Chapter 864: Chapter 270: Consequences
The girl’s lips are always so soft and moist, tinged with innocence and passion, like a budding flower striving to bloom. No matter how much she resists initially, once she’s addicted, there’s only endless demand and complete possession. This is the temptation of Lolita; few can resist it, and Adrian is no exception.
"I feel like... I’m about to melt..." Little Emma murmured, her face flushed as she looked at him with dreamy, almost drunken eyes. Her whole body leaned back, almost to a 90-degree angle.
"Who made you such a tempting little devil?" Adrian sighed, his fingers reluctantly caressing her youthful face.
Little Emma giggled, tightened her arms around his neck trying to pull him even closer, "I love you, Ed, give me another sweet kiss."
"No, Emma, not right now." Adrian glanced at the time and pulled away, "We’ve been out here for quite a while; if we don’t go back now, someone might get suspicious."
"Are you sure someone would be suspicious because you’ve been away from the party for too long?" Little Emma blinked.
"Emma!" Adrian could only roll his eyes and spoke more sternly.
"Alright, alright, let’s go back then." The young girl sighed with feigned disappointment but soon burst into laughter again, clearly enjoying Adrian’s frustrated look.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Little Emma immediately clung to his arm, pleading with a hopeful expression.
"You know the answer, Emma." Adrian spread his hands helplessly.
"Hmph, I knew it, I’m mad at you!" Hearing this, Little Emma unhappily threw his arm away and turned on her heel to walk back through the courtyard into the house.
Adrian considered chasing after her to say more but thought better of it. Now wasn’t the right time for these discussions, especially since there were more important matters for Little Emma. So he simply watched her enter the house and stayed in place for a few minutes before leisurely following her inside.
The party in the hall was still lively. Julia was hosting the party for Small Emma; "Bridge to Terabithia" officially premiered last night, and Julia naturally attended the premiere. And where Julia went, Adrian surely followed, even though they didn’t appear together at the theater entrance, attracting quite a bit of attention.
As a result, today gossip tabloids began discussing which Miracle Girl the Miracle Director might be dating. Of course, the mainstream media still focused on the film. Since last night, reviews have been emerging on various websites, mostly positive, and Small Emma’s acting has been praised for once.
According to reports, the film grossed $8 million in North America from last night until today. These are Friday’s numbers, and unexpectedly, Saturday and Sunday will likely add at least another quarter, pushing weekend box office close to $30 million.
Securing such high box office in this season was quite impressive, thus Julia hosted a celebration party for Small Emma. Adrian attended the premiere, so he wouldn’t miss out on the party. Along with those inseparable from Julia in private, like Zetajones who persistently wanted a break from him, Kate and Sarah were also brought over, plus... well... Little Emma, who came all the way from the United Kingdom.
"Where did you go just now?" Julia caught up with Adrian after he made a round, asking.
"Let me see, what was the name of the girl who kissed me in the corner just now?" Adrian teased with a frown, feigning reflection, and Julia rolled her eyes immediately.
"Alright, is there something you need?" Adrian stopped joking.
"Emma said earlier she made a small gift for you to express her gratitude, but she’s been unable to find you anywhere." Julia sounded dissatisfied.
"Ah, that was an oversight, can I make up for it now?" Adrian asked, avoiding the main issue.
"Certainly, you should at least congratulate her!" Julia said, looking around for Small Emma’s figure in the living room, but puzzled by her absence when a familiar voice chorused, "Aunt... Auntie..."
Looking towards the voice was Small Emma emerging from somewhere, but she stopped after calling once, staring at Adrian with a somewhat nervous and peculiar expression.
"Hey, Emma, congratulations! Remember I said this role suited you well," Adrian smiled, reaching to ruffle her hair, "Nice job."
"Thank you." Small Emma puffed up her cheeks, trying to appear happy, but that peculiarity was accentuated.
"What’s wrong?" Noticing this, Adrian promptly asked.
"No... nothing..." Small Emma shook her head like a rattle drum, then quickly ran off and back, presenting a small box to Adrian, "This is for you, Ed. It’s... something I made myself, thank you for taking care of me all these years."
She spoke hesitantly, looking at Adrian with dodging eyes, suddenly seeming very unsure of herself.
"May I open it here?" Adrian asked, accepting it.
