447 Burn Into Ashes (1/2)
”Of course not. Rose Young, or other women for that matter, can never compare to you. You're in a league of your own, love,” Jin Liwei said to Iris during their phone call earlier.
His words somewhat eased her irked feelings about the entire situation with Rose Young who was obviously trying to get close to her man. Iris didn't feel threatened by Rose Young. Not at all. She also trusted Jin Liwei's love for her.
Nevertheless, the woman needed to be taught a lesson for coveting a taken man. For now, however, Iris felt that Jin Liwei should be the one to make the decisive move because Rose Young was his direct colleague and employee. Not to mention that she was someone the majority of the board of directors voted for the position of Chief Marketing Officer. In simple terms, Rose Young was basically the current darling of Jin Corporation's shareholders.
Iris was curious how Jin Liwei would handle the entire situation with Rose Young and her popularity among the higher-ups of Jin Corporation. But regardless of whatever he chose to do, Iris would still start making her moves behind-the-scenes.
She and Dom were currently on their way home to the mansion. Dom exhausted himself from his impassioned rant against Rose Young earlier. He was now snoring softly on his seat besides Iris in the executive van.
Iris remembered what happened in the dressing room earlier.
Jin Liwei obviously wanted to explain everything in detail to her, but Iris preferred to speak to him in person. She told him to wait for her at home and ended the call. Although she said that she didn't feel jealous of Rose Young, something from the online post bothered her.
She turned to Jin Chonglin beside her and asked, ”The Jins are close to Rose Young's maternal relatives?”
”Close to some of the branch families, yes. But to us from the main family? Not really. We're acquainted, that's all,” he told her, shrugging.
”They tried to pair Liwei with Rose Young?” she continued to ask.
”Yeah. She's not the only one, though. Actually, the relatives tried pairing Big Bro with a lot of potential marriage partners in the past but they never succeeded. They did it to me, too, just so you know. Before you came along, Big Bro had never shown any romantic or even sexual interest in anyone to the point that people started believing he's gay.” Jin Chonglin coughed a few times after saying this.
He continued, ”You have to remember that he's the head of our Jin family and Jin Corporation. His choice of marriage partner is extremely important to all the Jins. After all, his wife will become the next Madam Jin so everyone in the family—except me—cares about who he marries.”
”Hmm…” Iris went into deep thought.
”Feeling scared now, sister-in-law?” Jin Chonglin smirked and teased her.
She raised an eyebrow. ”Why should I feel scared? I never once cared about what the Long relatives think about me, so why should I care about whether your Jin relatives like me or not? The only people from the Jin family who I deem important and care about are Liwei, Grandma Li and Aunt Yuyan. And they already treat me as family.”
”Hey! What about me?” he protested.
She ignored him. ”I may not care about what your relatives or other people think about me, but I do care about what they think about your brother. I don't want Liwei to lose his position as head of the family and Jin Corporation because of me. It's not that I care about the position itself or its accompanying status and wealth—to be honest, I couldn't care less—but it's something that was bestowed upon him by your late grandfather, father, and Grandpa Lu. It's his right, and I don't want to take that away from him.”
Her words made everyone quiet in the dressing room. Jin Chonglin studied her, not saying anything. Iris also didn't say anything more afterwards.
Jin Chonglin was the one who broke the serious atmosphere. He leaned down and whispered to Iris' ear.
”Introduce me to the hacker who gave you access to that hotel's surveillance system, okay?”
Iris covered her ear and scooted away from him while giving him a side-eye. He was too close again. She didn't reply.
”Come on, Sister Xiulan,” he continued to whisper so the others wouldn't hear him. ”I've asked Big Bro several times before to lend me some of his tech people but he's so stingy. You're not going to be stingy too, are you? Have some pity for your brother-in-law.”
”You want to hire a hacker? Why?” she asked him in a whisper as well.
He nodded. ”Well, you see…I have some friends with, uh, benefits and they might have, you know, some pictures and videos—”
”You mean sex tapes?”
”No! Not sex tapes. But maybe some naughty photos and short videos. If you know what I mean.” He winked at her.
”Not interested,” she said.
”Aaw. Come on! I'll pay!”
Iris' eyes lit up. ”Hmm… The hacker I know is one of the best in the world. Can you afford?”
Jin Chonglin looked insulted by her words. ”Can I afford? Are you seriously asking this prince that question? This prince is one of the biggest superstars in the country, so of course I can afford!”
”Okay,” she agreed. ”Wait to be contacted by the hacker in the next few days.”