Jin Liwei's voice turned severe even as he maintained a soft tone while whispering directly to Iris' ear. "Remember how that man treated Jiang Ying Yue, how he accused her of cheating on him and having an affair with Eldest Brother Yehan, how he humiliated her and almost completely destroyed her reputation to the public eye when in fact, he was the one who cheated on her with that Mao woman who's now his new fiancée."

Iris clenched her hands into tight fists as his words reminded her of everything Long Hui did like it was just yesterday. Her tense fists on top of her lap wrinkled the skirt of her dress. She didn't notice her own actions but Jin Liwei did. He held one of her hands and gave it a gentle massage, trying to relax it, and then repeating it to the other hand.

"I don't want to make you upset by reminding you all of these, love," he whispered. "But I just want you to know that there's no need to feel bad for such an unremorseful person. He never said sorry. Not once. If he did, it's likely that Jiang Ying Yue would've given him another chance."

She nodded, knowing that Jiang Ying Yue probably would have done just that even if all of them disagreed.

"But he didn't," Jin Liwei continued. "His pride is more important than having a complete family with his woman and their child. I don't have any respect for that kind of man. And also, you should know that I personally can never forgive him for insulting you in front of me. You're my bottom line in everything, Xiulan. Nobody is allowed to bully my wife."

Despite the unpleasant topic, warmth filled Iris' insides after hearing his protective words towards her. Her body leaned closer to him while being careful not to hurt his injuries. [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 Cross]

He nuzzled her ear, his movements gentle yet his words couldn't be anything but domineering. "So don't show him mercy now just because our godson threw a tantrum for him. But even if you did and you decide to let him off, which I hope that you won't do, I'll continue this fight in your place instead because I can't, for the life of me, let that man off for the simple reason that he insulted you. Those might just be words that he said to you out of spite—though I doubt it because he looked like he meant them—but to me, his words wereno different from him pointing a gun at you and then shooting you repeatedly. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Oh, she understood alright. She felt exactly the same way if another person insulted him in front of her.

"That's why I can't forgive him for how he wronged you, our godson and Jiang Ying Yue," he said. "Not until he gives a genuine apology to all of you, to us. But even then, we'll have to consider if it's too little, too late to accept his apology."

"Do you think he'll apologize?"

He curled his lip. "Honestly? No."

"What are you two lovebirds whispering to each other over there?" Meimei interrupted their quiet conversation.

Chen Fei rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Such a stupid question, Meimei. Look at how they're all over each other. I'm sure that they're just being lovey-dovey and shamelessly throwing dog food at us single dogs as usual. What else is new? Nothing!"

This triggered them to start bantering again. Iris shook her head, not at all interested in being the subject of their teasing, so she pulled Jin Liwei to their bedroom to reapply his pain gel all over his back. When they returned to their suite's living room, dinner was already being served.

"What's with tonight's menu?" Chen Fei wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Did you fire your usual chef? Does he think that he's feeding old people tonight? Why is everything so light and bland?"

"Xiao Fei, you're complaining too much," Long Jinjing said. "The food is fine. The dishes are simple yet I can tell that they're all very nutritious. Sorry about her, Little Sister and Brother-in-law. She doesn't mean to offend you."

Iris shrugged. "It's fine. Liwei and I are already used to her corrosive mouth."

"Pft!" Meimei almost sprayed a mouthful of soup.

"Corrosive mouth! Nice one, boss!" Dom gave double thumbs up to Iris before laughing at Chen Fei's face.

"Sir Liwei is currently injured so his food needs to be lighter and more nutritious than usual in order to help facilitate a speedy recovery," Jiang Ying Yue explained to the others but didn't mention that the dishes also considered Iris' recent oversensitivity to smells due to her pregnancy.

Iris threw a grateful smile at her.

Chen Fei grumbled under her breath about how they all didn't need to eat the same food as Jin Liwei. He could have his own special meal while they could eat the usual sumptuous dishes that they would usually have whenever they visited the mansion.

"My man is the master of this house, so what he eats, we all eat," Iris said in a final tone, effectively shutting up Chen Fei.

The atmosphere didn't stay awkward for too long with Dom and Meimei's presence. Lively chatter started flowing while they ate. In addition, Clover video-called Dom's phone and made their conversations even livelier.

"How's everything there in France?" Iris asked.

"I love studying about French perfumery! Boss, I think I found my real passion in life!" Clover's excitement was obvious in her voice.

Iris smiled. "That's good. Study well there, COO Chua."

Clover beamed and saluted. "Don't worry, President Long! Leave Liberté to me. I won't let you down!"

The call didn't last too long because Clover needed to attend her French language lessons. Professor Kalisha Schwarz helped arrange a private tutor for Clover in France as requested by Iris. The tutor was also serving as Clover's personal interpreter during her stay in France until she became proficient in the language and could communicate comfortably on her own.

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