"Maybe... maybe later," Small Emma said, biting her lip, appearing listless. Then suddenly, Little Emma came from behind and embraced her, "Hey, Rose, there you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you."
"Hmm? Oh... Hi, Charlotte, I just... took a stroll elsewhere." Small Emma was startled but quickly responded, still looking strangely at Little Emma.
Noticing this, Little Emma curiously asked, "Did something happen? You seem a bit uneasy."
But before Small Emma spoke, Little Emma glanced at Adrian, immediately pulling Small Emma away, "Let’s go somewhere else, stop hanging around Ed."
The remark bore disdain, making Adrian shake his head. Unfortunately, even if he wanted to say something, it was futile; the duo soon dashed out of sight.
"Has Emma been worried lately?" Adrian asked Julia, "She seems to have something on her mind, wanting to say it but it’s difficult."
"Did she? She was fine earlier, happy with the film’s success... Alright, I’ll talk to her later. Speaking of which, will you come to my place tonight? Papa has been mischievous lately and apparently stopped listening to me. Even the nanny couldn’t handle her, seems like we need your help."
Adrian hadn’t responded when a voice rang out, "Sorry, Julia, not tonight."
Kate quickly appeared before them, smiling yet speaking firmly, "Ed’s occupied tonight, remember?"
"Plans can be adjusted," a familiar voice chimed in as the enchanting Zetajones approached, ready to contest.
They’re at it again. Adrian couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the sight. Although they got along fairly well as mothers, it didn’t mean that potential conflicts between women would disappear. Such situations would inevitably arise even among a few fixed combinations—of course, those were benign—but especially between them. Now with Zetajones joining in to fight for her child, she was sure to side with Julia, though not entirely, and this tangled relationship was like a convoluted maze.
So Adrian kept silent, letting them spar with words, and then seized the chance to sneak away quietly. He never participated in these disputes, nor did he express his opinion, because it was pointless, especially when dealing with women dominated by emotion. Luckily, Sarah was there with him; she rarely participated, always seemingly content as he described.
The final result was not as Julia wished. The only way to resolve this issue was to adhere to the predetermined plan, otherwise... Of course, Julia understood this. She said that just to assert herself, regardless of its usefulness—it was about doing it first.
"I really didn’t expect the gift to be this, it’s interesting." On the way back, Adrian opened what Small Emma had given, a small cup, a ceramic teacup.
According to the note she left inside, it should be something she made by herself, and such craft stores where you can make things yourself are everywhere. It was very plain, the design was ordinary, and it was quite small. But just thinking of it as something Small Emma made herself made it worthwhile; only... Julia probably didn’t tell her about the anecdote of teapots and teacups, did she?
This, for a Playboy, especially one as possessive as him, was an unashamed excuse he had often jokingly hung on his lips about his women.
Alright, I started thinking divergently again. Adrian said in his mind, but he couldn’t help asking the Emma in his arms: "Emma, do you know what Emma is really worried about tonight?"
"There you go again, Ed." Small Emma said unhappily. Adrian always used the name "Emma" when referring to the two of them, instead of using their middle names "Rose" and "Charlotte," which easily misled them and made it hard to distinguish which one he was talking about.
Even so, Small Emma answered his question: "I don’t know, Rose hasn’t told me anything. It’s weird, I usually manage to tease out information from her, but this time I just can’t make her speak."
"That’s great, I should go back to congratulate her again, finally able to get rid of someone’s influence." Adrian laughed heartily immediately.
"You’re actually rejoicing at others’ misfortune? You’re actually rejoicing at others’ misfortune!" Small Emma exclaimed loudly with wide eyes, then fiercely lunged at Adrian, and they wrestled together.
Amidst laughing and joking, the RV drove back to the Beverly Hills mansion. After getting off and entering the house, Kate suddenly called out to Adrian: "Ed, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about."
"Okay." Adrian nodded a bit surprised, then instructed Small Emma a few things. Small Emma reluctantly agreed to go rest, but jumped up to hug his neck, kissed him on the cheek before leaving reluctantly.
Kate saw all this but said nothing, remaining silent until entering the study with Adrian, when she rapidly fired off a series of questions: "Do you remember what I told you, Ed? Look at the situation in the RV tonight, Emma was sitting on your lap all the while! And... and... Do you know what this means? Do you know how old she is?!"
"Calm down, Kate, calm down!" Adrian had no choice but to raise his hands reassuringly.
