Iris' eyes widened in surprise. She lifted an eyebrow before looking at Jin Liwei.Her darling also looked surprised at Long Jian's proposition.

"Explain," Jin Liwei barked.

Long Jian straightened and stood up again. Deep inside, he hated what he was doing but had to do it for the sake of his mother. He couldn't believe that there would come a day that he would grovel in front of his youngest sister who he always thought of before as a good-for-nothing spoiled brat. And yet now, here he was begging her for a favour.

"I know that you want to become the next head of Long Industries," he said. "Our brother Long Hui wants it and I want it too, of course."

"So you want it, too. Then why are you saying that you're going to help me?" Iris asked.

"Let's put aside what I want for now. I'll help you gain more influence in Long Industries. Let's work together in removing our brother Long Hui and the other contenders from the running in the battle for succession. Once they're out of the picture, the only ones left will be the two of us.

"I know that you have more advantages and have a higher chance of succeeding than me. You're a legitimate child, future wife of CEO Jin Liwei, famous celebrity, you have Orchidia Beauty, and Father adores you the most.

"But I won't give up. I'm confident that I'm the most suitable to succeed and become the next head after Father. When the time comes, I promise to fight you head on with my own abilities, skills and qualifications. No funny business. I'll battle it out with you fair and square, unlike our brother who schemes behind the scenes with the help of his maternal family, the Zhengs.

"This is what I'm willing to do in exchange for you helping my mother. I'm going to help you to establish yourself in Long Industries which you'll find difficult to do on your own as a mere brand ambassador. Father can't openly help you because he'll be accused of nepotism. But I can do it. I worked my way up from the bottom, so I have many connections with people from both the bottom and the top, unlike Father who only works with the top brass nowadays.

"If Father helps you, it'll be noticed immediately and will only invite criticism. But if I do it using my seemingly unimportant connections, then you'll be able to successfully build your influence within the company without attracting too much attention."

Long Jian finished speaking. Now he waited for her decision. If she agreed, Jin Liwei would surely step in to help Zhu Ning. If she didn't agree, well, at least he tried.

"Hmm…." Iris tilted her head to the side. Then she looked at Jin Liwei. "What do you think, darling?"

Jin Liwei shot a frosty look at Long Jian. "I don't trust him but I think his proposition is good."

She nodded. "Yes, I think so too."

Hope began to fill Long Jian. "Then do you agree?"

"Yes, I agree." She stood up and offered her hand.

Long Jian immediately grabbed and shook it. "Thank you! I really appreciate it, Little Sister."

Jin Liwei also followed suit and shook his hand.

"Thank you, CEO Jin!"

Jin Liwei tightened his grip on Long Jian's hand, making Long Jian wince. "You said it. No funny business. If you break your promise, I'll destroy you. Remember that Xiulan is no longer just your sister. She's my future wife and the next madam of the Jins. Make an enemy of my wife and you make an enemy of me as well."

Long Jian swallowed, feeling like he had lost the ability to breathe under the full brunt of Jin Liwei's intimidation. He wanted to reach equal footing with Jin Liwei someday? What a joke! He needed to become a monster first.

Fortunately, he was able to maintain some semblance of calmness to mask his intimidated state. Regardless of Jin Liwei's bad impression of him, at least Long Jian was successful in achieving his goal tonight. The price he had to pay was quite heavy—helping Iris establish influence in Long Industries—especially since she already had strong support within the Long clan, headed by the Elder Long Jufang.

However, Long Jian believed in his own abilities and qualifications. He was performing in his job with flying colours while Long Hui continued to struggle in stabilizing himself after his bitter break-up with his bodyguard ex-fiancée and the pending custody battle for their small child. He was already showing everyone at the company that he was more capable than Long Hui. If he could do this against Long Hui, then he could also do the same thing against Iris.

Long Jian meant it when he promised that he would fight Iris fair and square in the battle of succession. His mindset had greatly changed due to the COO's upright influence. However, this didn't mean that he would make it easy for Iris. He would only show her the inner workings of the company, not serve all the opportunities to her on a silver platter. It would still be up to her own abilities to establish herself in Long Industries. If she was really capable, then she would be able to do it. If not, then it wouldn't be Long Jian's problem.

"Don't worry, CEO Jin. I won't go back on my words. As long as you're able to help my mother, I'll help my sister in establishing herself in Long Industries. We'll work together in eliminating our strongest competitors until there's only the two of us left. That's when our alliance will naturally dissolve. Then it'll be the start of the real battle of succession between the two of us."

Jin Liwei nodded and finally released his hand while Iris flashed a bright smile.

"I'm looking forward to our partnership, Second Big Brother Jian."

"Likewise."

That night, a new alliance that would shake the entire Long clan was born.

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