844 True Father

"Yes," Iris replied, her voice choked with emotion. She pressed herself closer to Jin Liwei, taking comfort from his body heat and allowing it to wash away the cold fear caused by the nightmare. "I'll remember."

"Good." Jin Liwei gave her waist a gentle squeeze. "There are so many things that I want to ask about your past life but now is not the time. You're tired and you need to rest. And I also know that you want to receive your brother Nikolai's blessings first to tell me everything. So I'll just wait for now until both of you are ready to tell me about your past lives."

She nodded. "I'll still tell you everything even if Big Brother says no. But I'm hoping that he'll give his blessings. I'll feel a lot of better if he does."

"He will, love," he told her. "Your brother loves you."

A small smile finally brightened her weary expression. "Yes, my big brother loves me."

They were quiet for about a minute, waiting for sleep to come, when Iris asked, "By the way, how was your meeting with Elder Jufang and the shareholders? I forgot to ask you earlier."

Jin Liwei smirked. "I got you the shares. Don't worry about it anymore, love. Let Qiao Yu handle the purchase and transfer procedures for you."

Her smile widened. "Really? Thanks, darling. What did you do? Did you bully them into selling their shares?"

A chuckle rumbled from his chest. "Why are you immediately assuming that I bullied them? Wife, I already told you that your husband can be very persuasive at the negotiation table."

His chuckle became louder. Afterwards, he told her, "Actually, I didn't have to say much. Elder Jufang and the shareholders all got extremely excited when they saw me that I was a little taken aback by their enthusiasm."

She pursed her lips. "I'm not surprised. You are, after all, the President-CEO of Jin Corporation. Of course, they're all going to treat you like a king."

It was Jin Liwei's turn to snort. "I've met some members of the Long clan at banquets before. Not all of them look highly at me or even Grandpa Lu. Not that I care, I don't, but it's funny how a lot of them think that it's still the ancient era where they expect that everyone should give them automatic VIP treatment because of their so-called noble blood."

"En." Jin Liwei then looked at her. "Evelina."

"Yes?"

"Do you see Long Tengfei as your father?"

She paused. "Yes and no." Her body shifted and she gazed at the ceiling to ponder his question. "At first, I didn't consider any of Xiulan's family as my own. But I still had to pretend that I'm Xiulan. It's her body that I'm using, after all. I have her memories so I recognize all her family members. She wasn't really close to anyone despite having a lot of relatives. Poor girl. In order for me to live a better life, I had to repair a lot of her relationships and build new ones. Long Tengfei is the head of not only the clan but Long Industries, so I decided to forge a closer tie with him because I knew that he'll be able to help me when I need assistance."

Her gaze returned to him. "I didn't feel anything for him, Liwei. I only wanted to use him for my own, personal gain."

There was no judgment in his expression. His eyes remained steady on her. He said, "You're using past tense."

She smiled, the movement so small that it was almost unnoticeable, but it made her expression tender and also sad at the same time. "I was only pretending at first. But the more I pretend to be Xiulan, the more I've come to accept that I'm now Long Xiulan in this life. I'm Evelina but I'm also Xiulan. I know it sounds confusing but—"

"Not at all. I understand."

Her smile reached her eyes this time. She kissed his shoulder. "Thank you."

His hand moved from her waist and started caressing her hair, then her cheek. She closed her eyes and enjoyed his gentle touches. 

"Actually, no," he said, causing her eyes to open. "I don't understand it fully because my logical mind is still not quite there yet in believing something so...unbelievable. But I do love you and know that you aren't lying to me. What's more, your brother Nikolai has more or less already confirmed to me that he isn't my fifth brother Zihao when I talked to him over the phone because of Bacon's request for salary negotiation."

Her eyes trembled at the mention of her brother.

Noticing her mood deflating, Jin Liwei returned to their previous topic. "So now you consider Long Tengfei as your father?"

It took her a moment to adjust to the change of topic but she eventually nodded. "To some extent, yes. He cares for all of his children in his own way. And now that I'm Xiulan, I can feel that he cares, even though he's not an affectionate type of person. I appreciate the father-daughter relationship that I have with him but…"

She became quiet for a few moments. He didn't rush her but waited for her to be ready to speak again.

"But in my heart…and in my soul, my true father is still Evelina's father," she whispered. "He's…he was not always there for me but without his protection and indulgence towards me, his daughter, I would have long been abandoned by my family because my existence was pretty much useless to them."

A deep furrow formed between Jin Liwei's brows at her words.