Chapter 1316 - E.V.
Even if the details they found out about the Smoking Devil was not 100% accurate, Iris could still use it to find more relevant information. She followed the Smoking Devil's trail and dug for more information about the underground auction.
Voilà!
She discovered other items belonging to the Vetrovs. The anonymous sellers were quite smart and cautious. They didn't dispose of the items in a single auction but spaced them out.
Like the Smoking Devil, there was no mention that the items had any connection to the Vetrovs. New backstories were made up for each of the items. Despite this, Iris wouldn't make a mistake in identifying them as treasures belonging to the Vetrovs.
Her fingers halted when she saw something that belonged to her.
It was her grand piano.
There was no mistaking it.
It was hers!
She zoomed in on one of the photos.
E.V.
It was her initials that she personally carved on one of the back legs when she was still a little girl.
Tears flowed down her eyes without her control.
"Mommy! Mommy! Why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere? Please don't cry! Meowuwuwu!"
"Mother, please tell Bacon who has made you cry. Bacon will destroy that evil person."
Dom was also alarmed. He immediately ran to her.
"Boss, what's wrong? Ketchup, call your daddy! Quick! No, wait. Call the doctor first! Come, boss. I'll carry you to the hospital wing!"
Iris wiped her tears and took a shaky breath. "No need. Actually, I'm fine."
"But you're crying, Mommy! It doesn't look like happy crying! Meow!"
It took some time for Iris to reassure Dom and her AI children. Fortunately, the commotion didn't wake up the twins. To be exact, Little Mochi stirred from sleep but Ice Cream quickly soothed the baby back to sleep with her purr.
Little Matcha remained in deep sleep. It was in situations like this that Iris was glad that her youngest twin son inherited her trait as a deep sleeper.
In the end, Dom and the AI kids reluctantly accepted her reassurances that she was fine. They continued to worry about her, though.
"Mommy, Daddy is calling. Sorry, Mommy. Ketchup alerted my daddy as soon as Mommy started crying because Daddy told Ketchup to always keep an eye on Mommy. Please don't get mad. Meow~"
"I'm not mad, Ketchup. Thank you. Please answer the call for me."
"Connecting the call in 3…2…meow!"
"Are you okay, love?" Jin Liwei immediately asked without even saying hello. The worry in his tone was obvious.
Iris' heartache at seeing her old grand piano auctioned off to strangers without her consent eased a lot after hearing her husband's voice.
"What happened? Talk to me, baby."
"I…" Iris didn't know how to start. "I don't want to talk about it over the phone."
Jin Liwei paused before saying, "Alright. I'll head home now."
"What about your work?"
"I'm done with the most urgent ones. Nothing is more important at work than my own wife. Wait for me, okay? I'm coming home soon."
She sniffled and smiled. "Okay, darling. I'll be waiting for you."
The call ended.
Ketchup reported that her daddy had already left the company and was now on his way home.
Iris was relieved. She missed her husband and craved for his comfort.
She continued staring at the auction photos of her grand piano on her laptop. Unlike the other items belonging to the Vetrovs including her brother's Smoking Devil, this grand piano was a source of nostalgic memories for her.
It had been her companion whenever she felt lonely and trapped. She would play music with it over and over again to soothe herself. Many compositions were born using it.
But the strongest memory she had of it was her own death.
She had been playing the grand piano when the enemies gunned her down. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the grand piano was her deathbed.
It was a tragic memory, yes. But at the same time, it was also the moment that she felt the most free in her past life.
Her death back then meant freedom, at last.
Therefore, she still gravitated towards the grand piano among the other items despite it being directly associated to her own tragic death in her past life.
The shock of seeing her own possession killed her motivation in continuing her investigations today. She needed to process her emotions first and clear her mind.
"Let's stop for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
"Okie dokie, Mommy! Take a rest. Daddy is rushing home now. Meow~"
"Understood, Mother. Please don't hesitate to tell Bacon anyone who makes you cry. Bacon will annihilate them from the world."
Iris smiled and rubbed the images of her AI children on her laptop screen. "Thank you."
Ketchup shook her fluffy white butt from joy and smiled, looking very adorable as always. Bacon looked bored like usual but his rotating tail expressed his true feelings.
By the time that Jin Liwei arrived home, Iris was breastfeeding Little Mochi. Dom left the nursery room to give her privacy. Little Matcha was still sleeping. [Read official chapters on W e b n o v e l (dot) com. Please stop supporting piracy. Also follow author on Instagram: @arriacross]
Jin Liwei gave her a quick kiss on the mouth and examined her from head to toe and back up again. He released a big sigh of relief upon seeing that she appeared fine.
He had been so worried when Ketchup alerted him about his wife crying all of a sudden. Ketchup explained what they had been doing. He quickly caught on the situation.
He was afraid that something similar to what happened at René Alejandro's birthday party would happen again, that his wife would cry and faint upon seeing something from her past life as a Vetrov.
After washing his hands in the ensuite bathroom, he took Little Mochi from Iris and made his son burp before rocking him to sleep again.
Iris showed him the grand piano on her laptop afterwards.
"It was mine."
She showed him the initials E.V. carved in the back leg.
Then she told him, "I was killed while playing this piano."
Jin Liwei stopped breathing for a few seconds. His nose flared as he began breathing again. He felt a combination of fury and sadness for his wife. He hugged her tightly and nuzzled her hair.
"Evelina, don't cry over the past anymore."