845 Useless Existence

"You? Useless?" Jin Liwei's voice was filled with disbelief. "How could anyone think that a genius like you are useless?! That's ridiculous!"

Warmth filled Iris' heart at his indignation on her behalf. 

He paused. "Your family didn't know that you're a hacker? You were already a hacker that time, right?"

"Of course, they knew. And yes, I was already a hacker that time." There was a faraway look in her eyes. "I wasn't Drakon, though. I was known by another hacker name back then. I felt free in cyberspace. I did a lot of things because I was bored and before I knew it, Cross Academy recruited me when I was in my teens."

Jin Liwei's eyes widened. "You were also a Cross Academy student before?"

She nodded. "In fact, I used my past life's identity to get noticed by Cross Academy in this life so that I'd be able to successfully enroll again. I lied and told the headmaster, Professor Dupont, that Evelina was my online master and she was the one who taught me all about hacking before she…before I died."

"Ah." He embraced her more tightly. "You just did what you had to do. You lied but not really. In a sense, you are your own master. Don't feel bad about it. I'm very proud of you, love."

"Oh, Liwei. I feel so lucky to have you in this life. I feel so alive in a way that I never felt before in my past life."

He pushed up from the bed and kissed her on the tip of her nose and then her lips. Light and lingering, warm and comforting. "No, Evelina. I'm the one who's lucky to have you in my life."

She beamed at him, not feeling her headache anymore. She didn't notice that the aching in her temples had somehow disappeared while they were talking in bed. His mere presence and willingness to listen to her troubles had healing properties on her disturbed psyche.

"I want to make love with you so badly," she said all of a sudden with a wistful sigh.

His nostrils flared and his eyes darkened. "I do, too. So much."

"But we can't yet." Her tone was so sad. "Second Brother said that it's better to wait until you're fully healed because you might not be able to control yourself if we make love now and you'll just end up aggravating your injuries again."

He groaned and kissed her harder. He sucked her lips and swept his tongue inside her mouth. When she was moaning and whimpering, he pulled away with an almost violent force. They were both panting and burning with need.

"You're so bad, Liwei," she complained while feeling hot and bothered. "Why did you do that? Now I want to make love with you even more."

Jin Liwei sat up on the bed and looked away from her as he tried controlling his own desire. He inwardly cursed at his second brother's medical advice but at the same had no intention of disregarding it because he wanted to fully heal in time for his wedding with his baby girl.

He returned his gaze on her. She was also now sitting on the bed. Her skin was flushed in an alluring colour that made him want to push her down on the bed and climb on top of her. Clearing his throat, he thought quickly about how to distract both of them from their powerful need to make love with each other. 

"If…if your family knew that you were…that you're a hacker, then why do you say that they still treated a genius like you as a useless existence?" he asked.

"You said that you were also a Cross Academy student back then," he continued saying in an attempt to pull her completely out of her desire to make love with him. "And that they even recruited you while you were still a teenager. Any normal family would be ecstatic and proud if their child got accepted in that legendary school of geniuses."

Iris mouth twisted into a wry smile. "My family in my past life isn't…wasn't exactly normal, you see."

He frowned.

"But don't get me wrong," she said. "They were proud and happy when they found out that Cross Academy recruited me."

"Then why?"

She scooted close to him and squeezed her body between his legs. His arms wrapped around her while she inhaled his scent deep into her lungs and used it to spread calmness throughout her entire body, mind and soul. "I can't explain it to you now because you'll have to know what kind of family my brother and I came from first for you to understand why I'm saying that my existence was pretty much useless to my family in our past lives."

His frown deepened. He opened his mouth, about to ask more questions but thought better of it, so he closed his mouth again and nodded. "Fine. I'll wait until the day that you're able to tell me everything because right now I'm so confused but also very intrigued."

"I know," she murmured.

He kissed the top of her head. "Alright. Let's stop talking about these things. It's late now. Let's sleep. You had a rough day. You need to sleep."

She pressed herself closer to him. "I can't sleep."

"Then lie down with me. You'll sleep eventually."

"What if I have a nightmare again?"

His body went rigid before he forced it to relax again. "No, you won't. I'm right here beside you. I'll fight off the nightmares if they dare frighten you again."

Despite her anxiety, a giggle escaped from her lips. "Okay."