficult for them.

Surprisingly, however, she didn't act out and was even nice to them. The younger staff started thinking thatYi Mei and the other older staff members were overreacting or maybe just trying to scare them. The Madam might have the tendency of ignoring the staff, but at least she wasn't snapping at them.

Their Young Miss was the best employer ever. Her mother couldn't be that bad.

As for Yi Mei and the others, they could only hope that Wei Lan really changed. After all, the Young Miss already changed for the better as well. They didn't want Wei Lan corrupting her own daughter to revert to her past spoiled and bitchy self. Unlike the younger staff who were already starting to warm up to Wei Lan after just the first day of her stay at the penthouse, Yi Mei and the older ones remained wary of her.

Just in case.

###

For the next few days, everyone started getting used to Wei Lan's presence at the penthouse. Because Iris, Jin Liwei and the siblings Dom and Clover continued to work, Wei Lan was often left alone at the penthouse with the household staff.

Still feeling awkward around Wei Lan, Jiang Ying Yue and Little Jun stopped coming to the penthouse. However, Little Jun started throwing tantrums because he didn't understand why he suddenly couldn't go to the penthouse anymore. He thought that the penthouse was his actual home because he spent the majority of his time there. As for the unit Iris gave him, he just treated it as a place to sleep at night.

So Jiang Ying Yue had no choice but to bring her son upstairs. Besides, she practically didn't cook meals anymore. They just ate together with Yi Mei and the others at the penthouse. She would also leave Little Jun there with the nanny while she worked as the condo building's head of security.

But right now, she felt apprehensive about Wei Lan. She knew that the woman didn't like her and her son because of their connection to Long Hui. Fortunately, Wei Lan didn't create any trouble and just ignored them.

While Jiang Ying Yue was feeding Little Jun some fruits in the kitchen, Wei Lan suddenly appeared. Wei Lan sometimes spoke to the cook to discuss dinner menus. Their regular homecooked meals became slightly more refined since then.

Jiang Ying Yue thought that Wei Lan would leave like usual after instructing the cook on what to prepare for dinner tonight, but surprisingly, the woman turned to the mother and son.

"You are the fiancée of my ex-husband's eldest son, correct?" Wei Lan asked.

"Y-yes, Madam…" Jiang Ying Yue couldn't look at her directly.

"Then why has your fiancé not visited you and your son yet since I've been staying here? Are you two still together?"

Perhaps because she was speaking with someone she was cold to, Wei Lan didn't stretch some of her words like usual. She was very terse and direct to the point.

"I…" Jiang Ying Yue straightened her back while desperately trying to find an appropriate answer. "We are…temporarily living apart…for now. But I think he'll return. Long Hui…he's recovering at the ancestral residence now."

"Recovering? From what? Is he sick?"

Jiang Ying Yue hesitated. She looked at Yi Mei, the cook and the other staff present in the kitchen.

Impatient that Jiang Ying Yue wasn't answering her question, Wei Lan turned to Yi Mei instead.

Yi Mei looked at Jiang Ying Yue and sighed. Afraid that Wei Lan might explode on them if they didn't tell her, Yi Mei told her about Iris' fight with Long Hui, and how Jin Liwei brawled with him right here in the kitchen.

After some more prodding, Wei Lan learned from the younger staff how Long Hui insulted Iris using Wei Lan's bad reputation as a gold digger and social climber. Now it made sense why Jin Liwei lost control and brawled with Long Hui. Needless to say, Wei Lan was absolutely furious after hearing everything.

"That piece of shit is really a spawn of those disgustingly arrogant Longs! He thinks he's better than my daughter just because his mother came from a family who's as self-important as the Longs? Xiulan and dear Liwei were too nice, sending him to the hospital after beating him up! If it was me, I would've broken all of his limbs, tossed him into a sack and then thrown him into a dumpster where a piece of shit like him belongs!"

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