"Whatever." Long Jian shrugged before eyeing the chocolates disappearing inside Iris' mouth. "Hey, toss me a chocolate."

Iris turned away and continued eating.

He scowled. "Those are my chocolates. Give me one."

"You gave them to me so they're mine now. Go get more for yourself."

"Those are the last ones."

She pursed her lips and tossed him one coin-shaped chocolate with great reluctance before rushing to finish the remaining ones.

"What a kid," Long Jian grumbled before popping the chocolate into his own mouth. Iris' blissful expression while eating tempted him but it turned out that the chocolate didn't taste particularly special. He snorted at her in disdain after quickly swallowing the childish treat.

After this brief chocolatey intermission, they talked about their plan's next steps.

"I want Long Hui to fall down so deeply that he'll never have a chance to recover," Long Jian said. "It's only in that way that he'll cease being a threat to us in the battle of succession."

Although Iris hated how Long Hui was acting, especially in his treatment of her friend Jiang Ying Yue, she disagreed with Long Jian. Long Hui was, after all, still the father of her godson. "If he regrets his stupidity, makes amends to those he hurt, and backs out of the battle of succession on his own volition, let's just leave him be."

Long Jian frowned, clearly not agreeing with her stance. However, he didn't oppose her out loud because he needed her if he wanted to kick out Long Hui from the battle of succession sooner. His individual influence in the Long clan was insignificant. He didn't want to rely on Long Xiaopeng who was trying to rally support from minor members of several small branch families in the clan.

Long Xiaopeng was Long Jian's number one supporter in the clan in the hopes that his own small branch family would rise in a position of influence if Long Jian successfully became the next head. He also worked as a spy, updating Long Jian and Zhu Ning about the latest news within the clan. In recent years, he had gathered a small number of supporters for Long Jian but all of them were from minor branch families who were tempted with the same ambition of gaining influence among the Longs. Unfortunately, Long Xiaopeng's efforts were still far from enough to rival Long Hui and Iris' positions in the clan, especially since most of the clan members were still old-fashioned and prejudiced against illegitimate children.

If Long Jian wanted to increase his chances of triumphing in the battle of succession, he needed to do it in a field that he was the most confident in—the company, Long Industries. His swift climb in the corporate ladder was a testament to his talent in business leadership, not to mention that the COO had taken him in as a protégé, making it easier for him to access resources to improve himself and showcase his abilities, skills and achievements to everyone in the company, especially to his father. Despite his excellent work performance, he had been working at the main headquarters and obtained the position of Deputy COO position for only a few months. He needed more time and accomplishments in order to match the influence Long Hui had in the company which the other obtained a few years earlier than him.

Thus, Long Jian decided to ally with Iris, the other legitimate child and the one who threatened Long Hui's position the most. This was the quickest way to achieve his ambition of succeeding their father as the next head.

[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]

"Let's not talk about the extent of how we want Long Hui to suffer after we defeat him," he said. "We can decide on that later. Right now, we need to make sure that our plans play out smoothly first."

Iris nodded. She was about to leave after fleshing out their plans when he stopped her. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to warn her.

"Be careful of Long Hui's maternal family, the Zhengs. They're not simple. They had been lying low since Father divorced Zheng Suyin to marry your mother due to shame, but I heard that they're becoming more active in high society in the past few weeks. Even Zheng Suyin who disappeared from the public eye for years was seen outside recently meeting with old friends. Now that we're targeting Long Hui, I'm sure that Zheng Suyin won't let us off and will do everything in her power to support her son. I think I'm fine because nobody sees me as a threat for now, but that's not the case for you. You're a legitimate child just like Long Hui, not to mention that Father dotes on you the most."

Iris protested on his claim that Long Tengfei doted on her the most but he ignored her and continued warning her. She could only nod. "Alright, I understand. Thank you, Big Brother Jian. I'll be careful of the Zhengs."

He nodded, satisfied. Then he hesitated once again.

"What is it?" she asked, already standing and ready to leave.

"Don't forget our deal, Little Sister. I'm not doing all of these for you. My mother is still in police custody. Could you…ask CEO Jin if there are any updates regarding my mother's case? Is there a chance for her to be released from jail soon?"

"Oh. Alright. I'll ask Liwei," she replied, even though Jin Liwei had no interest in helping Zhu Ning because the woman once threatened her and Wei Lan, his future mother-in-law. It was actually Iris herself, or more specifically her hacker abilities, that would help clear Zhu Ning's name from the accusation of being the mastermind of the bomb incident.

"Thanks." Long Jian looked relieved. Then he escorted her out of his office where Dom and her bodyguards were waiting.

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