These words somewhat alleviated Kate’s emotions. After taking a deep breath, she frowned and continued: "I’ve reminded you many times already, Ed, and from early on, to mind your relationship with Emma. But you never seemed to take it seriously. Do you really need to... accidentally... before you’re happy?!"
"I know, Kate, I know what you mean," Adrian frowned as well, "I’ve been paying attention, just..."
"Just what?" Kate crossed her arms and glared at him, "I know you have a history, Ed—Kirsten, Britney, Natalie, Scarlett, and that... Leighton. But Emma is different, you should understand, although you are lustful, you are not a person who loses your head. Yet... though you verbally agreed to be careful, it seems you’ve never really followed through, you and she could exceed the line at any moment!"
Adrian didn’t speak further; he just quietly watched Kate, and after a while, he seemed to make a decision and said, "It’s already exceeded."
"What?" Kate, still annoyed, didn’t catch it.
"I said, it’s already exceeded." Adrian said slowly, word by word.
Kate was stunned for a moment, spending several seconds chewing on these words, and then her face suddenly turned a bit pale, her brows showing subtle anger.
"What did you... did you say?!" she asked in a trembling voice, Adrian didn’t respond, just shrugged.
Kate inhaled sharply, closed her eyes while trembling, then quickly opened them: "When!"
"April, the trip to Spain, her birthday." Adrian remained so calm.
Kate said no more; she groaned lightly, then arduously sat down on the sofa, rubbing her head as if unable to accept.
"I wanted to tell you sooner, but I never found the right opportunity. Also... didn’t know when would be suitable." Adrian said, "So I’ve been trying to create one all this time."
"No wonder... no wonder Charli asked me recently, whether you... whether you had again gotten with someone... and frowned too, which she rarely does... Oh God..." Kate murmured with her head in her hands.
"...Sorry, Kate." Adrian said after a moment of silence.
"Is ’sorry’ all you have to say!?!" Kate suddenly erupted, staring at Adrian through gritted teeth as if she might rush up to bite him hard, "Always sorry, sorry, sorry, constantly wanting us to tolerate, tolerate, tolerate, how long do you want us to tolerate? Yes, we know you’re lustful, we know you like novelty, we’ve compromised, we’ve gotten used to it, as long as you are aware of what you’re doing, you always have the most basic self-control, you also always think of us, but now..."
Adrian didn’t answer; he just quietly listened to her tirade: "To what extent do you want us to tolerate, Ed?! Emma... Emma is someone I and you watched grow up; she could practically be your... Lily also treats her as an older sister, why would you want to go for it... why! You are already the most powerful man in Hollywood, you can have a long line of women in both family and outside, just waiting for you! But now you’ve chosen Emma!"
"I’m very sorry, Kate." Adrian only offered this as an answer.
Upon hearing this, Kate stopped, the previous flames of anger suddenly extinguished, only staring at him blankly.
"I just now said you have basic self-control, that you care for us... now I take it back," after a long pause she finally spoke again, with a hint of fatigue in her pretty eyes, "You’ve disappointed me too much, Ed."
After this, she left without looking back. Adrian didn’t chase her; he stood for a long while before letting out a long breath. He hadn’t intended to reveal it at this time; his original plan was to take advantage of "Bridge to Terabithia"’s premiere to bring Small Emma over, then spend a few days buzzing around Kate, doing some borderline intimate acts, by which time she would be somewhat prepared from the somewhat vague news obtained from Charlize and Ivanka. Then, first inform Charlize who already knew from Ivanka, and have Charlize tell Kate.
This layered approach would convey the message, though Kate might not be able to accept it; at worst she’d scold him thoroughly. But after Kate called him to the study for a slightly heated questioning, Adrian realized he underestimated the symbolic meaning Small Emma had for Kate. If he followed the original plan, she might feel last to know, feeling deceived, which would have an even more extreme reaction.
Therefore, Adrian promptly changed his mind, putting this matter forward in response to Kate’s confrontation. Now, good news and bad news coexist: the good news is her reaction would probably be even more intense if he’d stuck to the original plan; the bad news is that even so, it’s still challenging to resolve things with Kate.
"What a headache!" Adrian sighed in the empty study.
Soon, the first consequence arrived. The next day, after waking up, Yukie informed Adrian, Kate had left the mansion early in the morning, taking Lily with her. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and month tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)