Long Jinjing knew about the new house. It was one of Lu Zihao's private property investments when he was still a bachelor. It remained unoccupied until he decided to make it their family home after she got pregnant.

The issue was that it needed a lot of renovations especially on the security aspect. Security was something that Lu Zihao would never skimp on in every place he owned.

His identity as the leader of Shadow Winds was always accompanied with danger. As his immediate family, Long Jinjing and their children had automatically become his biggest weakness especially to his enemies.

As much as Long Jinjing wanted them to stay in her small but cozy two-bedroom condo unit, she understood that it wasn't the safest place for a leader of criminal group and his family to live. Now that she had become a mother, her children's safety would always be her number one priority. Even if it meant leaving the comfort and sentimental value of the first home that she bought for herself as a working adult.

She decided to keep the condo for now as her personal investment. Perhaps she would rent it out for extra income or maybe sell it if the market improved.

Whatever the future may hold, she could only trust in her husband to keep their family safe from danger. She would also do everything in her power to safeguard their family in her own way despite the limitations of her abilities compared to her husband's.

For now, she could only focus on recovering during her month-long confinement and taking care of her newborn twins. It wasn't like she was in a hurry to leave Dragon Palace, but at the end of the day, this place still wasn't their own home despite Iris and Jin Liwei's efforts to make all of them feel at home.

"Alright, I'll leave the preparations of our new house to you," Long Jinjing told her husband.

Lu Zihao grunted. "Just focus on healing. I'll take care of the rest."

She smiled at him. "I love you just the way you are but it's nice to hear you talk without swearing all the time."

"Oh, yeah? I figured that I have to be more conscious of my words in the presence of our sons."

She nodded. His lack of response to her words of love didn't affect her too negatively as much as before. Now that they were married and had children, she felt a little more secure in their relationship. She didn't know if he would eventually grow to love her someday. That was what she hoped…what she yearned for with all her heart.

But even if he ended up never returning her love for him, at least she could see his obvious efforts in trying to make their marriage and family life work. As long as both of them put in the effort to make their relationship work and he remained faithful to their marriage, she wouldn't give up on him.

He was the love of her life.

And now, he was also her husband and the father of her children.

Even if it took her a lifetime to court him into loving her, she would do so for as long as her heart continued to yearn for him.

Drowsiness started to overwhelm her.

"Sleep now," she vaguely heard Lu Zihao tell her.

"Love you…Nikolai," she murmured as her eyes closed.

Lu Zihao didn't move. He continued to watch his sleeping wife. Of course, he heard what she said before falling asleep. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before sitting up on the bed and covering Long Jinjing with the blanket more properly.

"Love, huh. What is love?"

He frowned.

"I love my sister. That I know without a doubt." He stroked Long Jinjing's chubby face. "But do I love…you?"

He glanced at their babies sleeping in the crib. "Do I love my sons?"

The furrow between his brows deepened. "Not all parents love their children in the same way that not all children love their parents. What about me?"

'Of course, you do,' a familiar voice spoke in his mind. 'Dude, our babies are so cute. It's only natural for us, their daddies, to love them!'

He scowled. 'They're MY babies! Don't claim them as your own, you motherfucker!'

The original Lu Zihao's remnant laughed within his consciousness. 'You used my sperm cells to make them so of course they're mine, too! That's the reality, dude. Stop being such an asshole over every little technicality!'

'Shut the fuck up. I need to sleep.'

'Che! So close-minded! I hope our sons don't take after you and become little assholes in the future. Better for them to take after your pretty wifey. No, wait! It would be best for our babies to take after ME because I'm so awesome! Kekekeke.'

Irritated, he grabbed a pillow and pressed it on the upper half of his head. It didn't do anything at all to muffle the annoying voice of the remnant, but at least it eased the headache that was already starting to throb in his temples. [Read official chapters on W e b n o v e l (dot) com. Please stop supporting piracy. Also follow author on Instagram: @arriacross]

Arguing with the remnant was futile—he already knew that—yet he still couldn't stop himself from doing so. This time, however, he didn't have energy to snap at the remnant like usual.

Caring for two newborn babies was a whole different ballgame than his daily physical training or even dangerous missions. The exhaustion he felt was not the same. But he knew that his wife, Long Jinjing, had it many times harder than him.

Despite this weird kind of exhaustion, he didn't hate it. The satisfaction of watching his tiny, ugly sons grow a little bigger and a little less ugly with each passing day was something that he had never felt before.

'See? Told ya, dude. You love our sons. Why don't you just be a man and admit it, eh? Nothing wrong with a father loving his own children.'

He closed his eyes and pretended not to hear the remnant. The words, however, kept on repeating in his mind.

"Hm, maybe I really do love my sons," he murmured before falling asleep.

Beside him, Long Jinjing opened her eyes and carefully peered at him. Tears flowed down the side of her face as she smiled from joy.

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